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

Every draft on the old board, McQueen used to start those threads what you would have done in the moment. Those were all my actual picks in those threads, but I recall them all being fairly popular. You are right there were a ton Devin Lloyd or Tyler Lindenbaum people before the draft because we were picking at 11 and knew there would be better fits/premium positions. Between 11 and 16 a bunch of players we were looking at Chris Olave, Jameson Williams, Jordan Davis, Kyle Hamilton, and Kenyon Green went off the board. Hamilton was the guy I definitely wanted at 11, Olave would have been my 2. I felt like Hamilton probably had a plurality of the board. You tend to get more all in on prospects than me. For example we would both take David Bailey, but I do push back on him a bit as a run defender. It was likewise with Hamilton where I said he probably did have limitations as a deep safety, but he was still my guy. The two guys I was interested in at 16 were Lloyd and Lindenbaum. I liked Lindenbaum more but probably would have drafted Lloyd because LB was seen as a need and C wasn't. The board had thought we were picking at 11 not 16 so there had not been a ton of discussion on them. I probably would have drafted Lloyd because we already Chase Roullier (though like he suffered a career ending injury in like game 4 of that following season) and drafting Lindenbaum would have involved Roullier moving to Guard, but McQueen (by then he had already switched his screen name to GoingCommando--as two months before that draft they announced the name Commanders) was pretty convincing on Lindenbaum. McQueens big miss on that draft was George Pickens. He convinced me not to like him in round 2.

I can remember well prospects I pushed where I got push back -- I got plenty of pushback lol on Hamilton. But agree he probably had a pluarity.

As for McQueen-Going Commando. He got some good takes. But had some big misses like all of us. He's easy to remember as to his takes because like you say I do, he comes in hard for the prospects he liked and was heavy handed with his points. I recall being one of the few people who liked Terry McLaurin and his take in response was "McLaurin sucks" and he had some others echo that. He worshipped Haskins (RIP) and I think that more than anything created some tension between us from that point on because that conversation would arise again later from time to time. He liked Kyle Trask a lot. I recall one of his last posts on QBs included he thinks Kenny Pickett will be elite and also the more he watches Jayden Daniels he doesn't see it with him. He would get pissy if they took a player he didn't like ala Brandon Coleman in that last draft.

He of course had some good takes too. He pushed Lloyd and sold me on him. I recall he was a big Deebo guy. He pushed Garrett Wilson a lot and then oddly backed off. Yeah he was a big Linderbaum guy but I didn't want him that early in the draft and I wasn't alone on that but clearly he's a really good player. Big Jordan Davis guy. He was a big Payne guy -- I duked it out with him over that one versus Vea, Fitzpatrick, James before the draft. But the key with him is agree or disagree he would go into detail about why he liked or didn't like a player. I enjoy that a lot. Someone just saying they like or don't like a player without explaining why, while is cool of course, does nothing for me.

The other thing I had-have in common with him is I don't like to plant a flag for or against a player based on highlights or conversation, i got to watch the player enough to get a feel for them. For example I've mentioned my iniital takes on Concepcion and Boston well over a month ago. But I didn't feel like I had enough to watch to land on hard takes. I liked both superficially. But I need to watch more. I can't wait for that dude, forget his name, who on youtube ultimately puts every game back to back, all plays, for some players. That is so cool. And makes a world of difference for me. It's part of why I fell harder for example for Skattebo. Nothing beats watching 8-12 games with every play of a player. It was part of what made me fall for both Jayden and Maye before that draft, someone posted every game back to back, I probably watched those games at least three times for each.
 
I think McQueen's takes were usually pretty smart. But he definitely had misses. The 2020 draft class was the first one I was onthe ES board for so I wasn't around for the 2019 class discussion. I don't remember him thinking Kenny Pickett would be elite, but I do remember him having Pickett as his number 1 in that draft class, but like pretty much everybody he thought that QB draft class was meh. McQueen wasn't necessarily low on Daniels he was just a Drake Maye guy and made it clear he preferred Maye over Daniels Once we drafted Daniels he got excited about him.

You are a bit different than me in that you enjoy watching prospects tape. I am a college football fan of the University of Maryland my alma mater. From approxmiately 2001 (when I was a freshman at Maryland) to 2019 I was a college football fan first and NFL fan second. It probably swapped around 2019 though I am still a pretty active poster on Maryland's message boards. As such I naturally watch a decent amount of college football (mostly Big 10 cause of Maryland), not so much to see prospects, but out of interest. So I unintentionally see prospects. Since I follow college recruiting I remember some of the NFL prospects as HS prospects. But I don't really watch prospects highlight videos or gametape in preparation for the draft. I have a long commute to work and also listen to podcasts while at the gym, so I listen to a lot of podcasts (probably around 3 to 4 hours a day total) including three draft podcasts, Daft on Draft (the best in my opinion), NFL Stock Exchange (I only listen to their draft episodes), and Building the Beast. I mostly build my opinions from those along with the discussion on this board.
 
One thing about these threads.... there are a lot of people here who just want to be right. Resume builders. If that's what you want to do, it's easy...just claim every QB is going to bust and that you like every highly ranked non-QB prospect. The bust rates of quarterbacks, and the success rate of other highly ranked prospects to at least become solid starters, is good enough that you'll seem smart! I appreciate the posters who buck those trends in their predictions. Go out on a limb for one guy. Speak out on who is a bust. One thing about Going Commando as a poster, he was not afraid to post a negative opinion on a prospect. He was all in on Drake Maye and he was right. He was all in on Deuce Vaughn and Corum and that doesn't look so great. Some here seem to want to like every prospect, so they can later if he is successful say they liked him all along. It takes a little bit more bravery going out on a limb and saying "this (non-QB) guy is going to bust." So I'm sorry Going Commando isn't here.
 
^Nice post. I always enjoyed the heck out to the draft threads and all of the contributors. To me there is no better place to share and read draft info and opinions. As to McQueen, he was never afraid to go against the grain with some of his takes and I respected that. I found myself taking especially strong likes to his takes on OL. There are other posters that have strengths in certain areas like SIP with TE's and QB's and KDawg with LBs.

One miss McQueen had, that listened to was Nick Bolton. I really liked that dude and Kool (Hail Raiser )loved him. I jumped off the bandwagon because he convinced me he was too small. He is still a stud player and I wish we had drafted him. By the way I hope Kool gets his ass back to this site once this season is over.
 
I think McQueen's takes were usually pretty smart. But he definitely had misses. The 2020 draft class was the first one I was onthe ES board for so I wasn't around for the 2019 class discussion. I don't remember him thinking Kenny Pickett would be elite, but I do remember him having Pickett as his number 1 in that draft class, but like pretty much everybody he thought that QB draft class was meh. McQueen wasn't necessarily low on Daniels he was just a Drake Maye guy and made it clear he preferred Maye over Daniels Once we drafted Daniels he got excited about him.

All his takes were smart. He had as many misses as anyone. But like I said, I don't care about that. lol, if GMs are missing 50-60% of the picks -- we are either lying if we think we are better than that or idiots for doing this versus working in a FO.

One thing about these threads.... there are a lot of people here who just want to be right. Resume builders. If that's what you want to do, it's easy...just claim every QB is going to bust and that you like every highly ranked non-QB prospect. The bust rates of quarterbacks, and the success rate of other highly ranked prospects to at least become solid starters, is good enough that you'll seem smart! I appreciate the posters who buck those trends in their predictions. Go out on a limb for one guy. Speak out on who is a bust. One thing about Going Commando as a poster, he was not afraid to post a negative opinion on a prospect. He was all in on Drake Maye and he was right. He was all in on Deuce Vaughn and Corum and that doesn't look so great. Some here seem to want to like every prospect, so they can later if he is successful say they liked him all along. It takes a little bit more bravery going out on a limb and saying "this (non-QB) guy is going to bust." So I'm sorry Going Commando isn't here.

I am sorry he isn't here, too.

I get your point. and lol goingcommando's negative takes were often very negative and man if he ended up right on who he was negative on, you won't hear the end of it from him especially when he turns on the FO. He's not a Peters or Josh Harris guy. Was down on Rivera early on (felt Haskins driven) but then got sold on him some his last year.

But thinking back. I recall the ES posters and plenty of us were negative on some prospects and plenty took some chances on guys who weren't on people's radar. As for me, as to non QBs, where I went negative versus some people there, I was negative on Payne relatively speaking, Zaven Collins, Joey Porter (I was wrong about him), Xavier Worthy, Judkins (lol, that one isn't trending well for me). Currently on initial watches, am not as high on M. Fields and explained why. I bounce back and forth on Tyson. Lol, am clearly not as high on Bain and Faulk as some.

To each their own, but speaking for myself, what i liked about goingcommando is the detail. So much detail and he did so much watching. Real thought into it. I love that. Like I said it moves me nothing if someone says they like or doesn't like a prospect without a word as to why. And agree if you mention a ton of players you like, you are bound to be right. that's part of the reason why I loved doing the my guys list before the draft. Name your top 15 favorites -- and not just top prospects but for all rounds.

Another dude I miss is volsmet. He was also emotional with his takes. But again really detailed. He had a relative who worked for the Titans if I recall and he taught me what to look for in QBs, which I use his template through this day. And going back further Darrell Greenie was really good.

As to goingcommando I agreed with him much more than not, it was fun to disagree from time to time, it would be boring if we all agreed on everyone. Off the top of my head, our big agreements were Drake Make, Lloyd, Chase Young, Brian Branch, JOK, Darrisaw. Dean, Bowers, K. Walker. Am sure it was a ton more.
 
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^Nice post. I always enjoyed the heck out to the draft threads and all of the contributors. To me there is no better place to share and read draft info and opinions. As to McQueen, he was never afraid to go against the grain with some of his takes and I respected that. I found myself taking especially strong likes to his takes on OL. There are other posters that have strengths in certain areas like SIP with TE's and QB's and KDawg with LBs.

One miss McQueen had, that listened to was Nick Bolton. I really liked that dude and Kool (Hail Raiser )loved him. I jumped off the bandwagon because he convinced me he was too small. He is still a stud player and I wish we had drafted him. By the way I hope Kool gets his ass back to this site once this season is over.

Ditto right back at you.

As to Hail Raiser there were years where it was heavy safety talk. We liked a lot of the same guys. Thinking back at the spots I've been better at as to guessing these prospects: safety, wide receiver, running backs are probably my best. As I've mentioned, edge is my worst. LB so so. CB so so.

TE not bad but that's a hard spot -- my worst on that was not liking Isaiah Likely. Sinnott I thought was a third round talent, good blocker, not a good seperator, that's aging ok so far. I thought Trautman would be better than he is. Probably my best was Laporta, I was early on him. Kraft, too in that same draft. But some swings and misses for sure. For TE though I like to watch all of them so it feels like I got a good frame of reference from all the years of watching. Still its one of the hardest spots to get right.

I missed on Bolton too like McQueen was worried about his speed.

Yeah I recall KDawg's posts on ES, too. Also a very detailed poster with great takes.
 
Ditto right back at you.

As to Hail Raiser there were years where it was heavy safety talk. We liked a lot of the same guys. Thinking back at the spots I've been better at as to guessing these prospects: safety, wide receiver, running backs are probably my best. As I've mentioned, edge is my worst. LB so so. CB so so.

TE not bad but that's a hard spot -- my worst on that was not liking Isaiah Likely. Sinnott I thought was a third round talent, good blocker, not a good seperator, that's aging ok so far. I thought Trautman would be better than he is. Probably my best was Laporta, I was early on him. Kraft, too in that same draft. But some swings and misses for sure. For TE though I like to watch all of them.

I missed on Bolton too like McQueen was worried about his speed.

Yeah I recall KDawg's posts on ES, too. Also a very detailed poster with great takes.
Yes all of those posters had great passion with their player opinions which is a major part of this thread and the one on ES.

I think you are downplaying your TE knowledge. I know you picked up some important eval traits on QB's from Volsmet who was the most passionate poster of them all lol
 
Yes all of those posters had great passion with their player opinions which is a major part of this thread and the one on ES.

I think you are downplaying your TE knowledge. I know you picked up some important eval traits on QB's from Volsmet who was the most passionate poster of them all lol

Yeah thanks. I've been relatively speaking decent on tight ends. But its a hard spot to get right. So many end up just guys or busts at that spot. Getting it wrong on Likely is a bit in my face right now, lol considering I want him as a FA.

I would say the best thing as to TE is I have watched so many of them that I can comp one off of another from all my years of watching. For example, I loved Bowers. That's not a hard prospect to love. But I also said he's the best TE I ever watched -- and that to me had some meaning for me because I've watched a zillion tight ends over the years.

Laporta jumped out to me so easily because he could seperate, including juking defenders in tight spaces which isn't easy for some tight ends to do, and can make plays outside the numbers versus just the seam (also unique for tight ends). It kills me to see Jake Ferguson is in Dallas, I liked him early in his college career, a rare Y-TE who can do it all -- yeah he isn't dynamic but is so well rounded.

I would say I am better at guessing WR than TE. It usually takes me so time but I ultimately go about 30 or so deep at WR. About 18 or so at TE.

I've been the most hit and miss on the D line and CB. yeah back to volsmet he would goof on me for being the Chase Young guy. I was obssessed with him, talk about a miss. :confused:
 
Yeah thanks. I've been relatively speaking decent on tight ends. But its a hard spot to get right. So many end up just guys or busts at that spot. Getting it wrong on Likely is a bit in my face right now, lol considering I want him as a FA.

I would say the best thing as to TE is I have watched so many of them that I can comp one off of another from all my years of watching. For example, I loved Bowers. That's not a hard prospect to love. But I also said he's the best TE I ever watched -- and that to me had some meaning for me because I've watched a zillion tight ends over the years.

Laporta jumped out to me so easily because he could seperate, including juking defenders in tight spaces which isn't easy for some tight ends to do, and can make plays outside the numbers versus just the seam (also unique for tight ends). It kills me to see Jake Ferguson is in Dallas, I liked him early in his college career, a rare Y-TE who can do it all -- yeah he isn't dynamic but is so well rounded.

I would say I am better at guessing WR than TE. It usually takes me so time but I ultimately go about 30 or so deep at WR. About 18 or so at TE.

I've been the most hit and miss on the D line and CB. yeah back to volsmet he would goof on me for being the Chase Young guy. I was obssessed with him, talk about a miss. :confused:
I didn't love Likely either but would have him as one of my main targets in this years FA as well. Funny, if we can't get him we might have a shot at Trautman who I don't think would be the worse thing. He can do it all even though not a giant YAC guy that would be a nice mix with SInnott, Bates and perhaps Yankoff.

The WR and CB groups are some of the hardest for me over the years. This years WR class seemed underrated early because of no real stud but appears to me to be really solid. Love that others are seeing what I have seen in Boston, Sarratt and then Concepcion.
 
You cant be better at watching tape if you arent willing to admit your misses. I have had a ton of them. But so does everyone who plays this game. It is impossible to say if anyone will be a good NFL player because so much depends on system fit. I am out on a limb on Faulk and Bailey in this draft it seems. And I will admit it if I am wrong. I was too all in on Maye/Caleb over JD. But no one is sure if that was right or wrong yet. I also said all 5 of those top QB prospects in that draft would be really good pro's. Still think that is true. I also brought up a lot of the loafing issues I saw on tape of Chase Young. But I am not sure he was the wrong pick either. Hit's and misses are part of the deal. Just have to go back and figure out why the way you analyzed tape was wrong on a guy. The hope is to get better in the end.
 
I am not as high on Boston and Sarratt. With Boston he needs to have some vertical speed and I am not sure if he does or does not have enough to threaten deep at the NFL level. The reason I think he needs some vertical speed is cause like a lot of big receivers he is bad a decelerating and that is going to make it difficult to get separation at the NFL level. He is the classic big receiver to me. Sarratt is another bigger receiver (though he is listed two inches shorter than Boston) I feel like he more clearly doesn't have the vertical juice. I do think he is a more fluid athlete than Boston, but his lack of athleticism most likely somewhat limits him at the NFL level. I think Boston is probably a top 50 guy, but I am not convinced he'll go in the first round and if he does it I think it tends to be the near the bottom. I think hes like 25th to 30th on the consensus board and I think his optimistic scenario is he goes where he is on the consensus board.
 
Jahan Dotson was another guy who "ran good routes", but that was only against zone. He struggled against press and man coverage.

If college receivers have to be schemed open for releases off the line against press then they aren't 1st rounders.

I think a good chunk if not majority thought Dotson was a 2nd rounder because of that.

I was one of the ones against Hamilton. I thought his value top 10 wasn't there. His actual draft spot was good value like Derwin James. Both of them play up when the defense is better around them. They're better in specific roles.

I am also 100% confident the Rivera defenses would have wasted Hamilton. Misused him and it would have been a wasted asset. This is back when I thought we were picking #11 or whatever and could have taken London/Olave/etc.
 
I don’t know how anyone watches a guy like Sarratt and doesn’t see his absolute pro potential. He does everything in the good to great range, including blocking - which is a significantly underrated receiver trait. That is something Terry is good at, too.

Sarratt is definitely not a burner. But he can get over the top at times, too. His role would be a possession type guy with some downfield ability. Think Pierre Garçon. Hes that kind of player.

I respect the take that people aren’t enamored, but I’m going to say it - he’s the best receiver in this draft.

Point blank.

There are some other quality ones. I’m down on Tate as a top 10 pick, but not down on his overall NFL ability. He’s going to be a consistent receiver for someone and I’d love him in a different universe.

Speaking of Young, I was public enemy number one for a bit that year because while I said we had to take him, I’d prefer we found a way to get Burrow. I saw Young never used his hands and relied strictly on his feet to get around sub par collegiate blockers. Which was true. Though I think Young with less ego and more focus could have been one of the best edges we’ve ever had. But I wasn’t enamored.

I also liked Maye over JD because I was terrified of JD’s durability.

I missed on JOK pretty bad, though. And a few others. Shit happens. When you post this much about this stuff you’re going to miss a bunch.

It’s funny that I’m remembered for LB takes when I don’t even remember most of them aside from Campbell and Logan Wilson lol

I missed on Hamilton - but I’m going to add a slight caveat - I didn’t like him for Washington. I think sometimes we tend to look at players on how they turned out somewhere else without trying to account for what the situation in DC was and how many failed here.

I was right on Orakpo, though, damnit.
 
I am not as high on Boston and Sarratt. With Boston he needs to have some vertical speed and I am not sure if he does or does not have enough to threaten deep at the NFL level. The reason I think he needs some vertical speed is cause like a lot of big receivers he is bad a decelerating and that is going to make it difficult to get separation at the NFL level. He is the classic big receiver to me. Sarratt is another bigger receiver (though he is listed two inches shorter than Boston) I feel like he more clearly doesn't have the vertical juice. I do think he is a more fluid athlete than Boston, but his lack of athleticism most likely somewhat limits him at the NFL level. I think Boston is probably a top 50 guy, but I am not convinced he'll go in the first round and if he does it I think it tends to be the near the bottom. I think hes like 25th to 30th on the consensus board and I think his optimistic scenario is he goes where he is on the consensus board.
I don't expect them to go top 15. I am not about where these guys are drafted, it's about how they would fit the team. They are both huge in the middle of the field and in the red zone. Boston has the build up speed and can definitely stretch the field, just not in a burner role like a Branch would be but he is much bigger than him.

The only way we draft them is by trading down in the first or up from the third.
 
It’s funny that I’m remembered for LB takes when I don’t even remember most of them aside from Campbell and Logan Wilson lol

I missed on Hamilton - but I’m going to add a slight caveat - I didn’t like him for Washington. I think sometimes we tend to look at players on how they turned out somewhere else without trying to account for what the situation in DC was and how many failed here.
I find your in depth takes/breakdowns on LB's extremely interesting. They go back years even with so many weak LB drafts you have pointed out good and qualities and how they might best fit whatever our numbskull coaching were using in any particular year. This was with early and later round selections like Pete Werner, Lloyd, Simmons, Gaither-Davis...
 
he’s the best receiver in this draft.
I like Sarratt a lot. But I think Tyson is the best WR in the draft by a pretty wide margin. His ability to separate, speed, twitchyness and hands are all elite imo. A little worried about his ability against the press in the NFL. He has a bit of a skinny frame. Should be able to add some bulk. And of course his injury history is a problem. I also like Chris Brazzell A LOT. He is big with the ability to separate with ease. Great hands and ball tracking. Awesome blocker too. But lacks top end speed imo.
 
I find your in depth takes/breakdowns on LB's extremely interesting. They go back years even with so many weak LB drafts you have pointed out good and qualities and how they might best fit whatever our numbskull coaching were using in any particular year. This was with early and later round selections like Pete Werner, Lloyd, Simmons, Gaither-Davis...
Oh wow I forgot about all those guys… Werner and AGD I reallllllllly wanted
 
Jahan Dotson was another guy who "ran good routes", but that was only against zone. He struggled against press and man coverage.

If college receivers have to be schemed open for releases off the line against press then they aren't 1st rounders.

I think a good chunk if not majority thought Dotson was a 2nd rounder because of that.

I was one of the ones against Hamilton. I thought his value top 10 wasn't there. His actual draft spot was good value like Derwin James. Both of them play up when the defense is better around them. They're better in specific roles.

I am also 100% confident the Rivera defenses would have wasted Hamilton. Misused him and it would have been a wasted asset. This is back when I thought we were picking #11 or whatever and could have taken London/Olave/etc.

I think Hamilton would have done well here. If there is one thing you could give RR and JDR credit for is they did well with these buffalo nickel guys. Kam was great in that role here and they squeezed the final drops of NFL productivity out of Landon Collins once they moved him into that hybrid role in 2021
 
I'm lower on Lemon, but for me, it is this group that piques my interest the most and a few could vastly outplay their draft capitol.

Eric McAlister TCU
Germie Bernard Alabama
Bryce Lance North Dakota State
Josh Cameron Baylor
Kevin Concepcion Texas A&M
Ja'Kobi Lane USC
 

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