AZ54

I don’t think I’ve heard Poles mention Mustipher once all off-season.

Missing is just how good a blocker Braxton Jones was in space last year.

In that video I referenced above I noticed one things about Dexter: He's often slow off the snap and Gabriel was discussing that concern while they ran numerous highlights in the background. Poles talked about his defensive assignment at Florida being part of the problem. As I watched some of the video clips at times you could see Dexter was the last one off the line, other times he was late along with 1 or even 2 other DTs. It was odd for me to see an entire 3-man front pause a half second after the snap while the entire Oline was moving. These were players who were off the snap quickly on other downs. It just makes me wonder how much of his snap issue was coaching/scheme. Does he have the innate ability to react quicker and how long will it take for him to get rid of that bad habit? (with a Dline coach in his ear every play)

That was me quoting Greg Gabriel who has said this multiple times on his Barroom Sports videos on Youtube. FWIW in the post draft one he seemed higher on Kramer than I was expecting, said he compared favorably to many of the day 3 prospects we were talking about. If the organization feels the same way it would explain ignoring C in the draft.

He apparently needs someone to hold his hand now with Cobb at 32yr old coming off another poor season. It didn't work with the Packers but let me take my boys over to NYJ and it will all be better. Lazard and Cobb are not HoF players like Gronk with Brady. Rodgers had issues "improvising" outside the called plays at GB and I'm not talking about when a play breaks down. His OC is the failed Nathaniel Hackett from DEN/GB who looked like he was way in over his head calling plays last year. Worse there was nothing that showed he was providing leadership to the team. How much Rodgers will be listening to him or will Hackett just be doing what Rodgers wants? If the issue was the offense that was run in GB why are they bringing in Hackett for Rodgers? It certainly feels like Rodgers is going to run the offense and Hackett is just a "yes" man. All this catering to Rodgers ego could blow up in spectacular fashion if they stumble. https://www.nfl.com/news/jets-sign-randall-cobb-one-year-deal-reunite-former-packers-wr-aaron-rodgers

We have several key players who are rookies (RT, DT, DT) and a relatively new WR corps with DJ Moore an to a lesser extent Claypool still learning the offense. Expect some bumps in the road early in the season but hopefully we'll see some splash plays as a good sign of things to come.

I started this but I realized it's more challenging than I thought in part because now I know things about a few players that I didn't know beforehand. Darnell Washington looked pretty attractive with one of the 3rd Rd picks but then you learn he (reportedly) has medical concern with his knee. The other challenge for me is that I simply didn't do that much work on the day 3 prospects this year, especially DBs. With that caveat I can really only talk about the first 4 rounds. After looking over the draft picks about all I'd have done differently is that I'd have taken Dexter and then Pickens. I assume Stevenson would have been off the board by 64 so went with Riley Moss. 10. Darnell Wright. he was my target going into the draft even if Carter was on the board as I preferred the much higher floor and RT was a critical need position equal to 3T. 53. Gervon Dexter. I often had him late 2nd or early 3rd in my mocks but the way things went with the heavy emphasis on Edge so early he was easily best available and at a top need position. 56. Zacch Pickens. I wouldn't have grabbed the CB here given the dire need for Dline help. 64. Riley Moss CB felt he was a good fit for our scheme and I'd overlook the negative that he went to Iowa. 115. Tyler Scott. WR. Going into Day 3 I wanted a WR to hedge our bets against Velus/ESB/Pettis and also in case contract stuff doesn't work out with Claypool or Mooney. He was one of my top 3 targets with AT Perry and Xavier Hutchinson but I think he was the best fit among those 3, really the perfect replacement for Mooney should we decide to move on. Reality is that it's easier to find a Mooney type WR versus a Claypool type and if the two are even in performance in 2023 I'm keeping Claypool because he's the better redzone threat. 133. Chase Brown. RB I didn't do much work going into the draft on RBs but I like Chase 148. Luke Wypler. C no way I'd have skipped Wypler to take a LB here after that I just don't know enough about the prospects.

Herbert is ok as a 2nd RB but he can't pass protect and he can't catch passes. You can only call plays where he gets handed the ball or you use him as a play action fake. Homer and Roschon can do both. Foreman says he can catch better than he's been given credit for, no clue on his pass pro. It's not hard to imagine Herbert ending up as the 4th back and being inactive a lot of games.

Yes there is now a lot more versatility in our roster.

It’s not that hard to motion Velus into the backfield pre snap. I definitely agree on the blitz concern with Fields. Again I would not do this very often just a rare look. Even then I’d likely be telling Fields to just hand it to the jet sweep just to see how a team reacts.

In total the ‘23 draft yielded 3 WR in DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, and Tyler Scott. Collectively that’s a pretty good haul for a single draft. I definitely believe Scott was best available when we took him. He hedges things a bit with resigning Mooney and to a lesser extent Claypool. With Scott on board it brought to mind a question about how would a team defend a 5 WR set. I include Velus in this not ESB because he is the better runner. Fields can run of course so we don’t need a RB on the field. You’ve got potential jet sweeps from either side with Scott or VJJ. Potential routes at all levels of the field. Going to a dime defense leaves a single LB on the field which the Oline should easily handle in a run play. You know it could be a play action fake or read option for Fields. for that to work we need the expected improvement out of the Oline. This is not something I’d want to see a lot of just enough that defenses have to spend time planning for it. That’s what the wildcat was used for but with our roster this year I like this option better.

Pickens fits the 3T better but we will have flexibility in roles which just makes it a bit harder for the Oline. A late shift could easily flip things.

Watch the video of the draft phone call with Dexter. Look at the pause and the look on Dexter’s face when Flus tells him to bring his track shoes. He’s going to go through some culture shock.

Maybe his knee can't hold up under the stress of a pass rush move with a 300lb OT leaning on him? I have more hope that a full offseason of strength training and coaching (I hope he found someone to help him) as a DE and Dom Robinson will show up ready to play.

I like the idea. With a 3-cone drill of 7.02 he's not very twitchy for dealing with NFL WRs. For a zone CB that's a bit less of a challenge. OTOH his straightline speed and willingness to close on the ball would serve him well at safety. This draft profile criticizes his lack of ball production but I can see that being a factor related to his agility... he's just not quick enough out of his cuts to arrive before the ball. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/terell-smith/3200534d-4973-9042-a2e5-7a611c3c3214

HIs last contract earned him $13mil/yr so I'm sure in his mind that's where the negotiations start. Post draft if he's lowered his price, perhaps to your $9mil target then I could see us willing to talk.

Do you agree with the sentiment that Dexter was on the field for too many snaps due to lack of depth on their roster and that is what led to some of his lackluster plays?

I hadn't thought about it but he does have very similar physical traits to Chris Jones. I wanted us to draft Jones in the 1st Rd years ago. If Eberflus can get Dexter anywhere close to that level we're in good shape for the future.

We could really use a decent backup OT. I doubt Leatherwood is the answer to that role. It's hard to say if Borom even makes the 53, that mostly depends on how well Carter does in camp. Eiselen is hanging around as well and got some chances late last year, Perhaps leatherwood competes at OG as well. I'd like to see another TE added too. I watched Allen enough in college to know I prefer not to rely on him. For both of those I'm certain Poles will be watching for some vets to get cut post draft. This is the first year in some time where the competition for the backup CBs will be tough. Could easily be the last we see of Vildor. Say what you will about him but if we're good enough to let a player with his experience leave we've taken a good step up. S....Can't say the same for Safety and that's another spot I'd like to see a vet FA brought in for competition. I like Hicks but he's just not athletic enough nor big enough to really handle that job. Ideally I'd like Hicks as a practice squad player we can bring up in needed. WR room now has actual depth and some realistic competition among Velus and Tyler Scott for what I'd guess are the same reps. ESB might find a role early but it also might not last all season if the rookie comes along quickly. I believe Velus will be better this year as well. RB... who stays, how many do we keep? Injuries usually play a role here but I have to think Roschon definitely has a job, along with Herbert. Are we keeping all 4 with Foreman and Homer? Ebner to practice squad? This UDFA RB Robert Burns we signed is a FB. I like Blasingame a lot but it'd be nice to have a decent backup FB on the practice squad. We'll see what he does in the preseason. FWIW drafting Roschon means this team clearly believes Herbert will always be a complementary piece. I agree. DT now has a lot of youth and inexperience. I think we're better but it also might not show up until the 2nd half of the season. Both Dexter and Pickens are in need of good coaching, and a desire and willingness to work to get better. There's a lot of potential in each of them but if they aren't up to speed we're stuck with Jones as a starter again and he's not built for that role. I'm really curious about the guy from Kennesaw just because Poles and Flus spoke so highly of him at the press conference and I can't find anything on him. I can't imagine he'll be competitive at the NFL level but I'd be happy to be proven wrong. I haven't said this in a long time but.... he'll actually be facing a good starting Oline in camp, if he gets reps against them, so we'll get an idea what he can do. LB...if Weatherford can improve enough to be a solid WLB backup we should be in good shape. Sanborn and Noah Sewell seem like they are cut from the same cloth. It's not bad to have football players like that on the roster but we do need at least one solid coverage LB to backup WLB or maybe MLB on 3rd and long.

All outward signs point to that injury being very severe. The fact they re-signed Payne and now want to dump him? That basically means they do not think he’ll help them win games this year. If he could they can find other ways to get similar trade value for him either mid season or next off season. Caveat Emptor 100%

At least with Poles the WTF moments come in Rd 7. I can't even find a highlight on this kid.

Meh, seems like a special teams player and maybe someone to compete at SLB. Ideally I'd like to see more upside here.

Gotta start with players still on the board: Kelee Ringo heads the list followed by those dudes below.. If the Bears want Tomi he's there for the taking. I think he's too similar to what we already have on the roster but don't mind at all if they take a chance on him. Other than him there isn't really anyone else standing out at the top of this list in terms of needs so a trade back seems appropriate if we have a good offer. DE is the obvious critical need but at this point in the draft the talent isn't there. Many of us have been clamoring for a new Center, myself included, but Greg Gabriel made a very good point after Rd 1 when he said with so many young and new players it's very important to have a veteran Center to lead the line. As far as he was concerned Whitehair/Patrick is the right way to go and he was even higher on Kramer for depth too. Makes me wonder if in fact we hold off for a year on Center? With those caveats it feels odd to say this but it's time to start building depth... at any position.... meaning we can literally go best available. With that, it will be very interesting to see who Poles selects.

AA is stuck in the middle as a tweener. I doubt we draft him to be an edge player but I could be wrong and we've already filled the DT spots.

Slow off the snap is just late reaction time, he's actually very quick for his size. I think he'll be the 3rd man in our Dline rotation likely seeing time at both spots. There's no way to know what he was taught in college but if our coaches can get him firing off the line at the snap he's going to be very disruptive. I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a starter by the end of the season.