theinstrumental

We got a fourth for the oldest receiver in the league. It’s honestly a pretty good return, and everyone’s concern over losing a well-past-his-prime Adam Thielen is just evidence of how far the standards of this franchise have fallen. T-Mac, Coker, and XL can carry the load. Looking forward to seeing the new-look offense.

Coker had ~80% of Thielen’s yardage last year. As a UFA, not the first option. It feels like everyone’s anchoring on that outlier stretch Thielen had two years ago. He hasn’t been in that form since. He should comfortably be behind T-Mac this year, and not such a big focus that it’s worth taking the reps from XL and Coker. And if Renfrow can give us the same vet presence, but is five years younger? Pretty easy to see how AT gets crowded out.

Thielen’s 34 years old and has topped 1,000 yards once since 2018. It’s time to stop treating him like a load-bearing player. If Renfrow can replace him in the slot, we need to trust T-Mac to become the outside player we drafted him to be and see if we can get anything for Thielen.

Linebacker’s bad, and we’re going to keep having surprise weak spots pop up like this until we string a few decent drafts together. Fortunately, I really like this draft, and think Wallace has a chance to come in and keep the ship afloat, which would make last year’s draft a hit as well.

If we’re looking at a vet with a low ceiling AND a low floor, why not just roll with the young guys? We’re not winning a Super Bowl this year. It’s ok to develop some talent.

I definitely wouldn’t want to pay him long-term money with his inability to get on the field. I’m not sure if we’re good enough to start picking up vets on prove-it deals where they have all the upside, but I wouldn’t hate seeing what Evero’s defense looks like with some real players on it. Feels like we’re not going to get that answer again this year given how young the main edge rushers are and how thin we are at corner.

The three-cone doesn't stand out for a pass-rush prospect, but the height/weight/speed is crazy. Could be an awesome special teamer immediately at the very least.

YAC isn't the only way to be a threat. Thielen's ADOT was 11 yards last year. He's stressing a defense beyond its first level. Renfrow's 2023 ADOT was 5.6 yards. He's settling into a soft spot under a zone and the defense bets that they can rally and tackle before he gets to the marker. That kind of popgun slot receiver play is fine, but we should hope to be able to find that ability in someone who can also bring another skill, whether that's a vertical threat, or some jet sweep/screen game YAC ability, or even just being very large and blocking well. Every time we trot Renfrow out there, we limit what the defense has to worry about.

I don’t get it. He doesn’t threaten a defense at this point. He just takes what they want to give him. Maybe we’re playing 4D chess with Tepper’s money and are bringing him in to show the young guys what’s possible with great footwork? Trying him out as a coach-in-waiting? Otherwise…meh.

I think we’ve learned that if we’re relying on David Moore, we’ve got a problem. Youth can be a problem, too, but at least it promises to fix itself with time.

It’s also just possible that someone gets hurt or he’s a priority practice squad guy and we spent the money to make sure we got him in camp and familiar with the offense. We’ve got the wealthy owner, might as well use the money to improve things on the margins.

“Damn, we had no idea we’d crush the draft this hard, you guys want one of our extra edge guys?”

Expensive, though. They're already out next year's first and fifth.

Wonder if Cade Mays' brother's on the priority UDFA list.

I'm sick of hearing revisionist Trey Smith stuff. That was 100% a medical eval. If the doctors took him off the board, there's no reason to complain about it. Glad his career worked out, but I'm not second-guessing a pulmonologist.

His productivity was capped by a barely NFL-caliber QB, too

MORE HORN

Ugh, Eagles doing always doing the smart thing.

Cam Williams, Tommi Hill, or Zy Alexander would be pretty great coming up.

This is an unbelievable RB draft, I'm glad we're not waiting for it to become a need before we take advantage of how good these guys are. Instant upgrade over the Blackshear spot. Returner, capable backup to both Chuba and Dowdle. Like it a lot.

I’m curious about Marcus Mbow. He could be a plus center if he’s smart enough. It’ll come down to how he interviewed, but it would be great to find another starter in this draft.

? He just played a season as a 4i at 280 lbs. Maybe gather from a new place.

He's got a sick spin move. Decade-long starter, hopefully.

Hell yeah, that's the right guy

That trade could be a lot worse, that's a pretty cheap move up.