DCOrange

I do think having an edge guy that can set the edge in run defense and clean things up when the initial pressure forces the QB to move is important and something that we lacked this past year. We still need that initial rusher long-term though as I don't really think that's Epenesa. Still some intriguing guys that could fit that criteria available though. I really hope we double dip on edge guys the way Tampa did with corners a couple years ago when they took Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean back to back on day 2.

Some random thoughts on the first round: 49ers made the right call (at least between he and Mac) and I'm in the money so that's always nice Not really a fan of Miami taking Waddle but not surprising they went that way and I get it, just isn't what I would have done. Phillips was a potentially great pick though. Chicago could be scary good Almost always a fan of trading down, but I wouldn't have taken Parsons in the Cowboys' shoes Hopefully this won't bite me in the future but so happy to see Mac end up being New England's guy I love Kadarius Toney and love the trade down, but I think offensive weapons was the least of the Giants' issues The Jaguars have spent so many top picks on RBs recently and the best RB they've had is the undrafted guy from last year lol Kinda nuts that Elijah Moore and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah are still on the board to start Day 2, as is my #5 QB in the class (though that isn't surprising). Lmao that clip never gets old for me

I don't really view JOK as a big nickel; he's just a really good football player where ever you line him up and one of those places you could line him up is as the nickel. To me, he's the best LB in the draft. Having said that, I'm not heartbroken we didn't take him, but I was hoping he or Elijah Moore would be the pick.

Rousseau wouldn't have been my pick personally, but I get the allure. If he develops the right way, he's a guy that can set the edge on first and second down and rush inside on 3rd down. I think the relatively disappointing things are: There were so many edge and corner guys available that we could have taken someone else and played the board a bit (but having said that, the other edge guys don't really have the versatility to kick inside that Rousseau has) Ordinarily if you're going to take a raw prospect like him, you'd like to see him be an explosive athlete and he just isn't. He's a solid athlete for sure, but you'll probably never be blown away by his burst off the edge like you might with a guy like Oweh for example. The standout parts of him athletically are his long arms and huge hands; they increase his tackle radius in a way that a lot of other guys don't have. Still a solid prospect though, and with our connections to Miami's defensive staff, I'm sure we've vetted him well and feel like he'll make the most out of what he has.

Not sure if it was posted in here already, but this is generally considered his best film and it's thrown together into a quick 5 minute video to make it an easy watch. I think they have one play in here where he isn't actually on the field, but aside from that, quick, easy, thorough film of him here.

I’m fine with the pick but his tape is disappointing when you go into it with the context of him being one of the country’s leaders in sacks. At least my gut feeling I posted a day or two was right though lol.

Based on the way the board is working, take JOK or Moore if they’re there and deal with edge and corner on day 2 IMO. Still plenty of options at those spots.

Tonight has gone about as well as I could have ever imagined.

For starters, it would be a massive cap hit. Secondly, they'd be trading the MVP and one of the best QBs of all time for a meh starter and one pick?

They basically punted on their entire 2020 draft. Backup QB, backup RB, and a healthy scratch TE with their first 3 picks.

Realistically, I don't think there is a rookie in this class that wins us a Super Bowl this year. If we do win a Super Bowl, it's because of improvements from players already on the team. I guess maybe one of the corners would be my choice if I had to pick a prospect.

I don't really do an organized draft board outside of the QBs that I do every year. Always have opinions on a decent number of prospects though

To me, Tyrod was roughly an average starting QB. I view Fields as very likely to be a better version of that at minimum with top 10 QB potential if things really click. I think that’s a safe and very good outcome.

Yep, he's been saying for awhile now that the only QB the Broncos were interested in was Trey Lance and that if he wasn't available, they had a deal in place for Bridgewater.

Not going to bother starting my own thread for it, but if you'd like to peruse the scouting reports I wrote up for this year's class (as well as the last few classes), here's a link: https://draftqbs.wordpress.com/2021-draft/overall-grades/ The short version of how I feel about each of them: Trevor Lawrence - 96 - generational type prospect, most likely comp is a poor man's Rodgers Justin Fields - 87 - high floor, high ceiling prospect, most likely comp is bigger Tyrod Taylor Trey Lance - 86 - wider range of outcomes than Fields but similarly high grade, most likely comp is what we got out of Josh Allen the first two years Zach Wilson - 84 - A tier below Fields and Lance as I just don't think his ceiling is as high, most likely comp is a less mobile Kyler Murray Kellen Mond - 79 - The range of outcomes from here on out are wider and or less exciting; I have his most likely comp as Geno Smith with the potential to be a Kaepernick type player (and perhaps in the right scheme, that could be a really valuable guy like it briefly was for Kaep) Mac Jones - 76 - meh floor, meh ceiling, most likely comp is a poor man's Andy Dalton. I have his ceiling as a Brad Johnson type, which is fine but not really what you're looking for in this era of football IMO Davis Mills - 75 - think he likely amounts to nothing (most likely comp being Josh Rosen) but an intriguing ceiling if all goes well (less combustible Jameis Winston) Kyle Trask - 67 - low floor, low ceiling, barely draftable to me. Most likely comp is Ryan Nassib and ceiling is Kyle Orton If I could go back and do it again, I think I probably made my original scale to congested so, for example, I have like 4 guys at a 79 over the past 5 drafts. I should have made it so that players like Trask would be closer to a 0 so that the grades were more spread out but I don't want to go back and change it at this point because that would feel like potentially cheating haha.

Agreed, but I think all the indications (at least that are public knowledge) is that Lance is driven like that too.

No, I couldn't find All-22 film of Coastal Carolina. I heard he wasn't as bad as the numbers look in that one though. The Houston game was probably his worst that I saw. Re: captain, from what I've heard, it's tradition to only let seniors be voted as captains but the coaches made Wilson a captain once he won the starting job.

Good stuff. Mirrored a lot of my notes as well though I think I'm definitely higher on Fields' accuracy than you. I charted him as comfortably the most accurate in the class (roughly 80% of his passes on target in the games I watched; Wilson is #2 at 73%). I noted that Fields had the ball batted at the line a weirdly high number of times as well, but you're right it was very high with Mac. I'm definitely lower on Wilson than you are, but I don't think your notes on him are off base or anything. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish scouting Kellen Mond like I had hoped; it'll probably depend on how much the second Covid shot knocks me on my ass. Hopefully I'll be fine and I'll be able to wrap his film up. So far I'm finished with the main 5 + Trask and Davis Mills.

Not sure if it's flat out not seeing them or seeing them and just not wanting to make the throw for whatever reason, but I'm talking about guys running wide open that he just doesn't throw the ball to. Very similar to what a lot of people complained about with Tyrod Taylor here. When he does let it rip, he's the most accurate passer in the class.

From Tony Pauline: Imagine feeling like you need to get a rookie that can play right away when your original plan was to start Joe Flacco at this point in his career. https://www.profootballnetwork.com/2021-nfl-draft-rumors-buzz-draft-week/

I'm not going to pretend I've watched legit full film on a lot of prospects this year outside of the QBs as I always do, but I've watched a few games of Rousseau's and his film just isn't very good, especially when he's coming off the edge. But having said that, he has some tools that don't come along every day, good production (though I don't think the numbers paint a good picture of what he really is right now) and if I recall correctly, one of the guys on their defensive staff used to work for us. I think he checks a lot of the boxes that we tend to favor.

Starting to have a gut feeling that Gregory Rousseau will be the pick unless someone unexpectedly slides.

It's an interesting idea and one that I've argued for in the past, but Baltimore is pretty much the last team that should consider doing it. You should do this when you have a coach that basically does the pre-snap work for the QB (like Shanahan and McVay) and a QB that is easily replaceable (like Garappolo and Goff). You don't do it when your QB is maybe the most difficult player in the league to replace as is the case with Lamar.

I don't think it's all that interesting to be honest. The game has evolved so much from where it was in the past. Running QBs were barely even a thing up until the past 10 or so years and there's never really been a QB like Lamar before so obviously there's also never been a super bowl winner like Lamar before. None of that means Lamar is incapable of winning a Super Bowl; far worse QBs have won them. Not saying any of this to suggest Lamar should be ahead of Allen right now in these dumb rankings. I do want to see Allen match this past season's play or at least be close to it before I'd cement my opinion, but I'd lean towards Allen at this point. Allen clearly had the better season last year. Lamar clearly had the better season the previous two. Ultimately it boils down to whether or not you think this past season is more indicative of the future than the prior years were and we're all obviously hoping and feeling pretty confident that it is.

Some of these guys I'd be okay with at #30 as well, but the ones that seem to be getting mocked roughly around our range that I like are: Ifeatu Melifonwu - at least partially because it would be fun to have a Syracuse guy on the team, but I also think his skillset would be a good fit for us and the 2nd round is late enough to gamble on his upside Rondale Moore - injuries probably scare me off in the 1st round, but Day 2 would make me very happy Joseph Ossai - might be my preferred choice at #30, but seems like he's generally projected to be a mid to late 2nd round pick Brady Christenson - Just seems like kinda my type as far as OLine guys go; coming from a dominant college OLine and plays with really good technique and instincts Amari Rodgers - I'd be really happy with him in the 3rd round and probably okay with it in the 2nd. Can line up in the slot or in the backfield and return punts, good hands, really good after the catch both shaking tacklers and also just eluding them entirely.