General Draft Thoughts

[JoeyFlex5]

Talking myself into Uche in the 2nd round. Probably give a 4th to go get him in need be.

"has some serious questions about how how projects to the next level though. As a defensive end, he lacks the height, bulk and strength to hold up on every play. When he fails to get a step on the tackle off the snap, he is a non factor in the play. His size is more suited for an outside linebacker, but he is still short for that spot, and does not have the experience playing off the line.
He was invisible during the Senior Bowl, but still has time to improve his stock. With the value on edge rushers in todays game, he should hear his name called in the third round somewhere, but could fall to the early second day."

This is a scouting report for Elvis Dumervil pre draft 2006. Now, I am not saying his sack production will be like Dumervil's. But the Ravens don't necessarily need 15 sacks a year from him. They need heat off the edge for starters. He brings that and he has upper level bend and flat that you can't teach...like Dumervil. He also shows ability to get under a guys pads and drive him...and this to me is key....while running his feet. If you pair him with the pocket being compressed inside and give him some time...you might get 12 -15 sacks out of him.

To take the Dumervil comp further: Dumervil was not a run defender and he was nowhere near the zone coverage guy that Uche is. Uche is more versatile with upside as a run defender. It boils down a little to pairing and to usage.

Ill add this...I like him better than Bowser out of college by a mile coming off the edge, he's more consistory physical and hard hitting, and hell get bigger/stronger. I think his size and skill set lend themselves well to him being a SAM backer here a year from now (additionally, this is a big need a year from now) if he can bulk up a little. (6'2" 249 currently)

He's floor to me is a better bowser and his ceiling is a more versatile and position less Elvis Dumervil.
Watch him here snatch, lock out and rip to clear blocker and set edge...force runner inside and clean up.

View attachment 2287

View attachment 2288

crazy electric get off to beat TE off left side. You bring this off the edge and somebody better be hurrying to make sure he doesn't beat them. A lot of hay to be made with B gap pressure.

I’ve literally made all the same connections with uche that you are with dumervil and bowser, he’s comparable to both, but he is infinitely a better rusher, blitzer, and run defender than bowser, and an infinitely superior LB to doom. And on our positionless defense uche is a quality enough blitzer, cover man, and LB in general to play well here.

if peanut can look as good as he looked for us, uche should be an absolute monster, the ability to attack the pocket from anywhere is peanut-esque but much better because he’s a natural edge bender, and he also brings much more consistent ability to run laterally and chase to the sidelines where a peanut was just like shoot downhill whenever he sees the ball and left openings left and right.

 

[RavensMania]

haha - the relief I'll feel if/when the raiders or broncos take Kenneth Murray in the 1st round will be insane

like the air being let out of a balloon

 

[RavensMania]

Louisville OT Mekhi Becton's Combine drug test has been "flagged."
Per ESPN's Josina Anderson, Becton has "addressed it with multiple clubs while still awaiting official notification." It's unclear what the hold up is in the official diagnosis. Becton is widely considered a member of this draft class' "big four" at tackle. He did not have a history of failed tests in the ACC. He should still come off the board in the first half of the first round.

 

[rossihunter2]

I’ve literally made all the same connections with uche that you are with dumervil and bowser, he’s comparable to both, but he is infinitely a better rusher, blitzer, and run defender than bowser, and an infinitely superior LB to doom. And on our positionless defense uche is a quality enough blitzer, cover man, and LB in general to play well here.

if peanut can look as good as he looked for us, uche should be an absolute monster, the ability to attack the pocket from anywhere is peanut-esque but much better because he’s a natural edge bender, and he also brings much more consistent ability to run laterally and chase to the sidelines where a peanut was just like shoot downhill whenever he sees the ball and left openings left and right.

what i would quibble with here is that ive not seen anything that would suggest he's someone who you could move to ILB - if you can get him to set the edge in the run game then great but i dont see how you can have him at ILB on early downs

the way he moves on twists and stunts suggests he'd be a good blitzer but that's a little bit of an unknown - if he became a Raven I'd be expecting him to be Bowser+ - i.e. a guy who becomes a dime chess piece but who also is a threat as a pure pass rusher and who doesnt come of the field on 1st and 2nd down - i would not be expecting him to align at ILB at all

 

[JO_75]

Just as an FYI - just like last year we'll put the "gameday" thread for this year's draft in the Ravens Talk section - but if you forget it's fine because again, just like last year, I'll leave a re-direct from this section to the actual gameday thread link - that will all probably get posted tomorrow (Monday) for our normal 3 day run-up

with regards to rules on broadcast night(s) I expect them to be similar to previous (below is what i'm proposing):

• There are NO SPOILERS in this thread before the broadcast catches up
• (we realise that insiders sometimes drop the picks before they are shown on the broadcast and request posters to abstain from posting that information in this thread on draft night until after the pick has been broadcast)
• We will operate a 1 strike and your out policy during broadcast - an initial verbal warning and deletion of post followed by a suspension for any further spoilers - suspensions could potentially last for the rest of the draft
• The no spoilers rule applies to days 1 and 2 of the draft - if you are not interested in the broadcast you are free to post spoilers elsewhere in the forum but not on this gameday thread
• This rule does not apply on day 3 because of how behind the broadcast runs but as always please be considerate of your fellow posters

- if anyone in the US knows the tv details and timings if they could post them below that would be really useful for me

likewise if anyone has any issues with what's proposed in the gameday thread then now's your chance

- any rules you'd like added, any rules you'd like amended or anything else - please let me know ASAP - once I make the thread, nothing will likely change afterwards

TV Details:
April 23rd (Round 1): 8PM
April 24th (Rounds 2 & 3): 7PM
April 25th (Rounds 4-7): 12PM

How To Watch: How To Watch: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, (ESPN 2 on Saturday)
Radio Options: ESPN Radio, Sirius XM Channel 88, Westwood One Radio

 

[SepticeyePoe]

Just as an FYI - just like last year we'll put the "gameday" thread for this year's draft in the Ravens Talk section - but if you forget it's fine because again, just like last year, I'll leave a re-direct from this section to the actual gameday thread link - that will all probably get posted tomorrow (Monday) for our normal 3 day run-up

with regards to rules on broadcast night(s) I expect them to be similar to previous (below is what i'm proposing):

• There are NO SPOILERS in this thread before the broadcast catches up
• (we realise that insiders sometimes drop the picks before they are shown on the broadcast and request posters to abstain from posting that information in this thread on draft night until after the pick has been broadcast)
• We will operate a 1 strike and your out policy during broadcast - an initial verbal warning and deletion of post followed by a suspension for any further spoilers - suspensions could potentially last for the rest of the draft
• The no spoilers rule applies to days 1 and 2 of the draft - if you are not interested in the broadcast you are free to post spoilers elsewhere in the forum but not on this gameday thread
• This rule does not apply on day 3 because of how behind the broadcast runs but as always please be considerate of your fellow posters

- if anyone in the US knows the tv details and timings if they could post them below that would be really useful for me

likewise if anyone has any issues with what's proposed in the gameday thread then now's your chance

- any rules you'd like added, any rules you'd like amended or anything else - please let me know ASAP - once I make the thread, nothing will likely change afterwards

Do the spoilers apply to the actual TV broadcast, and not online streams, which are probably going to be behind?

 

[rossihunter2]

Do the spoilers apply to the actual TV broadcast, and not online streams, which are probably going to be behind?

it would generally be tv broadcast - most streams wont be massively far behind that and that's the rules we've run in previous years (tv broadcast)

ultimately though the tv broadcast and streams arent super far apart

the rule is there to stop the posting of spoilers when the broadcast gets stuck further behind the draft because of tv ads and whatnot or for when the picks get posted early on social media by insiders

can be discussed if people want to arbitrarily delay further but would be pretty hard (and harsh) to penalise tv viewers just because their signal is better/faster/more consistent

 

[rossihunter2]

TV Details:
April 23rd (Round 1): 8PM
April 24th (Rounds 2 & 3): 7PM
April 25th (Rounds 4-7): 12PM

How To Watch: How To Watch: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes, (ESPN 2 on Saturday)
Radio Options: ESPN Radio, Sirius XM Channel 88, Westwood One Radio

thanks

 

[Simba]

it would generally be tv broadcast - most streams wont be massively far behind that and that's the rules we've run in previous years (tv broadcast)

ultimately though the tv broadcast and streams arent super far apart

the rule is there to stop the posting of spoilers when the broadcast gets stuck further behind the draft because of tv ads and whatnot or for when the picks get posted early on social media by insiders

can be discussed if people want to arbitrarily delay further but would be pretty hard (and harsh) to penalise tv viewers just because their signal is better/faster/more consistent

I am curious to see if we move along closer to real time this year without all of the theatrics.

 

[rossihunter2]

I am curious to see if we move along closer to real time this year without all of the theatrics.

yeah that's what im thinking too - there's no reason they should ever really be behind until late day 2/day 3 when the picks speed up tbh

the ad breaks aren't long enough to justify running behind but in a normal draft they have multiple crews doing multiple things with multiple different people so it naturally fills the time

this time around that's all going to be limited which means they should be able to run closer to live

it also means that hopefully we shouldnt be getting as many spoilers on twitter because insiders should only be getting the picks when the commissioner gets them - and the gap in time between goodell receiving the pick and announcing the pick shouldnt be as long as in real life you'd assume

that being said we have no idea what the coverage is actually going to look like

 

[Simba]

yeah that's what im thinking too - there's no reason they should ever really be behind until late day 2/day 3 when the picks speed up tbh

the ad breaks aren't long enough to justify running behind but in a normal draft they have multiple crews doing multiple things with multiple different people so it naturally fills the time

this time around that's all going to be limited which means they should be able to run closer to live

it also means that hopefully we shouldnt be getting as many spoilers on twitter because insiders should only be getting the picks when the commissioner gets them - and the gap in time between goodell receiving the pick and announcing the pick shouldnt be as long as in real life you'd assume

that being said we have no idea what the coverage is actually going to look like

I'd think the only thing that could really add some delays is hopping on calls to talk to players after they're drafted, but that's more of a round 1 concern.

I'm really hoping day 2 flows a lot better. Don't have to deal with the large stage productions and rounding up the old farts/former players to come announce the picks.

 

[rossihunter2]

I'd think the only thing that could really add some delays is hopping on calls to talk to players after they're drafted, but that's more of a round 1 concern.

I'm really hoping day 2 flows a lot better. Don't have to deal with the large stage productions and rounding up the old farts/former players to come announce the picks.

that and day 3 should be way less about random tricks at draft parties - definitely might be reasonably closer to the actual running time

with day 2 and 3 its harder just because teams arent waiting the full allotment of time as often (and this year with the potential for tech issues i fully expect the pace to be even faster as teams dont waste time waiting on calls etc.)

 

[JoeyFlex5]

what i would quibble with here is that ive not seen anything that would suggest he's someone who you could move to ILB - if you can get him to set the edge in the run game then great but i dont see how you can have him at ILB on early downs

the way he moves on twists and stunts suggests he'd be a good blitzer but that's a little bit of an unknown - if he became a Raven I'd be expecting him to be Bowser+ - i.e. a guy who becomes a dime chess piece but who also is a threat as a pure pass rusher and who doesnt come of the field on 1st and 2nd down - i would not be expecting him to align at ILB at all

he doesn’t need to play ILB, we like standup rushers, let him do that, and it gives flexibility as far as zone dropping. I wasn’t making the peanut comp to call him an ILB, just the comp of generating pressure from an off ball LB position

 

[Simba]

The draft needs to hurry up and get here because I'm so tired of seeing all of these Twitter mocks with the Ravens taking Thaddeus Moss in the 3rd. If he wasn't Randy's son, no one would even know who he is.

 

[Sami84]

The draft needs to hurry up and get here because I'm so tired of seeing all of these Twitter mocks with the Ravens taking Thaddeus Moss in the 3rd. If he wasn't Randy's son, no one would even know who he is.

90 hours till this crap is over and done with.

 

[rossihunter2]

The draft needs to hurry up and get here because I'm so tired of seeing all of these Twitter mocks with the Ravens taking Thaddeus Moss in the 3rd. If he wasn't Randy's son, no one would even know who he is.

haha - he's barely even draftable - let alone a day 2 pick

 

[rossihunter2]

90 hours till this crap is over and done with.

im buzzing - cant believe its still so far away

 

[Sami84]

im buzzing - cant believe its still so far away

It's not that long taking into account you'll be asleep for around 35 hours of it

 

[Sami84]

I must admit that mock drafts are lame. and they get more and more annoying when they are churned out a few days before the draft
mental illness. immature reporting.

Just relax, calm down and wait for the shit to transpire.

 

[Simba]

It's not that long taking into account you'll be asleep for around 35 hours of it

35? Ha! I'd consider myself lucky 24 over the next 4 nights