AZ54

Poles should be fired if he uses a first round pick on an average safety from the MAC. I do not understand the first round draft hype on this kid but if it convinces someone in our division to draft him in the first I’ll be happy. Hard to see how his 15% missed tackle rate last year gets better against NFL talent. In contrast Caleb Downs 11% and Dillon Thieneman 8.3% career against far better competition. To be fair EMW career missed tackle rate was 11% but I still can’t shake off the lower level of competition. He may adjust over time to the NFL but I want a starter or at least a player who can handle significant snaps right away at 25.

It wasn’t only the superbowl where Campbell had issues. His problems were throughout the season. Just put him at LG where he belongs and let him succeed. You could be right, Bain might be like Hendrickson and always struggle against the run. Will he hit that same ceiling on sacks? Part of Hendrickson success on sacks was playing behind a great offense which kept opponents passing and allowed him to focus on the rush. For me in a top ten pick, which was the basis of this thread, I want a 3 down player. Same reason I preferred Maxx over Trey IF, and only if, we were going to make a big splash at DE.

Same thing was said about Will Campbell last year.

For PhX: I took a look at some of the scouting and highlights of Jacas. Jacas might be the better pass rusher at this point in time but I think he is what he is and there isn't much more upside. I still think Zion Young is the better run defender and he's more capable of getting off blocks quicker. I'd say he's better moving laterally and that first step quickness also shows up once he breaks free of a block on pass rush. I think I said earlier that some of Zion Young's movement traits, and how he has to win as a pass rusher, remind me of Austin Booker. IMO that lateral quickness is missing from Jacas' game and that might also be why he struggles at times to get off a block and into a run gap. Zion likely has a little bit more room for upside to his pass rush but neither of these guys is going to be a sack leader in the NFL. I still think Zion is the better choice and more likely to be a 3-down replacement for Montez Sweat. One of these days we're going to need to find a true speed element to our pass rush but that could come in the form of a good 3-tech. In that case having DEs, ala Booker, who can release quickly from a block is a benefit.

I beg to differ because I wanted Darnell Wright over Jalen Carter and apparently so did Poles. I also think Rome Odunze had some supporters among our draft experts here for that second first round pick.

Caleb Downs. He closes so fast on run plays he'd make Brisker look like he's waiting at a bus stop. Safeties that can line up 10-15 yards deep and still make the play around the LOS are game changers. We saw what Kyle Hamilton did against us last year. On top of that he's got the coverage ability for either man or zone. I like Ruben Bain but arm length issue is real and one place it shows up is his 20% missed tackle rate. He's a hustle player who does not have elite athleticism. On pass rushes he's learned how to keep OT hands off him but that all gets more challenging in the NFL because the OTs are faster and longer. You have to match that with what he'll be able to do as a run defender and I'd gladly take Darnell Wright on him all day long. In the end I just don't see him as an elite 3-down edge defender. I think he'll have good sack production which fans focus on but defensive coordinators know the first order of business is to get the offense into 3rd and long.

Haven’t looked into Jacas much yet but I will. These are two similar players.

I spent some time yesterday digging into Zion Young. He plays with power, quickness, and hustle. He reminds me of Jared Verse with his power. Not being an expert I’d say I don’t see a complete set of pass rush moves but that also means there is room for upside. He plays the run very well too with the strength to hold his ground, even against some TE/RB + OT double teams, and gets off those blocks. He’s generally listed as a 2nd Rd player but rumors are that he’s rising up draft boards. He is not the most twitched up bendy guy but he has enough to get around the outside edge of an OT. He also shows enough strength to hold up inside and will be very effective on stunts or just lining up inside as an interior pass rusher. I’ve been pushing for a DT at 25 but the more I think about it I wouldn’t be surprised if he is our pick at 25. The combination of Young and Booker coming off the edge would be a problem for QBs because they both close very quickly once they get a path. Also, when considering why we drafted Shemar Turner last year one of the reasons was the violence and aggressiveness he played with. Zion has a similar style, albeit with less after-the-whistle action, and is a better athlete. He is also the type of versatile player they said they wanted (or thought they got) in Dayo but we never saw it. So that has to be on the wish list for Dennis Allen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClNJAGGC8LA p.s. I'm well aware Mel Kiper mocked him to Chicago a little while ago but that didn't, and does not, influence my opinion. Too many of the pundits are just throwing darts killing time now before the draft to generate discussion and clicks.

Zero chance Bryant is a downgrade from Byard. There's too much weight on stats. Let's go way back in history to Deion Sanders when nobody wanted to throw to his side of field. Lack of INT and PDs does not mean he was lesser of a player. Anyone can watch film and see Bryant is far better in coverage than Byard. In Byard's case they are also not weighing heavily enough the gaps in coverage when he let plays get past him.

It should be normalized that way. Garret contract will represent 13.3% of their cap space at 40mil/yr. He has to provide value equivalent to about 7 or 8 players assuming an average player contract value of 5mil. You need a few players on rookie contracts playing above their value to balance it out. Of course he is good enough to offset some lower performing players but in a game where you are one of 11 on the field how many? If you take his cap hit just for the defense he represents 26% off defensive money(assuming an even split between offense defense).

Is that related to % of cap consumed by the player?

Forgive me, I only had 7 years of college. What is AV?

Guys like leatherwood I think just didn’t want to put in the work. Wills is more athletic than him and he at least bet on himself getting healthy and making a comeback. Between our coaching staff and opportunity he couldn’t have chosen a better place to restart his career. Plus he came in on a vet min type deal so he could have gone anywhere. He chose us. I’m curious to see how it plays out.

Wow, sorry to hear that but glad to see you back in action. Godspeed to you on your healing journey.

Not necessarily. They could have liked other players that visited it’s just there are a lot of teams competing for the same pool of players.

We don’t need him,Sewell, and Edwards. Similar skillets similar limitations. Likely Sewell is out.

Still waiting on Cam Jordan to see where he chooses to go. At this point having cleaned out his locker in NO he’s clearly just waiting on more money. That’s also what he said the other day…paraphrasing: gotta get the right value. FA players in this time frame might have to wait for the draft before teams know who they drafted and what roster holes they need to fill. So far i’ve seen nothing more than speculation the Bears are one of the teams he’s talking with.

This will shake up the draft among the DTs. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2026/03/caleb-banks-underwent-surgery-on-broken-foot#ref=home

I think he's a good player but he’s not worth 25 overall. I’d be happier with Thieneman who at least has Pro Bowl type talent. Jacas will just be a good DE and before that I prefer to add a good DT where our need is greater. I saw someone throw out a what-if scenario if a top WR falls to us. A top CB? In those cases I’m thinking trade down because someone will want to trade up. However a top CB might be tempting.

Duvernay as returner was replaced by Raymond even though you had Raymond listed as OZ replacement. Two birds with one stone approach.

This was the strategy I was hoping for. I’m not surprised they spent big on Safety but signing Bush at LB was not something I was expecting. Signing 2 good defensive players for the price of one mediocre DE is a win, or maybe even less than one mediocre DE. I also think Poles upgraded WR3/4 with Raymond over OZ.

Dark mode is outstanding. Please don’t lose that.

I like it. Dark Mode (at least in DuckDuckGo Browser) is much easier on my eyes. For whatever reason it wouldn’t display that way beforehand.

I’m not thoroughly searching across the internet but it does appear that rankings for Centers are quite varied depending on the site you visit. Slaughter who I usually see as a top 3 Center is ranked 9th on NFL.com and doesn’t even have a starters draft grade. Meanwhile Draftbuzz shows him as the best OC prospect this year. Maybe the guy from Iowa is a better fit or we take a chance on the recovery of Conner Lew? https://www.nfl.com/draft/tracker/prospects/c/all-colleges/all-statuses/2026?page=1 https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Logan-Jones-DL-Iowa https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Connor-Lew-OL-Auburn

Figuring out which OC fit our scheme is the hard part for me. Using Dalman as the reference followed by our choice to trade for Bradbury who both move well for centers. I think Hecht has similar movement skills. Reading draft profiles for Slaughter and Glubin they both will have limited range in run blocking that can affect our limit outside zone plays. Yet they both seem to anchor better in pass pro than Hecht. The first two likely have the higher floor especially in year one. Hecht might have the most upside long term for a team that is willing to be patient. What does Ben prioritize most in the traits he wants in a center?