Yeah the problem with hard and fast plans like this is it doesn’t let you stay fluid.
Like, I think there’s a chance Caleb Downs runs a 4.5 and falls. IF we can add a guy like that to our defense, he’ll change everything, needs be damned. And when/if Branch comes back, we’ll have a secondary capable of stopping anyone. I’d be ALL FOR taking him.
And of course if you go Downs early, you have to pivot everywhere else.
I’m absolutely on board taking a top 5 player in the draft. But I don’t think it’s gonna happen. The Kyle Hamilton fall for a prospect like that is unlikely to happen again.
I think it can almost be completely ruled out.
Safeties fall though, every year. Not just Hamilton but Derwin James and even Branch was considered a 1st rounder at this point. IF he crushes his testing he might keep his stock high, but he’s not a freak athlete on tape imo. A bit like Hamilton and Branch. Elite instincts make them look like better athletes than they are.
I am officially conditioned by Brads drafting. I can no longer let my mind drift into the “this” position in “this” round. Not even when “this” position is a strength in this year’s draft.
They have a much smaller pool of players than we do. There are certainly DEs and OTs that fit their criteria, but there’s no guarantee they’re available when they’re picking.
They’ll hedge a bit in the cheap FA period, but there’s no preconceived notions of picking specific positions in specific rounds.
I believe that both Branch and Kerby will meet with Pai Mei this offseason to begin their training and will be 100% healthy looking for blood!
Arnold will come back 100%, Raekstraw will finally be ready to go and take that nickel spot, and Reed will shutting it down after being fully healthy.
So there was no need to mention DB’s.
Sure but it’s rare for a Safety to be one of the top 5 talents in a draft. I haven’t looked at much yet, but everything I’ve seen has been a consensus top player. Thats why I compared him to Kyle Hamilton. I don’t recall just how high Derwin’s predraft hype was, but branch was closer to top 20 than top 10.
I agree. Nick Emmanwori, who literally tested off the charts for safeties, made it to the 2nd round this year. He has been a great player for Seattle, so it wasn’t just a workout warrior who can’t play football guy.
So issue now for getting OLine this draft
Both trapillo and Ekonku (bears and panthers LT) tore their patellar tendons
Good thing we have a higher pick bur LOTS of teams looking for Oline help rn
I am not sure of the full recovery time, but Josh Simmons from the Chiefs tore his petellar tendon with OSU in October, and started the season on time with the Chiefs just as a reference point.
That’s why I don’t want to wait until round 2. I also feel like a OT prospect, who doesn’t have to start right away, can learn behind a pros pro. Less pressure to live up to the 1st round pedigree from the jump. Who better to emulate and learn from than Penei and Decker.
You can’t really pay for an OT3…the price is still going to be ridiculous. But you can pay for a starting Edge. And it’s obvious this team has to have a OLine if we want to return to 2023-24 form.
Its about a year
so they might miss all of next year
I think everyone’s preference is for a tackle, but it’s a really, really bad year for it imo (and I’m not a big fan of Fano either). And it’s not just me, the consensus is that it’s a bad tackle class. You can’t force a position to be there. And if you look at the history of 2nd round tackles, well, it’s bleak af. Yes, they CAN hit and you shouldn’t avoid the position because of it (I really like Tiernan as a day 2 guy to be honest), but the odds of getting anything out of it, historically, is slim to none.
You may end up being right. But it’s certainly within the realm of possibility, given the history of the position, that he drops. The last safety to go top ten was Jamal Adams and I think everyone agrees he wasn’t worth it (despite the fact that the Jets somehow managed to get good value for him). Downs is an elite prospect, but like Hamilton, Branch and Derwin he will be nitpicked to death when he doesn’t test like a freak (and imo, he won’t). I would bet good money, right now, that he doesn’t go top ten. And once he drops out of the top ten there’s no telling where he goes.
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Simmons was considered an elite athlete for a OLT…
but Trapillo was no in the same ballpark.
If his torn patellar tendon causes Trapillo to lose some bend and agility… it could keep him from returning to a starting caliber player.
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I think Lomu is prolly one of the few 1st round graded Tackles in the draft, though, hes absolutely gonna get his feet wet in his first year
2nd year is when he should be hitting the ground running
If even 50 percent of those things came true I’d be happy.
If that is true that it’s considered a bad tackle class, that’s even more reason to suggest that Downs goes top 10. That’s a major position to potentially not have any go top 10.
Lomu will probably go early due to his ceiling, but yeah, he needs to gain a lot of strength imo. Not that he can’t, he’s still pretty young, but generally you like your highly-drafted tackles to hit the ground running.
I think, going by the mocks, that the WRs going early and pushing others down, taking the place of the tackles. Tate, Tyson and Lemon will all go very early.
I also think a couple of tackles WILL go. Lomu is the sort of high-ceiling guy who tends to get drafted early, but he’s an upside prospect who needs to develop (he’s still young and needs to gain strength), where we need a guy who hits the ground running, especially that high. Fano will probably go high as well, but I’ve already mentioned how I don’t think he’s that great. I think if he was in that great tackle class two years ago, he might go in the 2nd.
Mauigoa is the one guy I really think would be worth the value, but there’s a chance he might not be able to hold up at RT. He would also require shifting Penei to the left as he is NOT a LT. He’s a RT/iOL, which honestly is the same as Frazier. He’s a much better prospect, but he doesn’t really offer us more flexibility with what we can do. His ceiling is sky high as an iOL prospect though. Best in the league potential.
There are plenty of mocks out there right now showing Downs dropping, so it’s not like it’s an out of nowhere take. Hell I just listened to one where the Vikings took him the pick after us (gag). We took Mauigoa in that one so I wouldn’t be too broken up, but man I’d hate for Downs to end up in Minnesota.
I am guessing the hit rate on 1st vs 2nd round OTs is higher than 1st vs 2nd DE’s. Completely anecdotal but that’s a round you often see great DEs come out of.