HappyDays

Currently projected as a late 3rd rounder.

We've had this conversation about Shakir. It's really difficult if not impossible to make a living outside with sub-30" arms. Maybe Noel will be the one in a million but you have to draft based on a reasonable projection and for him that projection puts him in the slot. We just paid $15M AAV for Shakir to man that position so personally I'm not interested in spending a high pick on the same role.

The speed jumps off the screen but it's hard to see his fit in our offense. Strikes me as a slot only and that will make it hard to get on the field here.

Chris Simms said people he's talked to have mentioned major character concerns surrounding Isaiah Bond. He said he didn't know all the details but had heard it was "really bad." I've seen a couple other rumors along the same lines. It's odd that we're openly showing so much interest in him if that's true because usually we shy away from that type of player. Smokescreen?

Every team enters the draft with a glaring need at at least one position. That's inevitable. Baltimore desperately needs a CB across from Wiggins (assuming Humphrey is staying in the slot). KC desperately needs OL help. Cincy desperately needs help pretty much everywhere except QB and WR. There's no way you are going to plug holes at every position in FA with teams making it a point to lock up their own good players. I think people take the wrong lesson away from 2022. I know the common narrative is that we went in desperate at CB and that led to us forcing a bad pick. Me, I think we just misevaluated the player and nothing else needs to be said about it. I have no qualms about entering this draft with a need at CB. Beane needs to select a starting caliber player, that's his job.

FWIW Alpha I am not just generalizing. As you know I am very much in favor of adding WR talent. To the point that when I evaluate a WR prospect I am looking for reasons to fall in love with them. Especially WRs with vertical traits which to me remains a huge need. This draft class unfortunately is very limited in that regard. The only vertical WR I've somewhat fallen in love with is Kyle Williams so that's who I'd be targeting on day three. Thornton is one that I looked at because of his vertical traits and I'm just not that impressed. I even went back and watched the video you posted on page 3. To me all I see is a guy that can run straight past college CBs because he is bigger and faster than them. That advantage won't exist at the NFL level. Sure he can run some hitches and comebacks against off coverage in a college offense designed to scheme those routes open, but that doesn't mean he is actually versatile. Metcalf did test very poorly in the agility drills. The thing is that Thornton didn't even run them... and for good reason I'm sure. To me he is a pure straight liner and he isn't a special enough athlete to compensate for that lack of twitch, like Metcalf was/is. His size/speed combo is very good but it's not truly elite. His vertical jump was below average. He is a great college athlete but nothing NFL CBs are going to have difficulty handling since they won't really have to worry about covering a diverse route tree. And before we start throwing around comparisons to Metcalf and BTJ, let's acknowledge that Thornton is not close to that caliber of prospect. The consensus mock draft database has him in the 6th round... I know the consensus mock draft is not gospel but that tells you something. If he becomes even Marquez Valdes-Scantling at the next level that will be considered a positive outcome. So if we want to draft him on late day three with the intention of stashing him on the PS I'm fine with that but I'm not expecting much.

Metcalf was a generational athlete... There's a reason he went as high as he did, and would have gone much higher if not for medical flags. Guys like Thornton come out every year which is why he's a projected day three pick. He's going to find it much harder to blaze by DBs in the NFL where everyone is bigger and stronger. I wouldn't mind drafting him in round 5 but again I struggle to place him on the roster since he doesn't play special teams and has a very specific skill set that may not even translate.

To be a one trick pony downfield WR you need to be a generational athlete like DK Metcalf was coming out. Pickens has made it work too but he has an otherworldly combination of body control and hands. I don't see that with Thornton. He kind of reminds me of Bryan Edwards, same type of linear skill set with good but not generational contested catch ability. I remember Edwards was a popular prospect amongst Bills fans but he never did anything.

I was told we didn't even make an offer to Douglas and that there is zero interest in a reunion. What I haven't heard but what I suspect is that Douglas has way over-valued himself and he needs to be more realistic about his tape last year if he wants to sign anywhere. Cooper I haven't heard anything. I know Jeremy Fowler reported a while back that neither side was opposed to a reunion if it made sense. At this point I think he'll wait until after the draft and sign with a team desperate for a WR. Maybe that will be us depending on how the board falls.

My concern with a WR like him is he will always be a pure straight liner and it's hard to roster players like that who have such a limited skill set. Seemingly every year you get these day three WRs who are pure size and speed prospects, and fans always fall in love with them, but I can't remember the last one that amounted to anything. You'd think after 4 years of college he would have added more to his repertoire if he had it in him.

I hope so. Getting the Pats early with a new coaching staff and a young QB and their best WR still working back from an ACL tear, that is the best case scenario.

Well there is a difference between FA signings and rookie deal extensions. Players that enter FA are 99% of the time taking the most money offered. Players signing a year early on their rookie deal are accepting a little less than market value to protect themselves against injury over that final year.

There goes the theory that the RB market is catching up to the WR market. An over 30 WR coming off an ACL tear is getting a higher AAV than Saquon Barkley. The position really is THAT important.

I've grown to like Bond, he makes Curtis Samuel kind of redundant but it's not like Samuel did anything last year to prevent us from drafting a similar skill set. Higgins too I'd be very happy with but like you said he's not likely to be there. Is #62 too early to draft Kyle Williams? He's really the archetype of what I'm looking for in this draft. Most mocks have him as a 4th rounder but who knows how teams have these guys graded. His talent certainly jumps off the screen.

Yeah he's not the type of WR I'm interested in to fill out our room. Either a pure outside separator or a vertical threat, ideally both. Burden is another slot YAC guy. Reminds me of Laviska Shenault coming out, or Treylon Burks. There's a narrow path to success for that archetype of WR. In general I don't see any WRs that would excite me with our 1st round pick. None of the realistic options really fit what we need. I continue to believe it is a major position of need for our roster but I can't convince myself to fall in love with any of these guys. Even Matthew Golden, I like him but it feels like we'd have to pass on a potentially elite talent to reach for him at #30. At this point I'm in favor of best CB or best DL available at #30, and then take a WR with one of our 2nd round picks where the value matches up better.

He'll be off our board if this is true.

I get Elam vibes from Thomas... He has the same concerns. Below average route anticipation and ability to drive on routes, lack of hip fluidity leading to issues with coverage transitions, handsy which will mean penalties in the NFL, good when he can press and get his hands on but inconsistent in any other situation. I have no interest in that experiment again. Revel and Hairston still strike me as the cleanest fits for our scheme. The more time that passes the more I really like Hairston in particular. When you watch some of his tape he has an elite ability to drive on routes because of his natural speed and his instincts. In the modern NFL where quick game passing has become so important, I think this trait needs to be weighed more heavily.

Kyle Williams is my new favorite 4th round target. He gives us a vertical threat that doesn't currently exist on the roster. Early on we could use him like Denver uses Marvin Mims and there is upside to become a legit top 2 outside option.

We definitely could have afforded Metcalf. No question. Pittsburgh didn't even use any void years. If we had used one and otherwise set up the contract in the exact same way they did, we could have converted his 2026 base salary to a signing bonus to magically bring the $31M cap hit down to $11M. And then you do the same thing in future years, kicking the can down the road as close to Allen's retirement as possible. By the time the full bill comes due the salary cap is likely $100M higher than it is today and the large dead cap we'd be left with wouldn't really matter. Beane wasn't willing to meet the draft capital required to beat Pittsburgh's 2nd, that's all.

Chris Simms put out his top 5 WR rankings. As usual they're quite different from the consensus: As a point of reference, Simms last year went viral for ranking Brian Thomas 2nd over Harrison and Odunze. Naturally he is taking victory laps over that prediction. But he also once left both Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson out of his top 5, so take his bold rankings for what they're worth. This list did prompt me to look more into Kyle Williams. I now really like him as a high 4th or even late 3rd round option if we trade up. He's somewhat of a one year wonder and a bit of an older prospect, but he would give our WR room a vertical threat that doesn't currently exist on the roster. His separation and YAC ability are for real - he has rare acceleration out of route breaks and after catching the ball. He does a good job setting his CB up with footwork and head fakes to create sudden vertical separation. Of course there are a few weaknesses which is why he is projected as a 4th rounder. His frame may make it difficult to get through press coverage so there is a concern he would be a slot only at the next level. He is a body catcher so drops pop up more frequently than you'd like. He is not really functional as a run blocker. He has a tendency to drift upfield into coverage instead of coming back to the ball and in general lacks some of the precision that you need to be a high volume target in the NFL. There is certainly a lot of refinement needed but early in his career he could at least be a strategically deployed deep and YAC threat, almost like how the Broncos have used Marvin Mims, and there is a lot of upside to get excited about.

Those were Tre White's weaknesses coming out too, and they remained his weaknesses in the NFL but it didn't stop him from becoming a star in our defense. I think Hairston is actually a perfect fit for us. He doesn't allow a lot of separation and anticipates routes well. Plus he is a lot more athletic than Tre was. Might be hindsight but honestly he seems like a much better prospect than Elam was coming out, seemingly doesn't have the same transition issues that kept Elam off the field and just seems like a more natural football player.

As always I would be patient to see how the player works out but Grant does not get me excited, although I can definitely see us taking him if he's there. He seems like the less freaky version of Jordan Davis and Davis has been disappointing relative to the pick spent on him. He's become just a rotational DT and most Eagles fans and analysts want them to decline his 5th year option. I know Grant will write his own story but it just feels very uncommon for that type of DT to become a foundational piece in this day and age. We struggle to find difference makers, and the path to being that caliber of player as a 1T is really limited. In general I'm pretty meh overall on the options that will likely be available to us. Which fits the narrative on the class - feels like there's limited top end talent but a ton of 2nd round talents so hopefully we can find a way to get 3 of them. In past years I would have at least one draft crush, this year I really don't, I have some preferred outcomes but nothing I'm married to. If the draft goes as your mock did, I would be most in favor of Shavon Revel. Mainly because he seems like the one potential true difference maker that still exists on the board. I want a high ceiling with our 1st pick. We'd have to be patient given his ACL and his relative raw-ness but the ceiling is undeniable. McDermott could turn that length and that speed into a phenomenon. Egbuka also intrigues me. I'm not sure I see a sky high ceiling which makes me a bit less enthused, but he fits what our WR room needs which is a smart technician that can get open and make himself available to his QB and be trusted to catch the ball. I wish he had more long speed, I wish he projected more cleanly to the outside, but he's talented enough that he could become a Stefon Diggs type pretty early in his career if everything goes well.

It isn't a relevant question at all. The only relevant questions are about the evidence. Whoever investigates this crime is not going to investigate why the women waited, they are going to investigate evidence from that time. If there is a record of the women meeting with Columbia administrators and getting shunned, that will be taken into account. If the women told friends about the crime back when they happened and those friends come forward, that will be taken into account. If none of those pieces of evidence exist, that will be taken into account in Wiley's favor. The only question that won't be taken into account is the one you're exclusively focused on.

Here's a question - if Jihaad Campbell slides because of his shoulder surgery, should we take him? It could be an 8-9 month recovery so he might miss a good portion of his rookie season, and torn labrums are at risk of re-injury if not managed correctly. The book on him is he could be the next Micah Parsons who transitions from LB to pass rusher at the next level.