The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall

[Conn]

I’m not sure how important corner is to Jones’ scheme. They’re always important, of course. But HOW important?

Also, what is our biggest need right now? Weapons for Jayden, right? Why pass on the best weapon?

Saw an interesting post last night that I meant to link here, arguing that a strong front-7 and a good defensive scheme makes CB the equivalent to RB. Meaning, unless you have someone special you can live off of rookie deals, or 1-2 year deals for vets, because it’s very scheme dependent, trench-talent dependent, and the non-studs have immense variability in their year-over-year performance depending on those factors.

I can’t really disagree

 

[Kalu44]

As a fanbase we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that love may be available at 7 and we pass on him.

This place will implode but its a real possibility.

If they pass on Love in that scenario, I don’t think it will be for another player like Delane. I think it would be a trade down.

 

[Dlts20]

As a fanbase we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that love may be available at 7 and we pass on him.

This place will implode but its a real possibility.

Not me. I am truly pretty much ok with anyone we pick, honestly. I see the upside and downside of each player who is a possibility. I find them all capable of being solid contributes in the right system with good coaching.

People will be upset if we go Tate over Love but I won't

 

[Dlts20]

There was a draft guy just now on Sheehan pushing Love -- Sheehan goes is he Barkley, Bijan? Sheehan's point is he's not. So the dude goes he's a different type of RB, then them. Exactly. That was the point I've been making -- its not like there is one player that every other needs to model after.

Similar debate to Tate versus Tyson. I am a Tate guy. But i get the Tyson people, too. Both players are so different so it depends on what you value or look for in a WR. you want that short space twitch, quick feel -- Beckham style? or do you want that smooth hands catcher who can track the ball beautifully like a Devonte Smith? Two different flavors.

Sheehan is clearly looking for that east-west zig and zag and Love while is Ok at it isn't special. But if you want a dude who hits the hole from 0-60 as fast as you can ever imagine and make big plays with their hands -- Love is the guy. He's not the same stylistically as Bijan but that's OK.

And how do you and KDawg feel about him in the zone run scheme? We haven't talked about this enough as I was going to say something about it in the Blough thread but there is a good chance that we may be moving to the zone riun scheme. Do you feel like he will be better or worse in that?

I myself still feel like it's the best run system even though not as dominant as originally with all of the illegal chop block calls but if ran correctly, I love it, especially with Jayden running the bootleg off of it with an Okonkwo option

 

[skinsinparadise]

Saw an interesting post last night that I meant to link here, arguing that a strong front-7 and a good defensive scheme makes CB the equivalent to RB. Meaning, unless you have someone special you can live off of rookie deals, or 1-2 year deals for vets, because it’s very scheme dependent, trench-talent dependent, and the non-studs have immense variability in their year-over-year performance depending on those factors.

I can’t really disagree

Agree. Heck even Champ Bailey said this during a segment last season. That is, he thought the secondary was likely fine and the issue is the pass rush -- his point was fix the pass rush and you fix the secondary.

 

[KDawg]

And how do you and KDawg feel about him in the zone run scheme? We haven't talked about this enough as I was going to say something about it in the Blough thread but there is a good chance that we may be moving to the zone riun scheme. Do you feel like he will be better or worse in that?

I myself still feel like it's the best run system even though not as dominant as originally with all of the illegal chop block calls but if ran correctly, I love it, especially with Jayden running the bootleg off of it with an Okonkwo option

Love’s strength is his vision and acceleration. He’s basically built for inside/outside zone.

 

[Conn]

And how do you and KDawg feel about him in the zone run scheme? We haven't talked about this enough as I was going to say something about it in the Blough thread but there is a good chance that we may be moving to the zone riun scheme. Do you feel like he will be better or worse in that?

I myself still feel like it's the best run system even though not as dominant as originally with all of the illegal chop block calls but if ran correctly, I love it, especially with Jayden running the bootleg off of it with an Okonkwo option

I’m not either of those guys but as more of a layman, if we’re going full hog zone/wide zone, that really favors instinctive, creative runners with patience and good vision so I think Love thrives in it. But I think he’d thrive basically anywhere with a functional OL + scheme

 

[Conn]

Agree. Heck even Champ Bailey said this during a segment last season. That is, he thought the secondary was likely fine and the issue is the pass rush -- his point was fix the pass rush and you fix the secondary.

I do think fixing whatever miscommunication issues have plagued us in the secondary is another part of it, so that remains to be seen with the new scheme/coaching. But otherwise, mostly agreed

 

[skinsinparadise]

I do think fixing whatever miscommunication issues have plagued us in the secondary is another part of it, so that remains to be seen with the new scheme/coaching. But otherwise, mostly agreed

Agree. It's the main reason why even if Caleb Downs isn't my top want, I'd be cool with it if they took him. His superpowers are understanding the scheme, knowing the play at hand, disguising said play, and diagnosing the opponent -- read and react in turn where he's almost always around the ball.

When I hear for example Logan Paulsen say he still believes in Quan Martin, because his splash plays are really good but he just needs to fix those big plays he gives up -- and you got Quinn admitting that Quan was benched multiple times for just misreading the call and not being in the spot he was supposed to be. And then we got those collisions of Lattimore and Quan running into each other.

And its not just Quan but he was arguably the biggest culprit last season. But for years, this team has lacked that communicator back in the secondary who can help direct them -- and boy does it look like these guys need it because the theme of how these breakdowns keep happening because of confusion seems to be a running theme for about a decade.

Heck even when Kam Curl was here, who was a smart player, the rap on him was he wasn't a vocal communicator hence he wasn't the solution on that front either. Caleb would be in theory the great eraser of a long term problem with this team -- he's not just smart but he by reputation is a great communicator on the field.

 

[SkinsLife]

My guess is Peters preference is:
1. slight trade down if its an option (top13)
2. Love
3. Delane
4. Tate

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[skinsinparadise]

Interesting. McGinn interviews team scouts. His top 100 players that he puts out before the draft, picked by scouts, tends to beat the draft media.

 

[skinsinparadise]

paraody but funny to me

 

[skinsinparadise]

Scouts on Tyson. I agree with some of it. I made the same point recently about Tyson isn't that hot with contested catches. He will have some nice highlights on that front but like I said when you watch him with defenders draped on him he's meh as a contested catcher.

 

[DWinzit]

Add to this, the one area we haven’t really addressed in a substantial way are our offensive weapons.

You can make an argument that the running back room is deeper and that tight end is better, but wide receiver may have regressed and last year, partly due to injuries, that was already a weakness.

So getting an elite weapon holds importance. WR is the bigger area of need, but Love probably sits a couple ranks above this year’s best receiver.

For bang for the buck, weapon feels like the way to go.

Agreed, to me they have only added Chig and White to Jaydens arsenal. Not bad but definitely not good enough by a ways

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Skinfanjon]

Always enjoy seeing tweets and headlines and clips and such, but also it’s a good reminder that right now is Lying Season to its highest degree. As honest as it is in here, it’s really hard to distinguish truth from fiction out there.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[DWinzit]

Always enjoy seeing tweets and headlines and clips and such, but also it’s a good reminder that right now is Lying Season to its highest degree. As honest as it is in here, it’s really hard to distinguish truth from fiction out there.

FOR SURE!
Plus things can change in a month

 

[RedWolf]

I want Tate over Love. Need an exit strategy for TMc and another weapon for JD. RB we can find. Tate is not a burner but he is a big target with great hands. The NFL has changed and we need a prolific offense to be successful and competitive in my opinion. I'm worried he may be taken before we pick