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

[method man]

It would. Beathard was known for finding talent in the later rounds of the draft. More picks, better chances of finding more talent. Hopefully, AP finds it. When he used our 6th rounder last year because of the ties that Norton had with the player, Kain Medrano it seemed like a miss and hopefully Medrano develops but many so-called draft experts didn't see the gleam or talent in that player. I am hoping that AP goes to work and uses his knowledge himself rather than, what it seemed to me like, pleasing a position coach of the alma mater that he (Peters and Norton) attended.

Kain had a round 5 projection by NFL.com, meaning we got him a round later than where they had him. The guy was a team captain, an impactful player as a senior and a freaky athlete for a LB,

He was a guy absolutely worth taking a bet on and he is still worth developing. He needs a smart DC who will use him as a hybrid LB/S with heavy coverage responsibility

 

[method man]

Jets are LOADED with picks in this draft and the next. Eager to see how they use 'em. I'm jealous.

The haul they got for Sauce was nuts

 

[philibusters]

It would. Beathard was known for finding talent in the later rounds of the draft. More picks, better chances of finding more talent. Hopefully, AP finds it. When he used our 6th rounder last year because of the ties that Norton had with the player, Kain Medrano it seemed like a miss and hopefully Medrano develops but many so-called draft experts didn't see the gleam or talent in that player. I am hoping that AP goes to work and uses his knowledge himself rather than, what it seemed to me like, pleasing a position coach of the alma mater that he (Peters and Norton) attended.

I don't know if Medrano ends up being worth a 6th rounder. But the glean on him was obvious and all draft experts understood it. He had the fastest 40 times amongst LB'ers (4.46) at the combine, tied for fourth highest vertical (38 inches) and tied for third highest broad jump (10 feet 5 inches). He was arguably the most explosive athlete of all the LB'ers. But he was undersized and his LB'er skills were raw.

 

[method man]

Universally starting to see Carnell Tate in the top 5 in mocks. Remember a bunch of the guys doing mocks talk to front office guys and scouts. Obviously a slow 40 in the combine can affect his stock but let’s see. Props to skinsinparadise on being early on having Tate ahead of Tyson.

Regarding Tyson, as exciting a receiving prospect as he is, that injury history of his scares me.

Bailey feels like the cleanest prospect we can get in our range and I hope Tyson goes ahead of him

 

[Riggo44]

Medrano couldn't tackle either, and that showed in the preseason

 

[philibusters]

Medrano couldn't tackle either, and that showed in the preseason

His missed tackle rate in college was very high too.

 

[KDawg]

Perspective…

We were in the NFCCG last year.

We are awful this year.

We were very healthy last year.

We aren’t this year.

This team is, realistically, a middle of the road team. But, as much as I think AP and DQ deserve some blame this year… they also deserve the credit from last year. You cannot judge this team on one transcendent season and one top 10 awful season.

But we have to get younger.

And you do that through… the Draft.

We need playmakers and we lack picks.

Our focus should be drafting the highest player on our board. If there is a trade down that allows us to do that, that is the route we need to take. Otherwise, we need to improve the roster and drop its median age.

If we transform this roster from oldest to one of the younger ones it likely buys AP and DQ another year, too.

But we need to get an edge rush, a young, quality receiver, a true every down back that is well rounded.

I see a lot of clamoring for CB and I think we can upgrade there. But our DBs are getting cooked because we have a non-existent pass rush.

We need a safety, too. And if Downs is the top player on our board then we should take him
If he’s there.

This offseason is the pivot point one way or the other for this FO.

They shouldn’t be judged until we see next season play out. But it’s fair to hold them accountable.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Again the pass rush was good on Thursday. No team gets pressure on every pass, they need to cover. And even with a decent pass rush Dallas had guys running wide open all over the field. And we have seen this every single game this season, and much of last year as well when our pass rush pressure rate was good.

 

[KDawg]

Again the pass rush was good on Thursday. No team gets pressure on every pass, they need to cover. And even with a decent pass rush Dallas had guys running wide open all over the field. And we have seen this every single game this season, and much of last year as well when our pass rush pressure rate was good.

I out absolutely zero stock in anything that happened since Jayden went down for good and all of our injuries happened.

The pass rush was an issue from week one on. Having one good week of a pass rush, from Johnny Newton, doesn’t make our pass rush good or Newton a sack god.

It was a good game.

Our pass rush isn’t good in general.

Our DBs aren’t, either. Let’s upgrade. But let’s not do it through the draft and let’s not write off Amos yet.

Our safety situation is worse than our corner situation, in my opinion.

 

[clskinsfan]

Here is the benchmark for your mocks. It doesn't matter whether you trade up, down or keep things the same. It is all about hitting on the selections.

Wouldn't it be great if AP's scout team prove to be the Commanders super power

View attachment 13744

No second rounder in that draft either. The fact Clint Didier was a 12th round pick shows just what a crapshoot the draft really is. There is a chance he doesnt even get a UDFA offer in todays NFL. Wild stuff.

 

[DWinzit]

Our pass rush isn’t good in general.

Our DBs aren’t, either. Let’s upgrade. But let’s not do it through the draft and let’s not write off Amos yet.

Our safety situation is worse than our corner situation, in my opinion.

Yup, our DB's need help for sure. I can see them looking to FA to add a CB and S unless a dude like Downs falls into their laps. However Edge definitely needs to be addressed big time along with a DT and LB. The D needs a heavy overdue upgrade almost across the board

 

[GhostofWoodson]

How long ago was Clint Didier. Communications technology and the infusion of resources into scouting and easy uploads of video footage (and everyone has a camera on their phone) means that what once would have been obscure, no longer is. There are still gems but they are further up the board (there are only 7 rounds) and even UDFA are occasionally highly regarded as potential roster makes now.

 

[burgold]

How long ago was Clint Didier. Communications technology and the infusion of resources into scouting and easy uploads of video footage (and everyone has a camera on their phone) means that what once would have been obscure, no longer is. There are still gems but they are further up the board (there are only 7 rounds) and even UDFA are occasionally highly regarded as potential roster makes now.

Sure, but on the other hand, every single year, some seventh rounder or UDFA emerges and outshines a multitude of first and second rounders. Likewise, every year, about twelve first rounders fail to live up to their billing and probably six outright bust. Heck, if we reheld the draft do you think that Bill would have been the 25th running back chosen?

Now, you don't want to bet on getting that seventh round/UDFA diamond in the ruff, but that player is there to be found.

 

[method man]

Perspective…

We were in the NFCCG last year.

We are awful this year.

We were very healthy last year.

We aren’t this year.

This team is, realistically, a middle of the road team. But, as much as I think AP and DQ deserve some blame this year… they also deserve the credit from last year. You cannot judge this team on one transcendent season and one top 10 awful season.

But we have to get younger.

And you do that through… the Draft.

We need playmakers and we lack picks.

Our focus should be drafting the highest player on our board. If there is a trade down that allows us to do that, that is the route we need to take. Otherwise, we need to improve the roster and drop its median age.

If we transform this roster from oldest to one of the younger ones it likely buys AP and DQ another year, too.

But we need to get an edge rush, a young, quality receiver, a true every down back that is well rounded.

I see a lot of clamoring for CB and I think we can upgrade there. But our DBs are getting cooked because we have a non-existent pass rush.

We need a safety, too. And if Downs is the top player on our board then we should take him
If he’s there.

This offseason is the pivot point one way or the other for this FO.

They shouldn’t be judged until we see next season play out. But it’s fair to hold them accountable.

I agree with a lot of this. I think stud DT is a real need but is probably not in the cards for this year.

 

[method man]

Medrano couldn't tackle either, and that showed in the preseason

That’s why he was a 6th round pick. The dude converted from receiver to linebacker during college and I’m sure they are working on getting his tackling to at least a passable level

 

[Bulldog]

I don't know if Medrano ends up being worth a 6th rounder. But the glean on him was obvious and all draft experts understood it. He had the fastest 40 times amongst LB'ers (4.46) at the combine, tied for fourth highest vertical (38 inches) and tied for third highest broad jump (10 feet 5 inches). He was arguably the most explosive athlete of all the LB'ers. But he was undersized and his LB'er skills were raw.

Yep, he had all those measurables but also the annoying habit of missing open field tackles.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I out absolutely zero stock in anything that happened since Jayden went down for good and all of our injuries happened.

The pass rush was an issue from week one on. Having one good week of a pass rush, from Johnny Newton, doesn’t make our pass rush good or Newton a sack god.

It was a good game.

Our pass rush isn’t good in general.

Our DBs aren’t, either. Let’s upgrade. But let’s not do it through the draft and let’s not write off Amos yet.

Our safety situation is worse than our corner situation, in my opinion.

Oh of course the pass rush was an issue all year. But the coverage has been far worse. Again they had a good pass rush on Thursday and guys were running wide open. We've seen this in every quarter of every game they have played this season. The pass rush was good, just which game can we say the back end coverage was good? This is a bigger problem than the lack of a pass rush, which is also obviously a problem.

I agree safety is a bigger problem than corner. I've been calling for an upgrade from Martin for several seasons. But the corner situation is a rookie who played well, but then again so did the rookie corner last season, and this former rookie who now can't find a position as he can't play slot and can't play man press.

What a mess.

 

[skinsinparadise]

As for Al Haris being a potential D coordinator. The Bears have 21 picks which is insane. Especially considering they are ranked 21st in sacks per game.

This team by the way is 14th in sacks per game. Armstrong was leading the league in pressures early on. The team was if I recall top 5 and top 10 in pressures if I recall for the first third of the season. And don't get me wrong it is IMO this teams top need.

But my point is if Armstrong can come back and they bring back Jacob Martin (who is crazy enough on the list I provided below among a group with the time to pressure stat. Maybe even Von. But as backups. Armstrong is a starter but not sure coming off an ACL. Their depth would be good.

They need two impactful edges IMO.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Sticking with the Al Harris theme. What would intrigue me is Sainristil who for his faults has 8 picks in two years. Imagine if he was coached up well?

Quan is on an odd journey, only his third season, his best season was his rookie season. He was ok last year, not great but so so with flashes. and played with two bad shoulders. This coaching staff touted him as the player they think would emerge as a star this season and it went the opposite route.

If they hire someone like Al Harris, I'd keep Quan but for now as a backup. He had 3 picks coming into this season, had a big pick in the playoff game last season.

St. Juste was better before Whitt arrived and was better once leaving. Forbes was better elsewhere. Lattimore was better elsewhere. Coincidence?

Also if A. Harris ends up the guy, Caleb Downs intrigues me even more. A smart dude/leader who knows defenses and studies like mad is a perfect weapon for a coach like Harris.

 

[DWinzit]

As for Al Haris being a potential D coordinator. The Bears have 21 picks which is insane. Especially considering they are ranked 21st in sacks per game.

This team by the way is 14th in sacks per game. Armstrong was leading the league in pressures early on. The team was if I recall top 5 and top 10 in pressures if I recall for the first third of the season. And don't get me wrong it is IMO this teams top need.

But my point is if Armstrong can come back and they bring back Jacob Martin (who is crazy enough on the list I provided below among a group with the time to pressure stat. Maybe even Von. But as backups. Armstrong is a starter but not sure coming off an ACL. Their depth would be good.

They need two impactful edges IMO.

I'd like to add Drake Jackson's potential to this group. Looking forward to see what pressure he brings next week.

I think Martin is one of the few must bring back FAs right now.

I really feel they need to draft an EDGE player within the first 2 rounds...3rd at the latest