Chuck Wagon

The last Mike Williams was the same thing in college. In the NFL he was just a big slow dude who couldn't get open.

I wouldn't touch Kelly. He might get it figured out, but it's not going to be on his first team and it's certainly not going to be here surrounded by enablers. QB is a position you can not gamble on questionable character, especially as a rookie. I wouldn't mind taking a chance on him in a few years when he's a reclamation project, but there's a long way to go before any light switch is getting turned on. Guys like Webb / Watson / Kizer / Mahomes appear to understand the work ethic and approach necessary to the position. If Kelly lights the league on fire right away, good for him, but I'm not risking a draft pick to have a front row seat to the show.

The difference between Ross and Heyward-Bey is Ross can actually play football. The guy was electric for Washington last year, but that injury history is terrifying.

There's people who STILL want to give Johnny Football a chance and he doesn't have the surname to stoke people like CK does. People don't understand that these kids think there is NOTHING wrong with their behavior. There isn't just uncle Jim giving them a good talking to and straightening them out. CK has never faced real consequences, he flamed out at Clemson and had another D1 program give him a shot immediately. His talent has led to coaches enabling him in both high school and college. How anyone thinks giving him a bunch of money and keeping him in his Buffalo playground surrounded by enablers is going to straighten him out is beyond me. He's not the type of guy McD wants to bring into the building, certainly not at that position. The character difference between him and any one of Watson / Webb / Mahomes / Kizer is night and day. I think you are right on. Teams will see Ross adds an element that's quantifiable and translatable. Williams is going to scare some people off due to the history of big college WRs who struggled to get separation. Davis will scare some people off due to the level of talent he faced and his inability to test. I could see both Davis and Williams falling much lower than people think, after all going into the draft process last year Treadwell was looked at as a sure top 10 pick and he fell into the 20s with guys fitting Ross's profile passing him, it looks like a very similar situation this year with Ross vs Davis & Williams.

This is a rebuilding year. If we were pushing to the playoffs we would have kept Gilmore and perhaps Williams & Graham and likely targeted a legitimate WR2 in FA. The fact we didn't put "Post June 1" designations on Williams and Graham and haven't been active in the FA market outside some fringe moves shows this is a rebuilding year IMO, we are rinsing off a fair amount of dead money, leaving opportunities for young players to step up in the lineup all over the place and resetting the cap. This year is about finding out who fits what McD wants to establish and putting ourselves in position to get guys we need in the future.

At this point it seems like just the Jets are in the market for a "starting" QB. Cleveland doesn't seem to care who their QB is (other than wanting Jimmy) and every other seat (besides Houston if Romo goes to Denver) has a body in it. It would serve the Jets to just lowball any potential starting QB to see if they'll take it due to lack of other options and on the same token it would serve guys like Cutler / Daniel / Kaep to sit on the market for a bit and wait for an injury to open something up.

I'm holding out hope for Hooker or Adams, though I expect both to be gone before our pick. Absent a trade down, I'm not comfortable taking any of these receivers at #10, there's too much defensive talent that could really help us and should be available at #10, each of these receivers have several question marks and there's depth at the position.

Really starting to feel like Charlie Brown on this right tackle search. It's been 6 years going back to the Clabo hunt of striking out at the position in FA.

http://www.first-pick.com/NFL/Share.aspx?id=60298b34-da28-45a0-8d52-5fcb6456ce9f Your Picks: Round 1 Pick 15 (IND): Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan (A) Round 2 Pick 12: Budda Baker, FS, Washington (A-) Round 2 Pick 13 (ARI): Adoree' Jackson, CB, Southern California (B+) Round 2 Pick 31 (ATL): Obi Melifonwu, SS, Connecticut (A) Round 3 Pick 30 (PITT): Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State (B+) Round 4 Pick 3 (JAX): JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Southern California (B) Round 4 Pick 7 (WASH): Davis Webb, QB, California (B) Round 5 Pick 4 (JAX): Erik Magnuson, OT, Michigan (A) Round 5 Pick 10 (WASH): Eddie Vanderdoes, DT, UCLA (A-) Round 5 Pick 29 (PITT): Ryan Switzer, WR, North Carolina (C-) Corey Davis and a completely rebuilt secondary (I'll stop spamming the board now)

http://www.first-pick.com/NFL/Share.aspx?id=599dadd0-16c7-4652-a726-3f45084de60e Your Picks: Round 1 Pick 16 (BALT): Jamal Adams, SS, LSU (A) Round 1 Pick 18 (TENN): Mike Williams, WR, Clemson (A-) Round 3 Pick 30 (PITT): Kevin King, CB, Washington (A+) Round 3 Pick 34 (CAR): Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado ( Round 3 Pick 41 (PITT): Jake Butt, TE, Michigan (B) Round 4 Pick 1 (CLE): JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Southern California (B) Round 4 Pick 8 (CAR): Davis Webb, QB, California (B) Round 4 Pick 34 (LAR): Erik Magnuson, OT, Michigan (A) Round 5 Pick 5 (LAR): Noah Brown, WR, Ohio State (C+) I'd be thrilled with this one.

http://first-pick.com/NFL/Share.aspx?id=22a99192-bfa5-4d71-b72a-71ac9e9453ad Your Picks: Round 1 Pick 13 (ARI): Jamal Adams, SS, LSU (A) Round 2 Pick 13 (ARI): TreDavious White, CB, LSU (A) Round 2 Pick 30 (PITT): David Njoku, TE, Miami (Fla.) (A) Round 3 Pick 26 (SEA): Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State (A+) Round 3 Pick 27 (K.C.): JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Southern California ( Round 3 Pick 30 (PITT): David Sharpe, OT, Florida (A) Round 3 Pick 40 (K.C.): Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Alabama (A) Round 4 Pick 3 (JAX): Davis Webb, QB, California (B) Round 4 Pick 25 (K.C.): Jeremy Sprinkle, TE, Arkansas (D+) There you go Doug, all you have to do and we'll all be happy.

Knowing our luck, the Pats will get #11 from the Saints for Butler and #12 (and change) for Jimmy G. They'll go on to take 2 hall of famers who beat us up for the next decade at #11 & #12 while we get someone who flames out of the league in 3 years at #10.

So basically it's going to end up being Cooks for Butler after all.

Could we have put a RFA tag on Gilmore or was he not eligible? I honestly don't know anything about the RFA tenders, but it seems like Gilmore and Woods would have been prime candidates.

He's an "offensive weapon" ala Percy Harvin. He can return kicks, work as a rb or play in the slot, he has much more experience in a "pro" style passing offense than Fournette.

We "need" ~7 positions. You can't draft based off need, especially #10 overall.

We are going to go into the season with holes. It's going to be an opportunity for young guys or under the radar guys to step up, but more likely we just aren't going to be very good. Depending on what the Browns do at QB, I think we may be the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the AFC (the Jets are the only team I'm 100% comfortable saying will be worse than us). Our window to crack through to the playoffs was the last 3 years and we missed. McD isn't coming in with proclamations, they are going to take a more patient approach and put the right attitudes on the roster. My only real concern with 2nd level FAs is when you hit on a guy like Zach Brown or Lorax, they are immediately expensive, vs hitting on a pick after round 3 and having a few cheap seasons of the guy. However, you can't really sign the under the radar FAs for multiple years as a miss like Chris Williams leaves you with a nice chunk of dead cap space.

Hooker. I think he'll have an Earl Thomas like impact on the back end of a defense, the injuries worry me, but they could also be the reason he's on the board at 10 and not gone top 5. Would be thrilled with Adams too, but I expect both guys to be gone. I would be fine with Davis or Williams, otherwise I'd prefer to move down.

They have Kessler but don't appear to want to feed him to the wolves.

JAG

If the Browns get Jimmy G, the Jets are the only team I'm comfortable saying we'll be better than.

So you don't think there's a cause for concern if we used 3rd and 4th round picks on a fullback, kicker and backup guard? This place would have a meltdown if Whaley took a kicker or a fullback in the 3rd round. There's cause for hesitation because none of us truly know the formula and that's from all sides. But I've seen plenty of posters dismiss the loss of Gilmore partially because we'll get a third round pick out of it, which we don't know to be the case. I'm merely pointing out that some of the best run teams in the league (the Ravens, Pats, Packers) absolutely worry about what they'll get back from the comp pick formula. Well run teams don't try to find 5 starters in free agency every single year, they build a cheap sustainable talent base through the draft. Our lack of draft picks through the Whaley years has been well documented, it's partially due to trading up to get players and partially due to attempting to patch cracks on the roster through free agency every year.

First off, anyone who dismisses losing a 3rd / 4th round pick because of signing a fullback and a kicker as being a draft nerd or a panic instigator is a moron. It's an extremely legitimate point, one that causes franchises like Baltimore and New England to take a VERY measured approach to FA. Where has trying to find 5 starters in FA every year gotten us as a franchise? You don't think we should try to tag a page from perennial winners? Second, none of us understand how the comp pick formula truly works, teams in the league aren't quite exactly sure, but I will say, if the players we've signed offset losing a pick from Gilmore, the formula is broken and needs to be re-evaluated. I understand the panic and recognize we need to build our base through the draft as much as anyone does, but lets see how it plays out. The one signing that leaves me scratching my head at this point is Ducasse. He's a near minimum guy who is 30 and was on the street in the middle of last year. I really hope he doesn't figure into the formula. To the "they have a roster to fill" crowd, there are plenty of avenues to accomplish building the roster and unrestricted FA is just one. If anyone believes we are going to sign the 4-5 starters we currently project to need with this remaining crop of talent, I'm sorry to say your expectations will not be fulfilled. I think we'll see plenty of UDFAs and post June 1st signings have a chance to make this team in camp. I also think we'll see our final roster going into the season with plenty of guys cut from other teams. Rome wasn't built in a day and playoff teams aren't built in FA.

I think people need to reset their expectations. Under Rex we were full throttle trying to plug up every crack in the dam to get over the hump into the playoffs. Seems like under McD we are going to take a much more measured approach and try to build a solid foundation. DiMarco / Tolbert / Hauschka all have Super Bowl experience. Hyde has played in plenty of big games, is young enough to have several productive years and filled a big need. I think everyone around the organization recognizes the locker room wasn't where it needed to be in order to gamble on character guys. I think a lot of UDFAs are going to have a shot at making this roster and there will be room for cuts from other teams. I think we'll see a lot of churn through the bottom half / quarter of the roster as we try to build a sustainable talent base. This year is more about setting the culture and working hard every day, trusting the results will come and less about bluster and proclamations, hoping players will live up to lofty goals on their own accord. People need to get out of the "OMG, we need a WR2 and WR3, a RT, a corner, a replacement for Kyle, a safety or we won't make the playoffs!" mindset.

I agree with this. I think we'll end up filling the roster with minimum guys, UDFAs and cuts from other teams. We brought Hyde / DiMarco / Tolbert in from winning organizations to help change the culture. We need to build up the cheap young depth instead of pushing all in and hoping to be the only team in the league to stay completely healthy. Anyone who thinks this team is going to be closer to 13-3 than 3-13 is kidding themselves. This is a rebuilding year, whether "it's not what Kyle signed up for" or not.