College Football and Draft Discussion 2024

[candyman93]

The only depressing thing about not having a first rounder next year-

Best WR to ever play at OSU

Edited April 30, 2023 by candyman93

[MWil23]

I’ll give my serious evaluation considering I decided to intentionally troll most of the weekend:

What I liked:

That we didn’t trade up in an awful draft class.

That we finally between Moore and Tillman addressed the WR position and walked into the 21st century.

That we got great value with some guys like the Northwestern CB, Jones, and Wypler. Jones probably eats his way out of the league but if he ever figures that part out he should have been a first round guy. Wypler has an uphill climb with Pocic and Harris unless Harris kicks to OG, but good value there.

I am glad we got a good backup quarterback prospect and hope he’s capable there. Let’s hope he doesn’t see the field ever for a lot of reasons.

We did get a fat guy on the DL. If he’s just Danny Shelton caliber it’s a good pick. Eat up space 50% of the time and get off the field for a rushman package. I literally don’t care if he ever gets a second contract and we can draft one of these fat dudes every year or two IMO. The kid from Missouri at DE is a roster worthy player at least.

What I didn’t like:

I’m disappointed we didn’t land a linebacker like Sewell or Pappoe, or even TooToo. Running it back with our corps is a disappointment. IF utilized correctly and healthy, Taki JOK and Walker with Fields as a WLB rotational guy isn’t the end of the world but injury concerns and depth is alarming. Phillips is not a roster worthy player and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

I wish we could have gotten a running back late. We are a Nick Chubb injury away from me being nervous, but then again I do like Ford and maybe they’re 💯 sure he’s legit, so perhaps this is not a bad thing.

Not getting a S is disappointing but this class is absolutely horrendous, so no real issues here tbh.

Overall, I’m relatively happy with what they did minus our utter refusal to address the linebackers in free agency or the draft.

[Dawgpoun8017]

43 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I’ll give my serious evaluation considering I decided to intentionally troll most of the weekend:

What I liked:

That we didn’t trade up in an awful draft class.

That we finally between Moore and Tillman addressed the WR position and walked into the 21st century.

That we got great value with some guys like the Northwestern CB, Jones, and Wypler. Jones probably eats his way out of the league but if he ever figures that part out he should have been a first round guy. Wypler has an uphill climb with Pocic and Harris unless Harris kicks to OG, but good value there.

I am glad we got a good backup quarterback prospect and hope he’s capable there. Let’s hope he doesn’t see the field ever for a lot of reasons.

We did get a fat guy on the DL. If he’s just Danny Shelton caliber it’s a good pick. Eat up space 50% of the time and get off the field for a rushman package. I literally don’t care if he ever gets a second contract and we can draft one of these fat dudes every year or two IMO. The kid from Missouri at DE is a roster worthy player at least.

What I didn’t like:

I’m disappointed we didn’t land a linebacker like Sewell or Pappoe, or even TooToo. Running it back with our corps is a disappointment. IF utilized correctly and healthy, Taki JOK and Walker with Fields as a WLB rotational guy isn’t the end of the world but injury concerns and depth is alarming. Phillips is not a roster worthy player and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

I wish we could have gotten a running back late. We are a Nick Chubb injury away from me being nervous, but then again I do like Ford and maybe they’re 💯 sure he’s legit, so perhaps this is not a bad thing.

Not getting a S is disappointing but this class is absolutely horrendous, so no real issues here tbh.

Overall, I’m relatively happy with what they did minus our utter refusal to address the linebackers in free agency or the draft.

Imo this draft wasn’t a very good draft, I remember hearing on the first night I think it was Jeremiah saying a couple GM’s he talked to said they only had first round grades on like 15 or 16 guys. The only real linebacker in the draft who I thought would be a clear upgrade in the middle was Campbell and I think Detroit reached for him, 

[candyman93]

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

I wish we could have gotten a running back late. We are a Nick Chubb injury away from me being nervous, but then again I do like Ford and maybe they’re 💯 sure he’s legit, so perhaps this is not a bad thing.

They need to do what they did with Dernest Johnson.
 

Just find a dude playing in XFL or USFL that will run like a crazy mofo to get his first contract.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

I’ll give my serious evaluation considering I decided to intentionally troll most of the weekend:

 

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

That we finally between Moore and Tillman addressed the WR position and walked into the 21st century.

Don’t forget Goodwin.  He’s not great, but he’s proven himself as a capable nfl dude.  we went from having a two deep WR room when it comes to guys who should be ready to contribute to a 5 deep room.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

That we got great value with some guys like the Northwestern CB, Jones, and Wypler.

It’s impossible for any GM to have to defend not only the guys he does take, but every player he doesn’t.  These guys are all very strong day 3 prospects imo.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

Jones probably eats his way out of the league but if he ever figures that part out he should have been a first round guy.

I’m hoping getting him in a room with some older vets can help him mature a bit and develop some discipline.  Also, for as heavy as he is he’s not some sloppy goober.  He has some weight he could lose, but it’s not wild.  He was 380 or whatever at the combine and just looked massive more than fat or whatever.  If he can get to and stay at like 340-350 he’s going to be an absolute monster.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

Wypler has an uphill climb with Pocic and Harris unless Harris kicks to OG, but good value there.

I think he’s the long term option at C.  Harris moves on or is traded this summer and in 2-3 years Wypler becomes the starter.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

I am glad we got a good backup quarterback prospect and hope he’s capable there. Let’s hope he doesn’t see the field ever for a lot of reasons.

He’s a really dynamic player.  It’s like drafting a kicker or whatever.  It’s not a sexy pick to get excited about, but when you need them, you need them.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

We did get a fat guy on the DL. If he’s just Danny Shelton caliber it’s a good pick. Eat up space 50% of the time and get off the field for a rushman package. I literally don’t care if he ever gets a second contract and we can draft one of these fat dudes every year or two IMO.
 

yes.  I think people expect every player to be some 3 down, 3 contract player and it’s absurd. He’s a run stuffer with the ability to push a pocket in the pass game. He and Tomlinson give us 2 legit NT/2 gap type DTs.  2 more than last season too.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

The kid from Missouri at DE is a roster worthy player at least.

yep.  Physical kid who should be able to contribute on all 3 downs.  How well?  We’ll see, but he’s a reasonable pick R4.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

What I didn’t like:

I’m disappointed we didn’t land a linebacker like Sewell or Pappoe, or even TooToo. Running it back with our corps is a disappointment. IF utilized correctly and healthy, Taki JOK and Walker with Fields as a WLB rotational guy isn’t the end of the world but injury concerns and depth is alarming. Phillips is not a roster worthy player and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

Check out the highlights of the UDFA kid.  
 

I get they’re highlights, but he’s fun to watch.  Schwartz doesn’t do a lot of complicated stuff with his linebackers. He doesn’t ask them to play a lot of man coverage or blitz, it’s just play zone/carry TEs to the safeties and obv play the run.  This kid move well and doesn’t downshift when he approaches the ball carrier.  Nice pass rush upside too.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

I wish we could have gotten a running back late. We are a Nick Chubb injury away from me being nervous, but then again I do like Ford and maybe they’re 💯 sure he’s legit, so perhaps this is not a bad thing.

They had that UDFA signed almost a half hour before anyone else and gave him 125k.  They seemed to have had him identified as someone they liked.  I have not looked at him at all yet.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

Not getting a S is disappointing but this class is absolutely horrendous, so no real issues here tbh.

Sir, we brought in a buckeye therefor you sound like an idiot.  But seriously, he’s a nice snag.  He’s obv a box player. But with what we have as depth at S it’s not impossible for him to make the team.

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

Overall, I’m relatively happy with what they did minus our utter refusal to address the linebackers in free agency or the draft.

I think a lot of this is because Schwartz doesn’t ask a lot of his backer’s comparatively.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

11 minutes ago, Dawgpoun8017 said:

Imo this draft wasn’t a very good draft, I remember hearing on the first night I think it was Jeremiah saying a couple GM’s he talked to said they only had first round grades on like 15 or 16 guys. The only real linebacker in the draft who I thought would be a clear upgrade in the middle was Campbell and I think Detroit reached for him, 

Completely agree.  As much as I think we all would like an upgrade, and as much as guys like Sewell and Pappoe or whoever would have been cool, there was one guy we all viewed as a clear starter and obvious upgrade and he went 18 overall.

The other guys I just mentioned we all liked were 6th rounders in an awful LB class.

[candyman93]

So that UDFA RB we got from Georgia Tech (Hassan Hall) was a pretty solid return guy. Had 2 kickoff returns for TDs. He was also 2nd on the team in catches.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

 

[candyman93]

I’m not saying this is what we should do, but looking at next year, I expect heavy WR and o-line draft. We probably choose a WR in round 2 to be our #1 unless Elijah Moore emerges.

 

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/cleveland-browns

 

We’re already -37 in the red and can free up 20 mil with Cooper being a post June cut. Wyatt would free up 11 mil in a similar situation. Bitonio would free up 16 mil.

 

So basically if we **** the bed, a new regime wouldn’t be handicapped.

[brownie man]

We can fix Amari’s contract 

 

[BetterCallSaul]

Amari is a goner next year, folks.

And @MWil23, I agree with pretty much everything you said. I liked every player we took a lot. My only gripe was the lack of a LB added, which you mentioned.

The S class, the WR class, and the LB class this year were all particularly and historically dreadful. It was a bad draft class devoid of a lot of sleepers. Glad we didn’t pour resources into this class unnecessarily.

Also, again, Berry showed he is going to draft young guys. Even in a draft littered with 23/24 year olds, we shopped young. Andrew Berry out here robbing the cradle.

[MWil23]

2 hours ago, BetterCallSaul said:

Amari is a goner next year, folks.

And @MWil23, I agree with pretty much everything you said. I liked every player we took a lot. My only gripe was the lack of a LB added, which you mentioned.

The S class, the WR class, and the LB class this year were all particularly and historically dreadful. It was a bad draft class devoid of a lot of sleepers. Glad we didn’t pour resources into this class unnecessarily.

Also, again, Berry showed he is going to draft young guys. Even in a draft littered with 23/24 year olds, we shopped young. Andrew Berry out here robbing the cradle.

I do stand by us needing to draft one of those 3 LBs I mentioned starting R5.

Ans I personally hated the in division trade (always do) with Baltimore.

On paper the wide receivers at least look NFL caliber and the OL looks absolutely loaded to go with Chubb and Ford.

The secondary is also solid, and the interior DL isn’t a complete joke now.

I do not love our DE situation outside of Garrett and our LB really concern me…let’s hope Delpit plays like he did in spots down the stretch as opposed to early.

Really though it all comes down to Watson. If he’s not playing at the level he was paid to play at its one of the worst trades in NFL history and AB should get the axe before New Year.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

4 hours ago, candyman93 said:

I’m not saying this is what we should do, but looking at next year, I expect heavy WR and o-line draft. We probably choose a WR in round 2 to be our #1 unless Elijah Moore emerges.

 

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/cleveland-browns

 

We’re already -37 in the red and can free up 20 mil with Cooper being a post June cut. Wyatt would free up 11 mil in a similar situation. Bitonio would free up 16 mil.

 

So basically if we **** the bed, a new regime wouldn’t be handicapped.

I think people need to expect to see us investing heavily at premium positions.

We’re going to take OL, WR, CB and DL almost every year.

Based on who we took this year and current contracts unless someone breaks out, circumstances change, etc., I’d expect to see a G, WR, S, TE, and LB next year.

[MWil23]

1 hour ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

I think people need to expect to see us investing heavily at premium positions.

We’re going to take OL, WR, CB and DL almost every year.

Based on who we took this year and current contracts unless someone breaks out, circumstances change, etc., I’d expect to see a G, WR, S, TE, and LB next year.

And I think of those you named, I would expect to see the following addressed primarily through free agency:

LB, S, OG (unless Harris sticks and moves to OG on a cheap deal)

Berry doesn't value LB at all in the draft and would prefer to get a cheap JAG starter or two as a veteran cerebral presence.

S is something he really has and will continue to do the same for in free agency...albeit if Delpit balls out then he will get re-signed in all likelihood.

I think you can add RB to the list of positions to try to land almost every year, especially as Chubb gets a bit older each year. Most ZBS teams do this as well.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

6 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

And I think of those you named, I would expect to see the following addressed primarily through free agency:

LB, S, OG (unless Harris sticks and moves to OG on a cheap deal)

Berry doesn't value LB at all in the draft and would prefer to get a cheap JAG starter or two as a veteran cerebral presence.

I don’t expected him to invest heavily, but he’s drafted a guy in both rounds 2 and 3 previously so it’s not like he’s averse to spending a pick on them.  Having not taken one this year or last I’d honestly bet money we take one next year at some point.  I wouldn’t be shocked if we took multiple tbh depending on how things work out with Takitaki, Fields and Phillips.

6 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

S is something he really has and will continue to do the same for in free agency...albeit if Delpit balls out then he will get re-signed in all likelihood.

If we need a starter absolutely but I think we’ll look to draft a developmental guy either way unless Bell or Hickman or McCallister somehow balls out.

6 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I think you can add RB to the list of positions to try to land almost every year, especially as Chubb gets a bit older each year. Most ZBS teams do this as well.

Probably, unless Hall looks good then they may wait another year.