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The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall
- Thread starter Canadian Hog
- Start date
Bulldog
The Legend
Where is Johnny Newton? According to Peters he was a guy they had on their board as a #1 pick.
He looks more like a rotation guy in the NFL now and that's not good value for a high #2.
He looks more like a rotation guy in the NFL now and that's not good value for a high #2.
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Yep, dissapointing. He's been ok at times. That's my issue with Peters so far. He's not bad at finding solid players. We need game changers.
SmiffySkins
The Rookie
For us it’s Jayden they are scheming against and it’s mostly been effective ever since the Bears laid out the template for the rest to follow. He is not yet at the level of an Allan or a Mahomes who can find a way to win with an average supporting cast. That’s why I’d be prioritising getting him as much help as I can next year.
SmiffySkins
The Rookie
I think he’s also had to fill in some at DE which can’t be helping his consistency or his stats?
Mahomes under duress see the last SB is mortal too.
Jayden isn't operating IMO with an average supporting cast. Last year he did. Their RBs last year were average at best. Their WR corp last year was average at best IMO.
This year he's operating with the worst supporting cast in the NFL. I'd bet he'd kill for average.
Bulldog
The Legend
I think the opposite. Daniels won with a less than overwhelming supporting cast in 2024, it's just that the NFL isn't going to allow Washington and Daniels to drag them on the bumper for a second year 
Let's be honest. Brady and Mahomes may not have always had great wide receivers to throw to, but more often than not BOTH have had top 10 defenses that leveled the playing field and got timely turnovers to help the offense.
The 2018 Patriots won the Super Bowl 13-3, allowing the fewest points in a Super Bowl. The defense shut down the Rams completely over the first 3 quarters and then Brady and Gronk put on their capes in the fourth quarter to win the game.
You can make a like case in some regards with the Chiefs defense and Chris Jones beating up on the 49ers offense and quarterback, etc.
That Chiefs defense as I recall was ranked either #2 or #3 in the entire league that year just behind Baltimore.
Daniels has not received even 30% of the support that these other quarterbacks have to date.
I don't see a Chris Jones here. I don't see a Trent McDuffie or Stephon Gilmore in his prime on this roster either. Anyone see a Travis Kelce or Gronk for Daniels to throw the ball to?
After Rivera left this was an expansion team in terms of talent.
What it had was draft capital due to the trades of Chase Young and Montez Sweat and the poor record at the end of the season.
Despite all of those draft picks in the top 100 and 9 overall in 2024, the only player to show potential elite or impact skills is Daniels, the #2 overall pick.
While we can give credit to Peters and Quinn for not drafting a bust at #2, when you are drafting that high your pick should become a core player for your club.
But it's those other EIGHT draft picks that help establish some depth and youth that hopefully can contribute and make major strides to improvement.
So, far the verdict is out on most of these other players. Newton? Sinnott? McCaffrey? Coleman? Magee?
Only Mike Sainristil has shown the chops to be a contributor on the field for the team and so far he has been mostly solid.
Sinnott doesn't really have an NFL statistics because he almost never catches any balls on any given Sunday. It seems evident that when you see John Bates catching an 11 yard pass in the middle of the field with the speed of a guard that the coaches have no confidence in Sinnott whatsoever.
Let's be honest. Brady and Mahomes may not have always had great wide receivers to throw to, but more often than not BOTH have had top 10 defenses that leveled the playing field and got timely turnovers to help the offense.
The 2018 Patriots won the Super Bowl 13-3, allowing the fewest points in a Super Bowl. The defense shut down the Rams completely over the first 3 quarters and then Brady and Gronk put on their capes in the fourth quarter to win the game.
You can make a like case in some regards with the Chiefs defense and Chris Jones beating up on the 49ers offense and quarterback, etc.
That Chiefs defense as I recall was ranked either #2 or #3 in the entire league that year just behind Baltimore.
Daniels has not received even 30% of the support that these other quarterbacks have to date.
I don't see a Chris Jones here. I don't see a Trent McDuffie or Stephon Gilmore in his prime on this roster either. Anyone see a Travis Kelce or Gronk for Daniels to throw the ball to?
After Rivera left this was an expansion team in terms of talent.
What it had was draft capital due to the trades of Chase Young and Montez Sweat and the poor record at the end of the season.
Despite all of those draft picks in the top 100 and 9 overall in 2024, the only player to show potential elite or impact skills is Daniels, the #2 overall pick.
While we can give credit to Peters and Quinn for not drafting a bust at #2, when you are drafting that high your pick should become a core player for your club.
But it's those other EIGHT draft picks that help establish some depth and youth that hopefully can contribute and make major strides to improvement.
So, far the verdict is out on most of these other players. Newton? Sinnott? McCaffrey? Coleman? Magee?
Only Mike Sainristil has shown the chops to be a contributor on the field for the team and so far he has been mostly solid.
Sinnott doesn't really have an NFL statistics because he almost never catches any balls on any given Sunday. It seems evident that when you see John Bates catching an 11 yard pass in the middle of the field with the speed of a guard that the coaches have no confidence in Sinnott whatsoever.
Team took a chance building w vets last season and it paid off for 1 yr.
This year showed the lack of true talent on the roster, with JD out, this is amplified. Uutside of JD, there is no real elite talent on the roster.
Lots of solid players, but not may top 5 (or 10) at at their position
Unfortunately, Rome wasn't built in a day, so we need to add in FA and the draft, but this roster looks to be 2 years away minimum.
This year showed the lack of true talent on the roster, with JD out, this is amplified. Uutside of JD, there is no real elite talent on the roster.
Lots of solid players, but not may top 5 (or 10) at at their position
Unfortunately, Rome wasn't built in a day, so we need to add in FA and the draft, but this roster looks to be 2 years away minimum.
if they trade down, Makai Lemon is growing on me. What I don't like is he plays slot and isn't the biggest dude. But he can seperate, he's open, amazing hands, nice double moves, and is a baller especially with YAC.
Sort of a Cooper Kupp, Ladd McConkey type. If he runs like McConkey at the combine, I think he's going top 25. PFF has him top 10. If he doesn't might be a an early 2nd rounder.
Sort of a Cooper Kupp, Ladd McConkey type. If he runs like McConkey at the combine, I think he's going top 25. PFF has him top 10. If he doesn't might be a an early 2nd rounder.
method man
The Starter
I think the value of the slot first guys is probably higher now than what it was a few years ago given the great success of Egbuka, JSN, Amon-Ra, Nacua and others. Lemon feels like WR2 in this draft and I think he goes top 20
He's high in mocks right now. I think he needs to run in the 4'4s which is possible at the combine to go 10-20.
Old soul Makai Lemon never takes his eye off the prize — helping USC reach the CFP
USC receiver Makai Lemon has always been hyper-focused and determined to achieve all his goals. The quiet pass catcher ignores NFL hype and is focused on winning.
Old soul Makai Lemon never takes his eye off the prize — helping USC reach the CFP
The drill is simple. Just a basic throw-and-catch warm-up, called “Pat-and-Go,” that USC and many other football programs do virtually every day. Quarterbacks loosen their arms, while pass catchers get their legs warm, running routes on air. It’s the sort of drill where it’s easy enough to slough off a rep or two. Or to get a little casual, like playing catch in the yard.
But when Makai Lemon lines up during Pat-and-Go, there is nothing casual about what comes next. Every rep is taken seriously, every reception reeled in with intention. The junior has taken thousands of these reps, caught thousands of these passes over three seasons at USC, each filed away as a data point for Lemon to later access.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one he didn’t catch game-like,” USC coach Lincoln Riley says. “Rarely does he ever take a rep that isn’t very intentional.”
It’s a fitting snapshot of the Trojans’ top receiver, one that captures more than just his prowess as a football player. Every action with Lemon is deliberate, every detail accounted for. That singular focus has made him the most reliable receiver in college football and, come April, a surefire first-round NFL draft pick, all while somehow maintaining a strikingly low profile for a pass catcher of his caliber.
The truth is, as a natural introvert, Lemon prefers it that way. Head down, eyes ahead, mind fixed first on getting USC to the College Football Playoff before making the leap to the NFL, every move along the way meant to help meet that end. The work, in time, will speak for itself.
Those who know him best will tell you that’s how Lemon has always operated. Even before he could pick up a football, his family insists, his focus was unusually singular. When he took an interest in skateboarding at 3 years old, for instance, his parents hadn’t expected their toddler would be doing tricks before his next birthday.
“He just always amazed us,” his mother, Brandy Lemon, said. “Like, 'Oh my gosh, there’s no way our 3-year old son is really doing kickflips and ollies right now.'”
Makai approached most of his interests as a child with a similar intensity. One day, at 6, he decided he was going to catch a fish, despite having never done so. He wanted to do it entirely on his own, too, without the help of his father, Mike. So Mike watched with amusement as Makai cast out his line.
He didn’t believe it when Makai said he got a bite.
“But he reeled it in, caught it, did it all himself,” Mike recalls. “And I’m like, ‘Holy moly, you caught your first fish, son.’”
Lemon came to prefer independence. He was the baby in the family, after all. His sister was five years older. His younger cousins weren't born yet. Most of his early childhood was spent hanging around adults — throwing around a football with his uncles or trying to keep up with his dad lifting weights. His family called him “an old soul” because of how often he acted older than his age. At USC, at least one football staff member just calls him “the old man.”
“It comes from being around a lot of family, a lot of older uncles and aunties,” Lemon said. “I feel like it stuck with me.”
Young Makai expected other kids to meet the same standard. Once, after a youth baseball game, he confessed his frustration to his mom that his teammates weren’t taking their coach’s postgame comments as seriously as he was.
He was 7.
“He was mad that he was the only one paying attention,” Brandy Lemon said. “‘He was like, ‘Mom, in the dugout, all the kids are climbing the fence. Nobody cares.’
“And I’m like, ‘Son, you’re only 7. It’s OK! They’re still learning.’ But he wasn’t satisfied.”
He zeroed in on football in middle school, setting aside most other interests. His parents, to this day, still question whether he’s ever sat through a full movie because his mind always drifted to football.
“Nothing brought the joy, the passion, the physicality like football,” Makai explains.
Sometimes they would find him in the backyard, practicing routes alone. And the older he got, the more serious he became.
As a freshman at La Mirada High, Lemon made an impact on both sides of the ball — as a receiver and cornerback. Then, as a sophomore, he stepped right away into a similar dual role at Los Alamitos, a much bigger high school where the coach, Ray Fenton, wondered if Lemon might be a carbon copy of another USC receiver, Amon-ra St. Brown.
“The reaction time, the way he’s able to change direction, the speed with which he accelerates, it’s different,” Fenton said. “A lot of great athletes can be explosive when they run and you see their burst, but [Lemon’s] ability to stop and start or change direction laterally, it’s like watching him in fast forward, while you’re seeing the play in real time.”
Often, Fenton says, Los Alamitos would simply throw him the ball on the perimeter and let him do the rest. Lemon could slip past tacklers with his speed — or just as easily plow right through them. It didn’t matter that defenses knew he was coming.
USC would see his potential early, offering Lemon in March 2020, under previous coach Clay Helton. But Lemon hit it off most with Riley, who was at Oklahoma. Lemon said at the time that he knew on his plane ride home that he was committing to the Sooners.
That Riley later took the job at USC only made the fit feel more serendipitous.
It wouldn’t always feel that way as a freshman. Buried in the pecking order at receiver, coaches requested Lemon move to cornerback for depth purposes. He obliged, throwing all of his focus into being the best possible defensive back, but he had no interest in staying there long term.
method man
The Starter
He's high in mocks right now. I think he needs to run in the 4'4s which is possible at the combine to go 10-20.
Old soul Makai Lemon never takes his eye off the prize — helping USC reach the CFP
USC receiver Makai Lemon has always been hyper-focused and determined to achieve all his goals. The quiet pass catcher ignores NFL hype and is focused on winning.sports.yahoo.com
Old soul Makai Lemon never takes his eye off the prize — helping USC reach the CFP
The drill is simple. Just a basic throw-and-catch warm-up, called “Pat-and-Go,” that USC and many other football programs do virtually every day. Quarterbacks loosen their arms, while pass catchers get their legs warm, running routes on air. It’s the sort of drill where it’s easy enough to slough off a rep or two. Or to get a little casual, like playing catch in the yard.
But when Makai Lemon lines up during Pat-and-Go, there is nothing casual about what comes next. Every rep is taken seriously, every reception reeled in with intention. The junior has taken thousands of these reps, caught thousands of these passes over three seasons at USC, each filed away as a data point for Lemon to later access.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one he didn’t catch game-like,” USC coach Lincoln Riley says. “Rarely does he ever take a rep that isn’t very intentional.”
It’s a fitting snapshot of the Trojans’ top receiver, one that captures more than just his prowess as a football player. Every action with Lemon is deliberate, every detail accounted for. That singular focus has made him the most reliable receiver in college football and, come April, a surefire first-round NFL draft pick, all while somehow maintaining a strikingly low profile for a pass catcher of his caliber.
The truth is, as a natural introvert, Lemon prefers it that way. Head down, eyes ahead, mind fixed first on getting USC to the College Football Playoff before making the leap to the NFL, every move along the way meant to help meet that end. The work, in time, will speak for itself.
Those who know him best will tell you that’s how Lemon has always operated. Even before he could pick up a football, his family insists, his focus was unusually singular. When he took an interest in skateboarding at 3 years old, for instance, his parents hadn’t expected their toddler would be doing tricks before his next birthday.
“He just always amazed us,” his mother, Brandy Lemon, said. “Like, 'Oh my gosh, there’s no way our 3-year old son is really doing kickflips and ollies right now.'”
Makai approached most of his interests as a child with a similar intensity. One day, at 6, he decided he was going to catch a fish, despite having never done so. He wanted to do it entirely on his own, too, without the help of his father, Mike. So Mike watched with amusement as Makai cast out his line.
He didn’t believe it when Makai said he got a bite.
“But he reeled it in, caught it, did it all himself,” Mike recalls. “And I’m like, ‘Holy moly, you caught your first fish, son.’”
Lemon came to prefer independence. He was the baby in the family, after all. His sister was five years older. His younger cousins weren't born yet. Most of his early childhood was spent hanging around adults — throwing around a football with his uncles or trying to keep up with his dad lifting weights. His family called him “an old soul” because of how often he acted older than his age. At USC, at least one football staff member just calls him “the old man.”
“It comes from being around a lot of family, a lot of older uncles and aunties,” Lemon said. “I feel like it stuck with me.”
Young Makai expected other kids to meet the same standard. Once, after a youth baseball game, he confessed his frustration to his mom that his teammates weren’t taking their coach’s postgame comments as seriously as he was.
He was 7.
“He was mad that he was the only one paying attention,” Brandy Lemon said. “‘He was like, ‘Mom, in the dugout, all the kids are climbing the fence. Nobody cares.’
“And I’m like, ‘Son, you’re only 7. It’s OK! They’re still learning.’ But he wasn’t satisfied.”
He zeroed in on football in middle school, setting aside most other interests. His parents, to this day, still question whether he’s ever sat through a full movie because his mind always drifted to football.
“Nothing brought the joy, the passion, the physicality like football,” Makai explains.
Sometimes they would find him in the backyard, practicing routes alone. And the older he got, the more serious he became.
As a freshman at La Mirada High, Lemon made an impact on both sides of the ball — as a receiver and cornerback. Then, as a sophomore, he stepped right away into a similar dual role at Los Alamitos, a much bigger high school where the coach, Ray Fenton, wondered if Lemon might be a carbon copy of another USC receiver, Amon-ra St. Brown.
“The reaction time, the way he’s able to change direction, the speed with which he accelerates, it’s different,” Fenton said. “A lot of great athletes can be explosive when they run and you see their burst, but [Lemon’s] ability to stop and start or change direction laterally, it’s like watching him in fast forward, while you’re seeing the play in real time.”
Often, Fenton says, Los Alamitos would simply throw him the ball on the perimeter and let him do the rest. Lemon could slip past tacklers with his speed — or just as easily plow right through them. It didn’t matter that defenses knew he was coming.
USC would see his potential early, offering Lemon in March 2020, under previous coach Clay Helton. But Lemon hit it off most with Riley, who was at Oklahoma. Lemon said at the time that he knew on his plane ride home that he was committing to the Sooners.
That Riley later took the job at USC only made the fit feel more serendipitous.
It wouldn’t always feel that way as a freshman. Buried in the pecking order at receiver, coaches requested Lemon move to cornerback for depth purposes. He obliged, throwing all of his focus into being the best possible defensive back, but he had no interest in staying there long term.
You love to see that. Seems like he is built right. For him, I don’t think the 40 matters as much as long as he is elite at the agility drills. As draft season progresses, I’ll be curious to see how the draftniks grade his route running
Looking positive early for our draft position-rooting for Miami, Baltimore, NO, and the Giants
Am watching the Miami game. Not only do I think they beat Washington, I think they can potentially humuilate them.
This current version of Washington I think is the worst team in the NFL. Backup QB with the worst WR crop with the worst defense in the NFL.
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Things look real good Miami just intercepted to stop a drive-Carolina has field goal blocked
How in the heck have they shut out the Bills?
Baltimore up 2 scores
NO stops Carolina drive with turnover
NO stops Carolina drive with turnover
lol, the Bills were just in scoring position, and they picked him off.
Who would think the Madrid game would go from an easy win, probaby a rout, to this could be competitive to now me fearing a Dolphins rout.
Boy do they need to show up and look decent this afternoon. If not the coaches are going to start losing the team and to the phins in Spain.
Houston might come through too. New York Giants, screwed it but otherwise looking good for the draft
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