vike daddy Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 On Saturday evening, I [Peter King] downloaded NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s brain for one hour. I’d have loved four. The week-long NFL Scouting Combine starts Tuesday in Indianapolis, and as Jeremiah walked me through the good, the bad, and the meh, five truths became evident: 1. Bad QB draft. Only once in the 21 drafts of this century has there not been a quarterback drafted in the top five—or top 10, for that matter. That was in 2013, when E.J. Manuel (16th overall) was the lone first-rounder. Looking like it could be similarly slim pickings this year, unless a QB-desperate team falls in love with Pitt’s safe Kenny Pickett or a project like Liberty’s Malik Willis. 2. Good draft for edge players and wideouts. On his overall draft board, Jeremiah has six edge rushers in his top 20 players. ESPN’s Todd McShay has five and Matt Miller of ESPN has six in his top 20. Regarding wideouts: “Just record my answer and play it back for the next 20 years,” Jeremiah said. “This draft is loaded with wideouts, and we’re going to see a massive amount every year.” 3. Jacksonville has a good choice atop the draft. With three top-10 tackles possible, the Jags could choose to improve at left tackle (incumbent Cam Robinson’s average PFF ranking at tackle over the past three years: 38th) or to give defensive end Josh Allen a strong bookend presence with an edge player. 4. Consensus top pick 59 days from round one? No overwhelming one. It’s probably Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson (30.5 tackles behind the line last year). Seems very clean on and off the field, and could be a Jared Allen effort player with great production. One of the tackles or more athletic edge Kayvon Thibodeaux of Oregon will give Hutchinson competition. 5. You want to have lots of mid-round picks. Depth draft. There are starters to be had through five rounds at tight end, interior line, running back, linebacker, safety and wideout. That bodes well for a team like Baltimore, which will have five picks in the fourth round, and seven overall in the third and fourth. “One of the things I like about this draft,” Jeremiah said late in our conversation, “is the uncertainty. There’s not one obvious player for Jacksonville at one. There are some intriguing players you’re going to have take risks on. A corner like [LSU’s] Derek Stingley—if he goes in the top five or he goes 40, I won’t be surprised. That’s going to be part of the fun of this draft. There’s so much we don’t know.” https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/02/28/nfl-combine-preview-tv-money-fmia-peter-king/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted February 28, 2022 Author Share Posted February 28, 2022 “You gotta go back and watch Garrett Wilson in his freshman year,” Jeremiah continued. “They’re playing Clemson. He goes up and makes a catch on the sideline that’s as good a catch as any that I’ve ever seen. He can jump out of the gym. He reminds me of Justin Jefferson [in the 2020 draft]. I loved everything about Justin Jefferson. Everything he did was really clean—best route-runner in the draft. It’s panned out that way.” https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/02/28/nfl-combine-preview-tv-money-fmia-peter-king/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 So, you're saying we should have had 4 Third round picks this year, instead of last? 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoDakViking Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 7 hours ago, swede700 said: So, you're saying we should have had 4 Third round picks this year, instead of last? 😉 I'd be happy with just our 4th back. Could have found a guy off the street to come do what Herndon did. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 9 minutes ago, NoDakViking said: I'd be happy with just our 4th back. Could have found a guy off the street to come do what Herndon did. Yeah...it was unfortunate, but it was a risk on a player who did start out real well in his career and that was the price. A 4th was high, but still it was a Day 3 pick and those are always crapshoots. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 3 hours ago, NoDakViking said: I'd be happy with just our 4th back. Could have found a guy off the street to come do what Herndon did. Do you think that was worse than the Ngakoue move? Nothing in recent history tops the panic Bradford trade. What a disaster that was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriminalMind Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 It’s hard to find any move over the last 2-3 years that was net beneficial. Ideally Diggs should still be on our roster, if we moved on from Cousins prior to his extension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 7 minutes ago, CriminalMind said: It’s hard to find any move over the last 2-3 years that was net beneficial. Ideally Diggs should still be on our roster, if we moved on from Cousins prior to his extension. And we wouldn't have Jefferson who is younger, cheaper, better and less mercurial. I'd say moving on from Diggs was definitely beneficial. And of course, that doesn't speak to what would have replaced Cousins on the roster. I'm sure Diggs would have stayed happy with Jalen Hurts throwing him the ball. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriminalMind Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 2 minutes ago, wcblack34 said: And we wouldn't have Jefferson who is younger, cheaper, better and less mercurial. I'd say moving on from Diggs was definitely beneficial. And of course, that doesn't speak to what would have replaced Cousins on the roster. I'm sure Diggs would have stayed happy with Jalen Hurts throwing him the ball. With a more competent GM, we would have moved on from Cousins after 3 years and got a comp 3rd rounder, kept Diggs and maybe drafted JJ as well, and not draft a mainly slot-CB from TCU who only lasted one season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 13 hours ago, SteelKing728 said: Do you think that was worse than the Ngakoue move? Nothing in recent history tops the panic Bradford trade. What a disaster that was. I still would say the Ngakoue move was significantly worse than the Bradford trade...and to me, it's not even close. I understood the Bradford move at the time. Yes, we lost a 1st rd pick, but I will die on that hill that it was a risk worth taking. It just didn't pan out. The Ngakoue move was an unnecessary one as far as I'm concerned...it was to try and create an idyllic pass rush, but they could have rolled with what they had and probably still had similar results. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 1 hour ago, CriminalMind said: With a more competent GM, we would have moved on from Cousins after 3 years and got a comp 3rd rounder, kept Diggs and maybe drafted JJ as well, and not draft a mainly slot-CB from TCU who only lasted one season. And still had (maybe) Jalen Hurts as our QB. Jefferson probably doesn't last until our next pick in the first round, and CB was a far greater need. And who knows, with "a more competent GM" maybe Jefferson isn't even rated that highly on the board. A lot of other teams passed on him by the time our (earlier because of incompetent GM) pick rolled around. The Diggs trade was a win. Period. Be critical about Herndon, Ngakoue, Bradford, but the Diggs trade was a home run. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikesfan89 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 At least Bradford helped the team for a year. Ngakua and Herndon were just bad players and/ or bad fits 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 1 hour ago, CriminalMind said: With a more competent GM, we would have moved on from Cousins after 3 years and got a comp 3rd rounder, kept Diggs and maybe drafted JJ as well, and not draft a mainly slot-CB from TCU who only lasted one season. A more competent gm takes the kid from Minnesota whose dad played a large majority in Minnesota and was considered a fan favorite for a long time. That kid helped his team win a Superbowl his first season and was very effective his second season. I'd love Winny Jr here! We settled on a no brain thug instead. /rant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 It’s nice seeing people smile. I don’t know about others, but I was getting tired of the old, surly coaches that this team has had for the past 15 years. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 Leslie wasn't surly. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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