GunnerBill

Okay, so this is a bit of a LAMP...... but it's Parliamentary recess here in the UK so my days are much quieter and I though I'd have a look back at the 2023 TSW Virgil Mocks. In version 1 I GM'd the Steelers and selected Broderick Jones at #17 In version 2 I GM'd the Packers and selected Lukas Van Ness at #15 In the real draft both teams traded UP Green Bay to 13 and Pittsburgh to 14 to select exactly those two players. So if you want to get your money on Newton to the Rams now is your chance 😂 In version 3 I went Jalen Carter over Witherspoon to the Seahawks sadly. Broke my streak.

Rounds 3 and 4 are where the value is at safety IMO. I have Nubin and Bullock with 2nds, but then a bunch or 3rd and 4th round grades. The issue for the Bills is their lack of a pick there. The 68 picks between our 2nd rounder and our first 4th rounder is really the sweet spot where a lot of those guys will go.

I like him a lot too and I think I like him the best of all the safeties as a potential Bills fit. I think I'd probably have taken Bishop ahead of him as a fit for the Rams had he been there..... because they do a bit more bringing their safeties up to play man coverage in some packages and Bishop is better at that than Hicks, but if I was the Bills who really need their safeties to be zone specialists who can mix up looks, bait QBs into throws and then close quickly on the ball and make plays I'd be Hicks > Bishop. I think both are really good players who will go day 2 and it wouldn't stun me if one of them snuck into the bottom of the second round.

I was hoping everyone would forget about him because of his ridiculously low ranking on the googlesheet. 2nd round talent to me. Surprised he lasted this long.

I wouldn't watch basketball if it was a choice between that and cheering for Tottenham.

With the 99th pick of the 2024 TSW v1.0 mock draft, the Los Angeles Rams select: Jaden Hicks, Safety, Washington State The Rams have done a decent job rebuilding their secondary this offseason with Darious Williams returning and Tre White and Kamren Curl joining. However, they could still stand to add at safety. Hicks is a smart player. I love his instincts and he has the versatility to play in the box or as a single high. The question was speed, especially when he didn't run at the Combine but a 4.49 at his pro day is good enough to make sure he goes day 2. I'm happy to snap him up at this spot. @Alphadawg7 and the Washington Commanders are on the clock to round us out.

13 in the first two rounds is the record that has happened twice in the past four drafts. That is going to be broken this year. Whether it is 17, Im not sure. A couple of those that went here felt reaches. But equally Javon Baker who just went here is going to go much earlier come draft night. The strength of this class early is WR and OT. That is where the runs will be. It is a weak RB class. A weak TE class. A weak LB class. A weak safety class at the top (they will come into their own more in rounds 3 and 4). So I think 17 might be one or two higher than reality but not more than that.

In my top 100 over 40% are WR and OL. I don't think it is miles off at all.

He was my 4th guy. Isaac, Colson, Trotter, Elliss. That was my board at the start of this round for the Rams.

If it doesn't get to me until too late I'll do first thing and then there is only @Alphadawg7 to go. But I will check here last thing before bed.

They had a good draft the year they had 3 first round picks. Other than that...... meh.

Yea. I wouldn't hold the Jets up as an example.

He still wasn't worth a 1st either.

The bolded is AD Mitchell IMO. He is the classic he does a lot of stuff well, but I am not sure what the special trait is.

He was on my list for #99 if he got there. I always thought he'd likely be gone though.

The argument here isn't about whether Coleman is capable of making plays. The debate isn't "is this guy a first rounder or an undrafted free agent?" The debate is whether he is a first round talent or a day 2 guy. And I just watched the first 3 games worth of that video - including LSU which was his best game and I remember watching it live at the time and being in the shoutbox saying "man we gotta get this kid" but I still don't see him separate. In fact the thing that most stands out when you see the LSU film now is how much they are trying to create space for him in the way they use him - and his big play touchdown in the corner of the endzone comes from using him in the slot getting a free release and then just letting him box out the first defender he encounters who is the safety. I don't think Coleman is a bust. I just don't think he is value at #28 because the flaws are there on film.

We already have a thread on this. But yea, the breakdown between Stef and Josh is sad as much as anything. When those two were on and united the first 2 and a half years it was like poetry in motion at times.

Yea in the traditional sense it is slightly outdated. I prefer to talk about "outside downfield" receivers - which means guys who can get off press, have the speed win down the field and make contested catches - and "move" receivers who are more like your traditional Z receiver but who you actively want to move around the formation looking for mismatches. They are ideally a bit more shifty than long strider, good route runners, and have some YAC capability. That doesn't mean you never run a go route with your move receiver and it doesn't mean you never put your downfield guy in the slot or at flanker (traditional Z)... but in terms of building a WR corps with complimentary skillsets I'm still looking for guys who fit broadly into those categories. The Bills are a good example of the contradiction in using the old fashioned terms in that Diggs played X a lot for us but he was really the move receiver. Davis was more the outside downfield guy.

Where are the plays where you see the separation? Because I've done 6 games of Coleman and way before the combine I was saying I don't see it. He came out of the season with an indicative 1st on my board from tv viewing but when I really sat down and started to break the film down the more I watched the lower I got on him. He doesn't separate and for a guy who doesn't separate he isn't consistent enough at the catch point. I agree with you on his ability after the catch. I love that element of his game. It is the thing I like most about him. It is another reason why I think he could be a monster of a big slot. He can duke with the ball in his hands or he can just run you over and when he gets up to full speed he is fast enough especially if inside against linebackers and safeties. As for your comps..... Thomas, Marshall and Nacua.... drafted 2nd, 4th and 5th rounds respectively and Drake London I said was overdrafted at the time and so far that looks correct (although London still separated better than Coleman IMO). If the Bills picked Coleman at #60, or with a small trade up in round 2 I'd be fine with it. At #28 or as the first receiver they take after a slight trade back into the top of the second I'd feel like they left better options on the board.

Ha. We have all done it. In my first draft of version 2.0 of mine I got to the end and realised I'd missed Fashanu. Luckily what I do now is just try and write out the team to player matches and then only once I am settled I have a 32 that works and is logical do I start writing up explanations. Because from bitter experience if you miss a guy who should got top 15 suddenly youbare rewriting half your draft because it can affect 6 or 7 picks. Used to happen in the old days apparently when the teams would sit around in the room and pick. Pre-tech. Teams would forget a guy was still there sometimes just presuming he was gone and suddenly a round later he'd be picked.

Yea that is fair. Parsons is in the conversation though. He is a stud.

He is but less a big bodied one which I presume was the point.

What did you trade away? Our entire 2025 draft, your wife's wedding ring and your soul?

With the 83rd pick in the 2024 TSW Mock Draft 1.0, the Los Angeles Rams select: Adisa Isaac, EDGE, Penn State I had four primary targets for the Rams when this round started. The two linebackers - Trotter and Colson - have gone but the highest grade of the four by my board belongs to Adisa Isaac of Penn State who is still here. He probably only suits teams that play a 3-4 defense at the next level but he has that lean, angular frame and offers great length which reminds me of Leonard Floyd who had good success in this scheme for a couple of years. The Rams got good production out of Byron Young as a rookie on the right side last season and Isaac's skillset is a good compliment for what Young brings. I think he starts as a rookie and can have a productive career in the league. @julian and the Pittsburgh Steelers are now on the clock.

Some people here still remember him being drafted with a "linebacker" designation and therefore presume that when the Bills ran all over the Cowboys they were running right down the throat of Parsons and he couldn't stop it. The reality is he is now an edge rusher. He played 108 snaps at linebacker the entire 2023 season out of 910 total snaps on defense. He was playing on the edge at Buffalo and their offensive gameplan was all about not giving Parsons the opportunity to make plays in the backfield - which he did 121 times last season..... that's 13% of his total snaps where he had a pressure, sack or tackle for loss. Yea. He's pretty awesome.