Draft 2024 first round Redo.

I’m a cautious believer. I think they got it right.

I was a Drake Maye guy, and although he is young, he is nowhere near ready. I will eat a heavy dose of crow for this. Much of why I wanted Maye was because he is bigger and resembles Josh Allen with his style. I will even try to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was not given enough time to prepare game snaps at the end of the Jets game. But his pocket presence was not good. Remember how winded and nervous he looked at his pro day? That was my first red flag. But I overlooked it.


Caleb Williams is already pissing off his receivers. DJ Moore in particular. It’s one thing to make amazing off script plays in college. It’s another to make on script plays consistently in the pros. He will have good games, but can he show the consistency game in and game out. Leadership? I don’t think he will.


Jayden Daniels is the leader from day one. Mechanics are great. Needs work on certain things like quick screens so he can give his receivers a chance to rac.

Sliding. I am resigned to believe that he has never slid and that he will never slide, and that he will get hurt at some point. I only hope it is not too serious and not for too long.

Look how quickly guys like Bobby Wagner gravitated towards him. I really believe in him now.


Joe Alt is one of several players we could have taken at another position. He is off to a great start. Could we have kept Brissett and gone Alt with a mini trade down? Possibly but not sure. That would have been too risky imo.


Trading down to get more picks is another obvious choice. This would have been a painful year to watch football, but might have been beneficial in the long run.



I still believe we made the right choice.

 

[Boone]

Such a great thread - thanks for posting it!

I was wafflling back and forth on Maye and Daniels on a daily basis pre-draft but finally landed on Maye as my preference. My rationale was our needing a big physical QB with a big arm. I don't think anyone can project what Maye will end up being given New England is going to take their time with him. He may still prove to be a great one, but I think odds are higher for 'better than average'.

Meanwhile, although obviously it's very early, Jayden Daniels looks like he could be THE special QB in this draft. I'm not surprised by his legs, I'm not surprised by the arm and accuracy, we knew he had those attributes. What has shocked me was just how poised, mature, hardworking, and seemingly unselfish the kid is. All highly drafted QBs say the right things and seem to be 'the first one in and the last one out'. But with Jayden, he really seems to be driven, a 'student of the game', committed, and able to keep his ego in check. I have been blown away with his poise as a rookie starter, and I think our Front Office is going to look pretty savvy with the decision they made.

I haven't watched much of Caleb Williams, but I was concerned with some of the stuff he said and did his senior year and I never understood why he was so clearly the number one choice. Maybe he'll make that sentiment look stupid as he adjusts to the NFL, but so far, Jayden Daniels is making a strong case that it was he, not Caleb Williams, that was the special talent in this draft.

How fucking cool is it that it was Washington that seems to have picked the right guy this time?!

 

[Bulldog]

I think Washington and Chicago got NFL starters in the draft. But I would think Maye, Nix, Penix and McCarthy are question marks.

Caleb to me came out thinking very highly of himself and that trait can be a killer when you come into a higher league and talent pool where any rookie is going to be humbled at least somewhat.

I think we took the right player and now it could very well be case that Daniels was the right pick at #1 too.

 

[Neophyte]

 

[tomwvr]

I never like Caleb but I thought Maye would be the better long term QB. In what I saw Daniels had the better floor and Maye had the better ceiling . But I may have been wrong. Daniels had the higher floor an perhaps the higher ceiling. I would not have taken Caleb before any of the other first round QBs. And I think he is going to be a bust,

 

[Bulldog]

the thing that always concerned me about Drake Maye is the inaccuracy on open throws in college.

Daniels was far more efficient in the passing game and then you combine the mobility edge and it really wasn't that much of a contest.

Williams has talent but he seems lost on a team where Eberflus probably should have lost his job after 2023.

As Jay Gruden said, the Bears seem to have taken the approach that Caleb has a good supporting cast so they just threw him out there and said 'play quarterback'.

Not a very advanced plan for development.

 

[Chris]

Maye may end up being a good QB. I know many fell in love with his size and his arm but I watched a lot of ‘tape’ from a lot of his college games and something was missing for me. The obvious inaccuracy and mechanical inefficiencies aside, there was always something wanting that is hard for me to verbalize. Kind of the opposite of je ne sais quoi, ‘hard to describe but you know it when you don’t see it’.

I don’t like anything I see or hear from Williams. I watched the Hard Knocks series and he strikes me as a little too self-absorbed and entitled. When he uses terms like ‘my guys’ when speaking about his teammates, particularly on a pretty veteran team, I roll my eyes. Like ‘who died and made you King’. He has undeniable physical talent but I’m glad he is not the face of my favorite franchise.

My only concern about Daniels pre-draft was his capacity to handle the physicality of the pro game. I hate the comparisons to Lamar Jackson. Daniels is head and shoulders above Jackson at this point playing the position as both a runner and a passer.