2018 Draft Thread I

[48 1/2ers]

I probably invested more time this year in college football than I ever have in the past. One of my main incentives was that I was convinced the more live in season games I paid attention to the better feel for the class I'd have. End result...I still dont have a clue. I watched a lot of QB early on and now its completely irrelevant to the niners for the most part outside of trade bait-which I think we'll slide into the #5-7 and prime QB trade up territory. Basically the two positions I didnt pay attention to was O-line and Corner because its so hard to evaluate lineman without knowing the play/calls, and corners i just conceded I'd need to look at youtube videos eventually since they're always out of the camera sight. Anyways my favorite few guys this cfb season i've seen,  missing those position groups I need to look into more: 

Top 10 - Bradley Chubb Edge, Georgia, Saquan Barkley RB, Penn St., Minkah Fitzpatrick DB Alabama

Top 20- Jeff Holland Edge, Auburn, Derwin James LB, Florida St. Arden Key, Edge LSU, Anthony Miller WR, Memphis , Courtland Sutton, WR SMU, Roquon Smith LB, Georgia, Hercules Mata'afu Edge, WASU

 

[big9erfan]

OK then.  Time for me to read more about other guys.

[Forge]

3 hours ago, 48 1/2ers said:

I probably invested more time this year in college football than I ever have in the past. One of my main incentives was that I was convinced the more live in season games I paid attention to the better feel for the class I'd have. End result...I still dont have a clue. I watched a lot of QB early on and now its completely irrelevant to the niners for the most part outside of trade bait-which I think we'll slide into the #5-7 and prime QB trade up territory. Basically the two positions I didnt pay attention to was O-line and Corner because its so hard to evaluate lineman without knowing the play/calls, and corners i just conceded I'd need to look at youtube videos eventually since they're always out of the camera sight. Anyways my favorite few guys this cfb season i've seen,  missing those position groups I need to look into more: 

Top 10 - Bradley Chubb Edge, Georgia, Saquan Barkley RB, Penn St., Minkah Fitzpatrick DB Alabama

Top 20- Jeff Holland Edge, Auburn, Derwin James LB, Florida St. Arden Key, Edge LSU, Anthony Miller WR, Memphis , Courtland Sutton, WR SMU, Roquon Smith LB, Georgia, Hercules Mata'afu Edge, WASU

 

Anthony Miller, Stud WR, Memphis, you mean

[Forge]

5 hours ago, y2lamanaki said:

I agree with this. I just think with Armstrong, you're basically replacing Harold with the same type of player. 

Now, let me be fair - Armstrong is frequently double-teamed as the one player on Kansas's defense that opposing teams needed to account for. So - I do give that bit of grain of salt to my report on what I've seen this year. But I still see just an Eli Harold clone. 

Whats he worth to you if he can turn in to Manny Lawson?

[zappa13004]

14 hours ago, y2lamanaki said:

Thomas is a poor fit outside

I cant agree more and thats why (for a part, because i think the same about Buckner, Armstead and Foster) i wrote than im surprised the team use a 43 and not a 34. But as the reality is a 43 i do not see a pair of Buckner-Thomas. Both are very good but neither are a nose or both need to play next to a run stuffer, except on third down of course..Thats why i do not see a selection of Chubb, even if Armstead is traded, but more of a quick edge rusher. Sure my opinion is only one among others.

[y2lamanaki]

8 hours ago, Forge said:

Whats he worth to you if he can turn in to Manny Lawson?

A 3rd, maybe 4th? SAM seems like the 11th player on the defense I would worry about in order of positional importance. 

[Forge]

2 hours ago, y2lamanaki said:

A 3rd, maybe 4th? SAM seems like the 11th player on the defense I would worry about in order of positional importance. 

That's fair. 

With Ray Ray already gone, and with Eli and Reid uncertain (I can't imagine why Harold would be back), I have to imagine that one of our mid round 3/4 guys is going to be a linebacker. We need some bodies there for sure. I still would prefer to re-sign Reid, let him take the passing downs against TE from the SAM spot, and then maybe have a thumper for run downs and some passing downs. But I don't trust Smith (good camp or no, he's still Malcolm Smith), and Foster's injuries are bound to crop up, and we have no SAM at all right now. 

[big9erfan]

For some reason I'm still hopeful Smith will turn into at least a solid, if not spectacular, guy. In acy case who might be available to paly SAM in the range of a 3rd or 4th rounder?

[Forge]

23 minutes ago, big9erfan said:

For some reason I'm still hopeful Smith will turn into at least a solid, if not spectacular, guy. In acy case who might be available to paly SAM in the range of a 3rd or 4th rounder?

I'm not super hopeful for Smith, though he did have some okay years when he was in the right situation, so its not impossible that he is a capable guy for us. As for SAM? Cameron Smith, maybe? Kendall Joseph at Clemson? Jerome Baker at OSU has some crazy athleticism, but I don't love what I see on the field...I don't think he's going to go early. There are certainly some interesting guys. Mike McCray at Michigan can maybe be moved over 

[big9erfan]

39 minutes ago, Forge said:

I'm not super hopeful for Smith, though he did have some okay years when he was in the right situation, so its not impossible that he is a capable guy for us. As for SAM? Cameron Smith, maybe? Kendall Joseph at Clemson? Jerome Baker at OSU has some crazy athleticism, but I don't love what I see on the field...I don't think he's going to go early. There are certainly some interesting guys. Mike McCray at Michigan can maybe be moved over 

I watched him a lot this year and agree with what you're saying.  Almost the exact oposite of what I thought last year of Raekwon McMillan.  Baker is  much more athletic but Raekwon was just always in the right spot.  

[J-ALL-DAY]

I saw this vid of Kiper/McShay talking about Lamar Jackson and his future in the NFL likely being at WR. Really? McShay thinks some team tries him at QB before moving him to WR. Hilarious. If that's the case, would not mind at all taking Jackson late in the draft and having Shanny develop him. 

[Forge]

7 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

I saw this vid of Kiper/McShay talking about Lamar Jackson and his future in the NFL likely being at WR. Really? McShay thinks some team tries him at QB before moving him to WR. Hilarious. If that's the case, would not mind at all taking Jackson late in the draft and having Shanny develop him. 

I could see him going the Pryor way - start out trying to develop at quarterback and then shifting to wide receiver or something if it fails. I don't love Jackson as a quarterback at the next level, but he's too dynamic not to at least try there first.

[rudyZ]

6 minutes ago, Forge said:

I could see him going the Pryor way - start out trying to develop at quarterback and then shifting to wide receiver or something if it fails. I don't love Jackson as a quarterback at the next level, but he's too dynamic not to at least try there first.

I would just invent a position for guys like this, an hybrid of RB/WR/QB. I know the dolphins tried with Pat White and it failed, but I think it was also a failure of the wildcat offense as a whole. I'm not sure he can be an every down QB, but his simple presence on the field would put pressure on the defense at all time. The question is, would he accept to be mostly a WR/RB/decoy for most of the time, and have only the occasional pass attempt, or does he have a QB ego (or a desire for a QB salary)? He'd sure make a nice reclamation project after he has failed (if he does) as a QB.

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 hour ago, Forge said:

I could see him going the Pryor way - start out trying to develop at quarterback and then shifting to wide receiver or something if it fails. I don't love Jackson as a quarterback at the next level, but he's too dynamic not to at least try there first.

He's better than Pryor ever was. He's a legit NFL QB prospect. For Kiper to say he will be tried as a WR without even getting a shot at QB is laughable. All while having Allen in the top 5-10, who isn't even as good of a passed as Jackson, let alone does anything close to him with his feet. 

[Forge]

Just now, J-ALL-DAY said:

He's better than Pryor ever was. He's a legit NFL QB prospect. For Kiper to say he will be tried as a WR without even getting a shot at QB is laughable. All while having Allen in the top 5-10, who isn't even as good of a passed as Jackson, let alone does anything close to him with his feet. 

Sure, he's better than Pryor, nobody is suggesting otherwise but that doesn't mean he won't follow the same route. I agree that there's no reason not to try him at quarterback first, there's far too much upside there. He and Allen have the two highest ceilings out of any of the quarterbacks in this draft. Doesn't mean they will hit it, of course, but if things went perfectly for both, they both end up better than Darnold / Rosen, in my opinion. It's just that their floor is considerably lower and I their likelihood of reaching their potential is considerably lower in my opinion. 

 As for passing the football..pretty close between the two, but you know that I've been bullish on Allen as a passer for over a year now, so I'm a little biased. His year was flat out awful, and while I will forgive some of it (the guy is under pressure at a higher rate than any other draft prospect, which certainly impacts what he's doing, lost his top 3 receivers to graduation, etc), I certainly won't forgive all of it. He's definitely not the top 5 lock I thought he was going to be last year. I had a second round grade on him last year if he came out, and it's probably going to be similar for me this year. His potential is too great to drop below that for me. I have Jackson rated slightly higher because of the built in advantage of his legs.