How'd Washington do? NFL Draft Grades...

[burgold]

I gave the draft a solid B. If they roll out an average to better than average OL this season, I’ll up it to an A.

I think we're similar though I guess I'd argue it's not completely fair. We're both talking about the difference between the draft grade and the offseason grade.

 

[Chris]

I looking at it solely from the viewpoint of the draft. They made moves in FA, they may have a post-draft plan in place. If that was their strategy I will be fine with it. I’m giving them my benefit of the doubt as to the draft until TC begins.

 

[Bulldog]

It’s possible Coleman comes in and starts and plays reasonably well and it’s a couple of the other positions, LG and RT, where we see a couple of middling veterans and ex-Chiefs continue to be ‘meh’ players in burgundy and gold.

If Coleman shows well in camp I hope we keep our eyes open for a veteran RT that can supplant Wylie.

 

[Canadian Hog]

I think my biggest shocker in the draft was not adding an interior lineman that could play and contribute relatively soon. Ultimately it provides insurance and flexibility. Said IOL could potentially provide insurance in the event that Allegretti fails (keep in mind he has never started a full season in his career). As well, it potentially opens the door to Cosmi moving back to RT to replace a subpar Wylie. I know Cosmi found a home at RG last year and played good football, so maybe you are hesitant to even go down that road. That said, I think we dropped the ball somewhat. There has to be a backup plan to add more depth over the summer. Chris Paul and Ricky Stromberg haven't shown enough by any means to make you feel comfortable that they can patch a hole if someone on the starting unit goes down to injury or falters.

 

[Neophyte]

I know we are all concerned with the state offensive line. But what if maybe we don't need to be. Hear me out.

Last year was a disaster and I was one of the ones leading the charge over how bad our OL was. And I don't think any of us were wrong. But consider the following:

1. First-year OC who was pass-happy
2. First-year head OL coach who was promoted to the position LATE
3. First-year QB who we all respected but was honestly still learning the pro game

What if coaching and scheme can fix most of our issues? What if having a TE who isn't afraid to block could help out against top defensive ends? What if a legit running game slows down the opposition's pass rush? What if our defense isn't giving up 30+ a game, forcing the offense to take risks? What if the defense doesn't just force stops but generates turnovers?

I'm not promising any of these things. Hell, some days I'm skeptical about these ideas too.

But...what if?

 

[Knightingale]

I think you're right, Neo.
In fact, I think (hope) we'll see an uptick in pretty much all facets of the teams simply due to the coaching change. I don't think the team could have been coached much worse in pretty much all aspects last year and it showed on the field.

 

[Primus Porcus]

All great points Neo.

We all lost confidence in the coaching staff a a whole last year. Hard to then be confident that the team was executing anywhere near their own ceiling, or being set up to succeed in the first place.

While I don’t expect some huge leap into a top 10 unit, but I’ve always believed they will be better prepared, and schematically things will be different… like not asking Jon Bates to block nick bosa one on one. Something that happened last year.

Matsko routinely got the most out of guys, but schematically there still seemed to be a disconnect. After matsko left, that disconnect appeared to get even bigger where the scheme and the personnel just didn’t appear to be mesh to be the most effective.

 

[Enforcer]

Great points on the o-line, Neo!

Got me thinking, some other factors too:

• A lot of pressure came from Center (Gates sucked) and left guard -- we've hopefully upgraded there
• When Brissett played, magically the o-line looked better (not amazing, but better); getting the ball out quicker makes the o-line look better
• Just the "threat" of running has to factor in the opposing teams pash rush tactics

 

[Bulldog]

I think we are still trying to lock down one spot on the interior of the OL. Biadasz and Cosmi are younger starters for us going forward.

The left guard spot was manned in 2023 by guys like Chris Paul that received some of the lowest PFF grades for any linemen that hit the field during the season.

We have Stromberg from within and Allegretti from the Chiefs so far in terms of candidates to take the lead role.

Am I comfortable with that? No.

I was in favor of signing Laken Tomlinson a couple of weeks ago before he got snagged by Seattle (?). He has been a durable performer at OG and was a pro bowler in 2021 with the 49ers. His contract was modest.

THAT is the type of player we need to target for 2024 to act as a bridge and bring stability and veteran experience to the position.

Again, I have talked to a number of Chiefs' fans who are season ticket holders and intelligent observers and they tell me that Nick Allegretti is a good backup, a guy that can come in and give you a game or a couple of games starting if you have injuries up front, but he is no 17 game starter as he lacks the strength to sustain his position vs. an aggressive inside rush. He is better in the run game.

To me Nick looks like depth, better depth than we had last year but depth all the same.

 

[Knightingale]

We all lost confidence in the coaching staff a a whole last year.

I think the players did too, crucially.

While they seemed to pretty universally respect Rivera the man, I don't think that by the end they were bought in to Rivera the Coach. I don't think the offensive players ever gelled with EB, and Jonathan Allen's attitude was all you really needed to know about what they thought on Defense. It was as evident to them as it was to us that Rivera was gone at the end of the year.
I think it permeated the coaching staff too. I honestly don't think Del Rio really gave a s**t about the team last year.

 

[Bulldog]

Bruce Feldman of the Athletic rated Newton and Sainristil as two of his best value picks in the draft.

He also thought the Eagles moving up to 40 to take Cooper DeJean was in there among the top 10 value selections.

Feldman thought Newton should have gone in the 12-16 range and DeJean should have been a pick in the mid 20's in any other year.

He also cautioned that a number of the teams grabbing tackles and quarterbacks in the mad frenzy that became Round 1 could end up with a hangover as we get further away from the draft and inverting their boards for need is likely to get put GMs and coaches in the hot seat.

 

[Neophyte]

I'll be shocked if we don't some veteran signings along the OL in the next 4-6 weeks.

I also won't be shocked if we see a starting lineup of Coleman, Allegretti, Biadasz, Cosmi, Wylie/Lucas/Scott on opening day either.

 

[Neophyte]

 

[Bulldog]

With the cap space the team has there is really no barrier to signing a vet or two for the OL. Since we only drafted Brandon Coleman it's not like we would be preventing younger high value players from getting on the field.

And we know from experience that during a 17 game season very few teams make it through the entire way without injuries.

 

[Enforcer]

A graphic essentially of the OP w/ some other outlets included.