2023 draft prospects and college football talk.

[ARTMONK HOF]

Here’s our first rd pick? Projected in the middle of the 1st rd. 

[turtle28]

14 hours ago, ARTMONK HOF said:

Here’s our first rd pick? Projected in the middle of the 1st rd. 

I love the player, I would be disappointed if we didn’t take a CB or QB.
 

We should re-sign Holcomb & then draft a different position. We have Holcomb & Jamin. We play a 2 LB set like 70-80% of the game w/ Curl playing Buffalo nickel or we go 3 CBs in a nickel look.

We should be draft a LB or 2 in the mid to late rounds for depth IMO.

[lavar703]

I would probably take the best OT on the board or the TE from Notre Dame. Unless Joey Porter Jr. somehow falls to us

 

Also, I know this one might sound crazy but I would seriously consider Bijan Robinson. We have two decent RBs but Robinson is a game-changer. I'd toss both the backs we have on the scrap pile for Bijan lol. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by lavar703

[turtle28]

2 hours ago, lavar703 said:

I would probably take the best OT on the board or the TE from Notre Dame. Unless Joey Porter Jr. somehow falls to us

 

Also, I know this one might sound crazy but I would seriously consider Bijan Robinson. We have two decent RBs but Robinson is a game-changer. I'd toss both the backs we have on the scrap pile for Bijan lol. 

Is QB entirely off the board for you now that we don’t have a top 5 pick?

QB is still the greatest need on our team.
 

The TE from ND, Mayer or Joey Porter, JR if they’re available will be 2 of the best players available but how can we continue to ignore drafting another QB in round 1, if there’s one worthy of drafting where we pick?

We’re going to be constantly stuck being mediocre at best unless we address that issue. 
 

Sorry, but RB is not even on my radar at all. I know you’re always looking for that game breaking guy in round 1 but we just have greater needs & taking a RB in round 1 is not often the best way to build a team.

Edited November 18, 2022 by turtle28

[turtle28]

Ok, I’m wondering how people have the QBs ranked after Stroud & Bryce Young who are certainly out of our range to draft even if we lost the rest of our games. It seems to me that most mock drafts have the next group of QBs listed as such:

1. Will Levis - Mostly based off skillset & potential bc he’s been very inconsistent, as has the Kentucky OL & offense around him. After sitting a year & developing behind Heinicke, Levis could develop enough to be our starter in 2024 & he has the skill set/potential to someday be a top 15 QB.

2. Hendon Hooker - He’s the most accomplished of this group of the next 4 QBs in this draft but, he’s going to be 25 & there’s certainly a question as to if he’s reached his ceiling as a player which, I don’t believe he has, but I don’t know that he’ll ever be a top 10 QB in the league.

3. Anthony Richardson - Out of this group Richardson has the highest ceiling but he also has the biggest bust potential. He’s a high ceiling/low floor prospect. If we aren’t able to get Levis in round 1 or we chose not to take Hendon Hooker bc of his age & perceived low ceiling, we could take a flyer on Richardson in round 2. He’s a mini-Cam Newton to me. 
 

He’s 6’4, 230, he’s a really great athlete w/ a strong arm but has accuracy issues. We could run a zone read offense with him & be really successful on offense I think. Again, he has a very high ceiling.
 

I can see him being the type of QB who develops into a QB who throws for 3500 yds & 25 TDs a year while rushing for 500 to 750 yards a year w/ a handful of rushing TDs.
 

4.Tanner McKee - Pure pocket passer with a good arm & he’s accurate. It seems to me he compares a lot to Davis Mills as a prospect. Like Levis, McKee is limited in what he can show off bc the offense around him isn’t great but he has the tools to be a solid QB like Davis Mills is. My issue is, like with Davis Mills, that I don’t think he ever develops into a top half of the league starter. 
 

For that reason, I’m not sure if we should draft him, we already have a guy like that which we drafted last year in Sam Howell. We all hope that Sam Howell develops into a starter & can eventually be a top 10 QB, it seems unlikely to me, but I’ll always hope that happens for a young QB we draft. That being said, McKee seems like more top back up QB to me rather than top 15 starter so, I wouldn’t draft him for us bc we already have Sam Howell in that role.

Edited November 19, 2022 by turtle28

[lavar703]

22 hours ago, turtle28 said:

Is QB entirely off the board for you now that we don’t have a top 5 pick?

QB is still the greatest need on our team.
 

The TE from ND, Mayer or Joey Porter, JR if they’re available will be 2 of the best players available but how can we continue to ignore drafting another QB in round 1, if there’s one worthy of drafting where we pick?

We’re going to be constantly stuck being mediocre at best unless we address that issue. 
 

Sorry, but RB is not even on my radar at all. I know you’re always looking for that game breaking guy in round 1 but we just have greater needs & taking a RB in round 1 is not often the best way to build a team.

QB isn’t exactly off the board for me completely I just don’t think anybody outside of Young and Stroud are really any better then Sam Howell. Levis just looks awful every time I’ve watched him. Same with Anthony Richardson who just looked god awful in the few games I saw. I love Hendon Hooker but his age and the fact I don’t see him as a first round talent bother me. 
 

So for me, I’d like to take Porter Jr., Bijan Robinson or Michael Mayer. Bijan is just a special talent. One that doesn’t come along every year and I’m always of the opinion when there’s a special talent on the board you just pick that player. I don’t care that Gibson and Robinson are on the roster. Bijan is just in a different stratosphere from them. He’s the type of talent that takes your offense from good to great. Also, I’d like to see Gibson in a Deebo Samuel role as I believe he’s more suited to that and then you can have Bijan and Brian handling the RB duties. 

[turtle28]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:55 PM, ARTMONK HOF said:

This guy worth a middle first rd pick? Touted as the No.1 safety in the draft. 6’3” 200lb

So, I was doing some more research on Antonio Johnson & I learned that he can play slot corner as well as being able to play both safety positions. It’s still true that his best position is likely SS or Buffalo nickel, but with Forrest emerging as our answer at FS this opens up a spot for another Buffalo nickel/SS type to go along with Curl.

So, if the top 3 QBs are off the board, I could see us drafting Antonio Johnson & making him our Buffalo nickel S/CB while keeping Curl at SS. Johnson is bigger than Curl, so I think it would make more sense to have him play Buffalo nickel & cover slot receivers while keeping Curl at SS.

I really like the prospect just like the OLB from Clemson, Trenton Thompson, but neither would be my first choice. I’d much rather take one of the top CBs, a QB or even OL, if available.

[turtle28]

36 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

QB isn’t exactly off the board for me completely I just don’t think anybody outside of Young and Stroud are really any better then Sam Howell. Levis just looks awful every time I’ve watched him. Same with Anthony Richardson who just looked god awful in the few games I saw. I love Hendon Hooker but his age and the fact I don’t see him as a first round talent bother me. 
 

So for me, I’d like to take Porter Jr., Bijan Robinson or Michael Mayer. Bijan is just a special talent. One that doesn’t come along every year and I’m always of the opinion when there’s a special talent on the board you just pick that player. I don’t care that Gibson and Robinson are on the roster. Bijan is just in a different stratosphere from them. He’s the type of talent that takes your offense from good to great. Also, I’d like to see Gibson in a Deebo Samuel role as I believe he’s more suited to that and then you can have Bijan and Brian handling the RB duties. 

That 100% makes sense. Good points, especially about Gibson being used more as a WR/Deebo Samuel type role & 3rd down back/return man (I sure hope next off-season they teach him to return punts), which we both wanted since we drafted him.

Edited November 19, 2022 by turtle28

[turtle28]

Well Hendon Hooker just hurt his knee, didn’t look good, non-contact.

[turtle28]

[lavar703]

Bijan Robinson went off today. Dudes a monster. 

[turtle28]

3 hours ago, lavar703 said:

Bijan Robinson went off today. Dudes a monster. 

[turtle28]

Ok, couple of questions:

1. With Hendon Hooker likely tearing his ACL, do you take him in the mid to late rounds knowing he’s going to miss a lot of next year? That would allow us to focus on different positions in round 1 & 2, like CB & C/G.

So, something like this:

R1: Joey Porter JR., CB Penn State

R2: John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota 

R3: Jaxson Kirkland, G/RT, Washington (Comp pick from Scherff)

R4: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee 

R5: Stevon Gilmore (Stephon Gilmore’s younger brother), Slot CB, Marshall

R6: SirVocea Dennis, LB, Pitt 

R7: Ventrel Miller, LB, Florida 

 

Or, Spencer Rattler really played well last night vs Tennessee. 81%, 438 yds & 6 TDs. I know he’s had a really rough college career & things have not gone as planned. He played poorly to start last year & was benched in favor of Caleb Williams. He was supposed to be all world last year at Oklahoma last year - just like Howell at UNC - but it didn’t work out as planned for either guy.
 

That being said, he’s really starting to come on at South Carolina & he still has that elite arm talent. I’m not sure what round Rattler will end up projecting in bc he’s been such a puzzling case but, I think if we don’t get one of the top 3 QBs in round 1 that taking Rattler at some point could be worth it. He could very well end up being a low risk/high reward pick in the mid rounds, even more-so than Hendon Hooker bc Hooker will be coming off what looks like a torn ACL & as everyone knows Hooker will be 25 next year.

[lavar703]

4 hours ago, turtle28 said:

Ok, couple of questions:

1. With Hendon Hooker likely tearing his ACL, do you take him in the mid to late rounds knowing he’s going to miss a lot of next year? That would allow us to focus on different positions in round 1 & 2, like CB & C/G.

So, something like this:

R1: Joey Porter JR., CB Penn State

R2: John Michael Schmitz, C, Minnesota 

R3: Jaxson Kirkland, G/RT, Washington (Comp pick from Scherff)

R4: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee 

R5: Stevon Gilmore (Stephon Gilmore’s younger brother), Slot CB, Marshall

R6: SirVocea Dennis, LB, Pitt 

R7: Ventrel Miller, LB, Florida 

 

Or, Spencer Rattler really played well last night vs Tennessee. 81%, 438 yds & 6 TDs. I know he’s had a really rough college career & things have not gone as planned. He played poorly to start last year & was benched in favor of Caleb Williams. He was supposed to be all world last year at Oklahoma last year - just like Howell at UNC - but it didn’t work out as planned for either guy.
 

That being said, he’s really starting to come on at South Carolina & he still has that elite arm talent. I’m not sure what round Rattler will end up projecting in bc he’s been such a puzzling case but, I think if we don’t get one of the top 3 QBs in round 1 that taking Rattler at some point could be worth it. He could very well end up being a low risk/high reward pick in the mid rounds, even more-so than Hendon Hooker bc Hooker will be coming off what looks like a torn ACL & as everyone knows Hooker will be 25 next year.

Sam Howell is better than Hendon Hooker. I say that as someone who watched the majority of both of their starts. It would make no sense at all to take Hooker in the middle rounds when you have a better QB on the roster who's already been developing in this system plus Howell is two years younger. 

Sam Howell accounted for 35TDs his last year, threw for 3k and nearly rushed for 1K after losing all of his weapons and the majority of his OL. Up until last night Rattler somehow had 8 TD passes on the season compared to 9 interceptions. Plus the fact Rattler is a jerk doesn't help matters. Outside of Young or Stroud, there isn't a QB in this draft that's better than Sam Howell. 

[turtle28]

55 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

Sam Howell is better than Hendon Hooker. I say that as someone who watched the majority of both of their starts. It would make no sense at all to take Hooker in the middle rounds when you have a better QB on the roster who's already been developing in this system plus Howell is two years younger. 

Sam Howell accounted for 35TDs his last year, threw for 3k and nearly rushed for 1K after losing all of his weapons and the majority of his OL. Up until last night Rattler somehow had 8 TD passes on the season compared to 9 interceptions. Plus the fact Rattler is a jerk doesn't help matters. Outside of Young or Stroud, there isn't a QB in this draft that's better than Sam Howell. 

I’d love that to be the case, I’m not sure if it’s true or not though. I like Howell too, I know what he did in college. I’m not convinced that he’s better than what Hooker showed this season - removing the other seasons Hooker played - or that Howell is better than what Levis, Richardson & Rattler may develop into.

Regardless of that, we need more QB competition & young talent to develop. Just bc Howell may end up being better than Levis, Hooker, Richardson or Rattler doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to improve our QB room with another young talented QB w/ upside.

From what I’ve read Rattler has been a good teammate.