The 2024 Commanders NFL Draft Thread

[lavar703]

52 minutes ago, ripsean21 said:

Chicago remind me of the Browns when they were stockpiling picks. The only difference is the Browns refused to draft a QB. The Bears might draft 3 of them you just don’t know. They definitely lucked out with the top pick. But how much luck did they have because if they could actually scout Stroud would be their QB. So trust me when I say nothing Chicago is doing would surprise me.
 

They have crippled Fields development. And the locker room loves him. Yeah let’s take Williams who don’t know either of them but fields is a humble guy who’s had his *** kicked and kept fighting in the NFL. As we’ve all said we don’t know what Caleb will do with adversity. and again they draft Williams use all their picks they’ve stockpiled and go 5-12 because they play good defense and Caleb looks just okay then what? You drafted another QB on a fired staff and you’re doing the exact same thing lol. Not my problem. If I was them I’d go MHJ and Draft a OL to actually protect Fields. And I’d get Blake Corrum on that team at some point. But that’s just me I’d put some real fire power on that roster and protect Fields. But I liked Fields coming out I still think he’s got what it takes he’s tough as nails!!!

Not firing Eberflus and doing exactly what they did with Fields is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. 

[offbyone]

1 hour ago, ripsean21 said:

Chicago remind me of the Browns when they were stockpiling picks. The only difference is the Browns refused to draft a QB. The Bears might draft 3 of them you just don’t know. They definitely lucked out with the top pick. But how much luck did they have because if they could actually scout Stroud would be their QB. So trust me when I say nothing Chicago is doing would surprise me.
 

They have crippled Fields development. And the locker room loves him. Yeah let’s take Williams who don’t know either of them but fields is a humble guy who’s had his *** kicked and kept fighting in the NFL. As we’ve all said we don’t know what Caleb will do with adversity. and again they draft Williams use all their picks they’ve stockpiled and go 5-12 because they play good defense and Caleb looks just okay then what? You drafted another QB on a fired staff and you’re doing the exact same thing lol. Not my problem. If I was them I’d go MHJ and Draft a OL to actually protect Fields. And I’d get Blake Corrum on that team at some point. But that’s just me I’d put some real fire power on that roster and protect Fields. But I liked Fields coming out I still think he’s got what it takes he’s tough as nails!!!

The counter argument would be that rather than scouting Stroud they gave Fields a 3rd year to improve.  3 years.  More than enough to show he isn't special.  Maybe he could have used more support around him, but he got his chance.  They tried different offenses.  And you are right he is tough as nails.  But that is the only thing he was consistently good at and that just isn't enough.  

Washington fans could say the same thing about Howell....Give Howell a better chance and more time.  If he only had an offensive line, a better OC, a better TE, etc. 

As a prospect if we took any one of Fields year, Howell probably looks better except as a runner.  Howell is also tough as nails.  The locker room by all accounts likes Howell.  At one point even Jon Allen declared Howell the future.  But we all know, Howell just isn't good enough.  Same goes with Fields.  The difference is Fields ended up getting a lot more chances than howell, but that is just cause he was drafted higher. 

Hard to believe, but I think we are in a similar situation as Chicago.  Can you really pass on one of the best qbs in the draft when you don't have a special one?

Edited January 19 by offbyone

[turtle28]

On 1/16/2024 at 4:21 PM, lavar703 said:

Are most fanbases like this fanbase? Its not even just particularly this site but its everywhere that I read. The obsession with trading back and taking somebody other than one of the best two QBs in this draft. Why is this fanbase so terrified of taking a QB that would take us to different heights potentially but are so willing and happy to roll with a Heinicke? And I guess a Howell for that matter after the season he had? And I love Sam. Everyone here knows I do but Maye is clearly more gifted. I totally understand it if we're picking 4th or beyond but we have the second pick in this draft with a guy who has been the CLEAR choice for this pick for two years now and fans would rather trade it away and draft a Spencer Rattler or something. I see Bears fans on their forums basically begging Poles to take Williams and we want to trade off of Maye and take an OL that is basically available in every single draft. 

I mean, am I the crazy one here who thinks this is like the easiest draft choice we've had in years? We don't have to trade up, we get to keep all of our resources to build around him and fans would rather trade back for a lesser talent. Again, I could be totally off-base here but I just have no clue why this fanbase is so scared of just picking the QB that was gifted to us? 

I can say that other fanbases do the same thing, at least other fanbases that have people who absolutely love the draft. I've been in the Steelers forum before - not in a while - but everytime I go there I see similar posts to what we see here about wanting to trade down for more picks from certain posters who just value having all this draft capital and so many bites at the apple instead of just having the #2 pick and taking the best QB available. I see it on the socials amongst Steelers fans too, just like Commanders fans. So, it's not just our fanbase. 

I 100% agree that this is one of the easiest and most clear draft picks we've had to make in years. I mean just going back to 2020, that wasn't as clear bc of Tua's hip injury he was recovering from and we had Haskins who was a 1st round pick the year before whether it was right or wrong with him goiing in R1. I get that Sam showed flashes, but I think most of us in this forum learned from that experience in that if you don't have a franchise QB you keep swinging until you get one. Basically there is nothing wrong with top talented young competition at the QB spot either. It should bring out the best in Sam & say it is Drake Maye that we draft.

[MikeT14]

To @lavar703's older question from 1/16 and building off @turtle28's point, I was listening to G&D for like 15 minutes yesterday and they had call-ins. The # of people wanting to trade down heavily outweighed the stand pats. It was wild. I kept thinking of:

 

[ripsean21]

40 minutes ago, offbyone said:

The counter argument would be that rather than scouting Stroud they gave Fields a 3rd year to improve.  3 years.  More than enough to show he isn't special.  Maybe he could have used more support around him, but he got his chance.  They tried different offenses.  And you are right he is tough as nails.  But that is the only thing he was consistently good at and that just isn't enough.  

Washington fans could say the same thing about Howell....Give Howell a better chance and more time.  If he only had an offensive line, a better OC, a better TE, etc. 

As a prospect if we took any one of Fields year, Howell probably looks better except as a runner.  Howell is also tough as nails.  The locker room by all accounts likes Howell.  At one point even Jon Allen declared Howell the future.  But we all know, Howell just isn't good enough.  Same goes with Fields.  The difference is Fields ended up getting a lot more chances than howell, but that is just cause he was drafted higher. 

Hard to believe, but I think we are in a similar situation as Chicago.  Can you really pass on one of the best qbs in the draft when you don't have a special one?

And I’ll say the same thing about Fields I said about Sam. The offensive system they were being asked to run were horrible for their games. Not Fields as bad as what EB did here.
 

EB went completely rogue with the players on this roster. You had Jahan very seldomly being keyed. The first 5 weeks he never ran a stack set with Terry and Jahan. Like he has some great route concepts and creativity but his feel for when to run plays good lord. Now I will say when your playing from negatively behind the sticks as consistent as we were yeah I mean there isn’t many plays for that. Again I fault not one player for anything that’s happened here. Any success is all on that player because schematically we’ve been in a dumpster with how we use our players. 

But Fields has succeeded with no weapons no OL and no WR’s. I mean ultimately this is something they have to figure out. But they’re the ones who have built this roster. They have too see they didn’t even give Fields a chance to succeed they have continuously missed on players high in the draft. Idk I’m not Chicago but if I had Fields and the draft capital I can add to move back again I’d keep doing it. But I’d get the kid a real OL. I would try to stay in MHJ range but I have Odunzi rated right there with Harrison. I actually really like his game just as much.

[ripsean21]

5 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

To @lavar703's older question from 1/16 and building off @turtle28's point, I was listening to G&D for like 15 minutes yesterday and they had call-ins. The # of people wanting to trade down heavily outweighed the stand pats. It was wild. I kept thinking of:

 

Because teams are looking at Cleveland Detroit and Philly who have all completely rebuilt because of draft capital hording. The Ravens consistently do this. There are many models to fallow. There’s BPA. Well that’s MHJ/Bowers. There’s safe/ best pick long term, Alt. And then there’s we need a QB the answer is clearly Maye/ Daniels because you’d assume Williams gone. Just feeling for what I think Johnson would want and the QB’s Peters has been apart of I think Maye checks all their boxes despite my questions I have around the prospect I completely understand his skillset and how transformative he can be one if he works his tail off and two if he buys into what Johnson and co are teaching. Because systematically I don’t worry. I believe they will put whoever in a really good position to thrive I do believe that.

[MikeT14]

2 minutes ago, ripsean21 said:

Because teams are looking at Cleveland Detroit and Philly who have all completely rebuilt because of draft capital hording. The Ravens consistently do this.

All four of those teams have their QB. And when they didn't they went and got him (Jackson, Wentz, Stafford before trade)

[ripsean21]

2 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

All four of those teams have their QB. And when they didn't they went and got him (Jackson, Wentz, Stafford before trade)

I get it and I hope that they find their guy. If they don’t though we will see how this team feels about this class for one and how they plan to build. I have no problem with any route in this class. Alt is blue chip. That guy is a cornerstone player for a decade plus. I’m okay with any variation of the top 3. I’ve stated my pros and cons but ultimately I really like all 3 so I could understand them loving any of them. And if we go BPA we’re going to get a transcendent playmaker we don’t have have any of those 3 things on the roster either way

[MikeT14]

1 minute ago, ripsean21 said:

I get it and I hope that they find their guy. If they don’t though we will see how this team feels about this class for one and how they plan to build. I have no problem with any route in this class. Alt is blue chip. That guy is a cornerstone player for a decade plus. I’m okay with any variation of the top 3. I’ve stated my pros and cons but ultimately I really like all 3 so I could understand them loving any of them. And if we go BPA we’re going to get a transcendent playmaker we don’t have have any of those 3 things on the roster either way

In plenty of drafts I get moving down. But I am with @lavar703 and others on this. No more messing around. No more kicking the can. Go get the god damn QB of the future and let's build around him. 

[ripsean21]

7 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

In plenty of drafts I get moving down. But I am with @lavar703 and others on this. No more messing around. No more kicking the can. Go get the god damn QB of the future and let's build around him. 

I get that I’m not against it. I trust Johnson’s offense. We have draft capital and FA dollars to improve our OL and I could very much see us going out and breaking bank on Burns or Allen. They have spent on DL and if they trade Allen I could see them basically washing that money plus about 6 more mill a year to get one of them. Trust me they go get their QB I’ll be elated. But I need to see Johnson and his staff and the FA to better gauge so I’m really just presenting directions. Trust me if it’s Maye it will test a theory I have for drafting a position from a school. There’s no data lol but my theroy is Maye hits because it will be the third top pick worthy at any point in their college career pick for UNC so I believe it’s their turn to hit 🤣🤣🤣

[ripsean21]

13 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

In plenty of drafts I get moving down. But I am with @lavar703 and others on this. No more messing around. No more kicking the can. Go get the god damn QB of the future and let's build around him. 

Trust me I want Terry to have his QB just about as bad as I think Terry does at this point. He’s a great player and I want too see him shatter every record here because he’s just that type of human!!! I couldn’t think of a better career player to break Art and Clark’s records than Terry. I want him to be that guy as hard as he works for it

[MikeT14]

@Slappy Mc's 2006 mock I stumbled across looking for Jeff King stuff.

Washington 7 Round Mock (without compensation picks) 2nd Round Pick 54- Daryll Tapp DE Virginia Tech Solid Defecive End. Exactly what our defence needs. Great Speed, Quick First Step and if he was a little bigger would have been a first round selection but instead he falls here. 3rd Round Pick 86- Will Blackmon CB Boston College Very Talented, although he didnt have the greatest Senior Bowl he did have some good practices. There were a lot of talented CBs other than Blackmon that did awesome in the Senior Bowl thats why he falls to us. 5th Round Pick 150- Jason Avant WR Michigan Possibly one of the most underated players in this draft. No one has even mention Jason Avants playing ability and what he can do at the next level. He will mold into the offence and become our #2 reciever within a year or two. 6th Round Pick 182- Michael Robinson QB Penn State Michael Robinson is also a big question mark. We need a #3 QB if by some wierd circumstance both of our QB's goes down (Philidelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins both good examples) Robinson did not show that he was a "QB" in the Senior Bowl but continues to say that he would like to stay a QB. IMO he will do just fine as a QB. Skins take the chance. 6th Round Pick 189 (From Carolina via trade for Gardner)-Ed Blanton OT UCLA Ed Blanton is another person that has not been getting the recognition he diserves. Ed is 6'9" and weighed in at 345 lbs. He is not your typical sized tackle to say the least but he is a solid player at the position and will provide some depth for our offencive line. 7th Round Pick 214- Greg Estandia TE UNLV An unproven talent in the NCAA rankings but he will get his chance at proving himself in the NFL. Perfect size at TE 6'8" and weighed in at 255. Very good route runner and a Good blocker (when he focuses on it) He will be at solid TE at the next level....If he applies himself...Weakness here is lower body strength.

[e16bball]

50 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

To @lavar703's older question from 1/16 and building off @turtle28's point, I was listening to G&D for like 15 minutes yesterday and they had call-ins. The # of people wanting to trade down heavily outweighed the stand pats. It was wild. I kept thinking of:

 

This fanbase is 100% gunshy about drafting QBs at this point. We genuinely can’t even imagine what it would be like to have a QB who basically singlehandedly makes you the favorite in most games. 

Since basically the end of WWII, the last 80 years or so, we’ve legitimately only had two franchise QBs that you could even really call “good.” And we didn’t draft either one of them. 

And in terms of 1st round picks, it makes sense to be inclined to shy away. Shuler, Ramsey, Campbell, Griffin III, Haskins. RGIII is the one that broke me, to the point that I was so jaded that it wasn’t even particularly surprising when our next 1st round pick was cut after two seasons and then somehow tragically died. 

But regardless of all that, picking a hyper-talented prospect at the top of the draft remains the best way to eventually land a star at the most important position in team sports. I think every one of us will be skeptical that we could actually have a real franchise QB until we actually see it for real — but we still have to try.

[RSkinGM]

Drake Maye -- big drop down from Willams-They all are IMHO. But Williams and his family issues etc . UGH. 

Drake Maye-ACC competition-UGH. Watched a lot of highlights. He seems to stare his first option and go with him. Thankfully seemed to have time for him to uncover or Maye would just take off. Arm strength looks fine .. Just don't have a good feeling about him . 

I'm in the tradedown group and take a swing at a QB later in the draft. Unless Williams is there at #2 .

[e16bball]

38 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

@Slappy Mc's 2006 mock I stumbled across looking for Jeff King stuff.

Washington 7 Round Mock (without compensation picks) 2nd Round Pick 54- Daryll Tapp DE Virginia Tech Solid Defecive End. Exactly what our defence needs. Great Speed, Quick First Step and if he was a little bigger would have been a first round selection but instead he falls here. 3rd Round Pick 86- Will Blackmon CB Boston College Very Talented, although he didnt have the greatest Senior Bowl he did have some good practices. There were a lot of talented CBs other than Blackmon that did awesome in the Senior Bowl thats why he falls to us. 5th Round Pick 150- Jason Avant WR Michigan Possibly one of the most underated players in this draft. No one has even mention Jason Avants playing ability and what he can do at the next level. He will mold into the offence and become our #2 reciever within a year or two. 6th Round Pick 182- Michael Robinson QB Penn State Michael Robinson is also a big question mark. We need a #3 QB if by some wierd circumstance both of our QB's goes down (Philidelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins both good examples) Robinson did not show that he was a "QB" in the Senior Bowl but continues to say that he would like to stay a QB. IMO he will do just fine as a QB. Skins take the chance. 6th Round Pick 189 (From Carolina via trade for Gardner)-Ed Blanton OT UCLA Ed Blanton is another person that has not been getting the recognition he diserves. Ed is 6'9" and weighed in at 345 lbs. He is not your typical sized tackle to say the least but he is a solid player at the position and will provide some depth for our offencive line. 7th Round Pick 214- Greg Estandia TE UNLV An unproven talent in the NCAA rankings but he will get his chance at proving himself in the NFL. Perfect size at TE 6'8" and weighed in at 255. Very good route runner and a Good blocker (when he focuses on it) He will be at solid TE at the next level....If he applies himself...Weakness here is lower body strength.

Have to say, I’d take Slappy’s draft over what we actually got that year (Rocky McIntosh, Anthony Montgomery, Reed Doughty, Kedric Golston, Anthony Simon, Kili Lefotu).