General Draft Thoughts

[rossihunter2]

tend to agree. although I don't really believe much of what DeCosta said at that presser

the way he talked about it and referenced the analytics and studies of it made me believe that at least what he was saying about the trends and statistics are accurate

and we all know he's a GM who likes the analytics as part of our process and has married it well into our draft strategy and football strategy etc. - it would seem pretty counterintuitive to go against what those studies would suggest unless - as he said in that presser - there's a slam-dunk elite talent falling into range

 

[rossihunter2]

I'm so conflicted on this idea. On one hand, it would be great to have Lamb or Jeudy. On the other hand, it's deep WR class through day 2/early day 3. I'd be cautious about dropping that much capital on one position, especially one that wasn't super featured last year (but I do think it will be more this year).

I think part of my struggle is that I've never really been obsessed with having a top WR. I'm more of the complementary corps type of guy.

i think also its a lot to give up for a prospect that isnt the slam-dunk julio jones type of prospect

while i love both lamb and jeudy - i dont think either of them are those sure-fire elite/all-pro talents that would be worth the trade up - would absolutely love to have them on the team but not for that kind of cost

 

[Edgar]

I'm so conflicted on this idea. On one hand, it would be great to have Lamb or Jeudy. On the other hand, it's deep WR class through day 2/early day 3. I'd be cautious about dropping that much capital on one position, especially one that wasn't super featured last year (but I do think it will be more this year).

I think part of my struggle is that I've never really been obsessed with having a top WR. I'm more of the complementary corps type of guy.

Im in the same camp as far as #1 WR for the most part. Id probably go defense for the better part of most drafts if Im honest. It simply occurred to me that 13 might be a place to trade if we were to really desire a player there.

 

[Simba]

i think also its a lot to give up for a prospect that isnt the slam-dunk julio jones type of prospect

while i love both lamb and jeudy - i dont think either of them are those sure-fire elite/all-pro talents that would be worth the trade up - would absolutely love to have them on the team but not for that kind of cost

Agreed. Only way we're moving up that far is for a slam dunk type of guy, like we tried to do for Khalil Mack back in the day. If someone like Chase Young were to slip (ha!) into the low teens, that's really the only way I can see us burning the capital that it would take.

 

[rossihunter2]

I think this is more likely and within DeCosta's MO. I think he's certainly going to be more aggressive, but I also don't see him trying to burn day 2 picks to be aggressive. Look to rounds 2 and 3 where you're sacrificing a day 3 pick and I think we could see some movement there.

if you include the 2018 draft (which i kind of do - while it was technically ozzie's final draft it had EDC's fingerprints all over it) - you can see us moving all over the draft - he seems to like trading even more than ozzie did and he'll pull the trigger more readily if he thinks there's even marginal value to be gained

we moved all around to end up getting Orlando and Mark Andrews despite moving up into round 1 to get Lamar, we spent 2 day 3 picks to move up to get boykin and tried to move up over 40 spots to go and get Cody Ford in 2019 too even without much capital

this year we're loaded with picks in the first 3 rounds - as many as we've ever had as a franchise - and a draft in which there's a lot of teams with inexperienced GMs and coaches and scouting departments in a crazy draft - i think you're going to see EDC feast on panicking GMs and move all over the board all throughout the draft

but i dont see a major tradeup in round 1 unless we get ridiculous value

 

[rossihunter2]

Agreed. Only way we're moving up that far is for a slam dunk type of guy, like we tried to do for Khalil Mack back in the day. If someone like Chase Young were to slip (ha!) into the low teens, that's really the only way I can see us burning the capital that it would take.

and tbf - chase young was the one player EDC name-dropped as being the type of prospect we'd trade up for - but was comfortable naming him because there's no way he'd be available in any universe

 

[Simba]

and tbf - chase young was the one player EDC name-dropped as being the type of prospect we'd trade up for - but was comfortable naming him because there's no way he'd be available in any universe

 

[JoeyFlex5]

it's a long way to go up generally - im not sure that's the kind of move the ravens or EDC would typically be into - especially with the way he's talked about round 1 trades recently

if we go up, i dont think we're going up 15 spots im afraid

if we do it would be the most shocking thing i think the ravens have ever done in a draft in all 25 drafts they've been involved in

I think it’s way premature to say that isn’t something Eric would do for a few reasons

1. We haven’t seen Eric running the show on his own but one time, the sample size isn’t there to say we truly know what he would do
2. Since Eric has been a shot caller for us, we haven’t been in a position where we have had a transcendent player essentially carrying the team, we are in an entirely different position than we’ve ever been
3. We’ve been so traditional scheme wise for so long, now we are the exact opposite, and thus our team building shouldn’t be expected to be traditional either.
4. Touching back on #2, we have a transcendent player carrying the franchise, what better way to ensure success than to make his job easier by locking down a long term elite talent to grow with him.

I’d be more tempted to say moving up to around 20 for mims would be the wiser move, but then again as much as we love Mims, nobody is as much a slam dunk guarantee than the big 3, I drool over the thought of ceedee lamb getting the targets that Seth Roberts was getting and getting ten times the workload and absolutely dominating, and the same with jeudy embarrassing coverage and getting open on the first step, and same with Henry ruggs giving us a chiefs like duo to complement the greatest and most complex running game in the history of the league.

there really isn’t another draft strategy that has me more excited, I’d gladly take 1 pick in each round to get lamb or jeudy or ruggs over having 5 picks in the first 3

 

[rossihunter2]

I think it’s way premature to say that isn’t something Eric would do for a few reasons

1. We haven’t seen Eric running the show on his own but one time, the sample size isn’t there to say we truly know what he would do
2. Since Eric has been a shot caller for us, we haven’t been in a position where we have had a transcendent player essentially carrying the team, we are in an entirely different position than we’ve ever been
3. We’ve been so traditional scheme wise for so long, now we are the exact opposite, and thus our team building shouldn’t be expected to be traditional either.
4. Touching back on #2, we have a transcendent player carrying the franchise, what better way to ensure success than to make his job easier by locking down a long term elite talent to grow with him.

I’d be more tempted to say moving up to around 20 for mims would be the wiser move, but then again as much as we love Mims, nobody is as much a slam dunk guarantee than the big 3, I drool over the thought of ceedee lamb getting the targets that Seth Roberts was getting and getting ten times the workload and absolutely dominating, and the same with jeudy embarrassing coverage and getting open on the first step, and same with Henry ruggs giving us a chiefs like duo to complement the greatest and most complex running game in the history of the league.

there really isn’t another draft strategy that has me more excited, I’d gladly take 1 pick in each round to get lamb or jeudy or ruggs over having 5 picks in the first 3

it's not trading up that's an issue for me here - it's trading up 15 spots in round 1... i'd definitely see him get proactive for Mims or Ruiz or someone like that if we covet them highly and get into the early 20s to seal them up

i love the idea of lamb or jeudy on this team but i just dont love the value of going that far up - the grade on them would have to be crazy high for us to go up that far

 

[rossihunter2]

I think generally with regards to prospects going earlier than expected is that consensus actually doesnt matter - the whole pre-draft process is about media building consensus on where everyone sees player x vs player y but ultimately it really does just come down to 1 team

i think someone like ezra cleveland will be a great example of this - the media has this idea of him as a late 2/early 3 type prospect but that's because the range of opinions on him have him from late 1st to day 3 - which means he's going to get taken earlier than the consensus tells you because there's going to be at least 1 team (and probably a few more) that value him highly

but the media wont (and cant) discount the negative valuations of players which will pull them down the board when you sum them up via consensus

it's why this happens every year and this year it will be worse

the problem with media big boards will always be that they're attempting to evaluate for "everyone" universally whereas teams have the luxury of only evaluating for their team and their scheme which in many ways makes the evaluations easier

 

[Edgar]

Im on board with us moving several picks to get Epenesa. Doubt he will make it to us and Im starting to feel that pickings might be rather slim at 28 otherwise.

 

[Edgar]

I think it’s way premature to say that isn’t something Eric would do for a few reasons

1. We haven’t seen Eric running the show on his own but one time, the sample size isn’t there to say we truly know what he would do
2. Since Eric has been a shot caller for us, we haven’t been in a position where we have had a transcendent player essentially carrying the team, we are in an entirely different position than we’ve ever been
3. We’ve been so traditional scheme wise for so long, now we are the exact opposite, and thus our team building shouldn’t be expected to be traditional either.
4. Touching back on #2, we have a transcendent player carrying the franchise, what better way to ensure success than to make his job easier by locking down a long term elite talent to grow with him.

I’d be more tempted to say moving up to around 20 for mims would be the wiser move, but then again as much as we love Mims, nobody is as much a slam dunk guarantee than the big 3, I drool over the thought of ceedee lamb getting the targets that Seth Roberts was getting and getting ten times the workload and absolutely dominating, and the same with jeudy embarrassing coverage and getting open on the first step, and same with Henry ruggs giving us a chiefs like duo to complement the greatest and most complex running game in the history of the league.

there really isn’t another draft strategy that has me more excited, I’d gladly take 1 pick in each round to get lamb or jeudy or ruggs over having 5 picks in the first 3

In a sense, to me at least, that 2nd round pick we got for the Hurst trade is there for that very reason. If we want a player at 13(hypothetically), and that 2nd round pick and what might be the very last pick in round three will get him....you do it.

 

[rossihunter2]

Im on board with us moving several picks to get Epenesa. Doubt he will make it to us and Im starting to feel that pickings might be rather slim at 28 otherwise.

i keep running mocks and there's no one falling to 28

that being said i find it hard to include any "surprise" picks that always happen and will therefore push guys down the board

but in my mocks im often finding that the last player i think we'd take at 28 goes at 26 or 27 almost every single time

i think a trade up or down at this point is almost more likely than staying at the pick

 

[Simba]

I'm much more on board with moving up to the low 20s to get a guy. Not going up to get DeAndre Hopkins despite how much we reportedly loved him still haunts me.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

In a sense, to me at least, that 2nd round pick we got for the Hurst trade is there for that very reason. If we want a player at 13(hypothetically), and that 2nd round pick and what might be the very last pick in round three will get him....you do it.

Exactly, we don’t want a 2016 deal where we hang on to our day 2 picks and with nothing to show for it. We got the best player at 6 but that’s beside the point lol.

 

[JoeyFlex5]

i keep running mocks and there's no one falling to 28

that being said i find it hard to include any "surprise" picks that always happen and will therefore push guys down the board

but in my mocks im often finding that the last player i think we'd take at 28 goes at 26 or 27 almost every single time

i think a trade up or down at this point is almost more likely than staying at the pick

Really? Because epenesa is almost always available on TDN. And there is never a situation where one of epenesa, mims, Queen, or Ruiz isn’t there

 

[Edgar]

Really? Because epenesa is almost always available on TDN. And there is never a situation where one of epenesa, mims, Queen, or Ruiz isn’t there

TDN is a little unrealistic. I think Queen/Murray/Epenesa/Mims/Ruiz are all gone.

 

[Edgar]

Exactly, we don’t want a 2016 deal where we hang on to our day 2 picks and with nothing to show for it. We got the best player at 6 but that’s beside the point lol.

yes. a #2 and a 3 at the back end are not much at all to give up for a big time impact player....even if you throw in a 4.
You would still end up with picks 1-5 plus 7

 

[rossihunter2]

Really? Because epenesa is almost always available on TDN. And there is never a situation where one of epenesa, mims, Queen, or Ruiz isn’t there

these are mocks where im doing the picking for the other teams based on how i see player value and how i see other teams picking

when i do TDN there's a veritable buffet of options at every pick to the point of not being interesting because its so unrealistic (but not as unrealistic as the old FanSpeak ones)

with Epenesa i really do wonder where he'll go - part of me thinks he'll still go where he was initially projected because of all the extra tape all the scouts and GMs and Execs are going to be watching but also the limited athletic testing was so bad for him that im seeing lots of conjecture that he's not picked in the 1st round at all

on the last mock i did for myself though Mims was available at 28 but he was the only one left - Ruiz was gone, Epenesa was gone, Queen was gone, Davidson was gone, all the other WRs were gone

partly though that was because I only had... 3 Qbs, 2 CBs and 5 OTs go before the Ravens pick - in reality i fully expect more of at least those first 2 positions but maybe also tackles as well

 

[Edgar]

Uche plays with good leverage and generates much more power off his bull rush than I realized

here he man handles a guard standing at the line

Here, vs Iowa he rushes wide RT side, gets under and pushes Tackle into QB