theinstrumental

I'm fine with letting the nepotism hires go. Replace them with someone who got in on merit.

Guys the Chiefs traded a sixth round pick for Melvin Ingram at the trade deadline because the Steelers didn't think he was any good and he immediately transformed their defense. Burns and Reddick wouldn't just start on that defense, they'd be two of the four best players.

Neal > Cross > Ekwonu > Hamilton. If somehow all three of those tackles are gone then I guess we'll have to get creative, but Hamilton and Stingley are the two top-five prospects that I wouldn't be excited for at all. I could at least talk myself into Hutchinson and Thibodeaux because of the position. 

1 hour ago, t96 said:

I still am a fan of the Henderson trade. If we really want to invest cap space in improving the OL and still keep guys like Reddick and Burns long term we may have to let both Donte and Gilmore walk. Horn and Henderson could be a solid starting pair and really cheap. His upside was worth the pick and Arnold was pretty worthless to us anyways. It's tough since we wasted other draft picks on Darnold but I think this one was a good value trade for a player who's better and has more upside than anyone we'd draft with that pick anyways.

The defensive secondary was just as big a problem as the offensive was last year. We just got that fixed. We can't set that on fire just because we haven't fixed the other massive hole yet. If we want to be a man-heavy team that can cover well enough to dedicate extra bodies to stopping the run and rushing the passer--which is clearly the blueprint--then we can't just give up both dudes. Every team needs three guys who can cover. We finally have them. Let's keep them.

Hell yeah, let's hire another QB coach/passing game coordinator so that Rhule can get pissed off when we don't run the ball 35 times a game. 

It's a vet min for a young QB. Even if he ends up on the PS he still needs to be under contract. I think the powers that be still know that they're toast if they don't fix the QB room, I still expect a big change there. 

Cross is pretty good. This team still needs help just about everywhere, though. It would help more if they can move back and grab Trevor Penning, Linderbaum, or Kenyon Green and add some picks to keep building the roster. Even if Cross is great and BC slots in at guard, they'll need one more guard and still be stuck with Elflein at center. This isn't a one player fix. 

It's a pretty good unit. Also our entire defensive secondary has been gashed by injuries lately--all defenses look worse when they lose top-ten draft picks (Jaycee Horn) and the defensive backfield is made up entirely of dudes who started this year on the deep bench or on other teams. 

2 hours ago, SuperBowlBound said:

Just further proof that Matt Fool doesn't have a damn clue on evaluating OL talent. Even if he is brought back - do people trust him to pick the right OL in the draft!?

Christensen's pretty good. I actually liked the last draft. Terrace Marshall isn't working out yet but everyone liked that pick at the time. 

I don't think anyone in the world has the balls to spend a top-ten pick on defense with an offense this bad. 

I have never seen this level of fanbase hype over a rookie 6th rounder with an obvious issue (weight). I don't know if it's just because he went to Bama and became internet famous or if everyone just thinks that all a good offensive linemen needs is to be huge but at this point I hope he plays just so that we can see what happens.

31 minutes ago, AU-panther said:

I'm actually a fan of drafting O-line, just this thought around here that we have spend 4 draft picks over the next few years to get a good O-line is ludicrous.

Also you don't need an elite o-line to be successful in this league, and hardly any teams in the league has  above average starters.

Lets say we draft a LT in the 1st and move BC to guard and both above average.  Moton stays at RT and maybe Elflein stays at center.  Cheap vet for RG.

Maybe you end up with:

Above average 

Above Average

Below Average

Average

Good

Honestly that is probably an above average or even top-10 line in the league, relatively speaking.

 

 

 

 

 

Elflein is really really bad but I have been wondering lately whether it's better to spend a bunch of mid-level resources on putting together a line with no weak links or to fill the "premium" spots with two quality tackles and just deal with a hole or two in the middle.

4 hours ago, Wanderlai said:

Those type of big hauls come if someone wants to secure a QB. No real big time QBs but things may change come combine time. 

OP showed Miami trading up with no intention to get a QB. They already had Tua and wanted Waddle. There should be a deal available that keeps us in the top 15 and recoups some value. We just need to take it.

To be fair the Saints have an elite edge rusher and Christensen didn't have to deal with him at all since Cam Jordan plays on the other side. I wonder how BC would have done against him, but at the very least it looks like he's better than the embarrassing example set by the interior linemen so far. 

Henderson’s tackling has been as bad as advertised, but he’s a good athlete in coverage. If he improves his tackling at all then we’re going to win that trade and have a good young secondary.

19 hours ago, Peon Awesome said:

For the trade back brigade, you have to be careful. Your one chance at drafting a franchise LT will be at our current pick, unless you're talking a trade back of like 2 or 3 spots. A top LT doesn't drop past 12 or so. And every year, there tends to be a clear cream of the crop of maybe 10-15 players. So do you give up what's likely to be a 90% probability perennial solid starter with all pro potential, for 2 players with maybe a 30-50% chance to say the same? Another way to think about it, would you have gone back and traded Horn (or Slater or whoever was in the mix) for Marshall, Christenson and Tremble?

According to the NFL chart, a trade back from around 5 should get back a mid and late first, not three day-two picks. Something like getting 14 and 23 from the Eagles for our first, fourth, and fifth. So Horn, Chuba, and Daviyon Dixon vs. Alijah Vera-Tucker and Christian Darrisaw is a closer comp. 

2 hours ago, Soul Rebel said:

For as much as I like Fitts, I would lean into him trading back a bit too much last year hurt us as much as it helped us.

If Neal/Icky/Lindebaum is there when we're up, one of those three should be the selection. 

We already gambled away and lost on the two trades we made that put us in this situation. Don't pass on a franchise OT/IOL to make up for it. Basic kindergarten "two wrongs don't make a right" life lessons.

Taking Terrace Marshall over Creed Humphrey was the real flaw. The trade backs didn't take us out of the position to take good players, we just picked the wrong guys. 

This draft is the same as the last two: we have needs everywhere, we aren’t competing now, and we should trade back to pick up additional picks this year or next. It makes me sick to see the Giants double-dipping in the top ten because they were smart and patient enough to take advantage of a desperate Bears team last year and we weren’t. 
 

We need a safety, at least one linebacker, an impact tight end, a quarterback, and four new starting offensive linemen. Plus depth across both lines. We’re not winning a championship with that many holes and these problems don’t go away when CMC, Horn, Erving, Darnold, etc come back healthy. 
 

Trade down. Build future capital. Improve the whole roster.

We might end up right in his range. He’s rated highly now, but some QB’s and athletic freaks always climb the boards closer to the draft. Linderbaum’s only knock is that he weighs about 290, so the combine could push him down to us. 
 

Having a good center is a huge help to a young quarterback and if we think we’re going to end up in that situation any time soon, picking Linderbaum would get us a good head start.

lol they kicked a field goal down four scores.

Love getting CMC a meaningless touch on 3rd and 15.

Aaaaaaaand he's in the blue tent. 

None of those posts said anything about Moore

1 hour ago, TheRumGone said:

The oline is bad and needs to be upgraded as much as possible. But it goes both ways.

He has processing issues in the pocket. Really like to see him get quicker. He’s really good in scramble drill and plays outside the pocket. This right here is stuff he needs to work on the most. 

That was a weird play; it looked like he was going to have time for a deep read. Nobody would've expected that Paradis would get instantly choke slammed like that. I'm sure there are some other examples, though.

If we get an effective Darnold game then we'll know that this team is real. The whole idea was to improve his surrounding talent, and now with a reworked offensive line and no CMC, if he doesn't fall apart then we're chalking it up as a W, especially given how easy the schedule looks after this week. 

He has basically no passing game ability, I don't know if he's a fit here. Nice runner, but not for us.