2026 NFL Draft Impressions / Changes

[burgold]

One of the great things about how the draft wound up is that we ultimately were not punished for beating the Eagles, but the Eagles were punished for their arrogance.

 

[Riggo44]

One of the great things about how the draft wound up is that we ultimately were not punished for beating the Eagles, but the Eagles were punished for their arrogance.

It's funny how that works out.

 

[method man]

I can’t help but think that we may regret passing on Uar Bernard. 21 or 22 years old. He’s 6’4.5” and 306 pounds. Ran a 4.63 at that weight, which is obscene/unheard of, and also had a very of 39” and a broad jump of just under 11 feet. And fucking of course, Philly grabbed him in the 7th. He could easily be the next Jordan Mailata for them, and it’s going to make me sick if that comes to fruition. I would have found a way to grab and try to develop him.

He is also very strong. I wonder if they can get some more weight on him and have him back up Jordan Davis as an even front nose tackle. Learning curve for that position has to be the fastest for any player on the defensive line.

On special teams, seems like there is a role on kick block given the vertical leap

 

[Canuck]

I am happy with the way that the draft turned out.

I like Styles, but think Downs will be the better pro and he would have been my choice.

Josephs I'm not sure about, he has the traits, but not the production, which rarely turns out well.

If it was Downs before Styles, I would have gone LB in Rd 5 over Josephs, maybe someone like Jack Kelly from BYU or Justin Jefferson from Bama.

TE Joe Royer would have also been interesting

 

[DWinzit]

There's a lot of questions about selecting the Greek Rifle. He definitely had to have won them over and mean s e should be able to move from the wasted roster spot of Hartman. If they can be that QB3 and turn into a reliable QB2 it is a win in my book.

I expected them to try to move down late in the draft to gain more 6th or 7th round picks. They were unable to do so making his selection not totally shocking.

Like many of you, I too liked VJ Payne over him. That felt especially strong seeing how no DB's were selected previously. I would have taken him.

Dallen Bentley was another of my likes along with a ST type LB in Aiden Fisher

One of the biggest surprises for me was Garret Nussmeier wasn't selected until 249.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I am happy with the way that the draft turned out.

I like Styles, but think Downs will be the better pro and he would have been my choice.

Josephs I'm not sure about, he has the traits, but not the production, which rarely turns out well.

If it was Downs before Styles, I would have gone LB in Rd 5 over Josephs, maybe someone like Jack Kelly from BYU or Justin Jefferson from Bama.

TE Joe Royer would have also been interesting

21% pressure rate, 6 forced in the last two years -- not the big sack production but that's mostly because Tennessee rotates their D line so much that he didn't have nearly the same pass rushing reps the typical edge does.

Dudes with freakish arms, athleticism, and strong pressure numbers translate typically as a scout below says -- often more so than raw sack numbers

Part 8, Edge: Deep 2026 class promises to torment quarterbacks

David Bailey, Rueben Bain will go early, but they're far from alone. NFL scouts dissect one of the deepest Edge classes in recent memory. As always, however, there are red flags to examine.

www.golongtd.com

8. JOSHUA JOSEPHS, Tennessee (6-3, 243, 4.73, 2-3): Spent four seasons in Knoxville, starting 16 games (11 as a senior). “One of the top edge rushers in the draft,” one scout said. “Not a sexy rusher. He’s is a long-armed speed-to-power rusher who has consistently created vertical rush. He won’t get as much love as Zion Young because he doesn’t look as athletic nor will he get the love of Rueben Bain because the hype isn’t there. However, he has a chance to produce more than either one because his style will carry over to the NFL more efficiently. He’ll most likely go in the second round and should be a career starter capable of eight to 12 sacks per season due to his speed-to-power conversion and relentless motor.” Finished with 104 tackles (22 for loss), 9 ½ sacks, six forced fumbles and nine batted passes. Had a vertical jump of 38 1/2. Arms were 34 ¼, hands were 10. “Good athlete,” a second scout said.

 

[Canuck]

21% pressure rate, 6 forced in the last two years -- not the big sack production but that's mostly because Tennessee rotates their D line so much that he didn't have nearly the same pass rushing reps the typical edge does.

Dudes with freakish arms, athleticism, and strong pressure numbers translate typically as a scout below says -- often more so than raw sack numbers

Part 8, Edge: Deep 2026 class promises to torment quarterbacks

David Bailey, Rueben Bain will go early, but they're far from alone. NFL scouts dissect one of the deepest Edge classes in recent memory. As always, however, there are red flags to examine.

www.golongtd.com

8. JOSHUA JOSEPHS, Tennessee (6-3, 243, 4.73, 2-3): Spent four seasons in Knoxville, starting 16 games (11 as a senior). “One of the top edge rushers in the draft,” one scout said. “Not a sexy rusher. He’s is a long-armed speed-to-power rusher who has consistently created vertical rush. He won’t get as much love as Zion Young because he doesn’t look as athletic nor will he get the love of Rueben Bain because the hype isn’t there. However, he has a chance to produce more than either one because his style will carry over to the NFL more efficiently. He’ll most likely go in the second round and should be a career starter capable of eight to 12 sacks per season due to his speed-to-power conversion and relentless motor.” Finished with 104 tackles (22 for loss), 9 ½ sacks, six forced fumbles and nine batted passes. Had a vertical jump of 38 1/2. Arms were 34 ¼, hands were 10. “Good athlete,” a second scout said.

I hope that you're right, but that is a def glass half full assessment IMO.

 

[KDawg]

I hope that you're right, but that is a def glass half full assessment IMO.

I agree. Only so much sunshine and rainbows with this guy. His traits are elite. If he can develop he should be great.

Nothing, including his scheme manufactured pressure rate, indicates it’s a high probability.

But his flashes and traits tell me it’s possible.

So we wait. And I hope. Because if it materializes we got a steal.

If it doesn’t we wasted a fifth rounder. There are worse situations to be in.

 

[Conn]

The post-draft analysis you’ve all been waiting for, Jersey number/aesthetic scouting reports

Styles in #52 = HOF trajectory

Williams in #14 = horrible taste in numbers, gonna have to see it play out

Josephs in #48 = bust, I don’t make the rules. Horrible aesthetic for a pass rusher

Allen in #31 = fine, not ideal. Allowed to make up to three Pro Bowls

Gulbin in #66 = long career as a top-1/3 of the league starting Center

QB3 in #16 = 9 year backup QB career with multiple career starts and wins, we’ll all eventually know how to pronounce his name but we’ll call him “The Greek Gun” or something

 

[Riggo44]

Williams in #14 = horrible taste in numbers, gonna have to see it play out

Shockingly, I am going to disagree. Inspiried choice.

 

[Conn]

Shockingly, I am going to disagree. Inspiried choice.

View attachment 14880

I get it, I never liked it on ARSB either. But a good reminder that great players can break the rules. But I am the unbiased arbiter of an ancient tradition, I simply convey the reality 🙏 If a stud player warps that reality, more power to them

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Commanders Draft Video dropped. They did a much better job hiding the board and any movement on it instead of showing lots of hints like in the 2024 draft video.



#71 - Looks like we tried to trade down from #71, but nothing was good so they went with the best offensive weapon on the board for Jayden. He's the guy the new OC Blough seemed to want.
#147 - We had a trade down in the works in the 5th, but they say Edge Joshua Josephs was rated far higher than anyone else on the board. So they stayed pat.
#187 - In the 6th, they implied a massive gulf in evaluation ratings between Kaytron Allen and anyone else left on the board.
#209 - They seemed to have Center Matt Gulbin and Athan Kaliakmanis rated equally. But they asked for the OL Coach Stapleton to come up and when OC Blough heard that he did an emphatic fist pump. Sounds like he really wanted the Center Gulbin.
#223 - Pick seemed locked in the moment they took Gulbin. The draft room all seemed psyched about Athan. Like he must be one charismatic son of a bitch.

Anyone know about this Commanders Caucus thing? Mentioned a few times when they had as many as 3 votes for a player, so it doesn't sound like there are many voters.

 

[Conn]

Commanders Draft Video dropped. They did a much better job hiding the board and any movement on it instead of showing lots of hints like in the 2024 draft video.



#71 - Looks like we tried to trade down from #71, but nothing was good so they went with the best offensive weapon on the board for Jayden. He's the guy the new OC Blough seemed to want.
#147 - We had a trade down in the works in the 5th, but they say Edge Joshua Josephs was rated far higher than anyone else on the board. So they stayed pat.
#187 - In the 6th, they implied a massive gulf in evaluation ratings between Kaytron Allen and anyone else left on the board.
#209 - They seemed to have Center Matt Gulbin and Athan Kaliakmanis rated equally. But they asked for the OL Coach Stapleton to come up and when OC Blough heard that he did an emphatic fist pump. Sounds like he really wanted the Center Gulbin.
#223 - Pick seemed locked in the moment they took Gulbin. The draft room all seemed psyched about Athan. Like he must be one charismatic son of a bitch.

Anyone know about this Commanders Caucus thing? Mentioned a few times when they had as many as 3 votes for a player, so it doesn't sound like there are many voters.

They dropped talking about the “Commander Tag” after 2024 (I think because it led to unrealistic expectations from fans and was probably unfair to the players to reveal who we simply “settled” for at a pick). But we don’t know if that Commander Tag still exists, but is just kept in-house now.

So then in 2025 they instead instituted the “Commander Caucus” where on day 3 the position coaches can stand on the table for their guys

This is where I’m skeptical that what AP is doing will “work” longterm, because while coaches know what they prefer and need in their schemes, they are not college evaluators and don’t specialize in projecting college talent forward into the league. They see what they see, not what could be. Great scouts project traits into skills, great coaches develop players to turn those traits into skills, etc.

So…the extent to which we seem to rely on coach input not just to dictate what we’re looking for (which is normal) but to dictate who we actually take on draft day…I’m skeptical that level of collaboration is the best way, and I’ve been hoping that Peters would lean more into HIS eye for talent, the penchant for mid/late round hits that got him noticed and promoted in the first place.

I’m sure there’s some level of coach input that is very useful, I’m skeptical we’re on the right side of that line given our lack of big hits throughout the draft the first couple years.

I assume AP will keep refining his process (and his staff’s, because I know he really leans on Newmark as well) but he needs to fucking nail one of these drafts, one of these years. And I’m not sure letting low-experience assistant coaches weigh in heavily is how you make that happen, over a large sample size.

 

[Boone]

Interesting points Conn. I would argue that while scouts may be more adept at projecting 'traits into skills', the reason there are SO many misses in the draft is that it is very difficult to do that with any certainty (whether we are talking about coaches, scouts, draft 'experts', or GMs). I think talent evaluation is far more art than science. I won't argue that scouts are no more skilled at this than coaches, you are likely right that leaning on scouting assessment vs. coaches preferences is a better approach just given that is their mindset and focus. This is what they do and work on day in and day out. But there is also no guarantee just because someone is hired as a 'scout' that they are somehow magically gifted in that area. There is a small part of me that whispers the entire process of finding hidden gems and projecting success at the NFL level is about 99% luck to begin with and that it is nearly an impossible task to predict no matter what one's philosophy or assessment skills are.

 

[DWinzit]

#71 - Looks like we tried to trade down from #71, but nothing was good so they went with the best offensive weapon on the board for Jayden. He's the guy the new OC Blough seemed to want.
#147 - We had a trade down in the works in the 5th, but they say Edge Joshua Josephs was rated far higher than anyone else on the board. So they stayed pat.
#187 - In the 6th, they implied a massive gulf in evaluation ratings between Kaytron Allen and anyone else left on the board.
#209 - They seemed to have Center Matt Gulbin and Athan Kaliakmanis rated equally. But they asked for the OL Coach Stapleton to come up and when OC Blough heard that he did an emphatic fist pump. Sounds like he really wanted the Center Gulbin.
#223 - Pick seemed locked in the moment they took Gulbin. The draft room all seemed psyched about Athan. Like he must be one charismatic son of a bitch.

Anyone know about this Commanders Caucus thing? Mentioned a few times when they had as many as 3 votes for a player, so it doesn't sound like there are many voters.

If Williams works out to 3/4's of the player we think he is, it was wise to not trade down and take him. I do think it was smart to stick and take a WR based on where our WR room was and still is even with his addition. I just hope he is starter worthy and players drafted after him like Fields, Brazzell, Branch don't become studs. I will say Heights went the pick before ours and I had him rated higher than everyone and would have been hard pressed to pass on him.

Interesting how into Gulbin and more so with Kaliakmanis they were. Later Hartman!

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

They dropped talking about the “Commander Tag” after 2024 (I think because it led to unrealistic expectations from fans and was probably unfair to the players to reveal who we simply “settled” for at a pick). But we don’t know if that Commander Tag still exists, but is just kept in-house now.

So then in 2025 they instead instituted the “Commander Caucus” where on day 3 the position coaches can stand on the table for their guys

This is where I’m skeptical that what AP is doing will “work” longterm, because while coaches know what they prefer and need in their schemes, they are not college evaluators and don’t specialize in projecting college talent forward into the league. They see what they see, not what could be. Great scouts project traits into skills, great coaches develop players to turn those traits into skills, etc.

So…the extent to which we seem to rely on coach input not just to dictate what we’re looking for (which is normal) but to dictate who we actually take on draft day…I’m skeptical that level of collaboration is the best way, and I’ve been hoping that Peters would lean more into HIS eye for talent, the penchant for mid/late round hits that got him noticed and promoted in the first place.

I’m sure there’s some level of coach input that is very useful, I’m skeptical we’re on the right side of that line given our lack of big hits throughout the draft the first couple years.

I assume AP will keep refining his process (and his staff’s, because I know he really leans on Newmark as well) but he needs to fucking nail one of these drafts, one of these years. And I’m not sure letting low-experience assistant coaches weigh in heavily is how you make that happen, over a large sample size.

Yes we have been beating this drum.

It is clearly not so easy to find uber talented playcallers / designers/ experts at the pure “coaching” craft. This approach wants that as always plus good talent evaluation mixed in. I think AP saw these structures work in the past so he is a bit hung up on them perhaps. Common bias for anyone, to see what worked and try to replicate.

The question is, when you take a step back and analyze it, are you sure it is the best approach? Process over results. Sure he saw success in highly collaborative approaches but is that the most reliable formula? I think it would be easier and more repeatable to find expert scouts and evaluation in one set and pure coaching in the other.

One key point too: this may have played a big part in KK’s exit as well. He pushed for certain things or perhaps disagreed with specific personnel directions. That won’t work well in this highly collaborative environment. Some of that, though, is going to happen in almost any structure. You do need some movement in sympatico

 

[Conn]

Interesting points Conn. I would argue that while scouts may be more adept at projecting 'traits into skills', the reason there are SO many misses in the draft is that it is very difficult to do that with any certainty (whether we are talking about coaches, scouts, draft 'experts', or GMs). I think talent evaluation is far more art than science. I won't argue that scouts are no more skilled at this than coaches, you are likely right that leaning on scouting assessment vs. coaches preferences is a better approach just given that is their mindset and focus. This is what they do and work on day in and day out. But there is also no guarantee just because someone is hired as a 'scout' that they are somehow magically gifted in that area. There is a small part of me that whispers the entire process of finding hidden gems and projecting success at the NFL level is about 99% luck to begin with and that it is nearly an impossible task to predict no matter what one's philosophy or assessment skills are.

Definitely one of those things that is gonna need time to play out, and even then we’ll never really know the extent of how our processes impact the outcomes. Like with a larger sample size if we start drafting really well, you could generally say “well something we’re doing is working” and carry on. But if things aren’t working, it’s probably pretty hard from the outside to really dig into why, with the limited info we have. Which is part of why fans are usually displeased when guys are kept as holdovers from previous Front Offices even though it’s totally normal to keep a lot of rank & file midlevel people who are allegedly good at their jobs. When people can’t pinpoint the problems from outside they want a bloodbath, clean sweep.

In this case, it just seems logical to me that the scouts you pay to scout almost year-round would have a better feel for prospects than the assistant coaches (of varying levels of experience and worthiness) who spend 6-8 weeks binging tons of film of specific guys and meeting specific guys in controlled environments. It makes sense that you’d take their preferences into account at times but it also makes sense that they could be biased by their smaller pool of information and personal interactions with specific players, especially given their job doesn’t require them to be able to project that talent to the league in the first place. But there’s really no way to know

 

[Conn]

This will be an interesting what-if when this pick comes up in the (likely late) 4th round in 2027. Obviously by then we will hope to have seen some real flashes from Josephs, who was probably the most divisive/controversial guy we took this year at least in the draft threads on this message board

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

This will be an interesting what-if when this pick comes up in the (likely late) 4th round in 2027. Obviously by then we will hope to have seen some real flashes from Josephs, who was probably the most divisive/controversial guy we took this year at least in the draft threads on this message board

That's basically just a trade betting on the 2027 draft class being so much deeper than the 2026 one. We had pick #147, if they pick around the same spot as next year it's roughly pick #130-ish. That is a bit little to lose a year of developing a prospect, unless you truly believe 2027 depth, even in the 4th round, will be special.

What's really interesting is that Seattle actually did that trade, just 1 pick later, with the Browns. They grabbed Iowa Guard Beau Stephens. They appear set at all 3 IOL for 2026, so it's a little confusing. Unless they expect their RG to walk in Free Agency after next season?

 

[bowhunter]

QB3 in #16 = 9 year backup QB career with multiple career starts and wins, we’ll all eventually know how to pronounce his name but we’ll call him “The Greek Gun” or something

I like "Greeced Lightning"