Your Draft React?

[Boone]

Yeah - sorry - I meant trade up from Rd 3 instead of sitting there hoping a reasonable OL option would be there when our turn came around.

 

[Boone]

Hell, we didn't even have to move up to take Schmitz - he was sitting there when we drafted at #47.

I think Martin was drafted to play slot CB more than S, but I could be wrong in that. I believe I read that he was the highest-rated slot CB in this draft.

I have no problem with the Martin pick as I think he is going to make an immediate impact. I only have an issue with it in terms of going back to back DB picks with the first 2 picks (especially given I think Forbes is a boom or bust type player and was a risky pick at 16).

 

[Neophyte]

Agreed, Boone. You and I are on the same page here.

Of the players we drafted, I think Martin will have the largest impact this year (assuming he plays inside CB and they don't try to move him to Safety).

 

[Bulldog]

The fact this team has no legitimate TE when recent Super Bowl and perennial playoff teams like the Chiefs, Eagles, Bucs, etc. make hay in part because their quarterbacks have dynamic one on one matchups at TE on the opposing teams linebackers and slot safeties.

We already have two wide receivers, adding a TE to the skill on offense is a 'force multiplier' for Howell and could improve what is a pretty pedestrian capability in the red zone.

In fact I think we could have been creative and added one of the top 3-4 tight ends in a deep class and STILL added the corner and OL depth Rivera was looking for.

But as we have seen before, Rivera's attention span seems very focused on one problem or issue at a time. He's not a guy that is very good at juggling multiple balls in the air at once.

He went into the draft saying to himself we gave up too many down the field plays in the secondary in 2022 and THAT was the one and only problem to address and until it was FULLY addressed with TWO top picks then he wasn't going to consider any other positions or options.

 

[Boone]

Yep. You saw numerous teams making very aggressive moves to get players they wanted. Not that there are not appropriate times to let the draft come to you, but man we were about as passive as you can get for most of this one.

 

[Bulldog]

Jonathan Allen is the type of 'value' pick we unfortunately only rarely make but the better teams make on more regular basis.

Allen was supposed to go in the top 5 and slid all the way to #17 and we snagged him. The results speak for themselves

Howie Roseman makes value picks on a regular basis that act as a multiplier on the team's draft quotient.

That's how a team winning 13-14 games and supposedly picking at #30 overall ends up having one of the best drafts while other teams like the Dolphins don't look as if they have improved much at all.

 

[Chris]

I don’t dislike the Quan Martin pick at #47 but would have personally preferred Mauch, Schmitz, or Torrence there.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

Here's where I'm at on this years draft, it's either going to look like an "ok" draft in 3 years (maybe a starter and few good role players) or this could go down as one of our worst in the past 20 years with no one anyone remembers in 5 years. I want to be wrong but my gut has this as the only two outcomes. Of course my gut also had me purchase an RG3 jersey (was nice for a season to wear), so take it for what it's worth.....not much.

 

[burgold]

Here's where I'm at on this years draft, it's either going to look like an "ok" draft in 3 years (maybe a starter and few good role players) or this could go down as one of our worst in the past 20 years with no one anyone remembers in 5 years. I want to be wrong but my gut has this as the only two outcomes. Of course my gut also had me purchase an RG3 jersey (was nice for a season to wear), so take it for what it's worth.....not much.

I think I disagree. If Quan and Forbes pan out and turn out to be ball hawking studs, then we might very well be happy about this draft in the way we were happy about getting Allen and Payne. So, I do think there's a possibility of boom or bust with this draft.

OTOH, I think an OK draft is the most likely outcome with Forbes, Quan, and Stromberg becoming cogs, but not game changers or stars.

 

[Solitary Man]

Braedon Daniels. There are videos from fans of 9ers, eagles, dolphins wanting to draft him. The 9er video was talking about drafting Trent Williams’ replacement, Braedon Daniels.

KJ Henry. He is a leader of men. A wonderful guy I hope he has the fight to be a dawg.

 

[Canadian Hog]

Hell, we didn't even have to move up to take Schmitz - he was sitting there when we drafted at #47. So was Torrence, for that matter.

I think Martin was drafted to play slot CB more than S, but I could be wrong in that. I believe I read that he was the highest-rated slot CB in this draft.

Bob,

I am almost convinced that had Detroit not taken Branch two spots ahead of us in round 2, that he would have been a Washington selection. It is not that I don't like Quan Martin, I just feel as though our approach was to take a flex secondary option at 47 at all costs. There is little to convince me otherwise when you had the likes of Torrence and Schmitz sitting there at 47 - two guys seemingly about as safe as they come in terms of OL prospects for 2023 and two guys rated higher than Martin no matter who you listened to in regards to pre-draft rankings. For a team as thin as we are along the offensive front, it was a criminal approach. For these reasons, I would have to say the Martin pick is the one that makes my stomach turn the most...and oddly enough, a few years down the road, he might prove to be the best of our bunch this year.

 

[Chris]

 

[Om]

... and I would have supported that. Been saying for months Richardson was the one QB I would have been okay with the team rolling the dice on. Gamble? Absolutely. But limitless ceiling.

 

[Bulldog]

KJ Henry's performance will be one of the more interesting to me.

He is the ONLY the player in the draft Washington was willing to move up to select and when the notice that a trade had occurred with our pick, I believed it was in fact a mistake by ESPN

 

[Neophyte]

Bob,

I am almost convinced that had Detroit not taken Branch two spots ahead of us in round 2, that he would have been a Washington selection. It is not that I don't like Quan Martin, I just feel as though our approach was to take a flex secondary option at 47 at all costs. There is little to convince me otherwise when you had the likes of Torrence and Schmitz sitting there at 47 - two guys seemingly about as safe as they come in terms of OL prospects for 2023 and two guys rated higher than Martin no matter who you listened to in regards to pre-draft rankings. For a team as thin as we are along the offensive front, it was a criminal approach. For these reasons, I would have to say the Martin pick is the one that makes my stomach turn the most...and oddly enough, a few years down the road, he might prove to be the best of our bunch this year.

I keep seeing people talk about Martin in a flex Safety role and while I can see it, what I see more is that we struggled to defend slot receivers last year. With his college experience, I see Martin as more of that 3rd CB lined up over the slot guy in 3 WR sets. For that reason, I'm not so sure the team would have taken Branch with that pick. While he and Martin share some of the same abilities, I don't see Branch as a slot defender whereas Martin did a whole lot of that at Illinois.

I would have been fine with Martin at #47 if we had addressed the line in the 1st Round. I'd probably feel better about Forbes in the 1st if we had jumped on Torrence or Schmitz in the 2nd.

As it is, I am left hoping we clear cap space by cutting Fuller (a move made possible by drafting to CBs) and picking up some quality on the OL in the form of guys who are post-draft cap casualties like Leno was a couple of years ago.

 

[burgold]

Was covering the slot our weakness? I thought once we benched William Jackson our corner and safety play was fine against receivers, but that we struggled more against backs and tight ends. Could be mixing my years up though.

 

[DieselPwr44]

Interesting note from yesterday,brought up by Pat Kirwan on NFL Radio: Did you guys notice that every first round LB from the 2020 draft had their 5th year option declined?

So I guess it's not just Ron and Jack who are devaluing the position, it's league wide.

 

[SilentThreat]

Was covering the slot our weakness? I thought once we benched William Jackson our corner and safety play was fine against receivers, but that we struggled more against backs and tight ends. Could be mixing my years up though.

McCain was our best option at slot / 3rd safety last year. Defense took a major step forward when he took over that role. Moving on from him created that need again.

 

[Neophyte]

Interesting note from yesterday,brought up by Pat Kirwan on NFL Radio: Did you guys notice that every first round LB from the 2020 draft had their 5th year option declined?

So I guess it's not just Ron and Jack who are devaluing the position, it's league wide.

Yeah, I noticed that too.

This was a trend I noticed when looking at all the team's highest-paid players. If you look at the best teams in the league, there are fewer Linebackers on top contracts than any other position group in the starting 22 except for Safety - both of them have 4. For reference, there 5 TEs on top contracts in the top 8. When you consider how many LBs teams usually carry versus how many TEs they carry, I think this is a real indictment of the LB position in general. It feels like LBs, except for a very few high-end guys, are being treated as dispensable pieces now just like RBs

 

[Boone]

For anyone who hasn’t watched it, John Keim’s interview with Forbes college coach on his pod yesterday is worth a listen. Asks him specifically about his size and also his rep as a ‘gambling’ type corner. I found it a little reassuring.