Official 2018 NFL Draft Thread (April 26th, 2018)

[STAN JONES]

 

[Rev]

So Darnold is barely bigger than Lamar Jackson, and Lamar has a bigger arm/winspan/hands?

 

[STAN JONES]

Anthony Miller has 10” hands

I think I found the WR I want in the 1st round

 

[STAN JONES]

So Darnold is barely bigger than Lamar Jackson, and Lamar has a bigger arm/winspan/hands?

This is why I never talk about size until them measurements drop

Alot of dudes end up being bigger or smaller than they look on tv

 

[tremonthustler1]

Marcus Maye was better than him last year. And has more talent.

Adams is just a box safety.

It doesn't negate anything I said about the rest of their defense.

Both of them had their weak moments but I can live with that.


Adams is gonna be an interesting case study as to how you kill a man's spirit.

As the years go by his profile pics are gonna look like this

 

[CarltonJunior]

This is why I never talk about size until them measurements drop

Alot of dudes end up being bigger or smaller than they look on tv

Meanwhile Josh Allen is living up to the hype as the prototype for what they look for in a QB's measurables.

But while he's physically a giant I suspect he will be a mental midget.

 

[STAN JONES]

 

[O.iatlhawksfan]

It doesn't negate anything I said about the rest of their defense.

Both of them had their weak moments but I can live with that.


Adams is gonna be an interesting case study as to how you kill a man's spirit.

As the years go by his profile pics are gonna look like this

I can see it too in that NY market. Jamal looks like a kid now we'll see how he looks in 5 years. Odell looks younger in that NY market from his LSU days

 

[STAN JONES]

 

[STAN JONES]

 

[Swagnificent]

Anthony Miller has 10” hands

He looks so much like Antonio Brown when I watch him play.

Don't know if he'll be that good. But he should be a great WR.

 

[STAN JONES]

 

[King P]

Survey of Teams Grade Marcus Davenport as a Late First-Round Pick

Every year in the NFL Draft, there are some small-school prospects who come out of nowhere to end up being highly sought-after players. This year, Marcus Davenport will keep that tradition alive, as the UTSA defensive end has gotten a lot of media acclaim with many mock drafts projecting him to be top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Helping Davenport to rise is the 2018 draft class being weak at defensive end and lacking talent for edge rushers.

At the NFL scouting combine, I caught up with sources from eight different teams to get their projection of Davenport. None of those eight teams had graded him as a top-10 pick. The grades for Davenport ranged from the middle of the first to late in the first round.

• A NFC general manager, "We have him around middle of the first."

• An AFC general manager, "I see him going late first. Top 10 would surprise me."

• An AFC national scout, "We have him late one. Plays too high, has tightness in lower to be elite."

• An NFC national scout, "I don't see him going that high. Late one."

• An AFC director of college scouting, "We graded him late first/early second. Good run defender. His pass rush needs work. He's raw as hell."

• A national scout from a AFC playoff team said he didn't have Davenport in his territory but believed he would end up being a mid-to-late first.

• A NFC southeast scout, "We have him in the late one to early second range. I don't know where top-10 talk came from. I haven't heard from any guys that saw him that high. Too much of a developmental guy in so many aspects, and he's at a position with a high bust rate. He's strictly an edge guy also. He has questionable sub-package value, which is a killer in today's game. Length is a big asset and he has impressive flashes."

• A NFC general manager said something similar but with a stipulation, "I don't think he's top 10 right now. Workouts change a lot of things though."
  
  A few of the team sources said they thought that Davenport could rise higher into the first round as that last NFC general manager stated. The 6-foot-5, 259-pounder is a good athlete with the size, strength and speed that should impress during the pre-draft workouts. However, after surveying a good sample of teams, for Davenport to become a top-10 pick, he is going to need a huge performance at the NFL Scouting Combine and in the workouts to follow.

Mike McGlinchey, Christian Kirk Among Those Interviewing Well at the Combine

Over the past two nights, draft prospects have been interviewing with NFL teams, and as expected, there are a few players who have really impressed evaluators. Among the players who have drawn some rave reviews from team sources are Notre Dame left tackle Mike McGlinchey and Texas A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk. Both of them have generated a nice buzz about their character, work ethic, and football knowledge.

Sources say that Notre Dame's Quenton Nelson also interviewed well. He wasn't as impressive as McGlinchey, but Nelson did well in his interview.

Kirk is hoping to create more teams considering him as a first-rounder, and his combine is off to a great start. Not only has Kirk been excellent in the team interviews, but his college coaching staff have raved about him to scouts and NFL coaches. If Kirk has a strong showing in the field workout, as expected, the slot receiver could get more consideration from teams picking late in the first round.

Other players that have interviewed well include Oklahoma offensive tackle Orlando Brown and Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph.

Meanwhile, according to sources, McGlinchey, Nelson, Kirk, and Louisville offensive tackle Geron Christian have had formal interviews with the Oakland Raiders. Rudolph had a formal interview with the Cleveland Browns.

Minkah Fitzpatrick Not Seen As Dynamic Talent for Teams Picking in the Top 10

A year ago, Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen was one of the consensus top players for the 2017 NFL Draft. Allen was coming off a tremendous two-year stretch for Alabama, and the consensus in the NFL media was that Allen would be a top-10 pick. Allen ended up sliding, as teams had concerns about his shoulders and felt he wasn't a dynamic athlete. This year, some team sources have the same feeling about Crimson Tide safety/cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick. Sources from two teams picking in the top-10 said that Fitzpatrick is a really good player, but isn't a dynamic athlete.

There has been some debate about Fitzpatrick playing outside cornerback along with being a free safety and a slot corner. Working out as an outside cornerback and looking fluid there could help Fitzpatrick, as some team sources don't feel that he has the size, speed and athleticism of an elite top-of-the-draft player. In his final season for Alabama, Fitzpatrick totaled 60 tackles, one interception, eight passes broken up and a forced fumble. One general manager of a top-10 team said, "I just don't see a dynamic player." A national scout of another top-10 team who had Fitzpatrick in his area stated, "I don't think he's dynamic. He's very good, but not dynamic to me."

Safeties can slide in the draft, and a year ago, Ohio State's Malik Hooker fell in the first round, with teams viewing him as a dynamic athlete and player. Hooker's slide was in part from being injured in the lead up to the draft. Between his position and what we saw a year ago with Hooker and Allen, some team sources feel it is possible that Fitzpatrick could end up going lower than the consensus view entering the final seven weeks before the draft.

 

[King P]

Early Plan for the Browns: Quarterback at No. 1; Sam Darnold the Favorite

With two selections in the top five and three second-round picks, the Cleveland Browns are the power players on the first two days of the 2018 NFL Draft. With that plethora of selections, Cleveland has a variety of ways it could address rebuilding an 0-16 team into a legit contender. For years, the Browns have been on an odyssey of trying to find a franchise quarterback, and the demand to find a solution to that problem is the highest of priorities for new Browns general manager John Dorsey. After speaking with multiple sources with Cleveland, the early plan is to take a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and the initial favorite is USC quarterback Sam Darnold.

There has been some speculation of the Browns waiting until the fourth-overall pick to take a quarterback. That would allow Cleveland to choose the draft's best player, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, with the No. 1 overall selection, giving their offense a dynamic rushing attack. However, that is a risky strategy because a team could take the Browns' preferred quarterback with the No. 2 or 3 pick. With a number of teams needing franchise quarterbacks, and with the success of trades up for quarterbacks last year, that risk appears too great for the leadership in Cleveland. Hence, right now, it sounds like the Browns are going to go with a signal-caller at No. 1 overall.

Of the quarterback prospects, Darnold is the one that sounds like the consensus favorite among Browns sources. Some staff at the team like the idea of acquiring a veteran quarterback, taking Barkley at No. 1, and getting a quarterback in the second round or packaging the second-rounders to move back into the first round for a signal-caller. However, the consensus view among different sources with Cleveland was that Darnold was the favorite for No. 1 overall.

One point to stress is that this is still early in the process, and no final decisions have been made. Going with Darnold at No. 1 overall is just the early inclination. It is entirely possible that Cleveland changes its mind about its quarterback strategy or the quarterback they are inclined to take at No. 1. But heading into the combine workouts and pre-draft visits, taking Darnold at No. 1 sounds like the Browns' plan at the moment.

Buccaneers Open to Trading Down

This is a critical offseason for Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht and head coach Dirk Koetter. Young franchise quarterback Jameis Winston is entering his fourth year, and this is the fifth offseason that Licht has had to build Tampa Bay into a winner. There were big expectations in 2017, but the Buccaneers had a disappointing season, going 5-11 and being the only team in the NFC South not to make the playoffs. Tampa Bay currently has the longest streak of missing the postseason in the NFC, as they haven't earned a playoff spot since 2007.

On the positive side, the Buccaneers hold the seventh-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. In a class with five potential first-rounders at quarterback and plenty of teams in the quarterback market, Tampa Bay is in a good position to field offers in a possible trade down. In speaking to sources with the Bucs, trading down is definitely on the table and something they would strongly consider.

The Buccaneers enter the offseason with a number of needs to address. They could use more pass rush, as they were last in the NFL in sacks last year. Adding more secondary talent is also needed to address their vulnerable pass defense. On the other side of the ball, Tampa Bay could use more help on their offensive line and will need to add more talent at running back after moving on from Doug Martin. With a number of needs to address, it makes sense for the Buccaneers to move down in the draft and add more picks to help fill holes on their roster. Sources say they are all ears and open to a variety of possibilities, including draft picks or veterans in a move down. By the sounds of it, Tampa Bay is definitely open for business and happy to listen.

A year ago, the Los Angeles Rams were a similar situation with a general manager on the hot seat and a young quarterback. Los Angeles was able to nail its offseason with an excellent haul of free agents and draft picks who quickly contributed to Los Angeles ending the longest playoff drought in the NFC. If the Buccaneers nail their free agency signings and draft picks, they have enough talent in place to potentially end their playoff drought next year as well.

 

[STAN JONES]

This shyt don’t make no sense

I hope breh refuses