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

The Bills are also being remarkably stubborn with Keon Coleman and not deploying him how I assumed he’d have to be used to succeed in the NFL.

They’re taking a guy who can’t separate and putting him on the outside to run struggle cardio all game. He’s a big slot, always was. Idiotic they won’t use him there.
 
Just looked back at Keon Coleman separation numbers according to PFF. 11 percentile against man single man coverage. His overall separation was solid enough because he was relatively good at separation against zone, but even at the college level, Coleman could not separate against man coverage.
 
Always Commander Never Captain said:
Still banging on this drum. It's not like Drake London suddenly got way better at separating in the NFL. He did it just fine in college, it was his QB who was always late on every throw so DB's could recover.

Hitches and Outs are timing routes, and if the QB is late, the separation will look worse. That's what happened frequently to London in college.

People shouldn't use London as the example of a low separation guy succeeding in the Pros and say the Bills were right to draft Keon Coleman because you never know. That's misleading. London separated. Coleman didn't.

Just don't draft WR's that can't beat a college corner 1-on-1.

If at the Senior Bowl they still can't do it. Put a fork in them. I'm thinking of Antonio Gandy-Golden here.
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Been a long time since I watched Drake but I recall watching him he was so good at boxing the CB out with contested catches and so strong at the catch point that whether it was the QB's fault or not, his seperation skills good or bad didn't faze me. And he didn't run the 40 so questions about his speed remained.

Tate might not be the fastest dude. Will see next combine. But you can see his seperation skills on display, well before the ball is thrown to him.

I think the combine is going to be an X factor for all 3 -- Lemon, Tyson, Tate, none who are seen as burners.
 
skinsinparadise said:
I agree. I like Lemon over Tyson. But in order for me: Tate, Lemon, Tyson feel a step above the next tier. Although I am intrigued by that next tier. But alas it feels like Tate to NY is destined -- I hope they fall instead for Tyson. I got to watch Tyson more. I think his personality might be key for me, I'd need to digest. But as a WR, he's not enough of a deep threat or a YAC fiend for me to fall in love with. But I do love his spectacular crazy good catches.
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I really really like Lemon, and he's in tier 1 definitely, BUT I tend to leave him out because I feel like he's not the right guy for us right now. Slot guys are little easier to come across than a #1 outside WR, which is what I think Tyson/Tate can become, and since we need 1 outside guy who can win right now, and 2 outside guys within the next 2 years, adding a slot guy (when you can probably also get a decent guy a little later in the draft, or through FA) feels a bit luxurious. Also gotta see if Lane can continue to develop.
 
Keon Coleman was the big slot receiver I was hoping Washington was going to go up and grab in Round 2 to pair with Daniels. He has the strength and experience at position that McCaffrey lacked.

I agree Buffalo is not using him in the right spot but then again Buffalo has had issues getting talent solidified and in place consistently for Josh Allen.

Allen is doing most of his damage on field by himself without any elite help.
 
But Lane right now is a #4 on a good team.

Yes, let’s see him develop, but WITH competition at the position.
 
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I think I'm going to concentrate on Edge considering that and WR are the most pressing needs for us - helps keep my OCD mind from going nutso :) This position is a pain in the butt since so many prospects can fall under the Edge/OLB umbrella so I'll break down the 43 DE - 5 Tech dudes separately because there is overlap. Mike Renner's opinion carries weight with me and he likes Bain a lot. I differ in that opinion as of now. I had Bailey ahead but I'm damn impressed with R. Mason Thomas Oklahoma. Thus far he has the best 1st step of any I've watched. I liked Howell a lot too and he has moved up it appears on one of my go-to sites.
 
I feel like Edge is the slightly bigger need than receiver, but I like the top 3 receivers a bit more. Not that I dislike the Edges. I like this Edge class more than last years overall, its just that none of them seem like clear top 10 guys. It feels like their are about 5 edges worthy of going in the first round but in an ideal draft class they would all be going between like 14 and 32.
 
philibusters said:
I feel like Edge is the slightly bigger need than receiver, but I like the top 3 receivers a bit more. Not that I dislike the Edges. I like this Edge class more than last years overall, its just that none of them seem like clear top 10 guys. It feels like their are about 5 edges worthy of going in the first round but in an ideal draft class they would all be going between like 14 and 32.
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I think Bailey and Reese (if you count him as an EDGE) are. You have the same number in Tate and Tyson.

That being said, if Trey Hendrickson is untethered this offseason, do you swing big and give him a huge contract knowing he just turned 31?
 
method man said:
Trey Hendrickson is untethered this offseason, do you swing big and give him a huge contract knowing he just turned 31?
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Absolutely not. He's going to command $30+ million on a long term deal, coming off a banged up season. He is a cap killer looking for a place to happen. He is a prime-Vinny-Cerrato-level mistake.
 
The Edge FA market isn't exactly an inspiring place, but there are some decent tier 2/3 guys out there. Guys who are kinda the edge equivalent of Pierce/Doubs on the WR side of the coin.

It's the one reason you could talk me out of WR in the draft and into edge, BUT I have ???? on basically everyone there. Bain's size really concerns me, like sure, we need DT too, but if I'm drafting an edge top 10, he better damn well be an EDGE player.
 
DogofWar1 said:
The Edge FA market isn't exactly an inspiring place, but there are some decent tier 2/3 guys out there. Guys who are kinda the edge equivalent of Pierce/Doubs on the WR side of the coin.

It's the one reason you could talk me out of WR in the draft and into edge, BUT I have ???? on basically everyone there. Bain's size really concerns me, like sure, we need DT too, but if I'm drafting an edge top 10, he better damn well be an EDGE player.
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It sucks that there isn’t an obvious stud DT in this mix either. I’d be more open to one of the free agent EDGEs if there were that stud in the top 10 we could anchor our DL around.

I like Mafe, Paye, Epenesa and a few others but none of these give you the sense they are anything more than DE2s. Much closer to a Jacob Martin than a star while getting paid at least low to mid teens a year.

If you want to fill either WR or EDGE with a “Tier 1” guy, you are going to have to take a real risk and take a swing at Aiyuk or Hendrickson, respectively. At least the former is looking at more of a 1 year big AAV prove it deal while the latter will get a 3 year $90M+ deal on the open market
 
DogofWar1 said:
The Edge FA market isn't exactly an inspiring place, but there are some decent tier 2/3 guys out there. Guys who are kinda the edge equivalent of Pierce/Doubs on the WR side of the coin.

It's the one reason you could talk me out of WR in the draft and into edge, BUT I have ???? on basically everyone there. Bain's size really concerns me, like sure, we need DT too, but if I'm drafting an edge top 10, he better damn well be an EDGE player.
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David Bailey is the one EDGE in the draft I don’t have questions on. I don’t the ceiling is top 5 EDGE player in the NFL but the advanced stats, film and testing will all point to a guy with a high floor as a pass rusher at a minimum.

That is why he will go top 10
 
Draft position thoughts

Arizona and Jets and Browns with 3. We got the tiebreakers over Arizona and Jets right now. Browns have it over us.

Atlanta with 5 wins. They have the tiebreaker over us.

That all can change as to SOS but it likely won't that much.

So as to this weeks games:

It helps the SOS for the Giants to lose today to Minny but am hoping they win because I don't want them to have the first pick in the draft

Rams beating Dallas helps our SOS

We want Cincy to beat Miami.

We want Arizona to beat Atlanta

We want Jets to beat the Saints. I expect the Saints to win another game down the road.

We want the Titans to beat the Chiefs for SOS but am rooting for the Chiefs to worsen the Giants draft

We want Houston to beat the Raiders to weaken our SOS

I am suspecting Washington loses the next 2, I think its slam dunk if Johnson starts so to that point I think the Saints and Cincy win at least one more so that puts them as a nonthreat -- and makes it about Arizona, Jets, and Browns. Can one of them win a game? I don't like our chances with tie break SOS with the Browns. So it makes it much about the Jets and Arizona who we have tiebreakers over.

So for the Jets we want thje NFC East to win generally with some exceptions so that means rooting for Buffalo and NE and Miami. I think Arizona is though a more likely team we can leapfrog. I think the SOS will work out organically on that front --- SF, Seattle, Rams -- great division.

so lol that's my long winded way of saying if Washington loses out. The big games for draft position where we need an upset:

Arizona versus Atlanta today. Or Arizona versus Cincy next week. Or Arizona versus the Rams.

Jets versus New Orleans. Jets versus NE. Jets versus Buffalo.

But if Washington wins a game the threat is Atlanta. They play Arizona, the Rams, Cincy.

Atlanta is complicated because we do want Arizona to beat and probably Cincy to beat them, too. But they only matter if Washington wins a game.
 
method man said:
It sucks that there isn’t an obvious stud DT in this mix either. I’d be more open to one of the free agent EDGEs if there were that stud in the top 10 we could anchor our DL around.

I like Mafe, Paye, Epenesa and a few others but none of these give you the sense they are anything more than DE2s. Much closer to a Jacob Martin than a star while getting paid at least low to mid teens a year.

If you want to fill either WR or EDGE with a “Tier 1” guy, you are going to have to take a real risk and take a swing at Aiyuk or Hendrickson, respectively. At least the former is looking at more of a 1 year big AAV prove it deal while the latter will get a 3 year $90M+ deal on the open market
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I think the 2nd tier for edge is looking deep in this draft. Similar to WR.

But as far as tier 1 to me its just Bailey and Reese (if you see him at edge)

As far as that 2nd tier group, my guy remains, this dude, but I need to watch many more players. Mesidor though will be a 25 year old rookie which might drop him to the early third.

 
Doesn't matter game: Tampa-Carolina

Matters potentially a lot

Giants to beat Minny -- but if Minny wins it improves our SOS by a game
Browns to beat Buffalo
Bengals to beat Miami -- helps our draft standing and improves our SOS
Jets to beat Saints -- there is an upside for the Saints winning too but am being greedy and want to leapfrog both teams
Arizona to beat Atlanta -- albiet if Atlanta wins it makes a win by this team going forward potentially irrelevant

Matters a little
Colts beat SF -- helps SOS tie breaker versus Browns albiet that might be a lost cause so not a big deal
Pitt beats Detriot -- both helps us with SOS tie breaker versus Cincy-Browns and improves our SOS overall
NE over Ravens -- helps our SOS tiebreakers versus Jets
KC over Titans -- helps our SOS and gets in the way of the Giants getting the top pick
Houston over Raiders -- gets in the Giants way of getting the top pick
 
skinsinparadise said:
I think the 2nd tier for edge is looking deep in this draft. Similar to WR.

But as far as tier 1 to me its just Bailey and Reese (if you see him at edge)

As far as that 2nd tier group, my guy remains, this dude, but I need to watch many more players. Mesidor though will be a 25 year old rookie which might drop him to the early third.

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I totally agree. Wouldn’t surprise me if there is a rotational EDGE this board likes who falls to #73
 
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