MrEpsYtown

Ok so with the Breece Hall tidbit, if Elam was gone and we took Breece, in the second the corners available when we picked were Cam Taylor-Britt and Martin Emerson. So would you rather have: Elam and Cook or Hall and Taylor-Britt/Emerson I would take Elam and Cook all day every day. JMO.

100% it is Elam. No doubt. We have been getting by with scrubs across from Tre. Having a truly talented corner with that speed and size is awesome.

Maybe more subtle like Matt “the messiah” Araiza? We used to have a guy named legatron who sucked. Schmidt maybe? Maybe legatron fits better here? Or like Araiza 1:19 says I just pinned ur ass

Yeah I agree. I think a young developing guy is way better just kind of staying on one side, at least as a tackle. For me a guard doesn't matter as much.

Looking at mocks like this, I am just so happy and relieved that we have Josh.

I think he meant that if Dion goes down they would flip Brown to the other side and bring in a RT, which is something they did last year when Dion was out.

I agree. I was responding to people who are saying "why didn't they take so and so." The simple answer is that they liked Bernard better and passed on those other guys.

Some ideas: Riley Reiff T - Perfect swing tackle who has a lot of experience and could start for you if need be. Billy Price C/G - Interior O linemen who has had a very disappointing career so far. Can play guard or center and played much better with the Giants. Trey Hopkins also makes sense as a backup IOL. Kyle Long is probably done, but is a Kromer guy from his time with the Bears. Jesse James TE - Is it finally time for this to happen? Stephen Carlson - H back type tight end Dante Pettis WR - I think there is something there. Always liked him and can compete as a return guy Will Fuller WR - He hasn't't played in a while, but he is the guy who can stretch the field, which we don't quite have in our corps right now. I know a lot of people don't like him, but I think he is a fit. Landon Collins - DB - A chance to revive his career and he could serve as a top flight #3 safety, play a ton of specials and play some heavy nickel. Collins is coming out of Ron rivera's system, so should have some knowledge about the scheme. That's all I got.

They chose Bernard over guys like Leo Chenal and Brandon Smith. So obviously they liked him better. That is the way the draft goes.

Joe Marino said something interesting in his recap, that Bernard could allow them to play more 4-3 sets as opposed to always being in that 4-2-5 front. Having Bernard and Milano as outside backers gives you enough coverage ability that you can get away with more base sets and have a stronger run defense. I thought it was a good point. Bernard could enter into a bit of a job share with Taron Johnson.

His write up on NFL.com is something else: A coach's dream, combining competitive nature, exciting versatility and elite character on and off the field. For a short-armed player with average explosiveness, Shakir puts an emphatic stamp on games. He's more football player than prototypical slot receiver and needs to prove he can handle an increase in contested catches. He can be activated from a variety of alignments with the vision, wiggle and toughness to move the chains once the ball is in his hands. He finds a way to frequently show up on the notepad when watching tape and his will to outperform the guy across from him should not be overlooked. Shakir should become a valuable piece for a creative play-caller. Impressive stuff.

Everything is on the first page. Not sure if any of them are technically official yet.

Agreed. Gaine was a pretty calming influence. So boring is sometimes better!

Gaine seems like the most un-interesting person on the planet. Maybe being in Houston crushed his soul.

I wanted either Josh. But leaned other Josh. The way he read coverages etc just had me feeling like he was the next Brady. I wanted Blaine Gabbert so bad. I really thought he was going to be the next big thing. I thought Russel Wilson was too small and I preferred Kirk Cousins. I really thought Reggie Ragland was going to be our Patrick Willis. He was here for two seconds.

Morse has only missed 2 games since he has been with us and he had an excellent year last year. He certainly started slow at the top of his contract but that stability of a veteran center who is extremely smart does a lot for a quarterback’s development. His history of concussions does not influence his play or hold back the tun game. Saffold missed four games in the last six years. His play has fallen off in some ways, but he is a massive upgrade over Feliciano and Williams. I do think depth is somewhat of a concern, but there are still bodies on free agency who have some versatility. Plus David Quessenberry signing really lengthened the depth as he can play both tackles and guard. I am a Spencer Brown fan and I do like Tommy Doyle. With Ryan Bates coming back we are in excellent shape. We could use a veteran free agent like Reilly Reiff who would be the perfect swing tackle backup. Also keep in mind that people will get cut over the next couple of weeks. On the Cody Ford thing, what is Beane supposed to say? “Look I screwed up. He blows and there is no hope for him. I really should have drafted DK Metcalf.” There is nothing wrong with seeing if Kromer, who revived the lost career of Austin Corbett, could do it again. I think we are going to be ok. I think they liked Cam Jurgens and Logan Bruss. Jurgens was gone before they picked in the 2nd and Bruss went at the end of the third. Both higher than anticipated IMO. They passed on other guys, so I don’t think the value was there for them. I suppose they could have drafted Bruss instead of Bernard, but one has to assume they had a higher grade on Bernard.

Benford’s numbers are very similar to Micah Hyde’s coming out. But I think you see what he can do corner wise before you move him to safety, but this guy seems like a very interesting player.

I agree on many of your points, but Shakir is already way ahead of Stevenson in terms or his acumen as a receiver. But Stevenson definitely has the advantage of being in an NFL program for the offseason. But I think that is the battle to watch in terms of the roster construction. I think Kumerow does too many things specials wise and offers size that they don’t really have otherwise. Not that I think he is a lock.

Travon Fuller seems pretty interesting as well. Graduate transfer from Texas A&M.

It’s early obviously but I think Stevenson will be a goner. It depends on how much they value Kumerow on special teams. Shakir does everything Stevenson does but better and even ran a faster 40.

Obviously

He looked pretty good in my re-watch of the East-West Shrine game in the DVR. Nothing earth shattering, but he looked pretty good in pass pro and got some push. Seemed like more of a position blocker, like more of a get in the way and swivel than destroying people. But not the worst pick for a developmental tackle. But this feels a little like an “Austin Proehl favor to dad” draft pick. But the guy is big and has been around the game his entire life and from all accounts is a great kid. Fun fact, dad worked under Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech a while back.

I would love to see some 4-3 under sets with Edmunds as the SAM setting the edge on the line and Milano and Bernard running to the football. Used to be a staple for the them in Carolina but have not seen it much here.

Some tidbits from SI article a linked above: The first thing to understand about Araiza is he’s not just a twig in pads. He’s 6' 1", 200 pounds and ran a 4.68 at the combine; Deakin says he would run with the skill-position group during offseason conditioning. He’s described by multiple people as a tremendous athlete, making five tackles covering his own punts (Novak is trying to rein that part of Araiza’s game in as to preserve his longevity). He’s a football player who happens to be able to punt, and that’s part of the reason he didn’t punt early on at SDSU…. The second thing to understand about Araiza is he’s a punting wonk. Be careful asking him about his craft unless you’re prepared to get a lengthy crash course on the topic. He’s shortening his steps to get more under the ball at impact, increasing his hang times. He’s shortening how far he drops the ball from his body as well. “The swing path is like a crescent, so [dropping it closer to the body] changes where it is in that crescent,” Araiza says. “When you’re hitting the ball, the ball’s coming out more as a line drive, whereas the shorter the arms are, the ball gets a lot higher.” He describes hitting a good punt as understanding where the ball is in space and matching your foot up to it as the ball moves on the axis of direction (right, left, up or down). Even though the ball is dropping maybe 12 inches in the air from his hands to his foot, little things can change where it goes as it travels downfield. A drop to the right of his foot means the ball is likely going to end up to the right of his target. Highly recommended read. https://www.si.com/.amp/nfl/2022/04/22/matt-araiza-nfl-draft-viral-punter

Watching the East-West shrine game on my DVR. Spector is aggressive, all over the field, but I have seen a bunch of him over pursuing. Maybe he was supposed to force things back inside. 🤷‍♂️Playing some in the middle and in nickel. Looks pretty good in coverage. Looks like he is making the calls and getting guys lined up. Defintely intriguing. It’s an all star game, bit I figure I’d focus in on him. Probably not beating out Matekevich or Dodson, but a shot to make it over guys like Andre Smith imo.