2018 College Prospect Thread

[broncos67]

6 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

Okay, you guys that pay attention to the OL. I've got some quick observations and questions mostly, about the draft.

Question 1) Last year I only saw one OT(Bolles) quick enough to play on the left side. Looks like there may be 4 or 5 this year. Am I wrong?

#2) a bit like the first. Looks like big, mobile interior OL guys are pretty deep this year. Am I wrong?

I've finally spent a bit of time watching some of these kids. Looks to me to be a great year to rebuild an OL through the draft.  Seems to me like we could get a kid like Billy Price in the 3rd or 4th. This kid is a day 1 NFL starter and we're not even hearing his name.

I'm just a bit excited. Correct me if I'm wrong guys but this looks like a great year for OL talent.

OL is absolutely loaded this year, and yes, the interior is a pretty solid group. Bolles would be a 3rd rounder in this draft. Last year was an incredibly weak year for OTs in particular, and although Bolles tested well, it can certainly be argued he's miscast at LT and could be a better RT. There's more projectable OTs this year, and OG is stacked. Nelson, Hernandez, Price, Wynn who will all go relatively early and who I believe will all contribute. Hopefully we land one.

[AKRNA]

3 minutes ago, broncos67 said:

OL is absolutely loaded this year, and yes, the interior is a pretty solid group. Bolles would be a 3rd rounder in this draft. Last year was an incredibly weak year for OTs in particular, and although Bolles tested well, it can certainly be argued he's miscast at LT and could be a better RT. There's more projectable OTs this year, and OG is stacked. Nelson, Hernandez, Price, Wynn who will all go relatively early and who I believe will all contribute. Hopefully we land one.

Yeah, that's how it looks to me. You're wrong about Bolles though. he's to much of a physical freak to ever drop to the 3rd in any draft. He'll be a top 5 LT next year. And yeah, I already know, you and everybody else will beat me up on that. It's okay, we'll talk about that next year at this time.

I'll guarantee you though, Bosa doesn't look forward to two matchups a year with Bolles.

Back on topic, I'd love to see us trade down and garner more early rd picks. Lots of things we can fix.

 

[broncos67]

11 hours ago, AKRNA said:

Yeah, that's how it looks to me. You're wrong about Bolles though. he's to much of a physical freak to ever drop to the 3rd in any draft. He'll be a top 5 LT next year. And yeah, I already know, you and everybody else will beat me up on that. It's okay, we'll talk about that next year at this time.

I'll guarantee you though, Bosa doesn't look forward to two matchups a year with Bolles.

Back on topic, I'd love to see us trade down and garner more early rd picks. Lots of things we can fix.

 

I am INCREDIBLY skeptical that Bolles will be a Top 5 LT. At best, I think he can land in the top half of LTs next year, but he needs to work on technique and especially on cutting down penalties. He had more than a few killers this year which is just not acceptable. If he gets to the Top 5 LT point, I'll happily eat crow, but I don't think he's better than Ramczyk (who I was wrong on based on this year) so we'll see.

If we sign Cousins, I am with you on trading down, and I'm not typically a huge fan of trading down. It may be unrealistic, but a scenario in which we trade #5 for Buffalo's 2 firsts and either a first or second next year is not unrealistic considering team needs across the board. We would be in a tremendous position to restock the team with younger talent (especially if we got 3 firsts). 

[champ11]

13 hours ago, AKRNA said:

Yeah, that's how it looks to me. You're wrong about Bolles though. he's to much of a physical freak to ever drop to the 3rd in any draft. He'll be a top 5 LT next year. And yeah, I already know, you and everybody else will beat me up on that. It's okay, we'll talk about that next year at this time.

I'll guarantee you though, Bosa doesn't look forward to two matchups a year with Bolles.

 

AK with the heat LETS GOOOOOOO

[BroncosFan2010]

A trade down that I have been pondering recently is 1.05 to Miami for 1.11, 2.11 and OT Ja'wuan James.

Staying in basically the top 10 near guarantees we still get a borderline elite talent (Roquan Smith, Calvin Ridley if Manny is dealt, Quenton Nelson if position drops him would be my top 3 targets) and we pick up another R2 and a starting RT.

James is on a one year, 8M deal so he will need to be resigned but lets say we use one of the R2 on Hernandez or Wynn to plug/play at OG. We evaluate James over the year and if he proves worthy of investing a long-term deal, we cut Leary after the season, elevate McGovern from his role as interior swing OL and give the Leary money to James. Or even restructure him if he is willing.

Regardless, this OL is drastically better than what we have had in many years and would go a long way in protecting our Kirk investment:

LT - Garret Bolles / Donald Stephenson

LG - Will Hernandez / Connor McGovern

OC - Matt Paradis / Connor McGovern

RG - Ron Leary / Connor McGovern

RT - Ja'wuan James / Middle-round rookie OT

And maybe keep Max Garcia as an emergency IOL. I like McGovern as a IOL backup, and if elevated to #2 at each IOL position he is nearly guaranteed a decent amount of PT w/ injury and rotations. Should keep him seasoned and developing despite drafting a guy like Will.

[jsthomp2007]

I wonder if McGovern makes the leap to starter?  He seemed to have played rather well towards the end of the season, which is always promising. 

[iLikeDefense]

41 minutes ago, jsthomp2007 said:

I wonder if McGovern makes the leap to starter?  He seemed to have played rather well towards the end of the season, which is always promising. 

I think it was @BroncosFan2010 that suggested McGovern would be great as a swing interior linemen. I'd love McGovern to make it as a starter but if Paradis' hips are fine and Leary looks great, he'll have a shot at the LG/RG spot unless we draft Nelson/Hernandez.

[BroncosFan2010]

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I think it was @BroncosFan2010 that suggested McGovern would be great as a swing interior linemen. I'd love McGovern to make it as a starter but if Paradis' hips are fine and Leary looks great, he'll have a shot at the LG/RG spot unless we draft Nelson/Hernandez.

I like the idea of snagging a plug/play OG around our R2 pick. The talent will be there and if we want immediate contribution with our draft picks, IOL generally translate well as rookies.

I also think that McGovern can battle Paradis for the starting OC spot. We cant just hand him that again, he has to prove recovered from injury.

We need talent infusion all along the IOL. Great teams have five quality starters, a quality swing OT and a quality swing IOL. McGovern fits best as a excellent swing IOL, and will get snaps because your guaranteed injury and rotational rest. I think he can get about 3-4 starts worth of snaps as a primary IOL.

[jsthomp2007]

3 minutes ago, BroncosFan2010 said:

I like the idea of snagging a plug/play OG around our R2 pick. The talent will be there and if we want immediate contribution with our draft picks, IOL generally translate well as rookies.

I also think that McGovern can battle Paradis for the starting OC spot. We cant just hand him that again, he has to prove recovered from injury.

We need talent infusion all along the IOL. Great teams have five quality starters, a quality swing OT and a quality swing IOL. McGovern fits best as a excellent swing IOL, and will get snaps because your guaranteed injury and rotational rest. I think he can get about 3-4 starts worth of snaps as a primary IOL.

Let's face it, as much as I like Paradis...he can get pushed around...McGovern is as strong as an ox.  

[jolly red giant]

7 hours ago, BroncosFan2010 said:

A trade down that I have been pondering recently is 1.05 to Miami for 1.11, 2.11 and OT Ja'wuan James.

Staying in basically the top 10 near guarantees we still get a borderline elite talent (Roquan Smith, Calvin Ridley if Manny is dealt, Quenton Nelson if position drops him would be my top 3 targets) and we pick up another R2 and a starting RT.

James is on a one year, 8M deal so he will need to be resigned but lets say we use one of the R2 on Hernandez or Wynn to plug/play at OG. We evaluate James over the year and if he proves worthy of investing a long-term deal, we cut Leary after the season, elevate McGovern from his role as interior swing OL and give the Leary money to James. Or even restructure him if he is willing.

Regardless, this OL is drastically better than what we have had in many years and would go a long way in protecting our Kirk investment:

LT - Garret Bolles / Donald Stephenson

LG - Will Hernandez / Connor McGovern

OC - Matt Paradis / Connor McGovern

RG - Ron Leary / Connor McGovern

RT - Ja'wuan James / Middle-round rookie OT

And maybe keep Max Garcia as an emergency IOL. I like McGovern as a IOL backup, and if elevated to #2 at each IOL position he is nearly guaranteed a decent amount of PT w/ injury and rotations. Should keep him seasoned and developing despite drafting a guy like Will.

No no no - get rid of Stephenson - he should have been dumped two years ago

[BroncoBruin]

James would be an awesome pickup but Miami has to decline his option, right? Which means he probably gets Wagner money as the only good young RT available.

I suspect Denver will have to again go dumpster diving for a right tackle.  Trading a late round pick for Jordan Mills could make sense. He's a below average but not absolutely horrible player which in today's NFL carries some value. Beggars can't be choosers. 

[BroncosFan2010]

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James would be an awesome pickup but Miami has to decline his option, right? Which means he probably gets Wagner money as the only good young RT available.

I suspect Denver will have to again go dumpster diving for a right tackle.  Trading a late round pick for Jordan Mills could make sense. He's a below average but not absolutely horrible player which in today's NFL carries some value. Beggars can't be choosers. 

They picked up his 5th year option last offseason I believe. Can you not trade for guys on their 5th year options?

[Broncofan]

9 minutes ago, BroncosFan2010 said:

They picked up his 5th year option last offseason I believe. Can you not trade for guys on their 5th year options?

You can trade those guys.  Anyone under contract.  

[BroncosFan2010]

Quote

You can trade those guys.  Anyone under contract.  

If that's the case, then I think that deal is a real winner.

The Dolphins get a chance at a franchise QB. They managed most of last year without James as he had an injury, and with their cap/rebuild it seems unlikely they would resign him anyways.

Denver gets a RT to protect their QB investment (Kirk). I dislike the idea of bargain diving for a 3rd straight year, and a rookie will have inconsistencies that could get our investment killed. We still get a pick in the tier to get a low-end elite prospect, and we add a R2 to snag a RB/CB/WR, necessary after we (likely) move CJ/Talib/Manny to make room for Kirk.

Seems like a winner all around.

[germ-x]

Got a laugh out of a Bruce Arians comment about the QBs in the draft this year.  He goes talent wise it’s great with Darnold, Rosen, and Allen.  Then says, Mayfield has charisma.