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2021 General Draft Thoughts

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
It sounds bonkers because we’ve had an elite OT tandem for nearly 3 years and generally have had quality tackles in Baltimore basically forever. Most teams are the exact opposite and can’t find one let alone 2 tackles to save their lives.

teams with young franchise qbs want them protected, teams want minimal needs going into the draft. Star players already on big deals get traded for massive hauls all the time, the strengths of the coming draft class don’t ever seem to be much of a factor, and a big contract looming means nothing when guys get traded and have to be extended right away, Orlando still has a year to work with which is a major factor.
Yeah for sure some teams will just give up on developping talent. But man, what a position to be in when you can let Zeus go then draft a potentially better player with 4 years of rookie contract again. That's bananas.
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
I’ve got ojulari ahead but with the same grade - can’t begrudge anyone with paye at the top

I don’t love the top corners in this draft (although so far it looks like there’s some decent talent through day 2) so hard to see who else would come out on top of the top EDGE for me...

I do not like Micah parsons lol
Woah that's wild to me. I like Azeez but not THAT much.

Also, I might be alone here but I... Don't love Farley as much as everyone in the draft community ? Like he's fine, but if he's the best defensive player which looks like a consensus at this point... I can't get on board.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Woah that's wild to me. I like Azeez but not THAT much.

Also, I might be alone here but I... Don't love Farley as much as everyone in the draft community ? Like he's fine, but if he's the best defensive player which looks like a consensus at this point... I can't get on board.

I think that’s just symptomatic of a lower quality defensive class

To me ojulari and paye are 2 sides of the same coin - athletically gifted and more refined in one area than the other - for paye he’s already a great run defender who’s flashed a lot as a pass rusher, for ojulari he looks like he’s already a good pass rusher but has some technical refinement needed in his run defence

ojulari also has the added benefit for the ravens of being a natural 3-4 OLB in that he looks very smooth and intuitive in coverage

with Farley being number 1 CB (for me) i think that’s more about the CB class having not a ton of spectacular players - surtain’s the most refined but not a big playmaker or elite athletically (and given his technique might be close to maxed out already) - horn and Farley are more interesting athletes and playmakers but have technical things you’d want them to clean up

but none of the defensive players in this class stick out to me as top 15/top 10 type talents
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Pff doesn’t seem to believe rashod Bateman is gonna go in the first round

that means 2 things:
1. He’s available at 27
2. We would pass

and if these 2 things happen, well I’m not gonna be too happy about it
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
I think that’s just symptomatic of a lower quality defensive class

To me ojulari and paye are 2 sides of the same coin - athletically gifted and more refined in one area than the other - for paye he’s already a great run defender who’s flashed a lot as a pass rusher, for ojulari he looks like he’s already a good pass rusher but has some technical refinement needed in his run defence

ojulari also has the added benefit for the ravens of being a natural 3-4 OLB in that he looks very smooth and intuitive in coverage

with Farley being number 1 CB (for me) i think that’s more about the CB class having not a ton of spectacular players - surtain’s the most refined but not a big playmaker or elite athletically (and given his technique might be close to maxed out already) - horn and Farley are more interesting athletes and playmakers but have technical things you’d want them to clean up

but none of the defensive players in this class stick out to me as top 15/top 10 type talents
I agree ojulari looks like a ravens OLB, he’s grown on me a lot.

Have you seen daelin hayes yet? He’s a prototype ravens OLB and I am dying to see him In Baltimore, he flies and he stands up and he drops and he blitzes and he just looks great doing it all, he’s very slept on.
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Yeah for sure some teams will just give up on developping talent. But man, what a position to be in when you can let Zeus go then draft a potentially better player with 4 years of rookie contract again. That's bananas.
It’s not giving up on developing talent, it’s avoiding another David carr or Andrew luck situation, Most teams in the league do a shit job at finding and developing tackles and the talent pool frankly has gone to shit because a lot of college tackles aren’t truly pass protecting these days. Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, these are high investment franchise qbs and these teams don’t wanna risk them getting their skulls caved in until they’re shellshocked and can’t play.

and yes, the ravens are one of the only franchises in the league who could find themselves in this situation, and frankly I’m not as worried about losing brown as many other are, for the exact reasons we’re talking lol, I believe we can find a guy and not skip a beat, just give us the ammunition to do it.

that’s also why I’m looking for big volume on this trade. I’ll take 3 picks in day 2 over a top 10 pick, without question.
 

Deebo813

Hall of Famer
Pff doesn’t seem to believe rashod Bateman is gonna go in the first round

that means 2 things:
1. He’s available at 27
2. We would pass

and if these 2 things happen, well I’m not gonna be too happy about it
Yep.. from the mocks ive seen its been the same thing.. its so confusing to me though. is there something that im missing?
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Pff doesn’t seem to believe rashod Bateman is gonna go in the first round

that means 2 things:
1. He’s available at 27
2. We would pass

and if these 2 things happen, well I’m not gonna be too happy about it

it really surprises me that PFF wouldn't be high on him - analytics models in general seem to rate him highly on a consistent basis and I'm pretty sure that includes a lot of PFF's grades too lol...

that being said there is a trend in analytics about the types of receivers you want to draft - PFF loves YAC probably because it's maybe the most reliably transferrable production from college to pros - which means that they're more likely to like someone like Rondale Moore who's dynamic after the catch

EDIT: maybe in their mocks he's available or whatnot but looking at their big board they've got him as WR4 and 18th - that seems like a 1st round pick to me by their own measures lol
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
it really surprises me that PFF wouldn't be high on him - analytics models in general seem to rate him highly on a consistent basis and I'm pretty sure that includes a lot of PFF's grades too lol...

that being said there is a trend in analytics about the types of receivers you want to draft - PFF loves YAC probably because it's maybe the most reliably transferrable production from college to pros - which means that they're more likely to like someone like Rondale Moore who's dynamic after the catch

EDIT: maybe in their mocks he's available or whatnot but looking at their big board they've got him as WR4 and 18th - that seems like a 1st round pick to me by their own measures lol
They love Bateman, they’re saying that what they hear from nfl circles sounds like he’s not gonna go in round 1 because he’s not gonna have round 1 speed.

at some point that has to stop right? In a class where he may be one of like 3 guys who look the part of an NFL caliber WR1, it would be silly af to miss out on him...
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
Yep.. from the mocks ive seen its been the same thing.. its so confusing to me though. is there something that im missing?
It’s weird because I’m not seeing many mocks at all with Bateman even available to the ravens at 27, and then mock generators which essentially are nothing other than consensus generated algorithms, Bateman has zero chance of going to 27, it just doesn’t happen lol
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
I agree ojulari looks like a ravens OLB, he’s grown on me a lot.

Have you seen daelin hayes yet? He’s a prototype ravens OLB and I am dying to see him In Baltimore, he flies and he stands up and he drops and he blitzes and he just looks great doing it all, he’s very slept on.

he's the exact kind of guy i'd expect the ravens to jump at if he were to make it to round 4 (or beyond) - he's an unspectacular athlete (but has some nice burst and some surprising flexibility) - but he's technical and as you say he's high motor and versatile - will rush from the outside, will rush from inside, can drop into coverage (was given practice time with the LBs at the senior bowl, and then the next drill would be rushing at 3tech vs a guard)

just a really solid guy who's probably going to be a better pro than college player but probably at best sees his name called at the very end of day 2

but he's disciplined, got powerful hands and counters well (something that a lot of the higher touted guys in the class don't do - partly because they never had to), he's a reactive rusher and adjusts mid-rush to take advantage of what the tackle's given him

looks like a Raven day 3 pick if ever i saw one (probably a lot of steelers pundits who'd say the same about the steelers lol)

ive got a 3rd round grade on him but im fully expecting him to not actually get picked on day 2
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
They love Bateman, they’re saying that what they hear from nfl circles sounds like he’s not gonna go in round 1 because he’s not gonna have round 1 speed.

at some point that has to stop right? In a class where he may be one of like 3 guys who look the part of an NFL caliber WR1, it would be silly af to miss out on him...

40 times are the worst thing affecting WR draft classes because it doesnt assess "play-speed" or your ability to be a vertical threat...

like dont get me wrong they're not completely useless (and it's always a fun exercise) but they're mostly useful for making sure guys hit certain benchmarks or for sending you back to the tape on someone - can help you work out some late guys to take an interest in - i only got in on darnell mooney after he smashed his 40 time

the 40 time was great for jefferson for example but idk that he should have been drafted later if he ran a 4.5 instead...

as long as bateman isnt running a 4.6 or something then he should be drafted in round 1

in terms of non-qbs there might be only 6 or 7 players i'd take over bateman in this entire draft class at any position right now - there's no way he should be dropping out of round 1
 

Jacquouille

Ravens Ring of Honor
Supporter
It’s not giving up on developing talent, it’s avoiding another David carr or Andrew luck situation, Most teams in the league do a shit job at finding and developing tackles and the talent pool frankly has gone to shit because a lot of college tackles aren’t truly pass protecting these days. Trevor .
Lol that's exactly what I said then
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
corner and edge classes are kinda similar this year

not a ton of surefire blue-chip talents at the very top but a ton of depth at through day 1 and 2

EDGE obviously is a bit of a muddle at the top for various reasons but might have 12-15 guys go by the end of day 2 (i've got 12)

and I'm doing a load of corners at the moment and again there's no real blue-chip guy at the top but a ton of depth through to the end of day 2 - i've got 10 already graded in that range but still got another 2 or 3 guys on my list who are highly regarded prospects (and there's always those guys who you find later in the process who jump in there too)
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
Hey Chargers, stop playing around and give us the #13th pick.



haha that tweet had me until i got to that last line - for a second i was about to cuss everyone out lol

he's definitely a WR on some boards but i personally think he's a good enough in-line blocker and seam route runner (out of those spots) that he's a TE

maybe a TE more in the mould of Waller than Kittle but still a TE to me

but i've got no problem with some teams putting him on the board as a WR - you could make a serious argument for him as WR1 if you wanted and no one would laugh you out of the building
 

Dom McRaven

Hall of Famer
haha that tweet had me until i got to that last line - for a second i was about to cuss everyone out lol

he's definitely a WR on some boards but i personally think he's a good enough in-line blocker and seam route runner (out of those spots) that he's a TE

maybe a TE more in the mould of Waller than Kittle but still a TE to me

but i've got no problem with some teams putting him on the board as a WR - you could make a serious argument for him as WR1 if you wanted and no one would laugh you out of the building
I wouldn't mind him playing both tbh. To have two TEs that can create mismatches bodes well for us. I mean, after all, we do love ourselves some TEs. But then again, all of this is moot if the Chargers don't want the trade.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
I wouldn't mind him playing both tbh. To have two TEs that can create mismatches bodes well for us. I mean, after all, we do love ourselves some TEs. But then again, all of this is moot if the Chargers don't want the trade.

i mean as TE he was still lining up out wide isolated and running WR routes - the only thing that would make him a WR more than a TE is how much he gets lined up in-line or as an h-back etc. his usage as a receiver is likely going to involve lining up all over the formation
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
upload_2021-2-23_19-52-49.png


lol - this would be ridiculous
 
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