AZ54

Hmm... what do we have here? You've got the arm length and strength needed to set the edge. With a 1.6 10yd split on his forty he has a very quick first step which can be seen when he lines up at 3-tech. Watching these highlights he's got a little bend to him. Competition level is an obvious concern but there are highlights here where he is shedding a double team to make a tackle. 600lbs of whatever is still 600lbs. They used him across the front too which won't help his development at DE but does showcase his versatility. Very similar to DeMarcus Walker but quicker.

Bates is a lot stronger anchoring than Patrick. He just doesn’t always have the best footwork. As long as he gets it right early in the block he’s good. Can the coaches get him to avoid the missteps? Caleb and I both hope so.

Possibly but TE is a tough position to learn. Seems like we’d be better off grabbing a cheap vet.

There is a big difference in the roster we have going into 2024 versus going into 2022, or even last year. There is a glaring need for a 4th DT on our roster and that gives Randolph a fighting chance but beyond his hustle on plays he doesn't offer much athletically. I expect Poles will be looking to bring in more vet FA competition for that spot. We might not even know who the 4th DT is until other teams make their cuts in training camp. Everywhere else it's going to be tough for any UDFA to make the roster. Somebody will have to show they are a special teams maven to stick.

There was some weird karma going on with the fact we were drafting him as I was posting this.

That's good value. Booker is almost certainly a 3rd Rd pick next year if he stayed in school. Maybe even high 2nd Rd and athletically he has traits to be a low 1st Rd talent. Lots of development needed but he's already better than DomRobinson (super low bar) and might compare as a pass rusher to Walker. By the end of the season he'll probably be better than anything we saw out of Ngakoue last year which was a horrifying low bar considering what we paid him.

All smiles here in AZ! At least in the East Valley.

Has to be the biggest disappointment of this offseason. Odunze was just too good for them to pass up.

There has to be some character or health concerns with Austin Booker. It's not just us avoiding him.

As long as the QB pans out nothing else will matter but overall this was a good offseason for our roster. We're finally getting to some depth in places that nobody talked about all offseason (i.e. LB, CB except for Jaylon's contract). Two years into the rebuild with 3 offseasons behind us, the first of which was the tear down phase, this is a good effort by Poles. This year's draft didn't have a ton of depth so he used some of the late picks 4th/5th on adding good depth that can contribute this year. We have good draft capital next year which will have a much deeper talent pool. Plus we're in good shape with cap space. For 2025 the only key contributors I see on OTC that we'll have to make a contract decision on are Teven Jenkins and Keenan Allen. We only have 33 players under contract but $76mil in cap space. Poles will be in the driver seat. Add in that he said in the press conference that it's getting easier to sign FAs as the team improves. If the team plays well this year some of those vet FAs that are looking for a winning team might come our way for less money.

Absolute specialist at putting punts inside the 20. It really sucks the wind out of our sails drafting a punter right after we supposedly drafted a generational QB and WR to score points.

My WTF moment arrives in Poles 3rd draft. Now I have to go figure out what this kid has to offer but NFL Network (Rich Eisen) spoke glowingly about him.

The only thing helping Velus are the new kickoff rules.

Let’s hope the Tom Brady type traits start to show up in year one.

Jason ... so far you've got the hat trick and we are 3 for 3 on offense.

Based on what I've seen on Youtube we grabbed him right where he was rated. TheDraftNetwork.com ranked him 64 overall so that a steal at 75. He's never had anything in coaching, nutrition, workouts, etc like what he is about to experience his first season. We'll have to wait for it if you take a long term view of roster building this isn't a bad pick.

Yikes. I wanted someone that could contribute more this year and I don't see anything from him other than swing OT in 2024. The fact we had him in for a visit means we've done enough of a workout to have a good idea. He has a lot of good traits and there is potential to develop into a legit long term starter at LT. ...and he grew up in the Chicago area? edit: After watching several videos it appears he has legit long term LT starter potential.

I truly believe Williams has matured over the last six months. I also believe he wasn’t sold on Chicago. He stated clearly that he had a really good 30 visit and since then, even in the media, he has been more upbeat about playing there. I can’t blame him for thinking about the possibility of playing in his home town, and even wanting that to happen. Poles, Flus, the staff, and his new teammates did a solid job recruiting him. That showed thru loud and clear when he hit the stage. I think they gave him some perspective too on how to handle himself. Jaylon was clear about leaving all the Hollywood stuff behind.

This is a potentially starting caliber player so I think they look to fill the bigger needs first which is IOL or DE. S or TE could be in the 4th or not at all.

Odunze has legit long speed. The route running. But compared to those two he’s really ahead in terms of being a redzone target. I think he’s better at catching jump balls than MHJ.

Saw that. Poles must have had him rated as a top 5 pick. He’s also very high on his character. I don’t get the sense he’s going to be a primadonna WR.

Drinking Pace Whiskey?

I don’t want to give up that much. If IOL is the best depth position in the draft, and if Poles is the GM we think he is, then he should be able to find the right value in RD3 or make a smaller move up to RD2.

I'm kinda disappointed we didn't trade back and grab at least another top 100 pick but I like Odunze a lot. Having DJ Moore and Keenan Allen as mentors his rookie season is awesome. It's the complementary type of receivers we have now that is really nice to see. Then with Kmet and Everett at TE, Wililams is going to have a lot of options and not many excuses. As long as Williams is decent, and that should be the floor for him, we have a competitive roster. We still have some significant depth issues at DE, 3-tech, Safety, OT, WR (gotta like the top 3), maybe IOL depending how you view them, and just two TEs listed on the roster. Plus Poles can wait to see what cuts happen post camp and fill a couple spots, or make a trade for someone decent before they get cut. We've got three 6th Rd picks next year we won't need them.