ES1974
The 1st Round Pick
Absolutely yes, from a player selection standpoint.
Just the number of picks we have, or don’t more is the point, muddies the water at present.
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The 2026 Draft Thread - Day 2
- Thread starter Primus Porcus
- Start date
Just the number of picks we have, or don’t more is the point, muddies the water at present.
RWJ
The Starter
Dlts20
The Starter
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
I have taken him a number of times at 71 in mock drafts. He is number 73 on the consensus mock draft board, but there are a couple other center hungry teams like the Ravens so I could see him going in the late second round if teams see him as center #1.
I think I found my 3rd round draft crush, and it very well may be early because a lot of projections have a 4th round grade... so he could fall all the way to us in the 5th...
Bryce Lance - WR - NDSU
4.34 40 yard dash
Shows the ability to run past DBs, make contested catches, and even in the run game on jet sweeps
6'3" - 204lb
No RAS score out there right now (or at least i couldn't find it) but I imagine he's going to rank way up there, and Adam Peters seems to have a type....
Bryce Lance - WR - NDSU
4.34 40 yard dash
Shows the ability to run past DBs, make contested catches, and even in the run game on jet sweeps
6'3" - 204lb
No RAS score out there right now (or at least i couldn't find it) but I imagine he's going to rank way up there, and Adam Peters seems to have a type....
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RWJ
The Starter
He's been climbing up draft boards lately. I don't know if he'll be there at #71 but if he is, I'd take him over who I have on my wishlist at #71 (Elijah Sarratt).
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
This is my notes from the March 19th Daft on Draft episode.
This WR group really feels like a “yeah, but…” class. A lot of guys who can clearly play in the NFL, but almost all of them come with some kind of limiting trait that keeps them from being clean projections. You see tools, you see flashes, but then there’s always something missing—top-end speed, route nuance, play strength, consistency, whatever it is.
Chris Bell is one of the more physically impressive guys in this range. He’s 6’2, 222 and likely would have run in the low 4.4s with a high 30s vertical. He plays through contact and can bully press, similar to Denzel Boston, but that strength-based release style is going to need refinement at the next level. Cory thinks he can play all three receiver spots, while James was a little less impressed overall. James liked his precision against zone and thought his deceleration on stop routes and comebacks was a strength. There was also some concern that his play dipped late in the season before the injury. The biggest knock is that he’s not very elusive after the catch—he’ll get yards with burst and linear speed, but he’s not making guys miss. James has him WR8, Cory WR7.
Germie Bernard is basically the definition of solid. Cory said the 4.48 at the combine surprised him and made him feel a little better about him, but the evaluation didn’t really change. James called him a jack of all trades, master of none, and compared him loosely to Emeka Egbuka. He lacks top-end speed and doesn’t have much burst out of his breaks, so he’s not a natural separator, but he’s a good technical route runner. He runs a full route tree, varies his speed well, and tracks the ball over his shoulder with late hands. He’s also pretty good at throttling down, which may partly be because his top speed isn’t great. The arm length (17th percentile) shows up in contested situations, and James thought his drop numbers might be a little misleading—PFF only charted one, but there were some missed contested catches that could have been counted. After the catch he’s fine, not dynamic but can make a guy miss occasionally. Both see him as a third-round guy, with a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 type projection. Cory has him WR8, James WR13.
Ted Hurst is where the split really shows up between James and Cory. James is pretty high on him—WR7, 6’4, 206 with an 80-inch wingspan, excellent deep production with 27 receptions of 20+ air yards over the past two years, and a guy he thinks can be a true three-level separator. He sees fluid hips relative to size, a B+ linear athlete, B- lateral, and a polished intermediate route runner who understands leverage and blind spots. He also likes his hand usage at the break point and thinks his deceleration is good for his size. The YAC improvement was notable too, going from 3.8 to 5.3 per reception with 18 forced missed tackles. The concerns from James are the drop rate (9.7%, very high) and the level of competition in the Sun Belt, where he wasn’t really challenged at the line of scrimmage because DBs didn’t press him much. Cory is much more skeptical. He does think the hands improved in the second half of the season and that he can catch through contact, and he obviously has a huge catch radius. But Cory thinks the drops are concentration related, not fluky, and is much lower on his route running. He thinks Hurst lacks hip sink, is high cut, has sloppy routes, doesn’t really attack leverage in his stems, and has too many false steps. He agrees the hand swipes are good but thinks he doesn’t use them enough when DBs actually get hands on him. Cory likes him vertically and thinks the ball tracking is solid, but says he lacks late hands and isn’t convinced the deceleration is as good as James thinks. The debate on hip sink was interesting—James says it’s good relative to size, especially on comebacks and stops, while Cory thinks you see it more on 45 and 90 degree cuts than full 180s because of the amount of hip swivel required. Hurst is 41 on James’ board and 73 on Cory’s.
Brennan Thompson is one of the more straightforward evals. Cory basically said he’s very fast (4.26 was fastest time at the combine--tied for 5th fastest in combine history), tracks the ball well, and that’s about it—but that combination alone is enough to have a role. He’s 5’9, 175, and you’d expect more elusiveness after the catch from a player that size, but he’s actually a pretty linear athlete without much lateral movement or deceleration. He can stack DBs vertically and is slippery at the top of routes, but any contact will reroute him and he has a small catch radius. The route running is solid vertically, but everything else is pretty meh. The release package isn’t flashy, but it’s efficient with no wasted movement. He has 5 drops and about an 8% drop rate, though Cory called his hands plucky overall. He also can’t really vary speeds in routes or throttle down well. James generally agreed but was even lower on the ball tracking, saying it was inconsistent despite the volume of deep targets. Cory has a fourth-round grade, James actually has a late third.
Chris Brazzell is a really interesting one because the flashes are high-end, but the consistency isn’t there. James pointed to the Georgia and Mississippi State games as outstanding—he looked like a legit three-level separator in those games and even ran a beautiful out route with a perfect push by against Georgia. He’s a taller receiver with decent hip sink for his size, but only average burst out of breaks, and overall the route running is a mixed bag. The bigger issue is at the catch point. For a player his size, his ability there is disappointing. He’s had drop issues (3.2% this year, but 8.3% and 17% the two years prior), he’s a bit of a clap catcher, and he can get bullied out of position by smaller DBs. After the catch, James basically called him a newborn giraffe—just not effective. Cory is also lower than consensus (which has him more as a second-round guy). He thinks Brazzell lacks body control, struggles near the sidelines, and can’t throttle down well. He also questioned his ability to separate, especially with how easily he gets rerouted for a bigger receiver. Both agree the vertical ability is there, and Cory does agree the hip sink is decent for his size, but neither seems to love the overall profile. James has a third-round grade, Cory has him in the fourth.
Zachariah Branch is probably the most scheme-dependent player in this group. Cory is pretty low on him overall despite acknowledging he’s “lightning in a bottle.” The usage is wild—72 of 93 targets within 9 yards, 51 of them behind the line of scrimmage, and over 25% of his routes being screens with a 3.6-yard average depth of target. Cory thinks the route running is ugly and that his ankles are stiffer than people realize. He called him a step counter—runs routes exactly as drawn with no nuance or adjustments. It’s also hard to evaluate his separation because of the usage. He does work through contact fairly well, has a small catch radius, and only a 2.4% drop rate, though he can be a bit of a body catcher. Where he shines is after the catch—his stop-start ability and elusiveness are real. Cory sees him as more of a WR3 type. James agreed the technique and attention to detail are lacking, but thinks he’s fluid enough that if he develops nuance, he could become a good route runner. Right now he telegraphs routes and is much better on out-breaking routes than in-breaking ones. The route tree is so limited that he probably can’t play a true slot role early and is more of a gadget player until he develops. He also tends to leave his feet at the catch, which limits YAC on downfield throws. James has him at 53 overall, Cory at 98.
Antonio Williams feels like a more refined version of the gadget usage guys. Cory has him at 97, right next to Branch, but noted that while he had a similar usage profile (screens, jet motion), his actual route running is better. He runs backside digs, curls over the middle, and is a more twitchy route runner with better hip sink than Branch. His short-area quickness is good, and he can run some deep crossers and even shows decent stems when he goes vertical. He’s slippery at the top of routes, but contact can still reroute him. He has some ball tracking ability but lacks late hands, and once he builds up speed, he doesn’t throttle down well.After the catch, he’s fine but not special—uses blocks well but can slip when trying to make tight cuts because of some ankle stiffness. He’s technically sound out of breaks, even if the burst isn’t great. He lacks true long speed to take the top off, and is probably limited to a slot-only role. Cory thinks he might be a bit of a body catcher, James disagreed there. He’s also worse than Branch in contested catch situations. Overall, he’s more nuanced than Branch but still limited. James has him at 61 overall and WR11, and said he sees him in a similar tier to Germie Bernard.
This WR group really feels like a “yeah, but…” class. A lot of guys who can clearly play in the NFL, but almost all of them come with some kind of limiting trait that keeps them from being clean projections. You see tools, you see flashes, but then there’s always something missing—top-end speed, route nuance, play strength, consistency, whatever it is.
Chris Bell is one of the more physically impressive guys in this range. He’s 6’2, 222 and likely would have run in the low 4.4s with a high 30s vertical. He plays through contact and can bully press, similar to Denzel Boston, but that strength-based release style is going to need refinement at the next level. Cory thinks he can play all three receiver spots, while James was a little less impressed overall. James liked his precision against zone and thought his deceleration on stop routes and comebacks was a strength. There was also some concern that his play dipped late in the season before the injury. The biggest knock is that he’s not very elusive after the catch—he’ll get yards with burst and linear speed, but he’s not making guys miss. James has him WR8, Cory WR7.
Germie Bernard is basically the definition of solid. Cory said the 4.48 at the combine surprised him and made him feel a little better about him, but the evaluation didn’t really change. James called him a jack of all trades, master of none, and compared him loosely to Emeka Egbuka. He lacks top-end speed and doesn’t have much burst out of his breaks, so he’s not a natural separator, but he’s a good technical route runner. He runs a full route tree, varies his speed well, and tracks the ball over his shoulder with late hands. He’s also pretty good at throttling down, which may partly be because his top speed isn’t great. The arm length (17th percentile) shows up in contested situations, and James thought his drop numbers might be a little misleading—PFF only charted one, but there were some missed contested catches that could have been counted. After the catch he’s fine, not dynamic but can make a guy miss occasionally. Both see him as a third-round guy, with a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 type projection. Cory has him WR8, James WR13.
Ted Hurst is where the split really shows up between James and Cory. James is pretty high on him—WR7, 6’4, 206 with an 80-inch wingspan, excellent deep production with 27 receptions of 20+ air yards over the past two years, and a guy he thinks can be a true three-level separator. He sees fluid hips relative to size, a B+ linear athlete, B- lateral, and a polished intermediate route runner who understands leverage and blind spots. He also likes his hand usage at the break point and thinks his deceleration is good for his size. The YAC improvement was notable too, going from 3.8 to 5.3 per reception with 18 forced missed tackles. The concerns from James are the drop rate (9.7%, very high) and the level of competition in the Sun Belt, where he wasn’t really challenged at the line of scrimmage because DBs didn’t press him much. Cory is much more skeptical. He does think the hands improved in the second half of the season and that he can catch through contact, and he obviously has a huge catch radius. But Cory thinks the drops are concentration related, not fluky, and is much lower on his route running. He thinks Hurst lacks hip sink, is high cut, has sloppy routes, doesn’t really attack leverage in his stems, and has too many false steps. He agrees the hand swipes are good but thinks he doesn’t use them enough when DBs actually get hands on him. Cory likes him vertically and thinks the ball tracking is solid, but says he lacks late hands and isn’t convinced the deceleration is as good as James thinks. The debate on hip sink was interesting—James says it’s good relative to size, especially on comebacks and stops, while Cory thinks you see it more on 45 and 90 degree cuts than full 180s because of the amount of hip swivel required. Hurst is 41 on James’ board and 73 on Cory’s.
Brennan Thompson is one of the more straightforward evals. Cory basically said he’s very fast (4.26 was fastest time at the combine--tied for 5th fastest in combine history), tracks the ball well, and that’s about it—but that combination alone is enough to have a role. He’s 5’9, 175, and you’d expect more elusiveness after the catch from a player that size, but he’s actually a pretty linear athlete without much lateral movement or deceleration. He can stack DBs vertically and is slippery at the top of routes, but any contact will reroute him and he has a small catch radius. The route running is solid vertically, but everything else is pretty meh. The release package isn’t flashy, but it’s efficient with no wasted movement. He has 5 drops and about an 8% drop rate, though Cory called his hands plucky overall. He also can’t really vary speeds in routes or throttle down well. James generally agreed but was even lower on the ball tracking, saying it was inconsistent despite the volume of deep targets. Cory has a fourth-round grade, James actually has a late third.
Chris Brazzell is a really interesting one because the flashes are high-end, but the consistency isn’t there. James pointed to the Georgia and Mississippi State games as outstanding—he looked like a legit three-level separator in those games and even ran a beautiful out route with a perfect push by against Georgia. He’s a taller receiver with decent hip sink for his size, but only average burst out of breaks, and overall the route running is a mixed bag. The bigger issue is at the catch point. For a player his size, his ability there is disappointing. He’s had drop issues (3.2% this year, but 8.3% and 17% the two years prior), he’s a bit of a clap catcher, and he can get bullied out of position by smaller DBs. After the catch, James basically called him a newborn giraffe—just not effective. Cory is also lower than consensus (which has him more as a second-round guy). He thinks Brazzell lacks body control, struggles near the sidelines, and can’t throttle down well. He also questioned his ability to separate, especially with how easily he gets rerouted for a bigger receiver. Both agree the vertical ability is there, and Cory does agree the hip sink is decent for his size, but neither seems to love the overall profile. James has a third-round grade, Cory has him in the fourth.
Zachariah Branch is probably the most scheme-dependent player in this group. Cory is pretty low on him overall despite acknowledging he’s “lightning in a bottle.” The usage is wild—72 of 93 targets within 9 yards, 51 of them behind the line of scrimmage, and over 25% of his routes being screens with a 3.6-yard average depth of target. Cory thinks the route running is ugly and that his ankles are stiffer than people realize. He called him a step counter—runs routes exactly as drawn with no nuance or adjustments. It’s also hard to evaluate his separation because of the usage. He does work through contact fairly well, has a small catch radius, and only a 2.4% drop rate, though he can be a bit of a body catcher. Where he shines is after the catch—his stop-start ability and elusiveness are real. Cory sees him as more of a WR3 type. James agreed the technique and attention to detail are lacking, but thinks he’s fluid enough that if he develops nuance, he could become a good route runner. Right now he telegraphs routes and is much better on out-breaking routes than in-breaking ones. The route tree is so limited that he probably can’t play a true slot role early and is more of a gadget player until he develops. He also tends to leave his feet at the catch, which limits YAC on downfield throws. James has him at 53 overall, Cory at 98.
Antonio Williams feels like a more refined version of the gadget usage guys. Cory has him at 97, right next to Branch, but noted that while he had a similar usage profile (screens, jet motion), his actual route running is better. He runs backside digs, curls over the middle, and is a more twitchy route runner with better hip sink than Branch. His short-area quickness is good, and he can run some deep crossers and even shows decent stems when he goes vertical. He’s slippery at the top of routes, but contact can still reroute him. He has some ball tracking ability but lacks late hands, and once he builds up speed, he doesn’t throttle down well.After the catch, he’s fine but not special—uses blocks well but can slip when trying to make tight cuts because of some ankle stiffness. He’s technically sound out of breaks, even if the burst isn’t great. He lacks true long speed to take the top off, and is probably limited to a slot-only role. Cory thinks he might be a bit of a body catcher, James disagreed there. He’s also worse than Branch in contested catch situations. Overall, he’s more nuanced than Branch but still limited. James has him at 61 overall and WR11, and said he sees him in a similar tier to Germie Bernard.
Pure slot guys not talented enough to go in the first round are not good bets to hit in the NFL:
RAS score here. I was watching WRs today including Lance. I couldn't land on a take on him while watching. It's hard for me sometimes factoring players facing inferior competition and then trying to envision against good corners -- Lance has some shake and nice double moves but nothing killer to my eyes, and is a bit of a body catcher at times. But his measurables are insane. And I love that he majors in the deep ball. i got to watch him more to land on a take and I'll do so. But at a minimum, if its further down in the draft ala the third round I like betting on measrables like his.
I watched some Brazzell today. Poor man's Alec Pierce. Slants, go routes, corner routes, comebacks. He has soft hands with the deep ball, not quite like Tate though. He needs to create space but if he has that space his hands looked reliable to me unlike lets say a Concepcion who will drop some regardless of how open he is. Some really nice highlight catches deeper down the field where he high pointed the ball well. IMO his superpower is tracking the deep ball coupled with good body control. But he's not a physical player. Carnell Tate looks smoother and makes catches with defenders draped on him -- Brazzell not so much. OK as a blocker, willing blocker but not physical. Meh as to YAC. To me he's a #3 WR type. I know he has more hype than that from the draft media. Who knows? He has some boom-bust to me sort of like Adonaai Mitchell. Maybe like a faster-taller version of North Carolina's Dyami Brown? But yeah I don't see this superstar that some in the draft media peg him to be -- he doesn't run a full route treee, he's lanky and not physical which I think likely limits him.
I've talked about Bernard and Antonio Williams a lot. Both are my favorite high floor late 2nd-third round types along with Sarratt. My takes echoes theirs on both players with the exception of I do think Bernard is an above average seperator. But the jack of all trades label, same point I've made in the past so I am mostly in line with their view. Agree also about Antonio. Both by the way are good blockers. Both high floor solid WRs IMO. When you watch both, you see a bit of everything without a glaring weakness but they don't have any special superpowers. But for this team, I'd take it. IMO both players are much more well rounded than McCaffrey or Jaylin Lane and IMO would beat them for starting jobs right away. I've over the years learned to appreciate more players, especially WRs, with multiple tools in their tool belt.
I finally got to Malachi Fields, and I’m not as high on him as some seem to be on the draft thread. If you’re talking third round, I get it. I’m just not in the camp that would want him any earlier than that.
The highlights are nice, but after watching actual games, I wanted more — especially in terms of production. He reminded me some of Denzel Boston, just less prolific and not as good. With Fields, I do think the lack of strong separation numbers may be part of the story. When your separation is only so-so, it naturally raises the question of whether you’re simply not getting open enough often enough. There are definitely positives. He can make really nice contested catches, he’s a physical blocker, and he tracks the deep ball well. Like Boston, he has those long legs where the build suggests better long speed than short-area quickness. He’s also a hands catcher with really strong hands, and that’s probably his biggest selling point for me.
So overall, I liked him well enough, but he’s not someone I walked away from thinking I had to have.
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I'm one that I high on Malachi and find that you are pretty on point. I do not see him going until late 2nd at the earliest and had him targeted for 71 (if WR is still needed). He and Boston and even Sarratt are players that Jayden would need to build a trust a with, and then love them. He would just need to throw it in their direction and they will come down with it.
I see Bernards moving up boards a little just like mine. He is the one second rounder who like he could come right in as WR3 and eventually become WR2. He has all the tools. I am not ass high on WIlliams.
Sometimes its the games you pick to watch, I watched 3, that can bias you one way or another so am open minded about him still. But when I am watching a player and get bored just waiting for opportunities for him to get the ball -- it turns me off a little -- especially in his case where PFF doesn't have his seperation skill scores to be that hot.
He had some good reps in the Senior Bowl. He has nice size. I don't rely heavily on stats or PFF grades for my own evaluation but if i am on the fence sometimes it helps give me a picture that helps -- he's one of the lowest in this group in yards, TDs -- even though he has some nice contested catches, his score even on that is below average.
But love his size. And he's a physical blocker. In that third round range I am good with rolling the dice. But I like some others in that range a bit more.
I get that, Fields is a contested catch monster, that's his superpower and yes very good blocker. YAC guy or fleet of foot he is not lol. He is worth a 3rd though.
I am fine with him in the third, not my top want in that range, but I've seen enough where I'd throw the dice on him. IMHO Denzel Boston is the contested catch monster -- Fields has moments but doesn't have Boston's consistency on that front.
If they trade down in the first, I am torn between Boston and Lemon if they target a WR.
Always Commander Never Captain
The Free Agent Vet
Anyone seen tape of Antonio Williams against press or physical coverage? He seems like a solid option at #71 but I'm missing information on him.
Been awhile since I watched him, one of my favorite watches though, I've plugged him quite a bit. Off memory, he didn't play against press much. Most slot WRs aren't pressed a ton as we know in part because its harder to get a clean jam on someone when you line off the line of scrimmage, you got some space to work with.
I don't really care so much about slot WRs beating press man. But to your point, he is physical for his size, good YAC player, physical-above average run blocker, good man score grade from PFF.
philibusters
The 1st Round Pick
Haven't watched him but I understanding is he is probably a slot only receiver.
Always Commander Never Captain
The Free Agent Vet
Some NFL Nickels, like our recent signed one from the Lions does physical coverage against Slots. A lot of teams don't have that guy, but it's a worry of mine.
Granted at #71, that's much less of a worry. You can't be too picky about checking as many boxes as you can at #71.
Granted at #71, that's much less of a worry. You can't be too picky about checking as many boxes as you can at #71.
I see the Commanders scheduled a top 30 visit with Miami's DB Keiontte Scott. He is an interesting player who may be a nice fit as a day two pick if he reaches 71. Jones would love him with blitzing
The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Scott is praised for his toughness, leadership and physicality, which appeals to Washington GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. That type of play will also ender Scott to new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones. Scott had 64 tackles last season, and a remarkable 13 tackles for loss, along with five sacks. When was the last time you heard of a corner having 13 TFLs?
That type of versatility is also a draw. Scott recently had scouts buzzing with his performance at Miami's pro day.
Here's what NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said about Scott:
The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Scott is praised for his toughness, leadership and physicality, which appeals to Washington GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. That type of play will also ender Scott to new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones. Scott had 64 tackles last season, and a remarkable 13 tackles for loss, along with five sacks. When was the last time you heard of a corner having 13 TFLs?
That type of versatility is also a draw. Scott recently had scouts buzzing with his performance at Miami's pro day.
Here's what NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said about Scott:
I skipped Chris Bell in doing my initial review of receivers due to his injury. Dang I like him a lot, what a shame. Even if he falls I don't think we will take him based on the prior discussing by AP of being careful of a players health history.
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