2017 Official Draft Thread - Round 1

[Fleet]

Id be fine with three 10+ sack guys. Who all play the run great.

[Steve]

The only thing that I would be disappointed in Barnett is that we would have already missed out on

Garrett
Adams
Hooker
Thomas
Allen

I really have my heart set on one of these guys. I would rather have an OT, but this isn't the year.
Barnett, Lamp, Williams, Peppers, Davis, Humphries and Lattimore are my next up if we don't get the top bunch.

Then Foster, McCaffery, Reddick, Cook and Howard.

[Fleet]

I think Lattimore and Fournette could go before us. I imagine Allen or Hooker will be the guy sitting there for us. Lattimore would be a great pick though imo. From a value standpoint. I know most dont think we need CB but Verrett is always hurt and both Hayward and Verrett are UFA in 2019. I had my sites on a versatile CB/FS type in the 2nd. Kevin King comes to mind. That single over the top safety position would be a nice position for him. As it stands right now i dont trust Verrett to stay healthy. It will be sketchy everytime he makes a play on the ball. Teams like Denver were really successful with 3 stud CBs who really benefitted from that Miller/Ware pass rush. Id still like some help on the DL if we miss out on Safety though. And i agree we need OL bad but at 7 thats a not a good value.

I think we are hoping Hooker is the guy. Its probably a good thing hes been hurt all offseason.

[Steve]

Back in the days when slot WR were an after thought, you could afford to have just a guy playing the 3rd CB spot. Now, it is a necessity.

That is why I still have Peppers and the other CB ranked so high. Even if we had 3 good CB (which I actually think we do), another good CB, especially if they can play down in the box would make the D a lot better. I don't think we HAVE to add a CB, because I think the guys we had played pretty well. But I sure wouldn't pass on one if they were there.

Verrett
Heyward
Mager
Reed
Williams

Last years draft and FA periods had a lot of teams experimenting with trying to find S who could play LB, CB who could line up like an in the box S.... With this draft class having so many, and teams realizing there is value there, I think we can see why teams have been quiet at that spot. But come the middle or end of the 1st round the Peppers and King type will start coming off the board.

There is just no sense drafting lesser players at a position of need, when there are impact guys at so many other positions.

The real key with a couple key positions is we need to find a way to develop players despite the way NFL rules make it almost impossible for teams to do that. The 53 man roster only works to develop if players don't get hurt. If there are guys with injuries, those misc slots fill with the walking wounded and all 45 of the other guys have to play every sunday. I don't think we can count on college teams developing OL for us any more. We need to do it ourselves. Pass rushers are another skill that colleges don't teach well.

[madcaplaughs]

The only thing that I would be disappointed in Barnett is that we would have already missed out on

Garrett
Adams
Hooker
Thomas
Allen

I really have my heart set on one of these guys. I would rather have an OT, but this isn't the year.
Barnett, Lamp, Williams, Peppers, Davis, Humphries and Lattimore are my next up if we don't get the top bunch.

Then Foster, McCaffery, Reddick, Cook and Howard.

If those guys are gone, OJ Howard (TE Alabama) or Mike Williams (Clemson WR) would be a nice consolation prize

[Steve]

We would have to trade down a lot for all the guys above him to be gone (5 guys in the first group, 7 in the next).

The guy who I also think is pretty interesting is McCaffery. I think he could be a great 3rd down back. That is a role that seems to be undervalued today, but if he can handle th pass protection side, the speed at WR would really open up things for him inside. His lack of strength and the fact that most college RB really suck at pass protection is worrying though. The plus side is that Stanford runs a pro set, so while most spread teams don't teach pro style pass protection, McCaffery has at least been exposed to it.

Hassan Riddick is a really, really raw LB who played DE in college, but the way he moves and runs plays down makes him a very interesting prospect. Had to justify him being taken that high based on his production (his production is good, just not top 15 type of production), but his potetinal is off the charts.

[Fleet]

Dont get me wrong but based on Mike Williams routes im concerned he will be more Martavis Bryant than DeAndre Hopkins. Davis does it all. He has a few mental drops and if he just stops trying to turn up field before securing the ball he will be fine. Of course being in the top 20 all time NCAA receiving leader group(Hes #1) almost seems to be a curse.

And im comparing routes not speed to Martavis. But i should use someone like Treadwell when projecting Williams. I wanted to keep it in the Clemson family though. Treadwell struggled to get open with shitty routes and suspect speed. Those are my concerns with Williams. At least Martavis has speed. I keep hearing Dez comparisons. MW gets lazy and rounds off out-routes when defenders give him cushion. Dez came into the league a much better route runner and a guy who used his hands and long arms to separate on comebacks as well as down the sideline.

I love Godwin. I see shades of Anquan Bolden in him. Really like Zay Jones. He actually reminds me a little of Davis. I just like hand catchers with speed. A guy i think would be a great fit for the Chargers is Samuel because i think he takes over Woodheads roll instantly and it allows us to to cut Benjamin with a 2 million dead hit next year. But he can also play outside and return punts. I think hes a 2nd rounder but in the 3rd would be ideal for the Chargers. He wont be there though. If you like McCaffrey in that hybrid role....Samuel is a good consolation prize later in round 2 early 3.

Senior Bowl probably helped Zay Jones more than any other player. Reddick as well. I really think the underclassmen should have a "Underclassmen Bowl" lol

Jones could end up in the 1st. What i love about Keenan Allen was his draft value. So im always trying to project WRs who will be there in the 3rd and are amazing value. If you use a 3rd and get an elite #1 like Allen you dont necessarily have to use a #1 on another WR like Davis. It would be nice to get a stud in round 3 to play alongside Allen. We have Tyrell Williams who is going to end up being a stud for us. Hes huge and has speed. Hes just raw still. The player i think will be there in the 3rd with a lot of value is a guy like Cooper Kupp.

I think looking back at the last 10 years maybe 1 WR was drafted in the top 10 that didnt run a sub 4.49. I cant stop adding that to Williams knack for running lazy routes. So if he goes top 10 id be surprised based on draft history. Which probably means the Bolts will draft him. lol I think John Ross despite his desire to catch almost every ball with his body would be a better compliment to Allen. But hes built like Desean Jackson. Jackson would have been an amazing compliment to Allen. But we have tried this already with Benjamin. So lets hope Travis can get his head out of his ass and show us why we paid him big money.

Allen, Benjamin and Williams is supposed to be enough of a good WR core. But Allen's fragility and Benjamins lack of production last year are probably concerning us more than Telesco ever wanted. WR is not supposed to be a problem right now. We paid Allen. We paid Benjamin. We raised Williams. We are supposed to be all good at WR. But its seems we need another now.

[Steve]

I can see us using every quality pick on someone who is a good player, but with the exception of S, the positions we are weakest the draft is not strong. I can see us bypassing a lot of need positions in a lot of rounds because the draft is just stronger in other spots. This is going to be a Best available type of draft for us.

I'm not sure how much of Williams is that is how he is, or if it is just that the Clemson staff let him be lazy in some things because they could. All the Clemson guys seem to have some of these same issues, yet some are becoming good NFL guy. I think the saving grace for Williams is that he has a good short, middle and deep route. He isn't a complete runner by any means, but he can fit into the different parts of the passing game because he can hit all the different levels. That being said, I understand he is not a complete player. I think he takes some time to develop. Given this draft class, with the other guys you point out in different rounds, I get why you wouldn't want him at #7. We can easily skip a WR in the 1st, and still get someone who could be good. But the same can be said for many of the positions of need this year. WR, S, CB, DE.... I think there is a lot of depth in these spots. The draft value thing could apply to any of these spots, not just WR.

Ross is an interesting guy. Raw, but I see the comparisons to Deshaun Jackson. Problem is that he may have the same fragile problem/label. But the guy gets in the endzone an awful lot, and a lot of them are plays where he is even of behind and just pulls away. NFL players can handle that kind of speed better than college guys, but Ross is not just a speed guy. He is athletic and can run with the ball in his hands.

I think Cook, McCaffrey, and Samuel could all be good 3rd down backs for us, but all of them need some work. McCaffrey is a complete back but needs the most work in pass protection (they all needs some though).

Cook is probably a waste unless we just want to have him and Gordon completely split time. They are both complete enough backs that we could let them both do everything and then just mix it up to the guy with the hot hand.

Samuel has great speed and has the most upside, but he has a lot of annoying things. He tends to deflect a lot of passes up into the middle of the field because he turns upfield too quickly, and he runs backward trying to break every run/catch/return and will put his team in bad situations. But he played with such a horrible QB that I kinda want to see him with a top 5 QB like Rivers. He also hardly got used in the backfield as a 3rd down back, so you don't know if he can pass protect. However, he got lots of chances to block as a WR, and he is decent and will lock onto guys and let his team get a 1st down.

I can see why people think we might take a QB with our 1st pick. I don't think we will, but there are signs that would make sense of it.

[Fleet]

Its a shockingly deep draft at those positions as well as TE and RB. I agree we should do well this draft.

[Millionaire Wussy]

McCaffrey & Mahomes, in rounds 1 & 2

That would be awesome!

[Boltjolt]

Would be awful

[bonehead]

Would be awful

Yeah that would make me cry