"Levis w/o Robinson will be telling. I like/believe that the best RB in this draft will be Jahmyr Gibbs. Sewell is likely off the board by 17 or 18, may not make it out of the top 10.
Personally, if you want to mock draft the Lions I wouldn’t have them picking higher than 10.
Not a strong class for RB’s, hopefully we won’t need one, but we should be able to shore up other positions."
Honestly, I’m surprised that Gibbs didn’t have a better year, not sure why he didn’t, but he was my favorite RB going into the 2022 season. And Levis folded but it was about much more than losing Robinson, that O lost players all over. I never thought he was all that but he fell more than I thought. Never thought our first pick would be the Ram’s and really felt we would be more competitive but not sure how that would play out in the w/l column.
This season I expect us to win the North and hopefully do well in the playoffs. Raise the floor again in the 2024 draft and keep this thing rolling. Anyway who have you guys got as the players to watch this next season. For now the one guy who I think could really kill it here is IOWA DB Cooper DeJean.
Nope, last season we had a thread re who we were watching and why. My quote from above was a response to what someone else had posted in June of 2022. I thought Gibby would be the best RB in the NCAA last season. He wasn’t, but for me what he had done at Georgia Tech was huge and I thought he’d take a bigger leap at Alabama. Similarly, I thought Levis was likely to take a step back. An example for this year would be a guy like Nix, who excelled last season, what is the likelihood for that to continue? He went from 2019 SEC freshman of the year to a serious question mark and then resurrected last season at Oregon. Can he repeat his 71.9% completion rate from last year, is he going to be a top 10 pick? I think DeJean is the Brian Branch of the 2024 draft. Who are players that you think will be at the top at their position?
Only 4 of the 8 Ohio State guys projected round 1 actually go round 1.
I can be a homer sometimes, but I think a few of our guys are being overrated right now. Denzel Burke was great as a freshman but last year he was not good. Henderson needs a bounce back year where he stays healthy to go round 1. Jack Sawyer needs to show…something…literally anything, because he hasn’t done that yet. Donovan Jackson is more of a top of round 2 guy right now which is where I think he belongs.
Marv, Emeka, and JT are my surefire good players. Mike Hall is good but he disappeared for half the year last year. If he can be more consistent he becomes a surefire first rounder.
From a homer perspective looking to see how Corum bounces back and if Donovan Edwards takes off as well, how do those two fare in UM’s backfield.
Then, JJ McCarthy, does he take a step forward, or, does the UM staff open up the offense a little to let him show what he can do.
Outside UM I want to see how the Washington QB does this season, he was a trending upward last year, does he continue.
Eh, kind of? We rotated a lot on the IDL last season with guys like Cage and Vincent getting reps as the seniors and super seniors. They’re both gone now, so Williams and Hall should get more reps. Ty Hamilton will play a lot and the Ole Miss transfer Tywone Malone will probably get some reps. Williams just seemed to not make as many plays this past season, so I didn’t notice him as much. He looked like he was getting blocked a lot easier.
I tend to target guys I think would fit needs for our team, and I don’t concentrate too much on first rounders because they get plenty of press and in 5 minutes I can get all I need to know about them. I watch a lot of college football so I look for different things that makes them over or under rated IMO. You can tell some guys are on the cusp but are being held back by their team, Kittle was that guy which made no sense that a TE at IOWA wasn’t used properly. Then there are teams whose scheme and complimentary players are a big reason for their success, people say that about Hooker for instance.
I’m with you on that. I think thatx how Holmes gets down too. Taking all factors into consideration. You may consider our team needs more than them (I think they are almost purely BLPA)…but its really smart to consider conditions they play under & how it serves them or doesn’t serve them.
Has anyone watched Malachi Corley of Western Kentucky? @CuriousHusker? Matt Miller said he’s been referred to as a combo of Deebo Samuel and AJ Brown. Sheesh if true I think we definitely need to be watching him this year.
Obligatory highlights. Pretty easy to see his toughness and aggression but don’t know that he’s as explosive as Deebo. Though on some plays he looks it, will be interesting to see how he tests.
His track times are pretty meh but I assume that’s not his game. Also, apologies to Matt Miller (or not) but I don’t really see Deebo and Brown as the same type of receiver. There is some overlap in terms of YAC skills and physicality but Brown has much, much better pure WR skills IMO but isn’t nearly the problem in tight spaces with the ball in his hands.
Right, I might have misquoted him a little heh heh. I’ve always been a shit paraphraser. He was actually quoting scouts in his article, here are the quotes:
“Here is your Deebo Samuel-type guy,” said an AFC area scout who covers Western Kentucky. “Corley is rocked-up, very elusive, and he’s carried the ball out of the backfield already. Offensive weapon is his position.”
“I could see a Deebo comp, but I see some A.J. Brown,” one NFC scout said when asked for his opinion of the 5-11, 210-pound senior. “He knows he’s stronger than you. There’s a lot of times where he runs through defenders.”
JJ Mccarthy is the guy I expect to really shine next year. I kinda hope he doesn’t declare, better chance of us drafting him in 2025 than in 2024 after just getting Hooker.
Last couple drafts have been good for the day 2/3 guys that were on my radar.
Next year IOL there’s a few that I’ll be following hard.
Beebe. k State
Zinter. U of M
Donovan Jackson OSU
…could be Jonah replacement
Will Howard has played a ton of games for them, started half his true freshman season after current Dolphin Skylar Thompson got hurt, then ended up starting quite a few games last year after Martinez got hurt. He’s definitely on pro radars:
Also Riley Leonard out of Duke and Michael Pratt out of Tulane are legit NFL prospects who should gain traction as the season progresses. Diante Lee of the Athletic has them both above McCarthy on his early board.
