Quote: @"BarrNone55" said:
https://thedraftnetwork.com/2019/01/31/o...-be-great/
Great? No. Deeper than recent classes, yes.
And he doesn't even mention Dillard. The TDN guys are about the only ones who still have Dillard outside of the 1st round.
As he says, if those tackles stay at tackle, it will be a really nice OT class, but I'm betting that the only ones who will be drafted to play tackle only will be Dillard, Taylor and Cajuste. Williams, Ford and Risner are borderline. Probably depends on which team drafts them.
The Draft Network's Trevor Sikkema believes the "sweet spot" for the 2019 NFL Draft TE class is the second round.
As Sikkema notes, this is a really good tight end class; and there are three players -- Iowa's Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson long with Alabama's Irv Smith Jr. -- who have a chance to be first-round picks. It certainly doesn't end there. Players like Stanford's Kaden Smith, Jace Sternberger, Dawson Knox and several others all have a chance to be impact players, and all could/should go before the third round starts. Teams that aren't fortunate enough to get Fant, Hockenson or Smith Jr. are still going to have a chance to get a starting tight end on Day 2 -- and possibly Day 3.
The Draft Network's Trevor Sikkema believes that the third round could be the "sweet spot" for the 2019 class's defensive tackles.
At first glance, this is a bit surprising, if only because there are stars like Alabama's Quinnen Williams, Clemson's Christian Wilkins and (depending on who you talk to) Houston's Ed Oliver. But this class has much more, as Sikkema notes. Khalen Saunders of Western Illinois really impressed at the Senior Bowl, and Kansas's Daniel Wise, Texas A&M's Daylon Mack and several others have a chance to be impact Day 2 picks. This class is absolutely loaded with interior players on the defensive side.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ Tyr said:
@ Jor-El said:
@"BarrNone55" said:
I'm going to start this thread with the intent of documenting all the OL prospects between now and the draft. Feel free to contribute or mock the gesture...
The Draft Network's Kyle Crabbs lists Oklahoma T Cody Ford as a player who earns a first-round evaluation.
Ford (6'4/338) is a player that not only gets varying grades from different analysts, but also varying opinions on where he's going to play at the next level. Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN believes Ford ends up at guard, but Crabbs calls him a starting right tackle. If teams do believe Ford won't "have" to play guard, it's not hard to see him going in the first 32 picks. If teams are a little unsure, it could see the Sooner fall into Day 2.
I think the "If OG then Day 2" logic is outdated and incorrect. 3 G/C picked in round 1 last year, 4 if you count Isaiah Winn who was similar to Ford in having his position debated.
I agree with that. It's harder to find NFL ready OL right now, so if there's someone available that you feel can be a good starter and contribute right away, then you are better off picking them early. That's part of why there was such a big run on OL last season. Teams did not want to wait around and hope that their guy would be there later. I would expect that things will be similar this year.
You can still develop later round guys, but I think that the mistake that the Vikings made was thinking because you can develop some late round guys that you could build an entire OL that way. OL needs to be an early round priority and I wish they'd give it half the attention they give cornerback.
Even the best offensive lines in the NFL are a mix of one or two highly drafted players, one or two low rounders and one or two free agents. I would say their problem is less neglect than a mix of bad college and pro scouting (Kalil, Remmers, Compton, Clemmings, Beavers, Yankey), and bad luck (Loadholt, Harris, Easton). I just hope we don't have to worry about Elflein now.
Keep going back to the 2015 draft when all we had to do was take a 7th round flyer on La'el Collins instead of Tyrus Thompson and Austin Shepherd.
I think that's mostly fair. There has been poor scouting and/or player development. They have had some bad breaks with injuries, but worryingly that has been a consistent problem. Maybe bad luck or indications of a deeper issues with the line. That being said, their unwillingness to spend at least some high picks on the line is concerning. They finally spent a 2nd rounder on O'Neill last year. He was a reach (picked late in a run on OL), but he at least performed better than expected. It's not even about 1st rounders, but they weren't even spending 2nd or 3rd rounders. Then they'd hoard a bunch of late round picks and rookie free agents who take several years to develop and it felt like they were trying to take a long term approach to an immediate problem, but things never panned out.
Hopefully, Elflein bounces back. He looked really good first year, but was never right this past season. He's at least someone who was a good pick even if injuries may alter his trajectory. Plugging in Collins at RT or RG would have definitely helped things, but there's part of me that feels the OL being bad for so long is a systemic issue. It's not just some bad picks or bad breaks, but there process of identifying and developing OL talent into a cohesive line has not been working for years. They've also done the weird thing of bouncing between man and zone blocking and never fully committing to a direction. Hopefully, bringing in Kubiak helps with that and would indicate that they will be committed to building a zone blocking line for the foreseeable future. They just need to pick a direction and stick with it.
Former NFL scout Jim Nagy says Iowa DE Anthony Nelson has "high upside."
Nagy continues to write that Nelson (6'7/271) has "unique tools" and those tools came through during Senior Bowl practices and at the Senior Bowl Game when he recorded two sacks and had a forced fumble. During the 2018 season, Nelson popped up for 9.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Consider Nelson a riser and he could end up as a Day 2 selection when it's all set and done.
Quote: @"BarrNone55" said:
The Draft Network's Trevor Sikkema believes the "sweet spot" for the 2019 NFL Draft TE class is the second round.
As Sikkema notes, this is a really good tight end class; and there are three players -- Iowa's Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson long with Alabama's Irv Smith Jr. -- who have a chance to be first-round picks. It certainly doesn't end there. Players like Stanford's Kaden Smith, Jace Sternberger, Dawson Knox and several others all have a chance to be impact players, and all could/should go before the third round starts. Teams that aren't fortunate enough to get Fant, Hockenson or Smith Jr. are still going to have a chance to get a starting tight end on Day 2 -- and possibly Day 3.
Kaden Smith is probably my favorite value pick at TE, assuming he goes in the 3rd round. He'd probably be higher if JJAW didn't steal all his red zone looks. Watched a little Irv Smith over the weekend and he's the kind of move TE we need but I don't see us taking a TE early enough to get him. Dawson Knox is an interesting day-3 guy. Good size and speed but like Diggs at Maryland there are opportunity questions that give him some sleeper appeal. I might change my mind but for now I think Noah Fant is Maxx Williams 2.0.
Quote: @Tyr said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Tyr said:
@ Jor-El said:
@"BarrNone55" said:
I'm going to start this thread with the intent of documenting all the OL prospects between now and the draft. Feel free to contribute or mock the gesture...
The Draft Network's Kyle Crabbs lists Oklahoma T Cody Ford as a player who earns a first-round evaluation.
Ford (6'4/338) is a player that not only gets varying grades from different analysts, but also varying opinions on where he's going to play at the next level. Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN believes Ford ends up at guard, but Crabbs calls him a starting right tackle. If teams do believe Ford won't "have" to play guard, it's not hard to see him going in the first 32 picks. If teams are a little unsure, it could see the Sooner fall into Day 2.
I think the "If OG then Day 2" logic is outdated and incorrect. 3 G/C picked in round 1 last year, 4 if you count Isaiah Winn who was similar to Ford in having his position debated.
I agree with that. It's harder to find NFL ready OL right now, so if there's someone available that you feel can be a good starter and contribute right away, then you are better off picking them early. That's part of why there was such a big run on OL last season. Teams did not want to wait around and hope that their guy would be there later. I would expect that things will be similar this year.
You can still develop later round guys, but I think that the mistake that the Vikings made was thinking because you can develop some late round guys that you could build an entire OL that way. OL needs to be an early round priority and I wish they'd give it half the attention they give cornerback.
Even the best offensive lines in the NFL are a mix of one or two highly drafted players, one or two low rounders and one or two free agents. I would say their problem is less neglect than a mix of bad college and pro scouting (Kalil, Remmers, Compton, Clemmings, Beavers, Yankey), and bad luck (Loadholt, Harris, Easton). I just hope we don't have to worry about Elflein now.
Keep going back to the 2015 draft when all we had to do was take a 7th round flyer on La'el Collins instead of Tyrus Thompson and Austin Shepherd.
I think that's mostly fair. There has been poor scouting and/or player development. They have had some bad breaks with injuries, but worryingly that has been a consistent problem. Maybe bad luck or indications of a deeper issues with the line. That being said, their unwillingness to spend at least some high picks on the line is concerning. They finally spent a 2nd rounder on O'Neill last year. He was a reach (picked late in a run on OL), but he at least performed better than expected. It's not even about 1st rounders, but they weren't even spending 2nd or 3rd rounders. Then they'd hoard a bunch of late round picks and rookie free agents who take several years to develop and it felt like they were trying to take a long term approach to an immediate problem, but things never panned out.
Hopefully, Elflein bounces back. He looked really good first year, but was never right this past season. He's at least someone who was a good pick even if injuries may alter his trajectory. Plugging in Collins at RT or RG would have definitely helped things, but there's part of me that feels the OL being bad for so long is a systemic issue. It's not just some bad picks or bad breaks, but there process of identifying and developing OL talent into a cohesive line has not been working for years. They've also done the weird thing of bouncing between man and zone blocking and never fully committing to a direction. Hopefully, bringing in Kubiak helps with that and would indicate that they will be committed to building a zone blocking line for the foreseeable future. They just need to pick a direction and stick with it.
This is a great point. I've banged the drum for Vikings management to use more and earlier draft picks for offensive linemen, but truth is, Vikings have been terrible at drafting OL. It's easy to say Baca, Yankey, Beavers, Clemmings, Thompson, Shepherd were bad because they were day 3 picks, but other teams have found competent (or better) OL after the early rounds, some in the same drafts.
Maybe Elflein and O'Neill are a sign the Vikings have improved - or actually do better with earlier picks. But if not, more and higher picks might just result in an OL version of Treadwell.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
This is a great point. I've banged the drum for Vikings management to use more and earlier draft picks for offensive linemen, but truth is, Vikings have been terrible at drafting OL. It's easy to say Baca, Yankey, Beavers, Clemmings, Thompson, Shepherd were bad because they were day 3 picks, but other teams have found competent (or better) OL after the early rounds, some in the same drafts.
Maybe Elflein and O'Neill are a sign the Vikings have improved - or actually do better with earlier picks. But if not, more and higher picks might just result in an OL version of Treadwell.
I think if anything it suggests that our coaches at the time
were not capable of coaching up lower round draft picks, and we’d probably be
better off bringing in guys that didn’t need as much coaching to be competent, aka
guys that physically dominate other players or players that are coming in
pro-ready, which are probably higher round draft picks. Not sure what our current offensive coaching staff is really capable of though.
|
