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

[skinsinparadise]

Whatever his arm length, Bain will go in the top 15 and have a fine NFL career. He is loaded with talent, a great first step and a nonstop motor.

I don't recall anyone wanting Forbes (not directed at you SIP). Gonzo was most people's guy if they went DB or a few who liked Banks. There were a couple of receivers, Harrison, Kincaid who drew discussion.

I know I threw something at the TV and yelled a few 4 letter words when Forbes was announced over Gonzo...same I did when Davis was announced over Darrisaw.

lol, you said not directed at me but again I don't know where this debate is now turned to wanting this or that player before that draft. Unless am missing a post, that wasn't my argument.

This is what I said:
"The debate reminds me some of the Forbes discussion where 165 pounds got comps to players who are 180." And also said "defending the pick" which is the opposite of saying it was before the pick was made.

I didn't say before the draft, I said "discussion" and "defending the pick." And yes there was plenty of discussion, most of it after he was taken. Actually most of the ES discussion about draft picks were AFTER the players were taken because thats when most people were clued in, not before.

But to play along, Forbes was McQueen's guy early on. Yes some discussion on it. I don't recall if he stuck with him through the end. But I do recall him touting that whole draft and specifically about how inventive this FO was for taking Forbes. Forbes got plenty of love draft night, I remember well because I was leveled by some people because like I did for Haskins (RIP) on draft day, I was venting before the pick saying please not him.

I do recall vividly the panic leading up to the draft that Forbes would be the pick. Rivera wasn't concealing much and the rumor was hot. Actually pretty much every draft was somewhat easy to guess as to Rivera's intentions. Though i was the only one to guess Jamin Davis when ES did a guessing contest.

 

[DWinzit]

Ah, I didn't recall Steve liking Forbes. He clamored a lot for Murphy but not at 16. Yes there was plenty of arguing after the Forbes selection, heck, there still is! I do however recall Rivera almost pre-announcing who he wanted days early. What an idiot and amazingly, no one moved up to steal him out from under us lol.

Not that it matters but for the record I really liked Gonzo at 16, along with Harrison, Campbell and Kincaid a little later

 

[DogofWar1]

Bailey by a mile and I love Downs.

Bailey by a country mile. Downs is great, but game wrecker edges don't grow on trees and when they do hit the market place they're gonna cost you an 8th of your cap.

My concern about Downs if we took him is he'll be one of those guys who has "flashes" while the whole secondary struggles because QBs get 8 seconds to throw. A lot easier to make a mediocre secondary look good via a great pass rush than make a mediocre pass rush look good via a great secondary.

 

[RedWolf]

WR or Edge in the 1st, whoever they think is the best for our team

 

[bowhunter]

Bailey by a country mile. Downs is great, but game wrecker edges don't grow on trees and when they do hit the market place they're gonna cost you an 8th of your cap.

Speaking as a treefarmer, Where can I get me some of those common game-wrecking Safety trees?

Also, not particularly pointed towards you as I've seen a few others make similar statements. Once the rookie payscale is up, game-wrecking Safeties won't cost you an 8th of your cap to keep your team together, That leaves you more more to spend towards additional blue chippers

 

[skinsinparadise]

Ah, I didn't recall Steve liking Forbes. He clamored a lot for Murphy but not at 16. Yes there was plenty of arguing after the Forbes selection, heck, there still is! I do however recall Rivera almost pre-announcing who he wanted days early. What an idiot and amazingly, no one moved up to steal him out from under us lol.

Not that it matters but for the record I really liked Gonzo at 16, along with Harrison, Campbell and Kincaid a little later

Yeah I recall him posting a video with all his picks and saying people are sleeping on this dude and he did so early on. And he got some response.

My point wasn't he was a popular pick before the draft. I don't get the sense that Bain is a popular pick on this thread before the draft, some like him, but i think its far from most here clamoring for him to be the pick. But the discussion about Forbes, and yeah there was a ton of discussion on him, was basically to throw out the outlier stuff. And I recall it better than most I presume because I was seen as anti the pick. And yes that discussion was after the draft, not that it matters, and I didn't say otherwise. Ultimately, I let it ride with Forbes. But after that draft was over, I trashed Rivera and his off seaon. I was out. I think you were, too but don't recall.

That draft I wanted Darnell Wright, Brian Branch. Loved J. Gibbs but didn't think he'd go that early. I was more a Van Ness than Murphy guy. lol, the one guy I did like from that draft that they took was Quan Martin, he was on my guys list. I was wrong about him.

In a similar vein if this team takes Bain, I'll let it ride, too. I like watching Bain but the question for me is will I like the NFL version of him. And I genuinely have no idea. And I want to pick someone I have more confidence in.

 

[Gooseneck]

I think we can all agree that we would not want Forbes as an edge rusher

 

[philibusters]

Sadly a lot of us would have drafted better than Rivera. Usually when fans say that, its bs, but in 2021 we all wanted Christian Darrisaw where we picked Jamin Davis, in 2022, most of us wanted Kyle Hamilton at 11 and after we traded down most of wanted either Devin Lloyd or Tyler Lindenbaum at 16 which was better than Jahan Dotson and most of us wanted Nkobe Dean in the second round where we picked Phildarian Mathis. In 2023 most of use wanted Gonzalez at 16 and O'Cyrus Torrence at in the second round. Gonzalez was way better than Forbes, Torrence and Quan Martin are both low level starters so that is probably a net neutral.

 

[Gooseneck]

Sadly a lot of us would have drafted better than Rivera. Usually when fans say that, its bs, but in 2021 we all wanted Christian Darrisaw where we picked Jamin Davis, in 2022, most of us wanted Kyle Hamilton at 11 and after we traded down most of wanted either Devin Lloyd or Tyler Lindenbaum at 47 which was better than Jahan Dotson and most of us wanted Nkobe Dean in the second round where we picked Phildarian Mathis. In 2023 most of use wanted Gonzalez at 16 and O'Cyrus Torrence at in the second round. Gonzalez was way better than Forbes, Torrence and Quan Martin are both low level starters so that is probably a net neutral.

It is amazing when the fan base kicks the crap out of the front office in the draft.

 

[method man]

Ah, I didn't recall Steve liking Forbes. He clamored a lot for Murphy but not at 16. Yes there was plenty of arguing after the Forbes selection, heck, there still is! I do however recall Rivera almost pre-announcing who he wanted days early. What an idiot and amazingly, no one moved up to steal him out from under us lol.

Not that it matters but for the record I really liked Gonzo at 16, along with Harrison, Campbell and Kincaid a little later

Remember that the Patriots traded back that draft to #17 and picked up an extra 4th because they knew Gonzalez would still be there given how RR was telegraphing the Forbes pick to the rest of the league.

 

[RWJ]

If both Bailey and Downs are there at 7, what's the call?

Tough call but Bailey. We have a huge need for a bonafide EDGE and Bailey is good!

 

[clskinsfan]

If both Bailey and Downs are there at 7, what's the call?

I would take Bailey off positional value alone. But I think Downs is a safer pick.

 

[Gooseneck]

We would do a lot better if we used George Allen's strategy of trading draft picks we don't have for top flight players.

 

[clskinsfan]

Sadly a lot of us would have drafted better than Rivera. Usually when fans say that, its bs, but in 2021 we all wanted Christian Darrisaw where we picked Jamin Davis, in 2022, most of us wanted Kyle Hamilton at 11 and after we traded down most of wanted either Devin Lloyd or Tyler Lindenbaum at 47 which was better than Jahan Dotson and most of us wanted Nkobe Dean in the second round where we picked Phildarian Mathis. In 2023 most of use wanted Gonzalez at 16 and O'Cyrus Torrence at in the second round. Gonzalez was way better than Forbes, Torrence and Quan Martin are both low level starters so that is probably a net neutral.

I actually didnt hate the Dotson pick. He was a legit return guy in college. I figured he would be amazing at that at least in the NFL. I was wrong again.

 

[method man]

I actually didnt hate the Dotson pick. He was a legit return guy in college. I figured he would be amazing at that at least in the NFL. I was wrong again.

His terrible 3 cone was a clear tell in retrospect about his game

 

[skinsinparadise]

Sadly a lot of us would have drafted better than Rivera. Usually when fans say that, its bs, but in 2021 we all wanted Christian Darrisaw where we picked Jamin Davis, in 2022, most of us wanted Kyle Hamilton at 11 and after we traded down most of wanted either Devin Lloyd or Tyler Lindenbaum at 16 which was better than Jahan Dotson and most of us wanted Nkobe Dean in the second round where we picked Phildarian Mathis. In 2023 most of use wanted Gonzalez at 16 and O'Cyrus Torrence at in the second round. Gonzalez was way better than Forbes, Torrence and Quan Martin are both low level starters so that is probably a net neutral.

I agree with some of this but not all based on memory. Darrisaw definitely. Kyle Hamilton I wanted and some others too but there was definitely push back on him by some on ES who couldn't get over in their minds his lack of speed. Lloyd sort of, but not everyone. Linderbaum at 16 was McQueen and a straggler or two but it wasn't most of us.

Gonzalez most of us didn't think he'd get out of the top 10, so him falling was a bit shocking. Definitely so about Dean.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I actually didnt hate the Dotson pick. He was a legit return guy in college. I figured he would be amazing at that at least in the NFL. I was wrong again.

I put him in the 2nd round on the top 100s some of us did that year. But I sucked it up and defended the pick after it was made. At that stage, I somewhat reflexively trusted Rivera but then turned on him big time the next year.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I would take Bailey off positional value alone. But I think Downs is a safer pick.

If you come around on Bailey. Full circle.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Remember that the Patriots traded back that draft to #17 and picked up an extra 4th because they knew Gonzalez would still be there given how RR was telegraphing the Forbes pick to the rest of the league.

Rivera and that FO leaked like a seive. It was the most telegraphed in advance mid first round pick I can ever recall. lol, the embarassing draft video that Rivera did showcasing how they were all in on Forbes before the draft in retrospect is a humorous watch.

 

[philibusters]

I agree with some of this but not all based on memory. Darrisaw definitely. Kyle Hamilton I wanted and some others too but there was definitely push back on him by some on ES who couldn't get over his speed. Lloyd sort of, but not everyone. Linderbaum at 16 was McQueen and a straggler or two but it wasn't most of us.

Gonzalez most of us didn't think he'd get out of the top 10, so him falling was a bit shocking. Definitely so about Dean.

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.