The 2024 Commanders NFL Draft Thread

[Slappy Mc]

12 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

Because my whole point was that we would likely have traded down already if we were going to. 

No reason to rush it. It just means that no one has brought the "too good to pass up" offer to the table. Again, I don't think we trade down either, but who knows what offers will get thrown out on draft day. Especially when officially "on the clock". 

I mean until Caleb Williams is officially selected, we technically still have a shot at him... If we trade our pick and CHI went elsewhere (Maye/Daniels/McCarthy) we would look pretty foolish.

I do agree that we likely won't trade, but it's not off the table and we are definitely listening. 

[lavar703]

58 minutes ago, Slappy Mc said:

At least I have competition for who dislikes taking "insert selected QB here" the most. 

Here I thought I would be the only one to be overly critical of a selected QB.

I've made my position clear on Daniels. I think he's the third best QB in this draft. Its hard for me to stomach taking Daniels when Maye is available. 

[MikeT14]

2 hours ago, TOUCAN said:

Calm demeanor with 38 years to throw and 2 number ones to throw to.

Probably should have penalized Tua and Burrow for that. 

[Troublez]

17 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

I've made my position clear on Daniels. I think he's the third best QB in this draft. Its hard for me to stomach taking Daniels when Maye is available. 

I agree with @lavar703 on Drake Maye. That is who I want, BUT its kind of freaking me out how much he is getting smashed by the Media. 

[Slappy Mc]

8 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

I've made my position clear on Daniels. I think he's the third best QB in this draft. Its hard for me to stomach taking Daniels when Maye is available. 

I hear ya. I also think your biases block you from seeing the deficiencies in Maye's game. Even more of the reason I keep pounding the table that this class is not what people are making it out to be and that trading down is/was* the correct choice. I won't compare the QBs when the pick is eventually made, I will compare whoever we take with the top prospects that we chose to take a QB over. There is no one on planet earth that can convince me that Maye/Daniels are better prospects than Joe Alt, Marvin Harrison Jr., Brock Bowers, Malik Nabers, Olu Fashanu, Rome Odunze, Quinyon Mitchell, Dallas Turner, Jared Verse or Taliese Fuaga. 

 

* = Once Sam Howell was traded, the concept of Mariota being QB1 made a trade down a non-starter for me. I know the F.O. seems to be comfortable with him playing, as he has incentives for playing time etc, but I just don't want to see it at all. 

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

3 hours ago, e16bball said:

I guess Field Yates is taking McShay’s place in draft coverage on ESPN now — he and Kiper did the dueling mock this year. Three rounds, and they had us taking the following players:

1 (2). QB Jayden Daniels, LSU

2 (36). CB Ennis Rakestraw, Missouri

2 (40). OT Kingsley Suamataia, BYU

3 (67). WR Roman Wilson, Michigan

3 (78). DE Jonah Elliss, Utah

3 (100). TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, Texas

 

Not going to bother talking about the first pick, as that one is pretty much set in stone at this point.

I don’t hate this outcome, although the only player I actually like is Roman Wilson, and I’d also have to agree that Sanders would be great value at 100. That’s one of the benefits of having so many quality picks, I guess — the “haul” feels kind of impressive even when you don’t particularly like any of the players individually. 

I think you guys should go Maye over Daniels... but I feel like if the rest of your draft went like that I would be very unhappy cause damn would that be a great haul lol.

[Slappy Mc]

8 minutes ago, Troublez said:

I agree with @lavar703 on Drake Maye. That is who I want, BUT its kind of freaking me out how much he is getting smashed by the Media. 

I don't pay attention to the media, but my biggest concerns are his inability to process and move off his first read and his inconsistent footwork. I loved Maye's pro day to be honest. I liked that he worked out of shotgun less than he was "under center". I disliked the gimmicky "off his back foot" throws and some of his misses, but he is a tall strong stature QB with a really good arm. I do not think it is to his benefit to be a day 1 starter however. Especially on a team with a sub-par/average offensive line. 

Daniels on the other hand ran most of his plays from the shotgun and and displayed very good footwork throughout. He clearly has less of an arm than Maye and missed on some of his throws too. I think there was one gimmicky throw that I didn't care for, but it was a performance that seemed well scripted and controlled. He just seemed very calm going through. 

I think if we had a top 10 O-Line in the league, Maye would be an easy choice as he appears to be a much better pocket passer than Daniels. That just isn't the case and with no "instant-fix" in sight I fear for any QB that is selected. 

[Slappy Mc]

Going to be one of the best QBs of this draft class. Guy is a really good QB. 

 

[e16bball]

3 hours ago, Slappy Mc said:

Keim and Schefter are speaking their beliefs off of information that they have gathered or inferred. Neither are employees or to use your term "mouthpieces" for Washington. 

Yeah, it’s just a coincidence that the only two guys who were out ahead of the Johnson/Quinn switcheroo also happen to simultaneously start suggesting “strong lean Jayden” and referencing some virtually unanimous, heretofore unknown consensus within the game that he’s also the right pick.

3 hours ago, Slappy Mc said:

I frankly think you are stuck in the past with this logic. The team doesn't care if you guys like Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, they are building a successful franchise. They are going to draft who they believe will be successful, not who the fans want. 

I think you’re a bit naive if you think the new regime isn’t concerned with public perception.

Again, we only have one instance to look at with Harris/Peters, which is the HC hiring process — and they went out of their way to try to shape public perception about that. First, by having their top local (Keim) and top national (Schefter) media guy start floating that Johnson wasn’t the lock we all assumed he was, and consistently referencing that they were impressed with Quinn and that there was tons of support from around the league (sounding familiar yet?) for him as the best choice. And they then kinda buried Johnson with leaks after he backed out, which you’re right, that did feel like old times.

I’m not saying they’re making their choice because of public perception — I believe that Jayden is their internally preferred option. What I am saying is that they’re trying to shape public perception ahead of time to make their pick as popular as possible. This is a group that has a downtrodden fanbase and lagging ticket sales, etc. They are trying to drum up support and excitement.

Building Jayden up in the media as the “clear QB2” is a good way to try to get the fanbase to be excited about him.

3 hours ago, Slappy Mc said:

I'd say you have just as much clue as Keim and Schefter do about who they will actually draft. You have strong opinions about what you want and don't want, but at the end of the day neither yours, nor mine, opinions matter to what the F.O. team decides.

Instead of enjoying the ride and relishing the opportunity that we have to truly continue to reshape this franchise, we are still focusing on our personal feelings and taking stuff like this to heart before it's ever happened. The Snyder Era truly messed with the psyche of our fans. 

 

Keim and Schefter don't know what we are going to do or who we are going to draft. You don't know. I don't know. Hell I'm sure Adam Peters doesn't know as he is still interviewing candidates. That's something we haven't had in decades. Enjoy that our hand isn't being tipped, instead of freaking out about it.

I don’t know anything. You don’t know anything. But I don’t know that it’s true that Keim and Schefter don’t know anything. I believe they do know something. For the last month, both of them have pointed more and more confidently toward Daniels as our pick.

It’s not like they’re alone on that island. Daniels is up to -240 to be our pick at DraftKings, which suggests roughly a 70% likelihood.

I also think it’s a little odd that you’re focusing on my feelings and preferences and opinions. What I want is counter to the thing that I believe I’m observing. It’s not like I’m taking this information and twisting it to believe what I want — you’re suggesting that I’m twisting it to believe something I still hope doesn’t happen. Which doesn’t make much sense to me. I want them to take Maye…so I’m warping the data that’s out there so as to convince myself it’s Daniels?

If it’s unclear, I’m not engaging in a tantrum or histrionics. I just think it’s becoming increasingly clear which direction they’re going. I disagree with that choice, but I don’t think it’s an indefensible decision. I think Jayden has a chance, just as I wasn’t sold on Quinn but also think he has a chance. Why you’re assuming I must be freaking out or taking things to heart because of my damaged psyche is what baffles me, frankly.

[RSkinGM]

If,, we pick a Q B at 2, the rest of the evening will seem anticlimatic. Friday night rounds two and three - now that'll be some action ! don't care much about Saturday at all. I'll just follow that after the fact .

[lavar703]

2 hours ago, Slappy Mc said:

I hear ya. I also think your biases block you from seeing the deficiencies in Maye's game. Even more of the reason I keep pounding the table that this class is not what people are making it out to be and that trading down is/was* the correct choice. I won't compare the QBs when the pick is eventually made, I will compare whoever we take with the top prospects that we chose to take a QB over. There is no one on planet earth that can convince me that Maye/Daniels are better prospects than Joe Alt, Marvin Harrison Jr., Brock Bowers, Malik Nabers, Olu Fashanu, Rome Odunze, Quinyon Mitchell, Dallas Turner, Jared Verse or Taliese Fuaga. 

 

* = Once Sam Howell was traded, the concept of Mariota being QB1 made a trade down a non-starter for me. I know the F.O. seems to be comfortable with him playing, as he has incentives for playing time etc, but I just don't want to see it at all. 

My biases are based on the fact that Daniels was this good for one season. His 5th season of football as a starter and when he headed towards an insane 50+ starts in college. You know why that’s insane because if you’re so good you’re being compared to Mahomes and Lamar Jackson and being put above Caleb Williams by some you don’t make it to 50+ starts in college. Daniels has gone from being a middling prospect to what’s seemingly being billed out to be one of the greatest QB prospects ever. That’s the heights this is starting to reach. 
 

I mean, we’re reaching a point now where guys like Keim and Finlay are saying his historically bad P2S doesn’t matter because all sacks are different. The exact same guys who were killing Howell over it. 

[Slappy Mc]

6 minutes ago, e16bball said:

Yeah, it’s just a coincidence that the only two guys who were out ahead of the Johnson/Quinn switcheroo also happen to simultaneously start suggesting “strong lean Jayden” and referencing some virtually unanimous, heretofore unknown consensus within the game that he’s also the right pick.

If you listen to the last interview that Schefter did, he specifically says he has no inside information and that no one from Washington said this, but it is his belief. 

Again, it may be what ends up happening, but it's not the team leaking anything to suggest it. 

15 minutes ago, e16bball said:

I think you’re a bit naive if you think the new regime isn’t concerned with public perception.

Josh Harris and other owners? Sure, fair to imagine they care. Adam Peters and his staff? Absolutely not. They are worried about the product on the, not what you or I think about what they are doing in the offseason. 

18 minutes ago, e16bball said:

Again, we only have one instance to look at with Harris/Peters, which is the HC hiring process — and they went out of their way to try to shape public perception about that. First, by having their top local (Keim) and top national (Schefter) media guy start floating that Johnson wasn’t the lock we all assumed he was, and consistently referencing that they were impressed with Quinn and that there was tons of support from around the league (sounding familiar yet?) for him as the best choice. And they then kinda buried Johnson with leaks after he backed out, which you’re right, that did feel like old times.

I’m not saying they’re making their choice because of public perception — I believe that Jayden is their internally preferred option. What I am saying is that they’re trying to shape public perception ahead of time to make their pick as popular as possible. This is a group that has a downtrodden fanbase and lagging ticket sales, etc. They are trying to drum up support and excitement.

Building Jayden up in the media as the “clear QB2” is a good way to try to get the fanbase to be excited about him.

Ok... Firstly, you are still of the mind that Washington is "having Schefter and Keim spread information" to create a narrative, up-to and including "burying Johnson" after he pulled out. You are also clearly of the mind that Dan Quinn wasn't a serious option throughout the entirety of the head coach search. You are suggesting that they are trying to shape a narrative for fan perception and I don't share that opinion at all.

Fans being in the stands is important to everyone in the organization sure, but the hype campaigns are going to be after a prospect/coach is hired, not before. If you think the difference between fan support is Jayden or Drake, I think you are overestimating the reaction between the two.

I actually think a great deal of fans would be ecstatic if we went McCarthy at 2. Any QB at 2 is going to generate the buzz you are suggesting they are trying to create. No additional work is needed to "make it popular". Claiming that Washington is the driving force that Jayden Daniels is QB2 is quite comical, IMO. 

31 minutes ago, e16bball said:

I don’t know anything. You don’t know anything. But I don’t know that it’s true that Keim and Schefter don’t know anything. I believe they do know something. For the last month, both of them have pointed more and more confidently toward Daniels as our pick.

It’s not like they’re alone on that island. Daniels is up to -240 to be our pick at DraftKings, which suggests roughly a 70% likelihood.

I also think it’s a little odd that you’re focusing on my feelings and preferences and opinions. What I want is counter to the thing that I believe I’m observing. It’s not like I’m taking this information and twisting it to believe what I want — you’re suggesting that I’m twisting it to believe something I still hope doesn’t happen. Which doesn’t make much sense to me. I want them to take Maye…so I’m warping the data that’s out there so as to convince myself it’s Daniels?

If it’s unclear, I’m not engaging in a tantrum or histrionics. I just think it’s becoming increasingly clear which direction they’re going. I disagree with that choice, but I don’t think it’s an indefensible decision. I think Jayden has a chance, just as I wasn’t sold on Quinn but also think he has a chance. Why you’re assuming I must be freaking out or taking things to heart because of my damaged psyche is what baffles me, frankly.

Got it. You believe in what Keim and Schefter say. They could be correct or they could be wrong. They could have inside information or they could just be spitballing their beliefs on a platform they get paid to say their beliefs on...

As for the conversation about your preferences in relation to what you post, you and @lavar703 are speaking in certainties about something that is all but certain because of your opposition of the decision. I never suggested you were twisting information, just that your interpretation of reports is holding more weight due to past histories of leaks and the open-book nature of how this franchise was run.

Speaking of them selecting Daniels in a negative light is your right as a fan and person (I'll do it equally to any QB selected). I just want to keep reiterating that this isn't Dan Snyder's Redskins anymore. It's not the same old crap we have been subjected to for decades. The people in charge are truly trying to give us something to cheer for, not just fill their pockets. 

[Slappy Mc]

27 minutes ago, lavar703 said:

My biases are based on the fact that Daniels was this good for one season. His 5th season of football as a starter and when he headed towards an insane 50+ starts in college. You know why that’s insane because if you’re so good you’re being compared to Mahomes and Lamar Jackson and being put above Caleb Williams by some you don’t make it to 50+ starts in college. Daniels has gone from being a middling prospect to what’s seemingly being billed out to be one of the greatest QB prospects ever. That’s the heights this is starting to reach. 
 

I mean, we’re reaching a point now where guys like Keim and Finlay are saying his historically bad P2S doesn’t matter because all sacks are different. The exact same guys who were killing Howell over it. 

I 100% agree that people are overselling Jayden Daniels, whether that be local beat reporters or national "draft experts". I'm not sure why Drake Maye has been so targeted and Jayden Daniels not equally so, but the media has their own agenda. 

The great thing to remember is that our draft board isn't being built off media perception. They are drafting who they feel is the best player for the team. Regardless of what all the talking heads say, Adam Peters and Co are the ones choosing. I believe in those people. I think they have done a great job getting better talent (and Mariota) on the roster. 

#TrustTheProcess

Also as a side note, remember that Mahomes and Jackson weren't even being propped up as the best QBs of their draft classes. 

[Troublez]

^ This is very level headed thinking. I respect this cru - and think they have done an excellent job thus far. If they go with Jaden, I will be on board (thought preference Drake or JJ).

[ARTMONK HOF]