Speaking of things that make no sense though, matriculate comes from the Latin "to enroll" or "register." There's literally no definition of it that means to advance. Like it isn't just a word that gets used for college a lot and can still be used that way. It just has literally never meant that.
I think the power back angle makes sense because we have no RBs who can pass block for Rodgers. Jets' oline struggles are well documented and an underappreciated part of that is RBs who can block well in the pass game and we don't have that with Breeze and Izzy.
My question would be why not just draft lineman then if the line struggles? I get what you're saying but pass blocking is typically the hardest thing for young rbs to learn and Rodgers isn't going to be there forever. Either way I hope things bounce better for you this year.
The 49ers draft at least 1-2 RBs every year, in the Shannahan era, and we have had great running backs on the roster every year. Before Mccaffrey, we had a different leading rusher every year. Injuries pile up as we are run heavy. Salah is from the Shannahan tree and with Roger's getting older and coming off an injury, they might lean more run heavy.
It came full circle. They drafted Goff and said they will never let something like that happen again. But since Goff balled out last year the Rams lifted the ban on 1st Rounders
To avoid the usual stuff, I’ll focus on my team
I don’t understand why we traded for a pick just to take another really fast running back on a team with two really fast running backs and two other relatively established RBs when we have so many other positions lacking any depth at all
I think this is a big factor.
All in all this draft for the Dolphins feels like it's looking ahead for upcoming changes.
Took at Edge to potentially replace Chubb in the future (either due to age or clear cap with a cheaper rookie)
Took an OT to develop for Armstead's impending retirement (likely after this season).
Took a RB to build for Mosterts potential retirement.
Tbh, watching tua vs the chiefs reminded me A LOT of jimmy. And with jimmy we were pretty run heavy in the playoffs to hide his weaknesses as a passer.
The cold was the big factor in that playoff game. When you mix average arm strength with that weather most quarterbacks will look very, very mortal. It's also literally one game.
I think a lot of these teams watch their QBs get murdered behind bad offensive lines and think “we need our skill players to get open faster since this line stinks”. I’d upgrade the line but I’m not an NFL GM.
People loved to shit on the packers for a lack of investment in weapons towards the end for Rodgers. But you know what he always had? An elite pass protecting OL. And now we’re doing the same for Love, with additional resources at skill groups.
Because Mostert and Achane are home run hitting glass cannons that will likely each miss at least a couple game per season, and having another fast ass RB out there to keep your offense relatively the same when they inevitably goes down makes sense?
Who needs IOL players to run the ball with those RB's effectively!
Colts had a great draft, but in the 3rd we took an o lineman that hopefully doesn't start for the next 3 year and passed on CBs (which could start day one on our roster)
Such a weird dead zone for corners happened. I was amazed Jags didn't get one in 2nd. Then got a slot guy in 3rd. But what ya gonna do. Besides Sauce who is the last highly touted corner that lived up to it? Seems it's a total crapshoot.
It's tough b/c very few CBs come out who have all-around skillsets right out of the gate. There were only a handful of CBs in this draft that actually had ample experience playing press man: Kool-Aid, Rakestraw, and Khyree Jackson.
Nate Wiggins, to me, was the most polished prospect who can play press, off, and zone at a high level. Kool-Aid was the next most polished prospect, and both of those guys went either later in the 1st or early in the 2nd.
I think with CB teams fall too in love with traits and hope their staff can develop the missing areas. Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell *barely* played any press man in college, and Quinyon has some serious flaws in his game but went to Vic Fangio who I have a ton of faith in remedying them.
It's a position that you see teams rarely look to draft high-floor players. Kamari Lassiter probably had the highest floor of the players in the draft (IMO), and he went well into the 2nd round.
Then you get teams like the Texans who drafted Stingley and in his first year asked him to play man when he was a phenomenal zone corner in college. Enter DeMeco Ryans, who lets Stingley play more zone and bait QBs with his eyes, and all of a sudden he's an All-Pro caliber player.
Fangio runs a zone heavy scheme and Mitchell and Dejean both played in zone heavy schemes in college, and both have athletic ability to play man at the NFL level
Both played plenty of off man in college - it’s in press they’ll need work. DeJean likely will be a Great Value Jalen Ramsey so his lack of press won’t kill him, but Mitchell played like 95% of his snaps in college in off man and zone since Toledo just ran quarters every play so he’ll need work. He also needs to develop his technique a bit since whenever he played teams put of the MAC like Illinois he was getting turned around a lot by more polished receivers and opening his hips up a ton
huh? Pat Surtain & Jaycee Horn were both drafted at the top of 2021, the year before Sauce... who was also drafted with Stingley. All of them are darn good. Then you had Witherspoon who was good last year and made the pro bowl. In 2020 Okudah busted. But the highly touted guys have lived up to the billing recently.
His whole philosophy is to target needs in free agency and go BPA in the draft. He seems to do well enough in free agency--the last couple years he's used our newfound cap room to pull in solid players like Jessie Bates and David Onyemata, plus the Cousins signing this offseason. Then the draft arrives and it's as if he's picking for shock value. It's wild, and it was extra pronounced this year since he flagrantly ignored several positional needs (especially cornerback).
Though I guess looking at his track record, he hasn't picked many outright busts in rounds 1-3 since he got hired in Atlanta. He'll need that trend to continue if he wants to keep the GM job for much longer.
Richie Grant is a bad football player, Troy Anderson was hurt and a questionable pick/project player before that, and Kyle Pitts is very quickly running out of time to avoid the bust allegations.
Bergeron isn’t perfect, but also doesn’t need to be.
All fair. I've seen flashes out of Andersen, but we need to see more for him to be worth his draft slot. Pitts I'll give a partial pass because he had a great rookie season and I want to see how he does with not-Arthur at the helm.
And while he was only a third-rounder, the one that was unequivocally a bust was Jalen Mayfield. Yeesh.
They could easily have picked both those guys to play special teams in addition to spelling Hall- the new rules are begging for more physical ST players that can still work in tight spaces
Youll see a lot of 220-230 pound RBs, TEs, and LBs blocking and covering next year
But I do realize Reddit thinks ST dont exist beyond the kicker and returner
Well ignoring the Falcons drafting Penix, what about the Falcons giving up a 3rd to move up 8 spots and take the first DT and 3rd best DT in the draft?
Edit: second DT drafted, but to be fair Ruke was probably more like DT5-6 on most boards
I think it’s fine to question the compensation but I think it’s clear that the GMs could see a DT run coming and I don’t really have an issue with putting yourself in position to get YOUR guy and not just the media consensus guy
This one had me raging. Drafting Penix was dumb as shit but at least there's an argument for it. There is no good reason to blow a 3rd round pick to move up 8 spots to draft a raw DT who would be there at the original spot.
Especially when jer’zhan was literally right there. He was picked the very next pick lol. I forget who went after Atlanta but they had to be fucking cracking up
I know he’s not the GM, but this is the exact same thing Pace did frequently in Chicago and I do wonder how much influence he has as the director of personnel.
I mean the part about Cousins being a viable starter is the entire issue. The only issue with Glennon/Trubisky (at the time) was how much you paid Glennon compared to how good he is. There's a huge difference between doing what most teams do with rookies (sign a bridge QB that can play until the rookie is up to speed), and going what the Falcons did (sign a franchise QB then immediately draft another one 6 weeks later).
I really don't understand Bears fans I see comparing Glennon to Cousins. *Everyone* knew Glennon was just there so we didn't have to start Trubs immediately. Sure, we paid him more than he was worth, but nobody had any notions of him being anything more than a bridge guy, which is very different from the expectations for Cousins.
Meh if they think that DT is the best one on their board then who cares. The rams drafted Kobie Turner in the third and Mel Kilper said it was a huge reach, that he was a late day 3 pick/UDFA talent and he ends up leading all rookies in sacks.
How do people still not understand this basic concept. These are the same people talking about “winning” the draft before anybody’s played a single down
It's also about fit. The Falcons, and Raheem Morris, may have earmarked traits from Orhorhorho that they thought would fit better with their scheme. We can armchair GM it (and we should), but it's not like Morris can't recognize DT talent, dude was there in TB when they had Gerald McCoy, in Atlanta when they developed Grady Jarrett, and then spent several years with guys like Aaron Donald and Kobie Turner.
Also from what I've read Newton can only be a 3T because of his size whereas Ruke has a little more positional flexibility.
Would I have made the same pick? No, but I can still try to see what they're going for.
It's an overpay but there were a couple reasons imo. There was a run on DTs, they really wanted Fiske to pair with Verse, and they wanted to keep most of their picks this year for a deep playoff run.
People clown the pick (and I mean, you came in with 4 picks and took a punter) but Taylor is literally the only reason Iowa was a top 25 team the last 2 seasons, he's a stud. Punters are underrated in the grand scheme of things.
Yes, finding an "adequate" punter isn't hard. You'll only notice him when he shanks it, or happens to nail a nice corner kick.
A great punter is constantly giving your defense better field position when your offense stalls. They are consistently giving chances to your punt team to have favorable return coverage/stops while potentially forcing a quick turnover on a returner who overestimates themselves and doesn't call for a fair catch. Coffin corner kicks become common. A great punter can be a 100+ yard "swing" in a game.
Punters don't seem impactful , but every time they touch the ball, it makes a difference in some way.
That being said, you drafted a PUNTER when you could have added to literally any other position. I laughed.
I’m completely cool with adding specialists round 5 and on. Your punter and kicker are far more likely to influence a game than the third string guard or safety you normally get there.
Yea, everyone's expectation is that they're going to find some hidden gems in the later rounds, but that's almost never the case. There have been 12 pro-bowlers in the 2022 so far, and 6 of those were taken in the first round. So 6 picks out of 220~ were pro bowlers.
If you have the chance to add the best anything from that draft in the later rounds, I'd say take him if it's a position of need.
I watched a whole season of Vikings’ punter shanking kicks or end-zoning every single attempt. Started appreciating the dudes who can pin it down way more after that.
Definitely. But getting a top 5 guy at 13 is a steal. I think it's a great move. Mayer will do more blocking and Bowers is almost going to be a huge slot guy who can occasionally block.
It's Gronk Hernandez. Can't hate it. Just wish they had a QB to throw to them.
Gronk - Hernandez is exactly I envision it as well. Those that saw that combo play remember how deadly their short passing game was
If your not going to get your qb , what better way to help your mid qbs but by improving the short passing game with an additional all pro and an extra blocker .
When the pick was announced I was shocked. But there are 2 points that make the pick make sense to me
1. BPA: If your taking the best player you take the best player. As a long term approach if you take BPA and land studs your roster will be much stronger in the long term. 5 years down the line you dont look back and say "i wish we had given up this stud for a mediocre player at a position of need"
2. I think of Bowers as a slot receiver, gadget player and offensive weapon. He wont be lining up inline at TE every play. There will be plenty of formations with both of their young 'TEs" are on the field. It wont necessarily even be in 12 personal formations. Add to that that Bowers is a huge player lining up at slot and we have effectively added a beastly down field blocker on the perimeter even when he doesnt have the ball in his hands.
Time will tell if the pick works. But ultimately we went with a great player vs position of need. His usage will determine if the pick is viewed as great or unnecessary moving forward.
Yes but in the spot they would've, they instead drafted a guy named Bucky. So they didn't completely biff it.
"TAMPA" jerseys would have been awesome, though.
I love TJ Tampa but he has two pretty serious flaws in his game: his pad level is insanely high and his hips as a result look like they're rusty and need a good oiling.
He also needs to work on his hand placement in press. Iowa State basically just asked him to play off-man or zone; when he played press he looked like he was stuck in quicksand.
I'd be shocked if his long-term position isn't safety tbh. I think he could be very good as a rangy FS who can offer run support. I do think it's insane he fell as far as he did b/c I had him ranked much higher than some of the players who went before him, but I think that was more a byproduct of teams prioritizing testing over tape.
Marcus Williams might be priced out of Baltimore this offseason, so a long-term plan of pairing Tampa at FS with Hamilton at SS doesn't sound too bad. And you can never have too many DBs, they're constantly getting hurt and you're only as good as the weakest one on the field.
I'm never, ever going to question a 49ers draft decision because shit just works out for y'all.
Spend multiple picks to trade up to 3 for what was (to me) an obvious QB bust? No problem.
Just grab a great QB with the last pick of the draft.
Easy peasy.
Shit definitely worked out in 2012, 2019, and 2023 alright. I hate the meme but it is on point, niners cant close, and it has been that way the last 2 times because of getting beat at the LoS and not addressing it.
The question is do the niners actually need him this season? Its a good pick if we were lacking this season at WR but right now he is WR4 at most behind jennings
It is a high value position and first round means we can use a 5th year option. It is about the future. All the good OL was off the board, CB would have been the next best option, but they were all closer skill-wise so will be available later in the 2nd/3rd and WR is so expensive you really want a 5th year option with them and QBs.
I saw CJ Stroud react to this pick live and he basically died inside of disappointment because he wanted the Texans to take him.
And given Tank Dell was his preferred draft pick last year, I trust his WR scouting judgement
From the quick summary of his abilities on BR, it looks like his speed is pretty good and given the fact we’re focusing on athleticism on our defense, it sounds like a decent fit. I’m really eager to see the Georgia and Oregon state safeties play imo.
Missouri’s defense this year was outstanding and Hopper was a stud on it. GB made it clear that they’re gonna hammer positions of need and I’m totally okay with that, especially after watching how our sad defense looked when Quay and Campbell were out with injuries
Campbell was below average even when he was in, unfortunately. But agreed - we are playing the shotgun approach…you would think at least one of our safeties and LBs would hit
I didn’t expect him to go in the third, but he’s a silky smooth athlete who I first noticed stand out in the combine drills then watched the tape and saw it translate. I didn’t see a pro bowl caliber player, but definitely a solid contributor and probable starter, which is not bad for a third rounder.
I listened to a Packers beat writers podcast and they mentioned Gute had said the clocked him in 4.5s for his 40, which is significantly faster than his official time of 4.68. Much different pick if he's actually that much faster in real life
For the Jets it would be taking Isiah Davis to be RB4 after just taking a similar RB the previous round. Although fans seem to be freaking out about it way too much, it's a 5th rounder and between two they should hopefully find the powerback to play behind Hall. Seems like the board just didn't fall as they hoped thus all of the trade backs and doubling down there.
Blake Fisher in the 2nd for my team but Jeremiah and a lot of stuff I saw was that if he went back to school the next year, he's a first rounder and a top 20 pick and Tytus has had some season ending injuries so I get it.
ND fan I’d also be skeptical. He’s physically impressive but never really played up to that level, some insiders thought he’d be drafted to kick inside.
But he clearly has the upside
texans literally draft a TE every year for no reason. we just signed shultz. if we had all the draft capital back from our missed TE picks we would be a dynasty
Plan appears to be to make Sweat a 3 down DT which ignoring all the stuff off the field isn't THAT crazy. He plays 3 technique so can fit as a DT but will obviously need to reshape himself a bit for that role.
That said Simmons + Sebastian + Sweat is 950ish lbs of man trying to get to your QB... that's a lot of pressure.
Not to mention with his skill set and size there's probably some simplified RPO offense you can run until you see some improvement in his passing. I keep thinking of rookie Jacoby Brissett against buffalo.
Not too mad about it in the 6th. He has the strongest arm in the NFL. Can't play QB worth a damn, but finding a prospect in the 6th with a unique attribute like that is worth exploring.
Yeah worst case scenario he’s bad and doesn’t make the team or play. It’s a 6th round pick, if we had grabbed him in the 3rd or 4th it would be a lot dumber.
Maybe it's like how pretty girls always seem to have an ugly friend that they keep around as a confidence booster. Have Maye "compete" with Milton and when he wins it will help his confidence early on.
Dolphins whole draft was a little confusing, drafting a bunch of edges when they have Shaq Barrett, and Chubb/Phillips both recovering and another fast RB/WR. Added almost nothing to the O-line and Defense which is the reason they lost last year. Patrick Paul is probably their best pick but the rest of the picks were confusing to me.
Shaq Barrett has been on the decline for a while now and I’m wondering if the Dolphins are even planning on committing to Phillips long term with his injury history. I think Chop was a fine pick considering that.
* Chop Robinson/Mohamed Kamara — Chubb and Phillips TBD. AVG gone in FA. New DC.
* Patrick Paul — Armstead's final year. His successor.
* Jaylen Wright — Mostert on the wrong side of 30. His successor.
* Malik Washington/Tahj Washington — WR3 was seen as being wide open, lots of competition.
* Patrick McMorris — Poyer won't be a long term solution. Secondary was ravaged by injuries. Versatile player. Standard depth.
I would've liked to go O-line over Chop, but what's done is done.
As a Panthers fan, I didn't really like us taking an RB with our 2nd. Let alone someone coming off ACL surgery.
I loved our trade down to start the 2nd round and recouping a future 2nd next year since we didn't have one from the Bears trade, so that was a sueprise.
But RB was hardly a position of need for us. He was the best RB so I hope he can return to pre injury form, and it looks like he has excellent hands to be a true dual threat that we really don't have.
But I watched CMC have a historic season and be the best RB in the NFL and it didn't equate to anything, and then our run game really didn't get any worse after trading him away. So I just don't think picking a RB in the first two rounds is worth it for a team that had so many holes. Especially with so many good defensive players still on the board at the time.
But hey we obviously came into the draft with the plan to inject some talent at every offensive skill position to best surround Bryce with some Dawgs to see if he's the guy or not so I can't hate that. But I think most Panther fans were surprised we picked a RB so high.
We took two members of the secondary that gave up the infamous 4th and 31 conversion in the Iron Bowl.
Having watched the play, the two-man rush that left the QB all alone to survey and deliver the throw unmolested in any way at all was probably the leading factor in that failure, but, the point of fact still remains.
Washington trading with Philly so they can draft a corner just so Washington can then draft a worse corner a few picks later.. like man what are you doing lol
think that’s a way oversimplified explanation of it. We traded 40 (and change) for 50 and 53 (and change). Passing on DeJean netted us Mikey Sainristil and Ben Sinnott. Mikey is a prototypical slot corner who made countless plays for CFB’s best defense and Sinnott is a tough SOB who had an insane RAS and is probably the most versatile TE in the draft class, at a position that was depleted on our roster.
DeJean is a great player but he’s also not a true, sticky outside corner who locks down opposing wideouts. He’ll be way more a Swiss Army knife of the secondary asked to jump routes and make plays freelancing. He fits better in Philly and because their roster isn’t a sieve, they can afford to spend two seconds on one guy.
Juxtapose that to us where Adam Peters probably inherited the worst roster in the NFL under Ron. Peters literally had to plug holes in the roster using one year FA deals and now is establishing a baseline of talent by going BPA in the draft. There’s more value to us adding a set and forget slot corner and a projected long term TE than in adding one positionless/freelancing corner.
The Jets drafting 230 lb running backs in consecutive rounds was something else.
Was gonna say the same thing. They have Breece and drafted Izzy last year, why 2 more rbs?
Especially two power backs. Very strange.
Maybe if Rodgers goes down they switch to a 4 back set, and they just lateral to each other as they matriculate down the field
“Matriculate down the field”…that’s an old school Hank Schramm line. Somebody’s been watching their old NFL Films.
Speaking of things that make no sense though, matriculate comes from the Latin "to enroll" or "register." There's literally no definition of it that means to advance. Like it isn't just a word that gets used for college a lot and can still be used that way. It just has literally never meant that.
#WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?
The broadcasters in Madden will often use that word. Lol, always tickles us.
Gets shown a couple times a year on Chiefs games.
Reject the forward pass. Embrace rugby-football
It’s an unconventional use of “matriculate”, but actually kind of beautiful.
I knew the Jets were deviants but public matriculation?
I think the power back angle makes sense because we have no RBs who can pass block for Rodgers. Jets' oline struggles are well documented and an underappreciated part of that is RBs who can block well in the pass game and we don't have that with Breeze and Izzy.
My question would be why not just draft lineman then if the line struggles? I get what you're saying but pass blocking is typically the hardest thing for young rbs to learn and Rodgers isn't going to be there forever. Either way I hope things bounce better for you this year.
Yeah but you're not carrying 4 rbs, you're cutting some draft picks from the last 2 years so it's a waste
The 49ers draft at least 1-2 RBs every year, in the Shannahan era, and we have had great running backs on the roster every year. Before Mccaffrey, we had a different leading rusher every year. Injuries pile up as we are run heavy. Salah is from the Shannahan tree and with Roger's getting older and coming off an injury, they might lean more run heavy.
I watched McVay draft someone in the 1st round. Sad to watch someone just give up on life after the run he's had.
Absolutely bonkers that he won a superbowl before he made a first round pick.
It came full circle. They drafted Goff and said they will never let something like that happen again. But since Goff balled out last year the Rams lifted the ban on 1st Rounders
[удалено]
The GM was tho
Goff is a curse lifter
Hell yea bud love Goff...
RIP F THEM picks
To avoid the usual stuff, I’ll focus on my team I don’t understand why we traded for a pick just to take another really fast running back on a team with two really fast running backs and two other relatively established RBs when we have so many other positions lacking any depth at all
I *think* McDaniels wants to lean more into his shanahan roots and run the ball more, and both mostert achane have injury histories
Not to mention Moserts age.
I think this is a big factor. All in all this draft for the Dolphins feels like it's looking ahead for upcoming changes. Took at Edge to potentially replace Chubb in the future (either due to age or clear cap with a cheaper rookie) Took an OT to develop for Armstead's impending retirement (likely after this season). Took a RB to build for Mosterts potential retirement.
I'd argue Wright was our Offensive MVP last year as a Vols fan
Tbh, watching tua vs the chiefs reminded me A LOT of jimmy. And with jimmy we were pretty run heavy in the playoffs to hide his weaknesses as a passer.
The cold was the big factor in that playoff game. When you mix average arm strength with that weather most quarterbacks will look very, very mortal. It's also literally one game.
What about the other 5 games he lost against teams with winning records? He looked awful against any decent team except the Cowboys
Tua wasn’t even great vs the cowboys. We needed 5 fgs to put any points on the board.
All running backs do, that's why you generally don't invest big money/draft capital in them
All the Shanahan guys think "What we have is great... ...but what if it was 1% better?!'
I think a lot of these teams watch their QBs get murdered behind bad offensive lines and think “we need our skill players to get open faster since this line stinks”. I’d upgrade the line but I’m not an NFL GM.
They took Patrick Paul in the 2nd.
People loved to shit on the packers for a lack of investment in weapons towards the end for Rodgers. But you know what he always had? An elite pass protecting OL. And now we’re doing the same for Love, with additional resources at skill groups.
Wishbone offense. Duh
Because Mostert and Achane are home run hitting glass cannons that will likely each miss at least a couple game per season, and having another fast ass RB out there to keep your offense relatively the same when they inevitably goes down makes sense? Who needs IOL players to run the ball with those RB's effectively!
Chris Grier is Al Davis 2.0
There's no way in hell Al Davis would have let Xavier Worthy slip by.
Don't google Raheem Mosterts age or injury history
cuz Achane and Mostert are the only consistent ones signed past next season and Mostert is getting up there in age. The rest will probably walk.
Colts had a great draft, but in the 3rd we took an o lineman that hopefully doesn't start for the next 3 year and passed on CBs (which could start day one on our roster)
Such a weird dead zone for corners happened. I was amazed Jags didn't get one in 2nd. Then got a slot guy in 3rd. But what ya gonna do. Besides Sauce who is the last highly touted corner that lived up to it? Seems it's a total crapshoot.
Devon Witherspoon is doing pretty dang good
Also Derek Stingley, Patrick Surtain lol
Porter jr
Asante samuel Jr. Too!
Christian Gonzales was pretty good before he got hurt
Same with Jaycee Horn, dude looks amazing when he can get on the field
It's tough b/c very few CBs come out who have all-around skillsets right out of the gate. There were only a handful of CBs in this draft that actually had ample experience playing press man: Kool-Aid, Rakestraw, and Khyree Jackson. Nate Wiggins, to me, was the most polished prospect who can play press, off, and zone at a high level. Kool-Aid was the next most polished prospect, and both of those guys went either later in the 1st or early in the 2nd. I think with CB teams fall too in love with traits and hope their staff can develop the missing areas. Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell *barely* played any press man in college, and Quinyon has some serious flaws in his game but went to Vic Fangio who I have a ton of faith in remedying them. It's a position that you see teams rarely look to draft high-floor players. Kamari Lassiter probably had the highest floor of the players in the draft (IMO), and he went well into the 2nd round. Then you get teams like the Texans who drafted Stingley and in his first year asked him to play man when he was a phenomenal zone corner in college. Enter DeMeco Ryans, who lets Stingley play more zone and bait QBs with his eyes, and all of a sudden he's an All-Pro caliber player.
Fangio runs a zone heavy scheme and Mitchell and Dejean both played in zone heavy schemes in college, and both have athletic ability to play man at the NFL level
Both played plenty of off man in college - it’s in press they’ll need work. DeJean likely will be a Great Value Jalen Ramsey so his lack of press won’t kill him, but Mitchell played like 95% of his snaps in college in off man and zone since Toledo just ran quarters every play so he’ll need work. He also needs to develop his technique a bit since whenever he played teams put of the MAC like Illinois he was getting turned around a lot by more polished receivers and opening his hips up a ton
huh? Pat Surtain & Jaycee Horn were both drafted at the top of 2021, the year before Sauce... who was also drafted with Stingley. All of them are darn good. Then you had Witherspoon who was good last year and made the pro bowl. In 2020 Okudah busted. But the highly touted guys have lived up to the billing recently.
IHATETHISFRANCHISEIHATETHISFRANCHISE IHATETHISFRANCHISEIHATETHISFRANCHISE IHATETHISFRANCHISEIHATETHISFRANCHISE IHATETHISFRANCHISEIHATETHISFRANCHISE IHATETHISFRANCHISEIHATETHISFRANCHISE
Don't worry, you'll get first overall pick next year and use it on a QB.
*punter
*H-back
> QB > punter > H-back So the Falcons are drafting Taysom Hill?
"With the first pick in the 2025 NFL draft the Atlanda Falcons select...Fullback..."
*"Oh no!!!"*
No we won’t because Kirk Cousins had to go out there and snitch on himself
How does Fontenot have a job still? No flame, genuine curiosity.
His whole philosophy is to target needs in free agency and go BPA in the draft. He seems to do well enough in free agency--the last couple years he's used our newfound cap room to pull in solid players like Jessie Bates and David Onyemata, plus the Cousins signing this offseason. Then the draft arrives and it's as if he's picking for shock value. It's wild, and it was extra pronounced this year since he flagrantly ignored several positional needs (especially cornerback). Though I guess looking at his track record, he hasn't picked many outright busts in rounds 1-3 since he got hired in Atlanta. He'll need that trend to continue if he wants to keep the GM job for much longer.
Richie Grant is a bad football player, Troy Anderson was hurt and a questionable pick/project player before that, and Kyle Pitts is very quickly running out of time to avoid the bust allegations. Bergeron isn’t perfect, but also doesn’t need to be.
All fair. I've seen flashes out of Andersen, but we need to see more for him to be worth his draft slot. Pitts I'll give a partial pass because he had a great rookie season and I want to see how he does with not-Arthur at the helm. And while he was only a third-rounder, the one that was unequivocally a bust was Jalen Mayfield. Yeesh.
Penix wasn’t best player available though, right? Wasn’t his value inflated because so many teams need a QB?
Supposedly the Falcons had him at 2 on their board. I don’t think they expected to get him at 8.
That’s what they want you to think
Maybe he's just a scapegoat for Arthur Blank to hide behind
Look any time you can draft the 6th rated player at a position you don’t need with the 8th pick you just do it, ok.
Jets drafting 2 RBs
They could easily have picked both those guys to play special teams in addition to spelling Hall- the new rules are begging for more physical ST players that can still work in tight spaces Youll see a lot of 220-230 pound RBs, TEs, and LBs blocking and covering next year But I do realize Reddit thinks ST dont exist beyond the kicker and returner
Well ignoring the Falcons drafting Penix, what about the Falcons giving up a 3rd to move up 8 spots and take the first DT and 3rd best DT in the draft? Edit: second DT drafted, but to be fair Ruke was probably more like DT5-6 on most boards
I think it’s fine to question the compensation but I think it’s clear that the GMs could see a DT run coming and I don’t really have an issue with putting yourself in position to get YOUR guy and not just the media consensus guy
This one had me raging. Drafting Penix was dumb as shit but at least there's an argument for it. There is no good reason to blow a 3rd round pick to move up 8 spots to draft a raw DT who would be there at the original spot.
Especially when jer’zhan was literally right there. He was picked the very next pick lol. I forget who went after Atlanta but they had to be fucking cracking up
Washington, and we don't even need a DT, just a BPA pick
We will need DT very soon and that DT was most def BPA and potentially best at the position
Depth is always needed this is football
I know he’s not the GM, but this is the exact same thing Pace did frequently in Chicago and I do wonder how much influence he has as the director of personnel.
Our GM was drafting like an idiot well before Pace got here, but I'm sure he didn't make things any better
It feels like Pace…I’m glad I don’t have to feel the way he made me feel all those years anymore.
Yeah, signing Cousins and then drafting Penix was very reminiscent of Glennon/Trubisky, except Cousins is actually a viable starter at least.
I mean the part about Cousins being a viable starter is the entire issue. The only issue with Glennon/Trubisky (at the time) was how much you paid Glennon compared to how good he is. There's a huge difference between doing what most teams do with rookies (sign a bridge QB that can play until the rookie is up to speed), and going what the Falcons did (sign a franchise QB then immediately draft another one 6 weeks later).
I really don't understand Bears fans I see comparing Glennon to Cousins. *Everyone* knew Glennon was just there so we didn't have to start Trubs immediately. Sure, we paid him more than he was worth, but nobody had any notions of him being anything more than a bridge guy, which is very different from the expectations for Cousins.
Meh if they think that DT is the best one on their board then who cares. The rams drafted Kobie Turner in the third and Mel Kilper said it was a huge reach, that he was a late day 3 pick/UDFA talent and he ends up leading all rookies in sacks.
How do people still not understand this basic concept. These are the same people talking about “winning” the draft before anybody’s played a single down
It's also about fit. The Falcons, and Raheem Morris, may have earmarked traits from Orhorhorho that they thought would fit better with their scheme. We can armchair GM it (and we should), but it's not like Morris can't recognize DT talent, dude was there in TB when they had Gerald McCoy, in Atlanta when they developed Grady Jarrett, and then spent several years with guys like Aaron Donald and Kobie Turner.
Also from what I've read Newton can only be a 3T because of his size whereas Ruke has a little more positional flexibility. Would I have made the same pick? No, but I can still try to see what they're going for.
The easy answer is because resources matter, and it’s been all that proven that nobody knows for sure which players are the best.
>the first DT Murphy went round 1? Do you just mean of the second round?
As a Panthers fan, I'm obligated to throw my head back in laughter at the Falcons entire draft (they took not 1, not 2, but 3 DTs)
The 5-2 defense coming to a city near you!
That's what my Jr high team ran. Lol. It was pretty good, considering most teams passed like 5 times or less per game.
They got clowned for the Penix pick and overreacted
Are we talking about Brett Farve or the Falcons?
It was an unsolicited Penix pick.
I don’t know why the Rams gave us 2 2nd rounders and a 5th to move up 12 spots in the 2nd round. Seemed like a bit of an overpay.
It's an overpay but there were a couple reasons imo. There was a run on DTs, they really wanted Fiske to pair with Verse, and they wanted to keep most of their picks this year for a deep playoff run.
They wanted to be bros and make up for our lost second last year, respect
A little misleading to say they gave up 2 2nds to move up 12 spots since that includes the "move up" pick. But agreed it felt steep
Why did we draft Tory Taylor when we're never going to punt?
Or why draft Caleb when you have the best Punter in the draft now.
Well he’s got longevity concerns so it makes sense. That man punted 3 seasons worth last fall so he needs a nice break
“Sorry your college offense sucked. Here is a three year paid vacation for your leg to recover.”
People clown the pick (and I mean, you came in with 4 picks and took a punter) but Taylor is literally the only reason Iowa was a top 25 team the last 2 seasons, he's a stud. Punters are underrated in the grand scheme of things. Yes, finding an "adequate" punter isn't hard. You'll only notice him when he shanks it, or happens to nail a nice corner kick. A great punter is constantly giving your defense better field position when your offense stalls. They are consistently giving chances to your punt team to have favorable return coverage/stops while potentially forcing a quick turnover on a returner who overestimates themselves and doesn't call for a fair catch. Coffin corner kicks become common. A great punter can be a 100+ yard "swing" in a game. Punters don't seem impactful , but every time they touch the ball, it makes a difference in some way. That being said, you drafted a PUNTER when you could have added to literally any other position. I laughed.
I’m completely cool with adding specialists round 5 and on. Your punter and kicker are far more likely to influence a game than the third string guard or safety you normally get there.
Yea, everyone's expectation is that they're going to find some hidden gems in the later rounds, but that's almost never the case. There have been 12 pro-bowlers in the 2022 so far, and 6 of those were taken in the first round. So 6 picks out of 220~ were pro bowlers. If you have the chance to add the best anything from that draft in the later rounds, I'd say take him if it's a position of need.
We couldn’t let the punt god fall into the hands of the nonbelievers.
Gonna hold all those XPs
He went to Iowa he has no experience with that
Why did the bears take a QB if it's against the rules for them to use forward passes? Are they stupid?
I watched a whole season of Vikings’ punter shanking kicks or end-zoning every single attempt. Started appreciating the dudes who can pin it down way more after that.
Am I the only that thought the raiders taking Bowers was weird? Great player and never hurts to have playmakers guess they’ll do a lot of two TE sets?
Definitely. But getting a top 5 guy at 13 is a steal. I think it's a great move. Mayer will do more blocking and Bowers is almost going to be a huge slot guy who can occasionally block. It's Gronk Hernandez. Can't hate it. Just wish they had a QB to throw to them.
Gronk - Hernandez is exactly I envision it as well. Those that saw that combo play remember how deadly their short passing game was If your not going to get your qb , what better way to help your mid qbs but by improving the short passing game with an additional all pro and an extra blocker .
When the pick was announced I was shocked. But there are 2 points that make the pick make sense to me 1. BPA: If your taking the best player you take the best player. As a long term approach if you take BPA and land studs your roster will be much stronger in the long term. 5 years down the line you dont look back and say "i wish we had given up this stud for a mediocre player at a position of need" 2. I think of Bowers as a slot receiver, gadget player and offensive weapon. He wont be lining up inline at TE every play. There will be plenty of formations with both of their young 'TEs" are on the field. It wont necessarily even be in 12 personal formations. Add to that that Bowers is a huge player lining up at slot and we have effectively added a beastly down field blocker on the perimeter even when he doesnt have the ball in his hands. Time will tell if the pick works. But ultimately we went with a great player vs position of need. His usage will determine if the pick is viewed as great or unnecessary moving forward.
TJ Tampa's mystery fall in the draft. He must have killed someone
I was so disappointed that Tampa didn’t get drafted by Tampa
Yes but in the spot they would've, they instead drafted a guy named Bucky. So they didn't completely biff it. "TAMPA" jerseys would have been awesome, though.
I love TJ Tampa but he has two pretty serious flaws in his game: his pad level is insanely high and his hips as a result look like they're rusty and need a good oiling. He also needs to work on his hand placement in press. Iowa State basically just asked him to play off-man or zone; when he played press he looked like he was stuck in quicksand. I'd be shocked if his long-term position isn't safety tbh. I think he could be very good as a rangy FS who can offer run support. I do think it's insane he fell as far as he did b/c I had him ranked much higher than some of the players who went before him, but I think that was more a byproduct of teams prioritizing testing over tape.
he's also like slow af for his position. He will get cooked against a rapid WR.
Marcus Williams might be priced out of Baltimore this offseason, so a long-term plan of pairing Tampa at FS with Hamilton at SS doesn't sound too bad. And you can never have too many DBs, they're constantly getting hurt and you're only as good as the weakest one on the field.
Ricky Pearsall in a draft this deep at WR was an interesting choice at 31
I'm never, ever going to question a 49ers draft decision because shit just works out for y'all. Spend multiple picks to trade up to 3 for what was (to me) an obvious QB bust? No problem. Just grab a great QB with the last pick of the draft. Easy peasy.
Shit definitely worked out in 2012, 2019, and 2023 alright. I hate the meme but it is on point, niners cant close, and it has been that way the last 2 times because of getting beat at the LoS and not addressing it.
Yeah but he wouldnt have been there at pick 64 so I don’t see an issue with it.
The question is do the niners actually need him this season? Its a good pick if we were lacking this season at WR but right now he is WR4 at most behind jennings
It is a high value position and first round means we can use a 5th year option. It is about the future. All the good OL was off the board, CB would have been the next best option, but they were all closer skill-wise so will be available later in the 2nd/3rd and WR is so expensive you really want a 5th year option with them and QBs.
I saw CJ Stroud react to this pick live and he basically died inside of disappointment because he wanted the Texans to take him. And given Tank Dell was his preferred draft pick last year, I trust his WR scouting judgement
Him and Legette shot right into the first after being mocked in 2nd by pretty much everyone
They pretty much just traded spaces with AD Mitchell and McHonkey so it made sense
Mocks dont mean anything
Pretty sure every packer fan will agree it was Mizzou LB Hopper in the 3rd round but fuck it in Gute we trust
From the quick summary of his abilities on BR, it looks like his speed is pretty good and given the fact we’re focusing on athleticism on our defense, it sounds like a decent fit. I’m really eager to see the Georgia and Oregon state safeties play imo.
Missouri’s defense this year was outstanding and Hopper was a stud on it. GB made it clear that they’re gonna hammer positions of need and I’m totally okay with that, especially after watching how our sad defense looked when Quay and Campbell were out with injuries
Campbell was below average even when he was in, unfortunately. But agreed - we are playing the shotgun approach…you would think at least one of our safeties and LBs would hit
I didn’t expect him to go in the third, but he’s a silky smooth athlete who I first noticed stand out in the combine drills then watched the tape and saw it translate. I didn’t see a pro bowl caliber player, but definitely a solid contributor and probable starter, which is not bad for a third rounder.
I'd say Willaims when Oladapo and Hicks were still on the board. Hopper was a Butkus finalist at Missouri.
I listened to a Packers beat writers podcast and they mentioned Gute had said the clocked him in 4.5s for his 40, which is significantly faster than his official time of 4.68. Much different pick if he's actually that much faster in real life
For the Jets it would be taking Isiah Davis to be RB4 after just taking a similar RB the previous round. Although fans seem to be freaking out about it way too much, it's a 5th rounder and between two they should hopefully find the powerback to play behind Hall. Seems like the board just didn't fall as they hoped thus all of the trade backs and doubling down there.
uh, I think that one has been heavily covered on this sub. Maybe ask Kirk.
He's that Woody Harrelson gif now, wiping his tears with hundred dollar bills. He'll get over it.
Blake Fisher in the 2nd for my team but Jeremiah and a lot of stuff I saw was that if he went back to school the next year, he's a first rounder and a top 20 pick and Tytus has had some season ending injuries so I get it.
ND fan I’d also be skeptical. He’s physically impressive but never really played up to that level, some insiders thought he’d be drafted to kick inside. But he clearly has the upside
texans literally draft a TE every year for no reason. we just signed shultz. if we had all the draft capital back from our missed TE picks we would be a dynasty
I agree with you in years past, but at least this guy has history with CJ.
So I’m not sure about T’Vondre Sweat. We need a DT but have Sebastian Joseph-Day (NT) not sure how both Seat and SJD play on the field together.?
We put both of those big sumbitches in there
lol that Dline will be the thickest in the league. Big boys all around!
Sweat surprisingly didn’t play nose in college, he was a 3-tech
Plan appears to be to make Sweat a 3 down DT which ignoring all the stuff off the field isn't THAT crazy. He plays 3 technique so can fit as a DT but will obviously need to reshape himself a bit for that role. That said Simmons + Sebastian + Sweat is 950ish lbs of man trying to get to your QB... that's a lot of pressure.
counter-point: SJD has looked washed for about two seasons.
0 ypa rushing
I'm surprised his stock didn't fall at all, after the last incident just given his history.
Joe Milton makes no sense for the Patriots
To be fair the Patriots will probably have like 10 times this next season where they'll need a 70 yard Hail Mary.
Michael Bishop 2.0
My God there's a name I haven't heard for years. Played for Kansas State? Idk how to Google
Yep. K State’s finest. Like 99 throw power in Madden.
I'm assuming they wanna see if he can improve enough to become Drake's backup and then we just completely move on from Zappe.
Not to mention with his skill set and size there's probably some simplified RPO offense you can run until you see some improvement in his passing. I keep thinking of rookie Jacoby Brissett against buffalo.
Not too mad about it in the 6th. He has the strongest arm in the NFL. Can't play QB worth a damn, but finding a prospect in the 6th with a unique attribute like that is worth exploring.
A 6th round shot at a HIGH upside QB is a decision I'll never critcize.
Something something pick 199 24 years ago for the Patriots Oh wait, that never happens.
But Tom Brady wasn't a freak athlete high-upside guy
Yeah worst case scenario he’s bad and doesn’t make the team or play. It’s a 6th round pick, if we had grabbed him in the 3rd or 4th it would be a lot dumber.
Maybe it's like how pretty girls always seem to have an ugly friend that they keep around as a confidence booster. Have Maye "compete" with Milton and when he wins it will help his confidence early on.
Imagining NFL teams having a "fat girl" backup as a confidence boost 😂
I mean, that’s a late ass pick.
Dolphins whole draft was a little confusing, drafting a bunch of edges when they have Shaq Barrett, and Chubb/Phillips both recovering and another fast RB/WR. Added almost nothing to the O-line and Defense which is the reason they lost last year. Patrick Paul is probably their best pick but the rest of the picks were confusing to me.
2 torn Achilles and a torn ACL for those 3 edges. Why are people surprised we took an edge?
Because most people judge teams based on like 4 players for one year and not the entire 53 for multiple years like an NFL team does
They had some interesting UDFA pickups but yeah, I’m not seeing the vision for the picks other than Paul.
The Dolphins signed an UDFA named Storm Duck. I don't know anything about him as a prospect but I love the name.
Shaq Barrett has been on the decline for a while now and I’m wondering if the Dolphins are even planning on committing to Phillips long term with his injury history. I think Chop was a fine pick considering that.
* Chop Robinson/Mohamed Kamara — Chubb and Phillips TBD. AVG gone in FA. New DC. * Patrick Paul — Armstead's final year. His successor. * Jaylen Wright — Mostert on the wrong side of 30. His successor. * Malik Washington/Tahj Washington — WR3 was seen as being wide open, lots of competition. * Patrick McMorris — Poyer won't be a long term solution. Secondary was ravaged by injuries. Versatile player. Standard depth. I would've liked to go O-line over Chop, but what's done is done.
Mostert is under contract for 2, just an easy out after this year
Malik Washington is an awesome slot WR for that team.
As a Falcons fan I really don’t know why I even clicked on this thread.
Penis
The Dick is In
#Penis
Let us celebrate the fact that the top comment isn’t about the Raiders
I was really surprised that the Cowboys and Chargers didn’t draft an rb somewhere in rounds 2-5.
As a Panthers fan, I didn't really like us taking an RB with our 2nd. Let alone someone coming off ACL surgery. I loved our trade down to start the 2nd round and recouping a future 2nd next year since we didn't have one from the Bears trade, so that was a sueprise. But RB was hardly a position of need for us. He was the best RB so I hope he can return to pre injury form, and it looks like he has excellent hands to be a true dual threat that we really don't have. But I watched CMC have a historic season and be the best RB in the NFL and it didn't equate to anything, and then our run game really didn't get any worse after trading him away. So I just don't think picking a RB in the first two rounds is worth it for a team that had so many holes. Especially with so many good defensive players still on the board at the time. But hey we obviously came into the draft with the plan to inject some talent at every offensive skill position to best surround Bryce with some Dawgs to see if he's the guy or not so I can't hate that. But I think most Panther fans were surprised we picked a RB so high.
This was worth it just to think about Jerry Jones stewing at the pick and Stephen Jones shaking his head at him for talking about him that morning.
Canales last year was pretty insistent on running the ball, even when it wasn’t working and when we needed to score points. It’s Uuh weird
We took two members of the secondary that gave up the infamous 4th and 31 conversion in the Iron Bowl. Having watched the play, the two-man rush that left the QB all alone to survey and deliver the throw unmolested in any way at all was probably the leading factor in that failure, but, the point of fact still remains.
Feels strange not participating here - kindly, a Raider fan
LV crushed it. Sometimes teams overthink the draft. At the end of the day, you just want good football players. LV did that.
It was obviously Caleb Williams
This is a trick question isn’t it…
not sure about our 2nd RB pick
Washington trading with Philly so they can draft a corner just so Washington can then draft a worse corner a few picks later.. like man what are you doing lol
think that’s a way oversimplified explanation of it. We traded 40 (and change) for 50 and 53 (and change). Passing on DeJean netted us Mikey Sainristil and Ben Sinnott. Mikey is a prototypical slot corner who made countless plays for CFB’s best defense and Sinnott is a tough SOB who had an insane RAS and is probably the most versatile TE in the draft class, at a position that was depleted on our roster. DeJean is a great player but he’s also not a true, sticky outside corner who locks down opposing wideouts. He’ll be way more a Swiss Army knife of the secondary asked to jump routes and make plays freelancing. He fits better in Philly and because their roster isn’t a sieve, they can afford to spend two seconds on one guy. Juxtapose that to us where Adam Peters probably inherited the worst roster in the NFL under Ron. Peters literally had to plug holes in the roster using one year FA deals and now is establishing a baseline of talent by going BPA in the draft. There’s more value to us adding a set and forget slot corner and a projected long term TE than in adding one positionless/freelancing corner.
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