General NFL discussion thread

[JimN]

The draft begins tonight! Any thoughts?

[Wood]

The draft begins tonight! Any thoughts?

Sooooooooooooooo excited 

There SHOULD be lots of movement this weekend as the cost of picks is now so much more manageable that teams can be aggressive to secure a player they covet. Minnesota is dying to move down, but they aren't finding any takers willing to give up a lot.  Jacksonville REALLY wants out of 7, and I think they will be successful in moving out as a number of teams have already had framework discussions and are willing to pull the trigger if the player they want is there (the Eagles would like to have Fletcher Cox for example).

Really curious if the Dolphins take Tannehill because of ownership pressure, and if they don't, who pulls the trigger on him. My bet is if he falls past MIA, he won't make it past KC.

[JimN]

Sooooooooooooooo excited 

There SHOULD be lots of movement this weekend as the cost of picks is now so much more manageable that teams can be aggressive to secure a player they covet. Minnesota is dying to move down, but they aren't finding any takers willing to give up a lot.  Jacksonville REALLY wants out of 7, and I think they will be successful in moving out as a number of teams have already had framework discussions and are willing to pull the trigger if the player they want is there (the Eagles would like to have Fletcher Cox for example).

Really curious if the Dolphins take Tannehill because of ownership pressure, and if they don't, who pulls the trigger on him. My bet is if he falls past MIA, he won't make it past KC.

I'm thinking the same thing and my gut feeling is the Dolphins will pass on Tannehill.

I think the Vikes best bet to trade their pick will be if Tampa Bay wants Richardson enough to move up ahead of Cleveland. I'm not counting on that though and I think Minnesota will have to decide between Claiborne or Kalil. I'm guessing they'll choose the latter but who knows? Spielman's done a good job of muddying the waters and not tipping his hand.

Cox would be a good fit for the Eagles but I don't know if he'll make it to them.

I LOVE the draft!

[Benestro]

Well my night will be pretty anticlimactic with the Colts picking Luck, but I am really excited about him. This is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. As a Mississippi State fan I am excited about Fletcher Cox as well. He was great for the Bulldogs and should transition into the NFL fairly easily.

[thefreakytiki]

I think the Steelers will either go Offensive Line or Defensive Line with their 1st pick.  I keep hearing rumblings of Poe if he drops but with all the buzz about it on the net... That won't happen.


The Tiki

[Wood]

I think the Steelers will either go Offensive Line or Defensive Line with their 1st pick.  I keep hearing rumblings of Poe if he drops but with all the buzz about it on the net... That won't happen.


The Tiki

Poe is on my radar as one of the guys I'm begging for PHI to avoid, which I think they will. He's the classic (as least to my eyes) combine riser whose tape doesn't come close to justifying a first round grade.

I also hear you guys might eye up TE or OLB depending on how the draft plays out tonight.

[thefreakytiki]

I also hear you guys might eye up TE or OLB depending on how the draft plays out tonight.

TE would be a surprise to me... OLB not so much considering current contracts, age and Pgh's overall love for the LB position.

Honestly, I do not follow college at all.  I have no idea who ANY of these guys are when drafted so I just TRUST IN KEVIN COLBERT and se what happens (The guy has a pretty stellar track record, especially with mid and late round draft picks  ).


the Tiki

[Benestro]

I'm still excited for tomorrow. Coby Fleener is still available and I would love to see him get picked by the Colts and give Luck a familiar face and big target.

[thefreakytiki]

I think the Steelers got really lucky... but I will never look a gift horse in the mouth. 


the Tiki

[Wood]

I think the Steelers got really lucky... but I will never look a gift horse in the mouth. 


the Tiki

They got a sure fire day one starter at 24th. Huge kudos.

[JimN]

I couldn't be happier with the way the Vikes handled the first round. they made a great trade with cleveland to get things rolling and were still able to draft matt Kalil, who was clearly the player they wanted all along. Then they traded up to grab S Harrison smith from Notre Dame, which addresses a huge need on their roster.

I think the Lions got a real bargain by drafting Reiff as late as they did.

Jason, is it safe to assume you're happy with the Eagles selection? Cox should be a good fit for their defense.

Jim

[Wood]

I couldn't be happier with the way the Vikes handled the first round. they made a great trade with cleveland to get things rolling and were still able to draft matt Kalil, who was clearly the player they wanted all along. Then they traded up to grab S Harrison smith from Notre Dame, which addresses a huge need on their roster.

I think the Lions got a real bargain by drafting Reiff as late as they did.

Jason, is it safe to assume you're happy with the Eagles selection? Cox should be a good fit for their defense.

Jim

I thought the Vikes did quite well, too, Jim. It's unusual for a team to telegraph their desires (in this case to move out of the 3rd spot) and be able to pull it off, yet they did by convincing CLE that someone else was coming up for Richardson if they didn't.

I was worried MIN was not sold on Kalil and wanted to pass on him, but they ended up making (I think) the right choice.  Kalil plays high sometimes, but he's an excellent pass protector and a high character, hard worker.

As to the Eagles, I was quite pleased. When I heard we were interested in moving up, my hope was that we would come away with either Kuechly, Gilmore or Cox.  So coming away with Cox makes me PLENTY happy. I still want us to grab a CB early today though, because trading Asante away leaves us with the least depth at CB we've had in a long, long time.

[Spigs]

Up is down, black is white, dogs and cats sleeping together, the New England Patriots traded UP in the draft!

I'm not a big college football or draft guy but from what I'm reading seems like both players have huge upsides with Dont'a potentially being able to jump right in and play.  Anything to help the defense and the pass rush makes me happy right now.  I'll be interested to see if they try and swap one of their second rounders to get a few more picks this draft.

[Stupendous Man]

Very Satisfied with the Bengals 1st round. Addressed from very glaring needs and loved that they picked up that extra 3rd rounder from the Pats. If they can pick up Isaiah Pead in the 2nd or 3rd I will be one happy boy.

[Wood]

Very Satisfied with the Bengals 1st round. Addressed from very glaring needs and loved that they picked up that extra 3rd rounder from the Pats. If they can pick up Isaiah Pead in the 2nd or 3rd I will be one happy boy.

I dig Dre Kirkpatrick.  I have to think though that this means the Bengals are going to shake up some of their veteran secondary. Right now they have Leon Hall, Jason Allen, Pacman Jones, Nate Clements and Terence Newman on the roster, now adding Kirkpatrick to the mix.

I wonder if they're going to try to move Newman to safety, something he's been unwilling to do up to this point.

[elemental]

Found the Buccaneers trading down at the start of the first round very frustrating, I guess that Richardson was the top name on the board once the Browns selected him, they had Morris Claiborne sat there at #5, this is a huge need and they passed on a guy who was viewed as one of the elite prospects in the draft, and we do that all for a 4th round pick. They drop back two spaces and select Mark Barron after the Cowboys move upto 6 and get Claiborne. The Bucs obviously claim that Barron was their target all along but it could be that they just tried to be too cute and lost out on a very good prospect or did the bucs know more than most, with his college position coach on staff they knew claiborne better than any other team.

I'm not a big fan of Baron but given our safteys before the pick were  Larry Asante, Ahmad Black & Cody Grimm its hard not to argue that this fills a big need. He will be a day one starter

That said I love the move late in round one, they identified a player in Doug Martin that the liked and went up and got him and didn't run the risk that the Giants might take him or someone else might trade up early in round two for him and all for dropping 20 spots in round 4. With Blounts ball security issues and that he is useless on 3rd down I think Martin could get a good number of carries and early.

[Wood]

Found the Buccaneers trading down at the start of the first round very frustrating, I guess that Richardson was the top name on the board once the Browns selected him, they had Morris Claiborne sat there at #5, this is a huge need and they passed on a guy who was viewed as one of the elite prospects in the draft, and we do that all for a 4th round pick. They drop back two spaces and select Mark Barron after the Cowboys move upto 6 and get Claiborne. The Bucs obviously claim that Barron was their target all along but it could be that they just tried to be too cute and lost out on a very good prospect or did the bucs know more than most, with his college position coach on staff they knew claiborne better than any other team.

I'm not a big fan of Baron but given our safteys before the pick were  Larry Asante, Ahmad Black & Cody Grimm its hard not to argue that this fills a big need. He will be a day one starter

That said I love the move late in round one, they identified a player in Doug Martin that the liked and went up and got him and didn't run the risk that the Giants might take him or someone else might trade up early in round two for him and all for dropping 20 spots in round 4. With Blounts ball security issues and that he is useless on 3rd down I think Martin could get a good number of carries and early.

LOVE Martin. And I think Schiano owes ZERO loyalty to Blount and from his early comments, he's not going to give Blount much of a veteran edge. If Martin is the better back in camp, and I suspect he will be, I see him as being the bellcow from jump street.

[Nojfotra (Jonathan D. Gordon)]

We had a family Draft party to see who the lions got

[Nojfotra (Jonathan D. Gordon)]

I think the Lions got a real bargain by drafting Reiff as late as they did.

I would have rather seen us draft Decastro or Glenn

[Wood]

We had a family Draft party to see who the lions got