2023 Draft - Do you 100% believe in any of these CBs or DTs…?

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I’ve been saying for months that this might be the worst pre-draft season for mocks and “big-boards” that I have ever seen…. Ever!

It feels like many held on wayyyy too long to guys who simply didn’t have either the stats, tape, or athleticism to justify being top picks….

I guess it’s possible the M Murphy could run a 4.5 and slide back up, but guys like Ringo, N Sewell, J Battle, T Simpson, Boutte, C Smith, Bresee, Mayer seem like they are free falling right?

Simpson never really made plays consistently, Cam gambled wrong a lot, Ringo was called out as stiff and not smooth in here (thats2… Curious) and I still don’t know what Boutte ever did to be rated highly….no size, stats, speed?

Anyway…. now we’ve seen some guys come seemingly out of left field- Van Ness, Adebawore, Kancy, Henley, Cancy, and even Witherspoon and Branch…. These guys shot up because their 2022 film dictated that they were better than counterparts like J Roy and Ringo (Kancy and Spoon)….

  • I won’t call anyone else but myself out for this….
  1. Read the prospect rankings…
  2. Click on the profile for height/weight “recruit stars”
  3. Check out the stats, and see if productive
  4. Google the players highlights
  5. Try to watch a game or three from players that garnered interest…

So Kancey for example was an undersized 3T with great production, and some pretty solid highlights. Being 6’1” 280, and a productive DT from Pitt raised eyebrows in here. He’s been a favorite in Den mocks for months…… as a late 2nd, and even 3rd rounder…. We have dismissed Bresee, Roy, Ika, and maybe even Mazi as fits…. So it’s come down to-

  1. Carter
  2. Kancey
  3. Adebawore
  4. K Benton
  5. Bresee
  6. Mazi
  7. Ika

For most posters…. Could it be that we want a 6-10 sack DT so badly that we’ve scoured the mocks, found the guys who had double digit TFL and at least 4-5 sacks last year… and zeroed in?

In reality-

  1. there is a guy who is facing legal issues, character concerns, and motor and commitment to football questions from many angles

  2. A guy who is smaller framed, lighter, and not nearly as productive or powerful as Donald… guys like Donald and Atkins certainly have proven that 285- 290 pound DTs can indeed be productive- but these are guys who were in the top 5-6 in bench press for DL in nfl history too. Donald was stronger than Suh!!!

  3. A DE… that a few guys in here noticed could carry 280-290 pretty well at 6’2” and then he blazed the 40 at 4.49 and had nfl OT arms… that 37.5” vertical is intriguing too…. Will he play inside effectively? If so this is our guy…

  4. A NT/DT in Benton that by default ended up a high second rounder in most of our mocks now…. He had a nice senior bowl… solid combine… respectable production and tape…. Is he as good or better than Alim? Do we need him to be, or is another Alim sufficient?

  5. Injury recovery, personal tragedy, etc we’re all justifications for a seriously underwhelming career at Clemson… but then Bresee showed up at the combine looking like a dough boy- benched like a RB at 300 pounds, and while his 4.86 forty was solid, it didn’t jump off the page. Brewer is a kind of weak, somewhat fast, and somewhat short armed DT who didn’t produce much the last 2 years.

  6. Mazi is a chiseled 330…. I expect him to run and do well in the drills at his pro day, and that could move him up. Not many guys this big, strong, quick etc have such little production. Is he a tricked out 1 tech? Like Carter, was he simply asked to anchor and this stifled his production, but it’s there if he wants/needs it?

  7. Ika- went from a guy who could move for a big guy, to just a big guy…. He looks more like a 4th or 5th round rotational NT at this point-

What about….

Spoon- size and speed?
Gonzo- one year tape?
Porter- injuries and lack of production, grabby
Forbes- 166 pounds
Cam Smith- too aggressive
G Williams- injury- Charlie Jones tape
Ringo- stiff, lease athlete than expected from him
Phillips- size and speed
Ricks- play and health

My point? Let’s say we signed Jamel Dean and Dremont Jones over Anzalone, Harris, Moseley, Comish, and Montgomery…. Hypothetically- we’d still be off by 5M and 3 roster spots but……

We wouldn’t even be thinking about CB or DT right? Witherspoon nor Kancy would even register. Its possible Carter and Gonzalez still would as they have elite traits too…

Just some thoughts

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I am personally our on Kancey at 18. If we dropped down into the late 1st I think he starts to come into the picture, his size just makes him too big a risk for me.

I would happily take Adebawore or Benton with our first 2nd round pick and be very happy. Grab a veteran DT like Harris/Cox/Rankins/Wormley/Gaines and now you have four guys to run through the rotation, with guys like Paschal/Cominsky dropping down in pass downs.

Carter could not be a better fit physically for what we need, I just think the Lions won’t go down that road.

As for CB, we still need to add there. Sutton is a long term piece. I think this staff loves Jacobs and he will stick around through a 2nd contract when all is said and done. Moseley and Okudah could be long term options, or not here at all in 2024. We need another talented CB waiting in the wings. Whether that is a guy on Day 1 or Day 2 doesn’t matter to me, but we definitely should be bringing someone else in.

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The January, February, March mock drafts by the media are more about content and clicks than being realistic.
April is when I really start to pay attention to mock drafts by media folks and even then it is certain media more than others.

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I agree on Carter, perfect fit for what this team needs, but based on a few here, sounds like he is off the Lions board.

Curious if Carter’s current saga impacted Chicago moving out of 1OA as he is a perfect fit for what they need as well.

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Great post! Kind of my point though right… So “if Carter wasn’t a douche,” or if Kancey had stronger frame and longer arms… Or if Spoon’s game was in Gonzalez’s body… then we’d have some legit top 10 CBs and DTs…

I thought Carters game and motor was a little underwhelming on film for a guy who was the #1 recruit in the country, was on the biggest stage twice, and played many games on National TV…

Name one DT in NFL history who was taken in the top 5 that was less productive than Carter…

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Well, it would just be easier for us to tell. These guys could all end up being top ten players at their positions even with their negatives, just like all the other NFL superstars who didn’t go in the top half of the 1st round of the draft.

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I’d hate to be a “Sports Journalist” and have to hype this draft class, for sure.
Oh, sure. They hype the QB’s and the “crowd” bites, but, even Carter, who is the closest thing to a “generational talent” in this class has some major red flags.
This draft is full of really good players, and that’s what you have to choose from.
There is this “theme” floating around here, “I’m not paying Goff huge money”, but, they don’t stop to realize, the next guy is a QB, too! In 4 years, you’re going to be in the same boat, with an unknown. Wash, rinse, repeat.

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Only thing I believe in 100% is Brad’n’ Dan

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95%
I love 'em, and hope they’re here for the long haul, but, they’ve missed on a few.

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as has every single other FO in the history of football.

We have the best of the best, my bro! (Best looking too)

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Yeah, as soon as I hit, “reply”. My next thought was, they’re a hell of a lot better than I would be.:laughing:

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