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

[Voice_of_Reason]

The remarkable durability is exactly why I picked an Accord. Solid. Good car. Only one season when he was better than good.

MAYBE a fully tricked out Accord.

I still think he's better than that. Not much better. But any team that signs him is signing a definitive starter. And to me that means slightly better than Accord.

 

[KDawg]

Agree. If only KC had good hands

I don’t think this is a hot take at all. Concepcion is the full package as a receiver but has feet for hands.

If a team is willing to work through that he’s almost a no brainer pick ahead of the rest of the slot types

 

[Skinfanjon]

Right. As I said, he's a good player, not a $250k super luxury car player.

You can get a Lexus ES for $65k.

I compared Lawrence to a $250k Mercedes. (And Donald to a Bentley.)

I'm not sure where the analogy is failing.

If you want to say Payne is more of a Honda or Toyota and Lexus or Acura, I mean, fine. I think that's selling him a bit short. But whatever.

I’d rather talk about him as a football player, not a car.

He’s fine. Overpaid and inconsistent. Aging. His peak effort is maybe…maybe…15th-20th at his position and you only see it a handful of Sundays. Other teams don’t care about game planning for him. He doesn’t keep anyone up night. Underacheiver. Doesn’t remotely belong in a conversation with Lawrence.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I don’t think this is a hot take at all. Concepcion is the full package as a receiver but has feet for hands.

If a team is willing to work through that he’s almost a no brainer pick ahead of the rest of the slot types

Agree. I think hes the most electric of the receivers in this class. I talked about it in the podcast we did. His hands are the drawback but even as far as that goes he makes some acrobatic catches in the mix. Supposed to be a good dude, too.

 

[Bulldog]

want more consistency. how is a guy going to come in and make an impact for us in 2026 if he's still short of on the necessary 'haves' at his position?

The Chiefs took Xavier Worthy in Round 1 despite the fact the eval sheet on him questioned his size and route running ability and labeled him a mid to late #2 pick.

But KC was so in love with the speed they lost sight of the fact that is only one skill in the toolbox for an NFL WR.

Now they are back in the mix a couple of years later for Tyson or Lemon.

Never really did nail down the WR position did they?

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I’d rather talk about him as a football player, not a car.

You're no fun.

He’s fine. Overpaid and inconsistent. Aging. His peak effort is maybe…maybe…15th-20th at his position and you only see it a handful of Sundays. Other teams don’t care about game planning for him. He doesn’t keep anyone up night. Underacheiver. Doesn’t remotely belong in a conversation with Lawrence.

And I think that was my overall point...

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

want more consistency. how is a guy going to come in and make an impact for us in 2026 if he's still short of on the necessary 'haves' at his position?

The Chiefs took Xavier Worthy in Round 1 despite the fact the eval sheet on him questioned his size and route running ability and labeled him a mid to late #2 pick.

But KC was so in love with the speed they lost sight of the fact that is only one skill in the toolbox for an NFL WR.

Now they are back in the mix a couple of years later for Tyson or Lemon.

Never really did nail down the WR position did they?

They've been searching since they let Hill go.

 

[Skinfanjon]

Yup depending on who is left. One or two OL go early, or Tyson or Lemon...who knows. The conjecture by everyone and thee lying by the teams, there's no way of telling how this draft goes

Right, in a trade down world, it’s probably Lemon or McCoy. And I wouldn’t freak out about either of them, but wouldn’t by psyched about it unless there’s some 2027 draft capital coming our way either.

You're no fun.


And I think that was my overall point...

You’re right, it was your original point, which was buried under a stack of auto trader and car and driver mags. My bad lol.

 

[ES1974]

but has feet for hands.

Yeah that’s not ideal.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[KDawg]

This is problematic.

 

[Skinfanjon]

This is problematic.

Who do you fear they would poach?

 

[KDawg]

Who do you fear they would poach?

Styles, Delane, Downs, Tate, (though that’s really early for him).

Or, they go whoever the Jets don’t draft at edge and basically make the Titans pick Love.

That second part is what I think is going to happen.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Who do you fear they would poach?

I think Love. But, they just signed Etienne, so that doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense.

If they LOVE Tate, maybe Tate, if they assume he goes by their pick, but that doesn't seem to make sense.

One of the Edge rushers?

This feels weird to me.

 

[Discobob]

Trade down. Trade Payne.

Come on AP, that’s the way forward.

re: Payne

All depends on the return, if it's a 4th or later... meh

 

[Skinfanjon]

Styles, Delane, Downs, Tate, (though that’s really early for him).

Or, they go whoever the Jets don’t draft at edge and basically make the Titans pick Love.

That second part is what I think is going to happen.

I’d love if they took Downs, but don’t see it. Thinking more, my fear would be letting Arizona off the hook for OL which would push down someone we all like.

Honestly it doesn’t make sense to me. Seems like something I’d put out there if I were Arizona and trying to squeeze Dallas for more comp on a trade up.

 

[Skinfanjon]

I think Love. But, they just signed Etienne, so that doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense.

If they LOVE Tate, maybe Tate, if they assume he goes by their pick, but that doesn't seem to make sense.

One of the Edge rushers?

This feels weird to me.

Yeah none of that makes sense to me. Certainly not Love or Tate. Although Tate would be an ideal compliment to a healthy Olave. Still don’t see it. I call BS.

 

[KDawg]

I’d love if they took Downs, but don’t see it. Thinking more, my fear would be letting Arizona off the hook for OL which would push down someone we all like.

Honestly it doesn’t make sense to me. Seems like something I’d put out there if I were Arizona and trying to squeeze Dallas for more comp on a trade up.

Again, my guess is edge. Whichever of Bailey and Reese isn’t taken by the Jets. That creates a domino effect because an OL doesn’t come off the board (which you noted).

That also means there are no edges on the board for Tennessee. Which makes Tennessee’s pick Love or Styles.

The Giants very likely go the other one of those two, I think.

That takes most of the guys we’d covet off the board with Tate, Downs and Delane remaining.
I’m thinking Cleveland trades out, too, but if not they could go anywhere.

But we should have two of Delane/Downs/Tate on the board.

 

[skinsinparadise]

For the lets trade the heck out of the top 10 crowd. Fresh article about the Giants trade.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42465339/inside-improbable-new-york-giants-cincinnati-bengals-dexter-lawrence-trade

THE BENGALS WERE in no-man's land with the No. 10 draft pick. There was no guarantee to secure a premier defensive player at that spot, sources said. The Lawrence trade took the guesswork out of it, giving a defense in transition a centerpiece.

"This draft is bad enough where people don't want to pick after a certain spot," a veteran scout with an AFC team said.

 

[KDawg]

For the lets trade the heck out of the top 10 crowd. Fresh article about the Giants trade.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42465339/inside-improbable-new-york-giants-cincinnati-bengals-dexter-lawrence-trade

THE BENGALS WERE in no-man's land with the No. 10 draft pick. There was no guarantee to secure a premier defensive player at that spot, sources said. The Lawrence trade took the guesswork out of it, giving a defense in transition a centerpiece.

"This draft is bad enough where people don't want to pick after a certain spot," a veteran scout with an AFC team said.

I love the idea of the trade back. But the idea is almost never the reality.