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

[Faithful Fan]

Delane playing at LSU and the new Defensive coaches connection to LSU. There is to much smoke to think they are not taking him. It will be him, if love is not there

Agreed, there is the LSU connection to our staff, the local connection to Silver Spring and VT, and the fact he is a plus athlete at a premium position of need. Delane is probably the BPA and a good fit for us. He is the most likely pick, assuming Love isn’t there.

I wouldn’t be shocked or disappointed with Styles, Tate, Downs, or one of the DEs. But my hope is on Love and my money is on Delane.

 

[RedWolf]

You and KDawg add so much to this board, I appreciate the efforts and info you both provide.

I agree wholeheartedly!

When I got it here about a year ago, it was at the beginning of the big migration from the other board. I kept asking about SIP. Finally he found out about the place; I don't know if somebody reached out to him or not? But I'm glad that most of the people from the other place are now here!

 

[Boone]

It's a good point SiP. It's not like I am anti-CB depth. It's just hard for me to get excited about a CB. We have spent all offseason upgrading the defense almost exclusively and are still waiting for Peters to do what he said he was going to do which is to surround Jayden with weapons. I like the Chig signing but even there we are banking on him an ascending player. Other than that, besides letting our 2nd best offensive weapon walk, what have we done?

 

[bowhunter]

I would be very disappointed if Downs is there at 7 and they select Delane. I hate that this is such a poor QB draft. Without 2 or 3 QBs expected to go in the top 10, a ton of non-QB talent is going to go early. Sucks for us.

At least there will be other options at WR. ie BA and a heightened attempt at JJ. I don't think there is much on the used CB market however. So feel less conflicted if Delane is the choice.?,

 

[Faithful Fan]

I know we tend to be fixated on BPA, but how sure are we that we need to draft a CB? Sainristil seems to be better outside than in the slot - so what do you do with him if Delane is the pick? I know he had a rough 2026 but are we ready to make him a sub already?

Why would Sainristil be demoted? I assume our corners would be ranked:

1. Delane
2. Sainristil
3. Amos
4. Robertson

I think you’re underestimating how bad this position is and has been for us. Sainristil is pretty good, but what else do we have? We really need three good corners.

Lattimore, Hamilton, Igbinoghene, and Jones are all gone. If you really look, we are thin at the position, and it is not an easy one to fill in free ageny. I think we have plenty of room for Delane.

 

[Boone]

My point was Sainristil can't play the slot at this level. It's not just about 'CB'. He's been much better outside. I guess it's possible they would draft Delane and use him as our slot corner since he's supposedly got shorter arms than an ideal outside corner has. Otherwise Sainristil becomes an immediate backup.

You are not wrong about what we have behind Amos and Sainristil (and Robertson). Like I said, I'm not anti-CB or even anti-CB depth. It just doesn't excite me with pick 7 unless Delane is a game changer.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I know we tend to be fixated on BPA, but how sure are we that we need to draft a CB? Sainristil seems to be better outside than in the slot - so what do you do with him if Delane is the pick? I know he had a rough 2026 but are we ready to make him a sub already?

If there is a spot that tests your depth for certain its CB. Your #1 backup CB whether its Robertson, Sainristil or Witherspoon is going to get a ton of action. And Sainristil could still start.

Amos as a rookie played banged up. And ended up with a broken leg. The bar was so low at CB that we elevated Amos and what he did. And he was fine but he didn't exactly kill it last year. Zero picks. Below average PFF grade. Got picked on some in the running game.

Sure, everything could break right. Amos could take the next step and stay healthy. Sainristil could emerge. Robertson could bounce back. Everyone could stay healthy.

But if there’s one position where depth gets tested almost every year, it’s corner. And while everything could go right, if just one thing goes wrong, it can get ugly fast.

 

[Boone]

We aren't arguing whether we need CB depth. We're arguing whether you take a CB at #7. You'd better start him if you take him there - and again, what then do you do with Sainristil? He should also be a starter as a mid 2nd round pick. I'm not a pure BPA guy. We need help on offense pretty desperately imho. I would really prefer we not add another defensive piece when we've mostly ignored that side of the ball despite Peters talking a lot about how much they need to add weapons for Jayden.

I may be being a little bitch about it lol?

If they are going to go defense with #7, I really hope it's a defensive QB type - either up front in the middle with Styles or on the backend with Downs. I'd feel better about that if either guy is available.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Tough call with rumors this week but if I recall it was DJ last week who was saying he heard the Giants aren't going with Styles but lol now the new rumor is the Titans might.

 

[KDawg]

My point was Sainristil can't play the slot at this level. It's not just about 'CB'. He's been much better outside. I guess it's possible they would draft Delane and use him as our slot corner since he's supposedly got shorter arms than an ideal outside corner has. Otherwise Sainristil becomes an immediate backup.

You are not wrong about what we have behind Amos and Sainristil (and Robertson). Like I said, I'm not anti-CB or even anti-CB depth. It just doesn't excite me with pick 7 unless Delane is a game changer.

Delane is better than all of our corners by significant levels of magnitude. He’d start. He’d be the best player on our defense.

 

[RWJ]

Tough call with rumors this week but if I recall it was DJ last week who was saying he heard the Giants aren't going with Styles but lol now the new rumor is the Titans might.

If we can get on the Love train then I am about

Sonny Style that is!

 

[skinsinparadise]

We aren't arguing whether we need CB depth. We're arguing whether you take a CB at #7. You'd better start him if you take him there - and again, what then do you do with Sainristil? He should also be a starter as a mid 2nd round pick.

The depth is part of the soup IMO. More with corner than any spot. Almost impossible for three corners to stay healthy -- the 4th by default gets a ton of playing time.

Do I think Sainristil is a slam dunk good starter in the NFL at outside? Nope. Do I think the same of Amos? Nope. Do I think the same of Robertson? Nope. So even making this purely about three starters. I think Delane beating any of these three out to start is healthy because if I were a betting man i am not expecting all three of the current slated starters to solidfy themselves as good corners. 2 of three maybe. But all three I doubt it.

But plenty say you need 5 good corners let alone 3. But your 4th corner whomever it is -- is typically important.

 

[Faithful Fan]

My point was Sainristil can't play the slot at this level. It's not just about 'CB'. He's been much better outside. I guess it's possible they would draft Delane and use him as our slot corner since he's supposedly got shorter arms than an ideal outside corner has. Otherwise Sainristil becomes an immediate backup.

You are not wrong about what we have behind Amos and Sainristil (and Robertson). Like I said, I'm not anti-CB or even anti-CB depth. It just doesn't excite me with pick 7 unless Delane is a game changer.

I get not being excited by it, it seems we have spent a lot of draft capital on the position (drafting Forbes, Sainristil, Amos, and trading a pick for Lattimore), but sadly it remains a position of need anyway.

 

[Boone]

I am betting that now that we have a legit pass rush and our CBs don't have to cover guys for 30 seconds on passing plays, we look a lot better at that position even if we don't add anyone. I would also argue that 2 starting CBs is at least more promising than 1 starting WR

If they take Delane, I won't be excited but I will cross my fingers he's the next big thing.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Delane is better than all of our corners by significant levels of magnitude. He’d start. He’d be the best player on our defense.

Delane has good potential to be a real #1.

They’re one of the few teams without a true traditional No. 1 corner, and there’s a reason teams keep investing heavily there. Peters spent major money and draft capital on Lattimore. The Rams just did it for McDuffie. The Colts did it for Sauce. A real shutdown corner matters because so many teams have a No. 1 receiver who can take over a game.

I like Amos, and I liked the pick. But he was okay in Year 1 — average at best. According to PFF he was below average. Sainristil had good moments and rough moments. You can easily argue that neither has proven he’s a true No. 2 yet, let alone a No. 1. Their slot corner struggled last year too, and the only legitimate backup is Witherspoon, who has also had his issues.

On paper this is one of the weakest corner groups in the NFL. Yeah everything can break right and our hopes and dreams for all these guys can come true. But do we want to ride a season on it?

 

[Dah-Dee]

Do I think Sainristil is a slam dunk good starter in the NFL at outside? Nope. Do I think the same of Amos? Nope. Do I think the same of Robertson? Nope.

 

[Conn]

Oh yeah I’m sure that will work out great 🙄

I agree with you completely. And yet I don’t see any other way to guarantee we can fill our WR need at 71. So…what the hell are they going to do besides reach on a flawed deep threat or raw risk/reward dude we shouldn’t put any hope in? Seems like a pretty terrible situation we’ve gotten ourselves into and I don’t know how they can stick to any sort of good process and think they’re getting out of it with their jobs. They draft true BPA and the next staff may certainly be thanking them. They reach on a WR to guarantee they get one, they may also just go down swinging. Rough situation, rough couple years to try being our franchise QB.

 

[bifflog]

Carnell Tate surging on the prediction markets:

 

[skinsinparadise]

I like this. Schrager I trust. Keim hinted in tonights podcast he will go over what he’s hearing tomorrow in his next podcast. And like Ive been saying this is the week i trust it the most among insiders.

For me its Love, Styles and then Tate. I like Delane and Downs better than Tate. But I am sick and tired of WR being a joke, Jayden deserves better

 

[KDawg]

I agree with you completely. And yet I don’t see any other way to guarantee we can fill our WR need at 71. So…what the hell are they going to do besides reach on a flawed deep threat or raw risk/reward dude we shouldn’t put any hope in? Seems like a pretty terrible situation we’ve gotten ourselves into and I don’t know how they can stick to any sort of good process and think they’re getting out of it with their jobs. They draft true BPA and the next staff may certainly be thanking them. They reach on a WR to guarantee they get one, they may also just go down swinging. Rough situation, rough couple years to try being our franchise QB.

i think there’s a high chance they’re selecting a player for the next regime anyways.

Talent wise Delane is better. But man, I don’t see how they could pass on Tate if Love is gone (he will be)