My thoughts on Day 1 and 2 OL draft class

[MaroonBells]

Day One:
Garrett Bradbury is the best offensive lineman in this draft. Doesn’t mean the Vikings will take him though. His arms are short for guard and the Vikings already have a center. How willing are they to move Elflien? I’ve read some buzz that they’re not willing, but it’s lying season, so we’ll see. Brad will be the 1st offensive lineman from this draft to go to a Pro Bowl. He’s the only OL in this draft who has "wow" tape IMO.
Jonah Williams is next. Great technician. Good balance and hands. Read a twitter post recently that says he keeps an excel spreadsheet on his opponents' moves. And he’s an obsessive film watcher. I love that. If he’s available, this is our pick. He’s a day one starter at LG, everyone else stays where they are. 
Andre Dillard is the best pass blocker and the pure left tackle in this draft. The only reason he’s lower on this list is because he has to improve as a run blocker. Meaning he has to actually DO it a few times. I think he can. Vikings would put him at left tackle, move Reiff inside and draft Reiff’s replacement in the 3rd round. Dru Samila, please. Samia is my 2nd favorite OL in this draft (based on value). 
Jawaan Taylor is a good RT but he has balance issues that creep into his clips. I’d be happy with him at 18 but not over any of the above. He’d start at RT which moves O’Neill to the left and Reiff inside. 
Cody Fordhas consistency issues, but you can fall in love with his effort and nasty playing style. You can ignore his 3-cone (and my earlier post about him) because he played in a zone at Oklahoma and can clearly get out and move. The Vikings would probably put him at RT, moving O’Neill and Reiff. 
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Day two:
Dalton Risneris the toughest player to figure out. He’s not pretty but he gets the job done. You wouldn’t know it by his footwork and lateral movement, but he graded out as the most efficient blocker in this class. Plays with genuine love of the game and can play anywhere. A lot to be said for that kind of versatility.
Chris Lindstromis the best pure guard in this class. He’s a little too upright sometimes, but he’s an experienced starter with the speed and footwork to fit perfectly in a Kubiak zone. 
Tytus Howard is better than Greg Little. Tytus Howard reminds me of Kenny Golliday. Small school kid with prototype size, speed and athleticism and so you just scratch your head at his ranking. Like Galladay, he’s my pick to go much higher than everyone thinks. Vikings will put him at RT prompting the big shift. 
Erik McCoyis the 2nd best center after Bradbury. Zone athleticism. I can see taking Brad and moving Elf because he’s special; I can’t see moving Elf to take McCoy. 
Kaleb McGaryis really tall but his arms are under 33 inches. He’s getting some 1st round buzz so apparently he has his believers. I think they might like him at guard, which is a little Alex Booney for my taste. I like his nasty; he run blocks well, but man I’m not seeing 1st round here.
Max Scharpingis 2nd after Howard for most underrated IMO. Big, strong, surprisingly good athleticism. My pick for this year’s David Bakhtiari “wow you got that guy in the 4th round?” award. 
Yodny Cajusteis stupid. One of the 1st players I watched in this class and I really liked what I saw--good knee bend and balance, and he's a fighter. Literally. Funny clip of him breaking into classic bob and weave that would make Muhammad Ali proud. But he’s invited to the Senior Bowl, then doesn’t go. Then doesn’t do anything at the combine. Then pulls a quad. Also had an ACL tear couple years ago. Big value in the 3rd round but some red flags. 
Elgton Jenkinsis a big center who probably won’t appeal much to a zone team. 
Greg Littlesucks. OK, just have never been that impressed with him. Remember, this was a guy many of the early mocks had going in the top 10. He has that kind of frame and he plays left tackle. But he’s a flawed player...and can look flat lazy. I get interested in the 3rd round. Maybe I shouldn’t speak it, but my nightmare draft is this Noah Fant in the 1st and Greg Little in the 2nd. 

Some players I like on day three....

Nate Davis, G, Michael Jordan, G/C, Lamont Galliard, G/C, Trey Pipkins, T

[Guest]

I want no part of Little...McGary intrigues me, but are our techniques a fit...McCoy seems to have some top spin building...

[Guest]

I think you have a lot of good takes within this. Regardless of where you profile Jonah Williams I would also stack them Williams / Dillard / Taylor. Bradbury is a stud but I don't think you can play him at guard.. or at least you wouldn't be getting the best bang for your buck. I guess the question really becomes how hard do you want to add talent v. how much do you want to keep Elf at center. Cody Ford I am still having a really tough time with. His size and the athleticism he shows on tape projects well. I just don't think he is this shoe-in day one starter than everyone thinks he is. If you get deep into the tape his hand usage is so raw that he might have trouble keeping people off him immediately. Upside is really high though so that is what makes you double take. 

Tytus Howard is going to surprise and go higher than expected. He is more raw due to level of competition but his feet are special and if you can either trust him at RT or give him a year to grow he could be the best pure OT to come out of this class. 

[Guest]

@"Geoff Nichols" said:
I think you have a lot of good takes within this. Regardless of where you profile Jonah Williams I would also stack them Williams / Dillard / Taylor. Bradbury is a stud but I don't think you can play him at guard.. or at least you wouldn't be getting the best bang for your buck. I guess the question really becomes how hard do you want to add talent v. how much do you want to keep Elf at center. Cody Ford I am still having a really tough time with. His size and the athleticism he shows on tape projects well. I just don't think he is this shoe-in day one starter than everyone thinks he is. If you get deep into the tape his hand usage is so raw that he might have trouble keeping people off him immediately. Upside is really high though so that is what makes you double take. 

Tytus Howard is going to surprise and go higher than expected. He is more raw due to level of competition but his feet are special and if you can either trust him at RT or give him a year to grow he could be the best pure OT to come out of this class. 

Agree with the questions about Bradbury...I do think he might just be a center only and the Vikings "probably" want to keep Elflein there. But it's a shame. Because I have this nagging voice that tells me, 5 years from now, after Bradbury has been All Pro for a few years, we might just say "we passed on him because we had Elflein at the time?" I don't know. I guess we'll find out two weeks from tonight. 

Arguing for Bradbury are three things: 

1. Kubiak and Dennison are outside zone guys. Bradbury is the best outside zone lineman in the draft. 
2. If you're going to rebuild a line, you do it from the inside out. 
3. And this one might be a little wishful thinking on my part. Vikings have been very open about moving players. Why? To give them flexibility in the draft. Zimmer said very publicly the Vikings will consider moving Reiff to guard depending on what they find in the draft. Reiff hasn't played guard since he was a freshman at Iowa 10 years ago. But Elflein played more guard at OSU than center and actually said he preferred playing there. And it's not like he was awesome at center last year, finishing dead last in PFF grades. So why not the same "openness" to moving Elf? When asked about it, Vikings apparently said no. No? Just like that? What happened to that draft flexibility? My conspiratorial side wonders if there might be some smoke in what they're not saying. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:
I think you have a lot of good takes within this. Regardless of where you profile Jonah Williams I would also stack them Williams / Dillard / Taylor. Bradbury is a stud but I don't think you can play him at guard.. or at least you wouldn't be getting the best bang for your buck. I guess the question really becomes how hard do you want to add talent v. how much do you want to keep Elf at center. Cody Ford I am still having a really tough time with. His size and the athleticism he shows on tape projects well. I just don't think he is this shoe-in day one starter than everyone thinks he is. If you get deep into the tape his hand usage is so raw that he might have trouble keeping people off him immediately. Upside is really high though so that is what makes you double take. 

Tytus Howard is going to surprise and go higher than expected. He is more raw due to level of competition but his feet are special and if you can either trust him at RT or give him a year to grow he could be the best pure OT to come out of this class. 

Agree with the questions about Bradbury...I do think he might just be a center only and the Vikings "probably" want to keep Elflein there. But it's a shame. Because I have this nagging voice that tells me, 5 years from now, after Bradbury has been All Pro for a few years, we might just say "we passed on him because we had Elflein at the time?" I don't know. I guess we'll find out two weeks from tonight. 

Arguing for Bradbury are three things: 

1. Kubiak and Dennison are outside zone guys. Bradbury is the best outside zone lineman in the draft. 
2. If you're going to rebuild a line, you do it from the inside out. 
3. And this one might be a little wishful thinking on my part. Vikings have been very open about moving players. Why? To give them flexibility in the draft. Zimmer said very publicly the Vikings will consider moving Reiff to guard depending on what they find in the draft. Reiff hasn't played guard since he was a freshman at Iowa 10 years ago. But Elflein played more guard at OSU than center and actually said he preferred playing there. And it's not like he was awesome at center last year, finishing dead last in PFF grades. So why not the same "openness" to moving Elf? When asked about it, Vikings apparently said no. No? Just like that? What happened to that draft flexibility? My conspiratorial side wonders if there might be some smoke in what they're not saying. 

There may also be a discussion to be had late in the process with the coaching staff around this exact scenario. Depending on how you grade Bradbury internally if you rank him as a pro bowl center there should be no reason for leaving Elf at center unless you also believe he has pro bowl potential. Elflein can play left guard in this offense. The bigger question is whether they would let him next to Bradbury due to size constraints. 

[Guest]

So I'm pretty sure I already posited a Dillard/Samia combo platter as being the best draft meal.possible. Which means zero chance it happens.

But seriously, conversations like this are why I come here. Same for Supra's post. Quality educational stuff that honestly doesn't get enough attention from the hord of perennial nay-sayers.

Or maybe it's just that I sort of like roster construction and FA and the Draft more than watching games.

After all, I am t guy who used to have all my draft targets stack-ranked by round on an easel that i would flip through while screaming at my TV for Minnesota to pick dudes like Raonall Smith :anguished:

[Guest]

Nice work here, MB.

[Guest]

Thanks for typing this up! Very informative for those of us who love the NFL and Draft, but don't get into the nitty gritty with scouting players. You, Guru, FSU, Super and everyone else really make watching the draft more enjoyable.