Pro Football Focus: Three-Round NFL Mock Draft: Jets pick Caleb Downs, Rams find Stafford's successor

[LinvilleGorge]

8 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

Damn, 5 first rounders for the Buckeyes and they still got their poo pushed in during the Playoffs.

Ryan Day is basically Dabo Swinney fully embracing the new era of college football and the portal. He's a recruiter and program builder, not a great Xs and Os type of coach. The way this new era is shaping up, I honestly think it may evolve more toward the Xs and Os type coaches and away from the stereotypical cheereleading motivating type of coach that has come to largely define the college game. These top programs can't pile up 4 and 5 star recruits throughout their depth charts anymore. If that guy isn't starting he's gonna take a bag elsewhere and transfer. It used to be that very top teams were just head and shoulders better than everyone else and a lot of that had to do with their depth. Their twos were better than most teams' ones. 

[MHS831]

11 hours ago, Aussie Tank said:

Or atleast be releasing Robinson for some FAs 

Unless he renegotiates,  this has to be the plan

[MHS831]

And at left tackle...

[Jay Roosevelt]

Ick. Not a fan of that mock.

[frankw]

41 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

And at left tackle...

Certainly the situation with Icky is the complete opposite of ideal. In a perfect world we would all love to have a very promising young Tackle on the roster to develop or even a wily veteran. But reality isn't that cut and dry. We have the highest amount of salary cap dedicated to the OL in the league. We had a bottom 5 passing offense last year.

And to be abundantly clear. I am one who was fully on board with diverting assets more to the offense to change gears so to speak. The FO seemed to agree. I would hope wise fans who have seen the highs and lows of this franchise going back 25 years or more would agree that was a miscalculation. Although the years before Tepper were up and down we had generational talent on our defenses and that pushed us over the hump a few times. We need to get back to that and begin building a ferocious defense again. And we also need to just make some basic and realistic observations. We invested a King's ransom in Bryce Young. He does not and will not have elite pieces across every position along the offense especially with us now picking up his option and having many needs. Cam Newton had this franchise competing for the division and playoffs with the likes of Byron Bell and Nate Chandler at opposite ends of the oline. And that was when the NFC South was much more competitive.

[frankw]

19 minutes ago, frankw said:

Certainly the situation with Icky is the complete opposite of ideal. In a perfect world we would all love to have a very promising young Tackle on the roster to develop or even a wily veteran. But reality isn't that cut and dry. We have the highest amount of salary cap dedicated to the OL in the league. We had a bottom 5 passing offense last year.

And to be abundantly clear. I am one who was fully on board with diverting assets more to the offense to change gears so to speak. The FO seemed to agree. I would hope wise fans who have seen the highs and lows of this franchise going back 25 years or more would agree that was a miscalculation. Although the years before Tepper were up and down we had generational talent on our defenses and that pushed us over the hump a few times. We need to get back to that and begin building a ferocious defense again. And we also need to just make some basic and realistic observations. We invested a King's ransom in Bryce Young. He does not and will not have elite pieces across every position along the offense especially with us now picking up his option and having many needs. Cam Newton had this franchise competing for the division and playoffs with the likes of Byron Bell and Nate Chandler at opposite ends of the oline. And that was when the NFC South was much more competitive.

Clarification. For 2026 so far we are actually now third in OL salary cap at 89.6 million.

Still way too much given our offensive output.

Edited 2 hours ago by frankw

[mrcompletely11]

27 minutes ago, frankw said:

Clarification. For 2026 so far we are actually now third in OL salary cap at 89.6 million.

Still way too much given our offensive output.

I believe on Catcrave there was an article stating that we could restructure Hunt and Lewis (as well as horn, brown, and a couple others I am forgetting) to free up some cap room.  Not sure I am a fan of this tactic as it eventually will come to a head with some aging players down the line.  But its one way to get our OL cost way down but I kindof hate the tactic of kicking the can down the road 

[frankw]

22 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

I believe on Catcrave there was an article stating that we could restructure Hunt and Lewis (as well as horn, brown, and a couple others I am forgetting) to free up some cap room.  Not sure I am a fan of this tactic as it eventually will come to a head with some aging players down the line.  But its one way to get our OL cost way down but I kindof hate the tactic of kicking the can down the road 

It will most likely happen given our circumstances. But it's gotten us into murky waters in the past. Specifically we talked often about being in "cap hell" due to so many restructures from Hurney once upon a time.

For myself I'll accept it if we are using the savings to assemble a dominant young defense. I want a complete team again. If we use it to continue doubling down on the offense to prop up one player eventually everyone involved is going to see themselves out of a job.

[OldhamA]

2 hours ago, MHS831 said:

And at left tackle...

If it gets Young killed I'm all for it. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

1 hour ago, frankw said:

Certainly the situation with Icky is the complete opposite of ideal. In a perfect world we would all love to have a very promising young Tackle on the roster to develop or even a wily veteran. But reality isn't that cut and dry. We have the highest amount of salary cap dedicated to the OL in the league. We had a bottom 5 passing offense last year.

And to be abundantly clear. I am one who was fully on board with diverting assets more to the offense to change gears so to speak. The FO seemed to agree. I would hope wise fans who have seen the highs and lows of this franchise going back 25 years or more would agree that was a miscalculation. Although the years before Tepper were up and down we had generational talent on our defenses and that pushed us over the hump a few times. We need to get back to that and begin building a ferocious defense again. And we also need to just make some basic and realistic observations. We invested a King's ransom in Bryce Young. He does not and will not have elite pieces across every position along the offense especially with us now picking up his option and having many needs. Cam Newton had this franchise competing for the division and playoffs with the likes of Byron Bell and Nate Chandler at opposite ends of the oline. And that was when the NFC South was much more competitive.

Injuries happen on the oline and I think it's extremely irresponsible to think that you can buy a season long starting line that won't get hurt. We need to be drafting at least 1 lineman per year, ideally a T every 2 and an IOL at least late day 2, early 3 or in the later rounds with a UDFA guard/center or 2 that can hang out on the practice squad. We bought a starting oline instead of developing a multi-tiered one with vets, rookie contracts, and PS backups. JMO, but we should be carrying 4 tackles, 5 interior OL with a true starting center and 1 G/T plug in. We need to use those protected spots on the PS as effectively as possible and get that cap number back under control. Oline just eats players every season and it's a beast you constantly need to feed. 

[Chief Keek]

The only pick I like in that mock is Branch, Bryce needs a quick and shifty WR. The other two picks are terrible. 

[PleaseCutStewart]

4 hours ago, shaqattaq said:

This is NOT the best we can do. I don't know poo about Banks, but only 1 OT has come off the board in this draft. We'd be idiots not to grab our favorite and add cheap youth to our o-line.

Honestly, if that many OTs drop in the draft to us, I would question why they are and if it is because they aren't 1st round talent. I feel like the only OT I have seen top 15 across the board is Mauigoa. All of the other ones have been all over the place from late teens to like 40 from draft big boards I have seen.