BDL Discussion Thread 2023

[MWil23]

1 hour ago, InjuredReserve said:

@MWil23Sorry if I am late on this. But, would love to see your movie thoughts too.

1.3 - Will Anderson, Edge, Alabama

2.3 - Calijah Kancey, INT, Pitt (Traded next yr 1st to acquire pick, since original rd 2 traded for Maxx Crosby)

3.4 - Will Levis, QB, Kentucky

4.2 - Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State

6.3 - Quan Martin, S, Illinois

6.14 - Blake Freeland, OT, BYU

7.6 - Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR, West Virginia

7.10 - Zack Kuntz, TE, Old Dominion

 

Ok I’ll circle back when I can 

[Whicker]

34 minutes ago, Blue said:

Okay, sure.

That's fine. I don't care what you do with your team, it's your team, do what you want. I just don't understand not trying to get something for a player you plan on 3 Downing, just in case somebody wants him. You don't have to explain it to me, I'm not asking you to, I just don't understand it.

Just consider me the BDL equivalent of the Oakland A’s. I don’t compete I just launder money 

[RuskieTitan]

1 hour ago, Whicker said:

As a general rule I don’t seek trades. I really can’t think of a time, other than the draft, where I’ve approached someone cold about a trade in this league. I really don’t like it in general and I believe I’m quite poor at it overall. If I can accomplish a goal without trading, I often go that route. I understand in this situation it cost me a bit, but I refuse to be at “fault” for this situation when I had zero intention of getting here in the first place. 

Trading in this league is hard imo. I'd see trades where to me it feels like one side easily won, think I've got a sense of value, and then see other deals that flip the script. Draft picks can land stars or (imo) JAGs without consistency. 

[WFLukic]

I like the approach of building through the draft and FA first because trading can be difficult for sure. I think there's certain people who are harder to trade with than others for various reasons. Then of course the value proposition is hard - there's a reason why trades are infrequent in the NFL (along with of course the practical issues you get in real life where players actually have to play, move city, negotiate contracts etc etc). On top of that we've got a shortened draft format in the BDL where the focus on premium players (i.e. difference makers) is even greater here than in the NFL so the value of higher picks is magnified. Lastly, with how many players are locked, it limits the pool of who's tradeable so the best player who's tradeable at a position might not be close to the best player overall at his position, yet he'll command a higher price because of scarcity. 

I think you just have to be very deliberate with what you're trying to achieve when trading. I've seen a lot of trades which look like they're made just for the sake of it or out of boredom.

In this Howard context, I think if it's somebody who clearly has no value, it's fine 3 downing them and not reaching out to others. I would've strongly considered 3 downing Terron Armstead for example - he's a great player, but it's a 4 year deal and he's always at risk of breaking down at any time. With Taylor Decker behind him who's more reliable from a health perspective, while still being a viable BDL starter himself, it made more sense to move on if I could get anything for him. However as a high level BDL starter, Bcb's happy to assume the risk for a late round flier and if Armstead stays healthy he gets a top tier LT. Potentially a win-win trade.

Edited April 21, 2023 by WFLukic

[EaglesPeteC]

“That was my concern with him,” the scout said. “His personality is just sort of calm and mellow and laidback, and that’s the way he plays. You look at how Bryce Young plays and how Stroud plays, I don’t see how anyone can look at those two play football and you’d want that guy (Stroud) over Young. Bryce’s mind is so quick and he processes so fast. Whereas with Stroud, everything is much, much more programmed.”

 

[EaglesPeteC]

2 hours ago, MWil23 said:

Ok I’ll circle back when I can 

Between Levis and Kancy gotta be Jurassic Park. Tiny arms and eating **** that’s not food. It’s right there 

[Scoundrel]

[EaglesPeteC]

2 minutes ago, Scoundrel said:

[Blue]

3 hours ago, EaglesPeteC said:

Nobody is asking you to 

Nobody ******* said they were

[MWil23]

4 hours ago, InjuredReserve said:

@MWil23Sorry if I am late on this. But, would love to see your movie thoughts too.

1.3 - Will Anderson, Edge, Alabama

2.3 - Calijah Kancey, INT, Pitt (Traded next yr 1st to acquire pick, since original rd 2 traded for Maxx Crosby)

3.4 - Will Levis, QB, Kentucky

4.2 - Julius Brents, CB, Kansas State

6.3 - Quan Martin, S, Illinois

6.14 - Blake Freeland, OT, BYU

7.6 - Bryce Ford-Wheaton, WR, West Virginia

7.10 - Zack Kuntz, TE, Old Dominion

 

The Expendables

A lot of guilty pleasure nostalgia and testosterone in this film with nonstop action and very little meaningful dialogue.
 

Anderson is arguably the best position player in the draft. Kancey is a definite riser as an interior DT pass rusher, but he might get bullied some inside. Brents and Kuntz are absolute RAS freaks but also a big boom or bust, as is Levis but you get good value there. Lots of fireworks with this class, some of which could be enormous and some of which could be blanks.

[RuskieTitan]

On 4/15/2023 at 9:34 PM, RuskieTitan said:

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos Draft Recap

 

1.12

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Jordan Addison

WR

USC

Draft fell perfectly to us, too perfect perhaps. We attempted to move down and acquire more picks, but we all know what happened. It narrowed down quickly to BPA - Devon Witherspoon, or BPA with Need weight. Ultimately, our level of comfort at our cornerback group, combined with small receiver room, leaned us into selecting our #1 receiving prospect Jordan Addison. Highly likely that he goes later in the real draft, but more importantly we really feel he's capable of making an immediate day 1 impact, and provides us with real flexibility with Terry McLaurin and Amon-Ra St. Brown, being able to play inside and outside. He may not necessarily be the prototypical #1 receiver, but for our offense he's a perfect fit. Time will tell if we regret adding need into the mix, but there was no way to anticipate how perfectly the draft would fall into our lap.

 

3.15

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Jalin Hyatt

WR

Tennessee

Without a 2nd and 3rd round pick heading into the draft, we were forced to sit back and watch as players went off the board. That being said, we had an abundance of late round picks including three 7ths, so as we watched our #2 receiving prospect slide down the draft we knew we would have to move up from 4.5, and made the deal. Hyatt is a superb deep threat, we understand who he is and what he provides, and that's exactly what we're going to be able to use him for. Absolutely thrilled to have revamped our receiving unit in such a short haul, and we're excited to see what John Metchie will bring as well.

 

4.13

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Will McDonald IV

EDGE

Iowa State

BPA all the way. When we saw that our #1 edge prospect had slide all the way down into the fourth, we knew it was a no-brainer to take the best player available and further strengthen our advantage at edge. McDonald will have an opportunity to learn and develop behind some of the best elite players, and could make a contribution as part of a rotation as well as keeping an eye on the future.

 

6.13

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Brenton Strange

TE

Penn State

Evaluating Strange's tape, we felt that he provides us with a lot of utility, being able to leverage him as an H-back out the backfield and really think his best playing days are ahead. Tight End is a position where we have a lot of players but aside from the potential 3-up Evan Engram, there's an opportunity for someone to step up and contribute. Likewise, he may have an opportunity to get on the field his rookie season, and again, it might be a bit bold, but his metrics, tape, and overall evaluation had him as our #1 tight end prospect, continuing an unbelievable draft.

7.5

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Jaquelin Roy

INT

LSU

Da'Ron Payne is beloved in Abidjan, but his NFL contract is quite expensive, and may prohibit him from receiving a 3-up offer. While free agency still looms ahead, it's better to try and add some young blood into the mix. With a certain interior defender's recent antics taking him off our board, we were utterly shocked to see our #1 defensive tackle prospect slide all the way to the bottom of the draft, and are thrilled to add him to our interior rotation - just like Strange, we believe his better playing days are in the years to come.

 

7.13

Ivory Coast Black Rhinos

Keondre Coburn

INT

Texas

What better way to follow our #1 defensive tackle prospect selection with our #1 nose tackle prospect selection. Coburn is a big, big boy, and we're glad to add him in to help out in goal-line and short-yardage situation. In addition, it'll be interesting to see how he develops once he's in an NFL locker room.

 

All in all, we walked away with our #1 WR, #2 WR, #1 Edge, #1 TE, #1 DT, #2DT(#1NT). Stellar drafting and unbelievable how we landed some of these prospects. It's going to be a fun year.

@MWil23

[MD4L]

11 hours ago, MWil23 said:

Tombstone

(You drafted Ringo after all)

Frogs came in with a relatively unorthodox plan, choosing to have major depth and talent that he feels/felt was very versatile from a scheme standpoint. LVN, while some may consider to be a reach, does have a nice ceiling as an EDGE/DT hybrid, and added some speed (albeit lack of size) to his WR corps. Flowers was a nice value pick, and even though I'm not very high on Too Too and I was disappointed with Karl Brooks's RAS numbers, both had nice production.

This draft class reminded me a bit of the ambiguity surrounding Tombstone. Is Wyatt Earp a good guy? Is he a bad guy? It really doesn't matter, he's going to do it his way, even if he leaves a wake of carnage in his path. You get the feel as though Frogs has some things up his sleeve from a scheme standpoint, and vengeance is coming...a reckoning. He may not win, but he's going to make it a showdown, OK Corral style.

We’re not all in on Ringo, but he’ll be a fun project to evaluate over his rookie deal. I think there’s a world where is a legitimate starting CB.

The Karl Brooks RAS also wasn’t fun to see. With him coming from a MAC school, he’ll be a fun study of production vs athleticism. His ability at the POA is legitimate, and got him a lot of production during college. I could see him parlaying his success to minimal accomplishment in his early years to having a 7-12 year career learning the nuisances of playing in the league.

Edited April 22, 2023 by MD4L

[MWil23]

3 minutes ago, RuskieTitan said:

@MWil23

School of Rock

Plot holes notwithstanding, this hilarious redemption story actually holds up pretty well. Jack Black makes about as much sense on paper as drafting a small handed wide receiver who didn’t test well, but then you look at the film and can’t help but think “this is a good fit”.

Hyatt is a bit of an enigma to me as a potential one trick pony, but he was electric and he and McDonald are great value.

Considering the lack of picks, I like those, while being about as down on Brenton Strange as I was with the real Ned Schneebly, who was very much a boring character that served little purpose except to show how good the other actors were, much like Strange in comparison to the others.

[EaglesPeteC]

Raleigh great 

 

[SirA1]

1 hour ago, MD4L said:

The Karl Brooks RAS also wasn’t fun to see. With him coming from a MAC school, he’ll be a fun study of production vs athleticism. His ability at the POA is legitimate, and got him a lot of production during college. I could see him parlaying his success to minimal accomplishment in his early years to having a 7-12 year career learning the nuisances of playing in the league.

Karl Brooks was one of the players I was considering at 7.14 or for sure at the 5th pick of PFA. I think he will go higher than people think.

Edited April 22, 2023 by SirA1