Mock Drafts & Draft Prospects

[syd]

@tiamat63 said:

As expected - trench heavy. 

i am  hoping O-LINE we really need to shread some dollars there. And of course Depth.

[tiamat63]

@flugel said:

Thanks! That might work Friday.  I'll let you know later in the week. 

I'll be on tonight, for Flugs and whomever else might want to join.  Around 8:15pm EST.  

Again, doesn't require anything special on the end of anyone else.  I host, share my screen, we all watch along and give our critique and thoughts.   Jaylan Ford is on deck tonight and we'll all be going in with a fresh template.  Or, at least, I will.  I've never really watched him before.  

Link to the discord channel. 

https://discord.gg/RKCSxEAV

[TexasAg1969]

@tiamat63 said:

As expected - trench heavy. 

Yep. Exactly what I expected now that we signed some LBs.

[Flugel]

@tiamat63 said:

I'll be on tonight, for Flugs and whomever else might want to join.  Around 8:15pm EST.  

Again, doesn't require anything special on the end of anyone else.  I host, share my screen, we all watch along and give our critique and thoughts.   Jaylan Ford is on deck tonight and we'll all be going in with a fresh template.  Or, at least, I will.  I've never really watched him before.  

Link to the discord channel. 

https://discord.gg/RKCSxEAV

Thanks for setting that up and watching that with me T!   I wish I could say Jaylan Ford gave us something exciting to watch. I overrated the crap out of him from things I read in 2 Draft Magazines .  Having said that, Lindy's Magazine has him as a 4th-5th round projection which seems more accurate than Athlon's 3rd round projection.  The stats looked good in the mag but we watched the matchup of their win against Alabama; and he didn't live up to what I was expecting at all.  Then we watched some of the matchup of their loss against Oklahoma and it was more of the same. I really WANTED to see guy that was good against the pass because we really need a MLB/ILB that can do that while JOK does his thing at OLB. 

Cedric Gray, Payton Wilson and Jeremiah Trotter are higher rated ILBers in Lindy's.  They also have Colson listed as an OLB but could play inside.  The concerns about Wilson are 2 ACL injuries: 1 from 2017 (high school) and tore it again in June of 2018.  He's also had both shoulders injured and surgically repaired in college.  All that being the case before the 2023 season, guess what he did in only 12 games in 2023?   He had 138 tackles, 17.5 Tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 10 QB hits, 3 INTs, 6 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries.  Then he lit it up at the combines in his 6-4 238lbs frame.  It'll be interesting to see who is left when we're drafting.  Yeah, we signed 2 LBers but one is from the Philly defense had considerable trouble defending short passes in the hook zones.  The other LBer (Bush) had a major injury in Pittsburgh that he never really recovered well enough from to live up to their expectation.  LBer is still a need IMO.

I think we're looking at drafting these needs in random order: WR, OL, LB, DL, CB.   While Safety isn't a pressing need - we've seen Ed Reed, Pollyneedsahaircut and now Kyle Hamilton reminding us how that position can be a game changer if you have the right guy back there.  And we all know Denzel usually misses games to injury, which could get complicated in a hurry if we lose anyone else.  Going to an all you can eat buffet on a diet (only 5 draft picks) can be a big tease...

[tiamat63]

@flugel said:

Thanks for setting that up and watching that with me T!   I wish I could say Jaylan Ford gave us something exciting to watch. I overrated the crap out of him from things I read in 2 Draft Magazines . 

All good, buddy.  I like generating my own knowledge and doing those watches, learned quite a bit.  Not only about Jaylan but the Texas defense as a whole.      

@flugel said:

Having said that, Lindy's Magazine has him as a 4th-5th round projection which seems more accurate than Athlon's 3rd round projection. 

4th-5th feels right.  But it's a weak LB class, he might be bumped up just based on that alone.

[ballpeen]

@gumby73 said:

All the players that are pending free agents, after the 2024 season have been removed from this chart. This gives us a indication of position rooms where they have the most need to draft someone and prepare for the future.

The best teams in the NFL will draft a year in advance so they aren't relying on a rookie to be a role player, give them a year in the system to develop.

1.) Add Jerry Jeudy to WR's

2.) All other players have expiring contracts or on 1 year expiring contracts after 2024. Except listed

3.) Key contracts would fall on Chubb/ Cooper/ Newsome/ Wills & JOK

 Browns could Draft BPA in many positions 

I agree.  I think we will be drafting more for next year than this year.  Whoever we draft probably isn't playing a whole lot but might in 2025.

Berry isn't addressing needs this year with drafted or signed rookies.  He fills them with vets on 1-2 year deals.  He seems to be drafting for future needs giving the rooks a year to learn  the NFL and team system.

We are finally at a point where it should be.  If you are expecting a rookie to immediately fill a key role you are just gambling.

That isn't a healthy place to be.

[syd]

Browns Bring in Versatile OT Prospect as One of 30 Visits

[syd]

Browns host run-stuffing DT on 2024 NFL draft top-30 visit

[syd]

Browns NFL Draft Profile: WR Malachi Corley

[syd]

• Browns NFL Draft Profile: OT Blake Fisher

  via Dawgs By Nature

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  Cleveland Browns

  Browns: Clemson DT Ruke Orhorhoro most frequent 2024 NFL draft prospect mocked

  via Browns Wire

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  Cleveland Browns

  Browns in attendance for WR Xavier Weaver's Pro Day last week

[tiamat63]

@dutch-oven

3 full games in of All-22 re: Colson.   I'm hot and cold, which best describes his game.  

 Solid size, good enough athlete, surprisingly better in coverage than I expected.  Really understood where to leverage himself in his assignments and zones vis a vis the coverage call and how he read things.   Good feel for helping to minimize those 'grey' areas.       

 Downside? His inconsistency in the running game.   When you talk about wanting a compliment to JOK, you mean that guy in the middle who takes on leads, or sheds and gets hands on ball carriers where young JOK can clean things up (fill/force)  That's where he lacks.   Despite my praise of his coverage, I saw UM take him off the field in nickel and dime situations pretty frequently in favor of #23... whomever that is, pretty often.   Which was sort of a shocker if that's your defensive heartbeat along the front 7.   

 I digress, I don't see the compliment I believe you're looking for.   His processing hot and cold was against QB centric running games and also not against them.    Sideline to sideline he moves well, decent enough tackling form but can lose that when pressing a clear gap, breaking down and attacking a QB or RB.  You don't see much of that 'enforcer', and he has a ton of assist tackles on his resume'.  

 Overall, I just go full 'meh' with this LB class so far.   Rankings have Colson anywhere between the 4th and 8th best at his position, which makes him a *late* day 2 pick.  More comfortably for my tastes an early day 3 pick.  

RE: JJ McCarthy.  Holy fuck, I really never sat down to watch the passing structure of the UM air game, but it was pretty simple and straight forward.  A handful of concepts they used ranging from Y-pop RPO's, classic mesh, then misdirection setups to attack the perimeter.   But nothing complex. Have to credit the Oline and the running game for being the engine behind that car.    The Bama game was rather standout to me, because the overwhelming majority of what I saw was a  QB being setup for 1a and 1b being his legs.  Simple motions against Saban's well understood coverage designs, the biggest being against the single high, were what they found the most success with.        Not a volume shooter, and when a couple of the downfield developing shots that you would consider the NFL throws were there, they weren't taken.   Questionable ball placement and timing at the numbers and odd breaking routes.   When he throws errant, he tends to miss high... which is about the worst you can do when throwing.   His footwork in comparison to his follow through needs to be cleaned up SO much, which is the cause of a lot of his inaccuracies.  

 You hear about the work ethic, and that's great.   Hard work and leadership are appreciated.  But there have been hundreds of QB in the last decade that have come and gone, most for a cup of coffee, that are hardworking and have "leadership".   If those are the first two traits and the one's you talk about most when discussing a signal caller, then you're going backwards in your eval and leaning on the cliche's for your foundation.  

 JJ is physically capable and has decent size for the QB spot.  But at his current floor, he needs a ton of development.  A floor that, in no way, justifies a 1st round pick at this moment.   If the market values him as such, then like a stock, I'm going to put money on shorting it because this particular stock *should* drop, if it isn't being artificially inflated.  

edit: There is a kid from Bama, Justin Eboigbe,  IDL... that has caught a bit of my eye.  Plays primarily a 4/4i tech in Bama's odd fronts and some 5tech.  Looks really out of place doing it for what they ask of him.     Does some two gapping and such at times.   Gives the feel of a kid who could thrive in Schwartz' systems.

[syd]

 Browns

Browns mock drafts: Data from simulator identifies trends

[Dutch Oven]

@syd said:

 Browns

Browns mock drafts: Data from simulator identifies trends

Makes sense... it has DTackle, OTackle, Linebacker and Wide Receiver as our top needs, and that tracks with what we all seem to be focusing on overall. 

Less than two weeks away!

[tiamat63]

Has anyone actually watched Payton Wilson, out of curiosity?   Highlight videos don't count...

I've yet to, so I'm asking an honest question.

[Dutch Oven]

@tiamat63 said:

Has anyone actually watched Payton Wilson, out of curiosity?   Highlight videos don't count...

I've yet to, so I'm asking an honest question.

It's funny you ask this, because after you shot down my Junior Colson love like some random girl at a Kent bar 20 years ago, I was going to ask you about this guy as a possible option. 

[tiamat63]

@dutch-oven said:

It's funny you ask this, because after you shot down my Junior Colson love like some random girl at a Kent bar 20 years ago, I was going to ask you about this guy as a possible option. 

I have a little time before dinner, so I'll be in the machine shop doing some film work on him.    There's several cutups of him on YT, the first one against UConn.  I'll start there.  

[syd]

[gumby73]

@dutch-oven said:

because after you shot down my Junior Colson love like some random girl at a Kent bar 20 years ago

   golden flashes.. three HS friends had my 25th birthday party at Ray's Place while attending Kent. nice small college town back 35 years ago. Got back to Toledo 2 days later ?. I'd image Ray's never closed a single day during Covid : ) 

@tiamat63 said:

There's several cutups of him on YT, the first one against UConn.  I'll start there.  

These days... YT is all we get for free.. Junkies miss the draft site that had draftees full snaps of games. Sites name escapes me from a few years back ?

I've seen PW play live in 3 games.. UNC/ Clemson/ ND.. The comparisons to LB Blake Martinez coming out of Stanford, may not be to far off ? But, the pro's got to get Wilson to add some good upper bulk. 138 tackles/ at times adding his knee brace to finish games? Loves the game & guts ! 

LB class may have it's weakness? But, 

Colson & Wilson are not that far behind, what Jack Campbell did in his college days verse pass/run percentages at Iowa  https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/stats/CD/LB/1/2024

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	TACKLING	PASS RUSH	RUN DEFENSE	COVERAGE	RATING
1	Jack Campbell	LB		90	69	85	92	87.6

Payton Wilson

LB

91

75

83

88

85.8

Junior Colson

LB

96

68

84

83

86.2

[Dutch Oven]

@gumby73 said:

   golden flashes.. three HS friends had my 25th birthday party at Ray's Place while attending Kent. nice small college town back 35 years ago. Got back to Toledo 2 days later ?. I'd image Ray's never closed a single day during Covid : )      

Oh yes, Ray's Place...

Two of my favorite "Just Missed A Really Good Time" stories center around Ray's.

First, my buddy was out one night and decided to leave Ray's to go to another bar. Minutes later Drew Carey walks in, has the manager shut the doors and everyone already in the bar drank for free on Carey the rest of the night. 

Second, I was at the Loft years later and the group I was with piece-meal decided to go down to Ray's. I was one of the last to leave, and there was a melee outside the bar's front door. I decided to leave when the cops rolled up, and minutes later two girls from the group who stuck around to witness the shenanigans come into Ray's and tells us that one of the guys in the fight got tasered by the cops. Damn it, I always wanted to see the Po-Po get all tasery. 

[Dutch Oven]

One week, party people!