2024 Roster Updates

I think the #40 pick and the third rounds are the spot(s) for a pick here.

We don't have a legit LT on the roster and didn't address in free agency. It's the second most important position on offense when you have a right handed quarterback. I think you have to look to OT at #36 or even a small trade up to the end of the first round if a OT you like drops.

Along with QB, the offensive line has been a disgrace for much of Ron's tenure since 2020.

If the worst thing we have to do is start Terry McLaurin and Santana Dotson in 2024 and bring along a #3 pick with speed as the slot receiver and future #2, I still think we will be OK there.

The problem to me comes in largely that the dropoff after the top 2 is severe.

Dyami Brown is the kind of player that makes 2 or 3 good plays each season and then disappears for 5 weeks. After 3 plus years I think we have a line on him by now, he has problems getting off the line and is not always a dedicated route runner.
 
No.... OL before any other position (except QB). Last thing we need is a QB on his back or running for is life all game.
 
I am the first one to advocate taking O-line early, often, and excessively.

That said, there's more than 1 way to skin a cat. The same way I've always said not to 'over draft' a QB simply because of the position, I say the same things about all positions. As much as this roster is getting turned over, I think we seriously need to be looking well beyond 2024. Pass protection goes WELL beyond the O-line. Schematically speaking, pass pro is effected in a million different ways. At this point, we've now brought in 3 starting calibre interior lineman. That doesn't mean we don't add more, but in reality the O-line has already been 60% turned over, and that's not even including the coaching.

Again, i don't think we're in a position to pass up on talent wherever it may be, for need. All moves need to be maximizing hte talent on the roster, and one of those moves may well be trading back up into the 1st round in order to take an OT, a move I whole heartedly endorse by the way. That point aside, if we're on the clock at 36, and a top tier WR has fallen to that position, while no comparably graded O-lineman is available... i similarly don't want to pidgeonhole ourselves off the opportunity to add talent. No, i don't want the rookie to get their heads bashed in, but I also don't want to take Amini Silatolu, while Alshon Jeffery and Bobby Wagner are still on the board.... that's how you end up the Carolina Panthers.

Drafting with Need being the priority, instead of a factor, has never been good practice. Yes, NEED has to be considered, as you don't want to be neglecting overall roster construction, but to make it the absolute of any draft pick is dangerous... We see it all the time QBs, and the fact that the league 'needs' it's premium QB, which creates a muhc more devestating effect when it's wrong. All I've heard over the last couple months is "You have to take QB at no. 2, because you never know when you're gonna get back up there." Well.. not really, because if that QB isn't ranked as a no. 2 pick, you're flirting with disaster. People call Chase Young a bust because of his draft position, not because of what he's done in the league. If he was taken in the 3rd round, nobody would care. If he wasn't hyped coming out of college, nobody would care. He'd be an 'adequate pass rushing, situational DE" and would have a place in this league.

The best front offices in the league don't prioritize need when drafting. A lot of that could be because they don't have many needs, but a lot of that also is because they've been building their roster with talent, almost in spite of what people think the team actually needs. Jalen Carter to the Eagles. Jahmyr Gibbs when Detroit while Swift was on the roster. Jordan Addison to Minnesota with Justin Jefferson on the roster. Dalton Kincaid to Buffalo while they have Dawson Knox. I used to be very concerned with 'luxury' picks, but where we are now in terms of roster management, it's not like we're a day 2 OG away from being a contender in 2024. Having an All Pro ANYTHING in 2025, and beyond is infinitely more valuable at this stage.
 
Sure, if the best tackle available is a C and you have a B+ WR then take the WR, but if you have a B grade on the tackle and a B+ grade on the WR I would argue this year you take the slight haircut and grab the tackle because right now you have Lucas and Wylie as the only tackles on the roster. So, BPA is good, but it has always been BPA graded on the curve. If all things are equal or there is only a marginal difference, you go for the greater need.
 
I think we have put ourselves in a position this year where we nearly have to take the best Tackle available with our second pick, regardless of grade.
 
You ALWAYS draft best player available. Under no circumstance do you ever deviate. Or the Draftnik Morons will criticize the team for "reaching" for a player.

NOTE: This is sarcasm. It is only Sarcasm. Thor Nystrom can kiss my ass.
 
Two things.

Firstly, this is a super good WR and OT draft. That means you have more flexibility with the 2nd - 5th picks or so. There's no such thing as 'they have to'. They DON'T have to. They need both. You have to trust the decision-makers know which way to go and when.

Secondly, just to expand on Derek's great post... One thing about drafting BPA vs. Need? You end up with STARTERS. Long-term STARTERS. Unlike what Washington has done in recent memory, where you are re-drafting the same effing positions over and over and over again because you almost never went BPA and end up with a high bust out factor. Draft starters - whether you need them urgently this very minute or not. Over time, that is how you build a great team.
 
Voice_of_Reason said:
You ALWAYS draft best player available. Under no circumstance do you ever deviate. Or the Draftnik Morons will criticize the team for "reaching" for a player.

NOTE: This is sarcasm. It is only Sarcasm. Thor Nystrom can kiss my ass.
Click to expand...
Good lord there’s a name I haven’t heard in forever
 
tomwvr said:
of all the guest Galdi has Thor is one of the few I don't like
Click to expand...
Is it because he's an arrogant ass hat or because he's never right?

I'll never forget, after the 2022 draft, (which, FWIW, wasn't great), he came on and had the following statements:

1. We reached on Dotson by about 5 picks based on his board. VOR Reaction: What makes you board anything special? 5 picks is nothing.
2. He said he was "More sure the NFL screwed up by passing on Malik Willis than he was since the NFL passed on Lamar Jackson." NOTE: Jackson went in the first round and the Ravens traded up for him. And Malik Willis, so far, hasn't played, and has already been replaced as a possible QB in Tennessee by Will Levis. VOR Reaction: You're wrong. Just shut up, sit in the corner, and be wrong.
3. He hated our pick of Benjamin Brian Robinson in the 3rd round because he thought it was a reach. The player he dinged us for not taking? Sam Howell. WHO WE GOT IN THE 5TH! VOR Reaction: This literally made my jaw drop. He's so arrogant as to think we should have picked a guy when we found out through the next 24 hours, the NFL didn't have a 3rd or 4th round grade on Sam. Also, with hindsight, Robinson was a heck of a good draft pick.

Thor being punched.gif


That draft is so far looking better than the 2020 draft, which zero players are on the roster:

1. Jahan Dotson - Probably a starter this year. We'll see if Kliffy can get more out of him than EB.
2. Phil Mathis - Probably on his way out soon.
3. Robinson - Good, if not great, running back.
4. Percy Butler - I find that I see him running away from the ball more than towards it. Which seems to be a problem he needs to correct.
5. Sam Howell - I think Sam can play in the league. I'm glad he's going to get a real opportunity to develop and maybe be a starter eventually in Seattle with what should be a better situation than he got here.
5. Cole Turner - He looks like he was a bust of a pick. Can't stay healthy and hasn't really contributed. Likely candidate for final roster cuts as of now.
7. Chris Paul - He is fine. He's not good enough to be the presumed starter, but he's fine. Good backup. Depending on what they do in the draft, he is also a likely candidate for final roster cuts.
7. Christian Holmes - To my knowledge he's still on the team. We'll see if that holds.

So, out of that group, Dotson and Robinson could be starters. Howell was a good pick, traded elsewhere. Paul could be a good backup. The rest? Meh to blah.
 
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Holmes has been a solid Special Teamer and, this last year during the late injury crisis, flashed as a CB several times before joining the injured list with a concussion.

Even so, my gut says he isn't likely to survive pre-season cut-downs because of the focus on increasing the talent at CB this year.
 
If that’s the case, Forbes isn’t long for the roster either.

If he was a #6 or 7 pick last year he would have been cut midway through the season.
 
He's not done a lot but is a pretty good receiving back. Former 5th round draft pick in 2017.
 
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He overlapped with new Commanders HC Dan Quinn briefly in Atlanta as a rookie.

Walker, 26, was a fourth-round pick by the Falcons in 2020 out of Fresno State. He signed a four-year, $4 million rookie contract.

Atlanta opted to waive him last August and he was subsequently claimed by the Chicago Bears before being among their final roster cuts.

He had a stint on the Raiders practice squad before the Steelers later signed him to a contract and promoted him to the active roster.

In 2023, Walker appeared in eight games for the Steelers and recorded 33 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one interception and two pass deflections.
 
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