2018 NFL Draft Prospects

College football and the NFL Draft

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cblaz11
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For me, there are certain positions you target top half of the 1st.

QB
LT
Edge
CB

Now, if there is an "elite" talent at another position obviously you look, but I always look at those positions 1st. With that being said...

We don't need a QB
McGlinchey should be there at 8
Chubb and Landry are the only clean pass rushers I'd take at 8
CB- eh, I'd rather attack in free agency

After that, what elite players at other positions do we look at.
Roquan Smith, Saquan Barkley, the OG Nelson...I don't see anyone else.
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wab
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I don't think McGlinchy is a top 10 pick. 15-20, absolutely. He's probably going to have to start out at RT in the NFL until he gets his footwork sorted out. People are also going to wonder how much he was helped by having Nelson next to him.

I also don't see Landry as a top 10 pick. Chubb, sure. Edmunds, probably. Davenport, maybe.

Corner... Jackson, Fitzpatrick, Ward, and possibly even Isaiah Oliver if he blows up the combine or Holton Hill if his off the field stuff checks out.
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IMO...when it's all said and done, Landry will go before Davenport and Edmunds.

McGlinchey is a pretty clean LT prospect...Nelson is good, McGlinchey is better.
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RustyTrubisky wrote: If our wr depth next season is:
-high draft pick
-meredith
-wright
-white/bellamy/thompson/gentry

i am very happy.
I wouldn't be happy. Counting on a high draft pick to step in and be a WR1 on day 1 is risky. Most need time to develop and adjust to the speed, size, and play in the NFL. The top 3 WRs drafted in 2017 combined for 482 total receiving yards together (ouch). We're still waiting to see if *coughs* Kevin White *coughs* will amount to anything.

In saying this, I am not opposed to drafting a WR in round one if Pace finds "his guy." I just hope that in addition to the draft, Pace signs a top WR in free agency who has already proven they can produce and be relied upon at the NFL level.
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G08
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If we throw a bunch of coin at Jarvis Landry and bring Cameron Meredith back... I don't think I see us taking a WR in the first two rounds.

Remember, we still have Shaheen and Cohen who should be getting a bunch of looks in the passing game. Unless Pace loves someone and is planning on that player to be a hedge against Kevin White getting hurt yet again, I'm not so sure I see him avoiding the OL/Pass rush.
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wab
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G08 wrote:Unless Pace loves someone and is planning on that player to be a hedge against Kevin White getting hurt yet again, I'm not so sure I see him avoiding the OL/Pass rush.
Or corner. Because I’m not sure that either Fuller or Amukamara are back at this point.
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G08
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wab wrote:
G08 wrote:Unless Pace loves someone and is planning on that player to be a hedge against Kevin White getting hurt yet again, I'm not so sure I see him avoiding the OL/Pass rush.
Or corner. Because I’m not sure that either Fuller or Amukamara are back at this point.
Yup great point... Ward should be sitting there and I love Josh Jackson (although 8 could be a bit high).
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wab wrote:
G08 wrote:Unless Pace loves someone and is planning on that player to be a hedge against Kevin White getting hurt yet again, I'm not so sure I see him avoiding the OL/Pass rush.
Or corner. Because I’m not sure that either Fuller or Amukamara are back at this point.
We have to address corner in free agency. If Fuller and Amukamara walk we'll still sign someone, surely? Quite a few decent CBs kicking around if few elite ones.
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wab wrote:
G08 wrote:Unless Pace loves someone and is planning on that player to be a hedge against Kevin White getting hurt yet again, I'm not so sure I see him avoiding the OL/Pass rush.
Or corner. Because I’m not sure that either Fuller or Amukamara are back at this point.
Apparently Ward is faster than Lattimore.
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Adipost wrote:
wab wrote:
G08 wrote:Unless Pace loves someone and is planning on that player to be a hedge against Kevin White getting hurt yet again, I'm not so sure I see him avoiding the OL/Pass rush.
Or corner. Because I’m not sure that either Fuller or Amukamara are back at this point.
Apparently Ward is faster than Lattimore.


Ward ran a hand-timed 4.31 at a Nike recruiting event in 2014, and allegedly ran a laser-timed 4.23 at OSU spring practice / testing last year.
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wab
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Ward is also like 5’9
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G08
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I'd like to see him come into the combine around 195 and run. If he's got the requisite arm length and looks well put together, he should be a good one.

I'm hoping he's closer to 5'11" than he is to 5'9".
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At this point I think Edmunds and Nelson are the top 2 players whom could/should be available at the pick. I am fine with either one as they both have high ceilings and high floors.

The second round pick could also be a very good player. Several WRs and a handful of others.
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G08
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mmmc_35 wrote:At this point I think Edmunds and Nelson are the top 2 players whom could/should be available at the pick. I am fine with either one as they both have high ceilings and high floors.

The second round pick could also be a very good player. Several WRs and a handful of others.
I'm with ya there... if Hiestand tells Pace/Nagy/Helfrich that he thinks Nelson can be a solid RT in the future, do you make him the pick at 8 no matter what?
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wab
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G08 wrote:
mmmc_35 wrote:if Hiestand tells Pace/Nagy/Helfrich that he thinks Nelson can be a solid RT in the future, do you make him the pick at 8 no matter what?
Yes
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wab wrote:
G08 wrote:
mmmc_35 wrote:if Hiestand tells Pace/Nagy/Helfrich that he thinks Nelson can be a solid RT in the future, do you make him the pick at 8 no matter what?
Yes
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cblaz11
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Edmunds is an ok MLB prospect with high bust potential. He is not an edge rusher...
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wab
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McCblaz wrote:Edmunds is an ok MLB prospect with high bust potential. He is not an edge rusher...
Says?

His college stats are similar to Floyd's, who played a similar role at GA.
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BamaBear09 wrote:
wab wrote:
G08 wrote:
mmmc_35 wrote:if Hiestand tells Pace/Nagy/Helfrich that he thinks Nelson can be a solid RT in the future, do you make him the pick at 8 no matter what?
Yes
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
i have watched this just way too many times. RIP that poor fuckin blitzer.
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malk
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RustyTrubisky wrote:
BamaBear09 wrote:
wab wrote:
G08 wrote:
mmmc_35 wrote:if Hiestand tells Pace/Nagy/Helfrich that he thinks Nelson can be a solid RT in the future, do you make him the pick at 8 no matter what?
Yes
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
i have watched this just way too many times. RIP that poor fuckin blitzer.
Did he just spot that and decide to take responsibility? Pretty awesome!
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Albert Breer on Nelson...

Did my second mock draft this week, and I’ve been talking to scouts about this class going all the way back to September. And I feel comfortable saying that, as I see it, the top two players in this year’s class likely will be a running back and a guard. The former is Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, latter is Notre Dame’s Quenton Nelson.

Though their talent is elite, their positions will hurt them. And with the combine revving up next week, that’s our lesson for this week: Much of who goes at the top of this year’s draft will come down to position.

At least going in, there are four quarterbacks (Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen) with a shot at going inside the top 10. There’s also a pass-rusher, N.C. State’s Bradley Chubb, who’s considered a safe prospect, if a little unspectacular. And there’s also a raw but flashy pass rusher (Marcus Davenport) and a pair of very solid DBs (Minkah Fitzpatrick, Denzel Ward) who should go very high.

The point is, teams will consider taking a little less to fill a hole at those premium positions, rather than getting a blue-chip prospect at a spot they might be able to address with lower-end currency.

“There are a lot of receivers and a lot of running backs in the National Football League,” said one AFC exec. “There are only so many corners, only so many pass rushers, only so many quarterbacks and left tackles. And that’s why the highest paid guys are at those spots, and why they go so high in the draft. It’s because there’s a scarcity of them.

“So it’s not that Nelson and Saquon aren’t two of the best, if not the best players in the draft. It’s that there’s not a scarcity of those kinds of guys. It’s supply and demand in the draft, as well as just taking the best players. A lot of people say it’s just ‘take the best player’, but that’s not practical.”

To drive home the point, let’s pull Barkley and Chubb out of the group, and consider the decision that Colts GM Chris Ballard has to make with the third overall pick, if quarterbacks go 1-2 to the Browns and Giants. Generational running back or very good edge rusher?

The first thing you’ll ask, of course, is how good each player is. Second? Can we fill the hole those guys would plug later in the draft. Indianapolis picks again at 36 overall. So let’s look at the top 10 guys, based on where they were drafted, available at each position last year at 36.

Running backs (draft position in parantheses): Dalvin Cook (41), Joe Mixon (48), Alvin Kamara (67), Kareem Hunt (86), D’Onta Foreman (89), James Conner (105), Samaje Perine (114), Tarik Cohen (119), Joe Williams (121), Donnell Pumphrey (132).

• Edge rushers: Tyus Bowser (47), Ryan Anderson (49), DeMarcus Walker (51), Tanoh Kpassagnon (59), Dwaune Smoot (68), Jordan Willis (73), Daeshon Hall (77), Tim Williams (78), Tarell Basham (80), Derek Rivers (83).

If you go deeper, you’re scratching for edge rushers (Deatrich Wise, Carl Lawson), while there continue to be productive backs (Jamaal Williams, Marlon Mack, Wayne Gallman, Aaron Jones). And if you want to go to the undrafted players, you’ll find Eagles Super Bowl hero Corey Clement among the backs.

As for Nelson, you can do the same thing with guards. Among the four starters in the Super Bowl at the position were a second-round pick, two third-rounders and a fourth rounder.

And to be clear, this isn’t to denigrate either Barkley or Nelson. Barkley embodies the 21st-century prototype at his position—a 230-pounder capable of playing on all three downs—and Nelson may be the best prospect at his spot in decades.

It’s just that some positions are harder to fill than others, and it’s just as our exec explained. It’s why quarterbacks get pushed way up the board. It’s why left tackles and corners and pass rushers do to a certain degree, as well. And it’s why a couple truly great prospects might get passed on by a few teams before they hear their names called in April.
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God damnit I don't want to take a guard at 8. Which means it'll happen.
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G08 wrote:God damnit I don't want to take a guard at 8. Which means it'll happen.
Fear not. If Pace has proven anything, it's that he's willing to surprise people in round one. The only time he ever was conservative was Kevin White, and that pick was likely encouraged upon him from a "don't rock the boat" type of place.
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For those keeping track at home - Denzel Ward measured at 5’10” 7/8.
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I’m really starting to like Mike Hughes. He seems like a Pace pick.
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Hiphopopotamos wrote:For those keeping track at home - Denzel Ward measured at 5’10” 7/8.
And 183 lbs... yeesh.
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wab wrote:I’m really starting to like Mike Hughes. He seems like a Pace pick.
His name has been gaining traction lately.
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wab wrote:I’m really starting to like Mike Hughes. He seems like a Pace pick.
I think he was kicked out of UNC for some reason, that may sway Pace away from him.
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Hiphopopotamos wrote:For those keeping track at home - Denzel Ward measured at 5’10” 7/8.
Top 10 lock? I think his arms measures longer than Jackson’s.
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Shaquem Griffin did 20 reps of 225 with a prosthetic hand...

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