2016 NFL Draft Discussion Thread

I thought Smith would go in the 3rd at the earliest, but some reports said he could go at the end of the first or the 2nd, so I guess those were right. He's been called a "generational" linebacker so if they're good with his medicals, I'll trust it.

Dr. Jerry also stated he's not ruling him out for the 2016 season.
 
yeezus said:
I thought Smith would go in the 3rd at the earliest, but some reports said he could go at the end of the first or the 2nd, so I guess those were right. He's been called a "generational" linebacker so if they're good with his medicals, I'll trust it.

Dr. Jerry also stated he's not ruling him out for the 2016 season.
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I just wish Dr. Jerry would just sign the contracts and then prescribe himself a loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggg vacation (for medical purposes of course) to some nice island 1/2 way around the world, with no outside contact with the rest of the world.
 
Id look for Atlanta to be in on Westerman in the 4th or Day or Billings. Aka the Grady Jarrett pick last year...

I'd also like a size speed project at WR like the kid from Southern Miss

Wouldn't mind taking Scooby Wright for the Mike either
 
[MENTION=128]sturg33[/MENTION] - I went to school with Miles Killebrew and I had the chance to interact with him a lot. First off, probably the nicest guy you could ever know. Extremely down to earth, so he's going to be easy to root for. He had a reputation for being extremely bright which was backed up by his wonderlic score (the top amongst all defensive backs this year). I was really hoping the Falcons would pick him. His biggest knock against him was the small school and I think his 40 time was a bit slow, but I think he's a heck of a value in the 4th round.
 
chop2chip said:
[MENTION=128]sturg33[/MENTION] - I went to school with Miles Killebrew and I had the chance to interact with him a lot. First off, probably the nicest guy you could ever know. Extremely down to earth, so he's going to be easy to root for. He had a reputation for being extremely bright which was backed up by his wonderlic score (the top amongst all defensive backs this year). I was really hoping the Falcons would pick him. His biggest knock against him was the small school and I think his 40 time was a bit slow, but I think he's a heck of a value in the 4th round.
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Thanks. Watching some his highlight videos and he just crushes people... don't know much else about him but his 40 time was a bit slow and maybe has some coverage issues... but man he can hit some people
 
sturg33 said:
Thanks. Watching some his highlight videos and he just crushes people... don't know much else about him but his 40 time was a bit slow and maybe has some coverage issues... but man he can hit some people
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He's strong, like Julio Franco strong. Lead the DB's at the combine with the most bench press repa.
 
Now that draft is over, my favorite drafts: (like Skins draft, but not a great draft, just solid)

Now that the draft is over:

-Buffalo- I like this draft, but hate that they took Jones.

-Cincy- If Billings really is good, this is a great draft.

-Cle- Absolutely love this draft. I don't care that they took so many WR, look how many picks they had. 14! Higgins in the 5th could be a steal. Don't like the picks of WRight or Coleman that much but, Coleman has a good chance of proving me wrong.

-Jax- Obviously added more talent than anyone. Day and Allen were guys I identified as good later round picks. The DE out of Maryland is good. Best corner in the draft and a top player in Jack.

-SD- No one talking about them. They got maybe the best player in the draft in Bosa. Henry is a replacement for an aging Gates. Got one of the best centers in the draft in Tuerk. Got a starting fullback.

Worst Drafts:

Steelers- The corner is good, but thought he would drop further. Don't like the other guys.

Texans- Don't like Fuller. Center pick was good.

Titans- Passed on better OTs for Conklin. Dodd played against RTs and most of his pressures were when he came unblocked. He will be more of a run stopping DE. Not a fan of Henry, thought other backs were better. I do like Byard as a safety prospect. Don't think they capitalized on the number of picks.

Lions- Decker in the first, WTF? Thought Rudock was terrible. Really just not impressed with mid to later round picks. Robinson was good value, but so many DL in this draft.

Falcons- Probably worst draft overall. I understand this is the $LB/Kam Chancellor/Buchannon role, but I don't think anyone else takes Neal in the first round and the Skins got a similar player in Cravens in the 2nd round. There were a few other guys that could serve this role that they didn't have to reach in the middle of the first for one. Not impressed with Jones at all. Hooper is a solid pick that could work his way into a starters role. No issues with other picks.

TB- only because they took a kicker in the 2nd round when the draft was stacked.

Cards- Nkemdiche seems like all hype, no production. Didn't even produce that much in college.

Seattle- Reach on Ifedi. Thats what happens when you draft for need.
 
gilesfan said:
Now that draft is over, my favorite drafts: (like Skins draft, but not a great draft, just solid)

Now that the draft is over:

-Buffalo- I like this draft, but hate that they took Jones.

-Cincy- If Billings really is good, this is a great draft.

-Cle- Absolutely love this draft. I don't care that they took so many WR, look how many picks they had. 14! Higgins in the 5th could be a steal. Don't like the picks of WRight or Coleman that much but, Coleman has a good chance of proving me wrong.

-Jax- Obviously added more talent than anyone. Day and Allen were guys I identified as good later round picks. The DE out of Maryland is good. Best corner in the draft and a top player in Jack.

-SD- No one talking about them. They got maybe the best player in the draft in Bosa. Henry is a replacement for an aging Gates. Got one of the best centers in the draft in Tuerk. Got a starting fullback.

Worst Drafts:

Steelers- The corner is good, but thought he would drop further. Don't like the other guys.

Texans- Don't like Fuller. Center pick was good.

Titans- Passed on better OTs for Conklin. Dodd played against RTs and most of his pressures were when he came unblocked. He will be more of a run stopping DE. Not a fan of Henry, thought other backs were better. I do like Byard as a safety prospect. Don't think they capitalized on the number of picks.

Lions- Decker in the first, WTF? Thought Rudock was terrible. Really just not impressed with mid to later round picks. Robinson was good value, but so many DL in this draft.

Falcons- Probably worst draft overall. I understand this is the $LB/Kam Chancellor/Buchannon role, but I don't think anyone else takes Neal in the first round and the Skins got a similar player in Cravens in the 2nd round. There were a few other guys that could serve this role that they didn't have to reach in the middle of the first for one. Not impressed with Jones at all. Hooper is a solid pick that could work his way into a starters role. No issues with other picks.

TB- only because they took a kicker in the 2nd round when the draft was stacked.

Cards- Nkemdiche seems like all hype, no production. Didn't even produce that much in college.

Seattle- Reach on Ifedi. Thats what happens when you draft for need.
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Hooper pick was probably my favorite and he could likely start mid season. The OG in the 6th was an awful selection from Atlanta. He wasn't even known by pundits. Probably easily a UDFA. Would rather have gone with a size speed prospect at WR for a long shot project).

I can get on board with Neal and Jones, as they likely aren't there when we pick next. Atlanta FO thought that the Las Vegas Raiders were trading up for Neal, and they felt most front offices had 1st round grades on him even if the pundits do not. They picked him based on his workout when he came in per Quinn. They were fully convinced he can cover after seeing him move around first hand. Thats a lot to lay out there if you are wrong IMO. What Neal does well though, we needed. This was a needs based draft in the biggest sense of the word and its not going to get rave reviews from anyone (although Rotoworld gave it a B-?) since we went ahead and reached 15 picks on both our first and second rounders. Both of those guys likely go before we picked again and not letting "your guy" get by you is really what counts.

I liked the Campbell pick. Dude has everything but the instincts for now. All the lead up to the draft shows how positive everyone is on him and then draft time gets here and they turn it around to say "the production wasn't there". He is still pretty raw at the position, but DQ should be able to handle that part. Everyone speaks to how smart he is... I say a good chance he turns out.

I think we likely get 4 starters from it eventually (I'm bullish at the growth of Jones, Neal, Hooper and Campbell) and that getting Fuller in the 7th likely lets us cut Hester saving some cheddar. That said, any draft that gets us 4 guys that will likely start\heavily contribute is pretty solid. It isn't what the pundits wanted from us, and likely going to get us knocked by most for jumping 15 spots ahead of where guys are supposed to go, but thats not really a huge deal 2-3 years from now. Its fun to grade NOW though.

I give our draft a C+ but if you really squint through the homer glasses it could be called a B-. We are so devoid of depth or talent at the LB\SS spots that I can see Neal, Jones, and Campbell playing heavy snaps 2 years into this draft. That makes 4 starters assuming Hooper is in there also. Tough to call a likely 4 player draft a bust.
 
sturg-

Antoine Williams was a monster this year for us. His UGA\GS game tape was damn impressive.

We played a ton of spread teams and he played the MLB spot backed up a few yards (Kinda shallow CF), which likely prevented the TFL numbers from being higher. Can run ok, 4.8? But is best at downhill thumping.

His successor for us is going to be better, but thats almost hard to believe. He was one of our best LBs to don the Blue\White.
 
I don't understand the comment on the Raiders, they took Joseph at 14, why would they trade up for a reach in Neal at 17? Or do you mean into the early 2nd round? Either way, it doesnt make sense.

I understand need, don't agree with drafting for need when you reach for a guy. Is Neal a better prospect than Cravens? What about Kearse later? I've seen some really bad grades on Jones. My ideal logic is draft guys that produce early on and later on in the draft focus on guys with talent that you think you could coach up. Jones is raw and really struggled with missed tackles.

None of us know if it's true, but it seems possible to draft Neal in the 2nd and Jones in the 3rd.
 
gilesfan said:
I don't understand the comment on the Raiders, they took Joseph at 14, why would they trade up for a reach in Neal at 17? Or do you mean into the early 2nd round? Either way, it doesnt make sense.

I understand need, don't agree with drafting for need when you reach for a guy. Is Neal a better prospect than Cravens? What about Kearse later? I've seen some really bad grades on Jones. My ideal logic is draft guys that produce early on and later on in the draft focus on guys with talent that you think you could coach up. Jones is raw and really struggled with missed tackles.

None of us know if it's true, but it seems possible to draft Neal in the 2nd and Jones in the 3rd.
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I've followed these drafts the past few years and I am at the point where I don't even care who picks who. The NFL is so schemed based that each player should be ranked very differently by any given team.
 
chop2chip said:
I've followed these drafts the past few years and I am at the point where I don't even care who picks who. The NFL is so schemed based that each player should be ranked very differently by any given team.
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This is true. And why the best guys at drafting are able to find guys that fit their system at draft spots that allow them to maximize the picks. You can reach for a guy to fit your scheme, but the guys that are the best at it allow that guy to drop to a spot where there is value.

It's kinda like what the Skins did. They don't need a WR till next year, but the number 1 WR on their board fell to them. They really needed to add a DL, but even in round 2 they went with a money linebacker that fits the cover 3 they like to run. Even with Billings on the board in the 4th they traded out of it till 2017 where the draft is probably a little bit deeper and def. has more RB (a position they will look to) and WR available. They ended up waiting until the 5th for the defensive lineman they liked. Now, he might not work out, but they also could have reached for him in the the 4th and he could be a productive player.

Its hard for fans to judge though, I agree. Maybe another team takes Neal before the next round comes up, but I didn't read a lot of good things about him that would make him a middle of the first round pick.
 
gilesfan said:
I don't understand the comment on the Raiders, they took Joseph at 14, why would they trade up for a reach in Neal at 17? Or do you mean into the early 2nd round? Either way, it doesnt make sense.

I understand need, don't agree with drafting for need when you reach for a guy. Is Neal a better prospect than Cravens? What about Kearse later? I've seen some really bad grades on Jones. My ideal logic is draft guys that produce early on and later on in the draft focus on guys with talent that you think you could coach up. Jones is raw and really struggled with missed tackles.

None of us know if it's true, but it seems possible to draft Neal in the 2nd and Jones in the 3rd.
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Atlanta thought Neal was Oak's pick at 14. They felt many other teams had 1st round grades on him although the pundits did not for the most part.

It seems possible, but also unlikely they are there when we pick at 17 in that next round. The sweet spot for both was likely early 2nd, and early 3rd. We were too far back to not take our guy (Most likely). I understand there were no offers for 17, as we likely would have taken one. The term "value" also assumes everyone's draft board is pretty close to the same...and that doesn't exist.

I don't really think the comparison is valid Neal vs Cravens. I think you would likely need to compare Jones and Cravens since both project to OLB? Jones is much faster (POSSIBLY WAY faster if you give weight to his pro day) yet was only one pick before? I don't see that as much of a difference. Both were 2nd rounders with Jones having a nice measurables edge.

I say all this to say that I am not in love with this draft. We filled holes, and got faster. Two areas where we SEVERELY lacked last year and I just can't complain about that. We had 5 picks, and ended up with 6 guys at the end.
 
Tapate50 said:
Atlanta thought Neal was LA's pick at 14. They felt many other teams had 1st round grades on him although the pundits did not for the most part.

It seems possible, but also unlikely they are there when we pick at 17 in that next round. The sweet spot for both was likely early 2nd, and early 3rd. We were too far back to not take our guy (Most likely). I understand there were no offers for 17, as we likely would have taken one. The term "value" also assumes everyone's draft board is pretty close to the same...and that doesn't exist.

I don't really think the comparison is valid Neal vs Cravens. I think you would likely need to compare Jones and Cravens since both project to OLB? Jones is much faster (POSSIBLY WAY faster if you give weight to his pro day) yet was only one pick before? I don't see that as much of a difference. Both were 2nd rounders with Jones having a nice measurables edge.

I say all this to say that I am not in love with this draft. We filled holes, and got faster. Two areas where we SEVERELY lacked last year and I just can't complain about that. We had 5 picks, and ended up with 6 guys at the end.
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Cravens will be playing the $lB spot that Buchannon from Arizona plays (and essentially Kam from Seattle). I assumed that was what Neal was going to play for you guys since the coach is from Seattle? The $LB is sort of a hybrid SS/ILB that creates an 8th man in the box, but is better in coverage than a linebacker so they play they are better vs. the run than typical strong safeties and better in coverage than linebackers so they play the short zones vs. these hybrid TEs.

Cravens was probably the best defender in the draft in the short zones and plays the run very well. Maybe JOnes plays the $LB role, but I think they pick doesn't mesh if it puts Neal as a SS because it puts more pressure on the pass defense. Jones is fast certainly and has upside. He just couldn't tackle at the college level. I thought Neal would be $LB and Jones would play weakside LB. Jones vs. Cravens is classic measurables vs. football play comparison
 
gilesfan said:
This is true. And why the best guys at drafting are able to find guys that fit their system at draft spots that allow them to maximize the picks. You can reach for a guy to fit your scheme, but the guys that are the best at it allow that guy to drop to a spot where there is value.

It's kinda like what the Skins did. They don't need a WR till next year, but the number 1 WR on their board fell to them. They really needed to add a DL, but even in round 2 they went with a money linebacker that fits the cover 3 they like to run. Even with Billings on the board in the 4th they traded out of it till 2017 where the draft is probably a little bit deeper and def. has more RB (a position they will look to) and WR available. They ended up waiting until the 5th for the defensive lineman they liked. Now, he might not work out, but they also could have reached for him in the the 4th and he could be a productive player.

Its hard for fans to judge though, I agree. Maybe another team takes Neal before the next round comes up, but I didn't read a lot of good things about him that would make him a middle of the first round pick.
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I agree. I'm not so enamored with my team's draft based upon reading draft grades (which I absolutely love to read even if they are mostly stupid). But at the end of the day it's the main reason why your head coach means so much more in the NFL than any other sport. It's possible the Falcons saw Neal as an elite talent and didn't want to risk losing out on him by waiting. It's also possible that if Neal got drafted in the third round by Buffalo and he would turn out to be garbage. One instance he's a super value and in another he's a reach. It's all mostly nonsense, except when your team trades draft picks to pick a kicker in the second round (which was easily the dumbest thing that happened this year).

Now they could be wrong (and its Atlanta, so definitely are wrong), but you have to trust your coach unless he gives you reason not to. I still like Quinn and I like what he mostly did his first year. The Falcons have done some weird things this offseason, but I am glad to see that they have a firm understanding of what they need instead of being complacent like they had a tendency of doing in the latter Smith years.
 
chop2chip said:
I agree. I'm not so enamored with my team's draft based upon reading draft grades (which I absolutely love to read even if they are mostly stupid). But at the end of the day it's the main reason why your head coach means so much more in the NFL than any other sport. It's possible the Falcons saw Neal as an elite talent and didn't want to risk losing out on him by waiting. It's also possible that if Neal got drafted in the third round by Buffalo and he would turn out to be garbage. One instance he's a super value and in another he's a reach. It's all mostly nonsense, except when your team trades draft picks to pick a kicker in the second round (which was easily the dumbest thing that happened this year).

Now they could be wrong (and its Atlanta, so definitely are wrong), but you have to trust your coach unless he gives you reason not to. I still like Quinn and I like what he mostly did his first year. The Falcons have done some weird things this offseason, but I am glad to see that they have a firm understanding of what they need instead of being complacent like they had a tendency of doing in the latter Smith years.
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I keep forgetting they moved UP to get a kicker. Not peanuts either!

I'd like to bring Slauson in on a 2-3 year deal.
 
I'd love to know what other OT's the Titans passed over that were better than Conklin. Tunsil sure, but we weren't touching him with a 10 ft pole after the video came out. There was plenty of off-field concerns before the video was leaked.

I think Dodd is basically a Derrick Morgan 2.0, which is solid value in the 2nd round. Not as much upside as a guy like Spence or Ogbah, but more of a complete player. Solid in the run and pass.

Only pick I was really upset with was Henry. Bama RB's just don't tend to do that well in the NFL.

I'll be rooting for Byard extra hard since he's from my Alma Mater.
 
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