OldTimer1960

Spot on and I think that Edmunds is quite mature for his young age and appears to be very smart and takes his job seriously. He was right in Beane’s wheelhouse.

I think that those “solutions”, as you call them, were always stop-gaps not players that they were counting on as long-term solutions. I could give you that the trade for Benjamin was a shot at finding a player that they hoped would be a building block, but they also made that move with short-term intent to help them when they found themselves unexpectedly in playoff contention. That move didn’t work out, but the rest of the players you listed were never brought in with the thought that they were setting the stage for long-term success with those acquisitions.

I think they weigh intelligence, work ethic and football desire heavily. I like that.

Injuries in the NFL are huge. You are looking for on of the 32 best C in the world and you trash him because he couldn’t shotgun snap accurately against 325lb freak athletes with an injured snapping hand? Now, I don’t know if he’ll be any good as a starter, but writing him off because he struggled with an injury last year is too much, in my opinion.

I’m not a Noah Fant fan based on what I’ve watched and read - my unqualified opinion is no block, good receiver, great athlete. Beyond that, OL,DL,OL works for me. I like the OL emphasis very much, but at this point my unqualified opinion is that 1-9 is way too rich fir Risner.

Shooting high. Realistic expectations for the 9th pick are finding a good long-term starter. Of course, it would be great to get a perennial all-pro, but even in the top 10, those are hard to find.

Chris Kelsay had a good career. It is a shame that he is so maligned by some here.

Most guy’s highlight video is really good. I do like Hockenson, but of course his highlight video makes him look good - wouldn’t be highlights otherwise.

Bandit, what are you seeing in Garland? I've not seen him play, but looking him up, it looks like he has only started 7 games in his NFL career. Are you seeing him as a potential starting OG?

I think we are pretty aligned on that.

I’m not anti-Foster nor even predicting that he will fade to obscurity. I’m only saying that if the opportunity appears in FA or the draft to get a good WR, I would not turn it down just because Foster showed something at the end of the season.

I was encouraged by Foster’s late season performance, but it is premature to think that you can count on him to be a productive front line WR. I *hope* he continues to play well and get better, but there have been a lot of flash-in-the-pans who fade away.

I think it was an egregious decision to hit the woman, no question. We don’t know the context of the situation and we don’t know if the woman was an innocent victim, a clear offender or somewhere in between. His behavior is certainly something to consider, but if we were all banned from making a life for something we did at 18, many of us would be in terrible trouble. How many here could say that they have never done anything illegal ? How many have never driven when they had too much to drink or were high? How many have never said or done something they were not proud of?

I think you've nailed it. They are trying to build the Patriot's culture. In NE they do take chances on some under-achievers in FA, but they feel like they can do it because the established culture is so strong that the new guys will "get with the program" or be gone quickly. This approach requires that they (Pats) have the discipline to cut bait on guys who won't work early and decively enough so that it doesn't give others on the team the idea that slacking will be tolerated. I think that Beane and McDermott have done a good job of weeding out talented under-achievers like Dareus and Benjamin, but still too early in establishing the culture to spend high picks on guys who won't give their best.

I’m a little concerned about Oliver’s (under) size. A DT at his size HAS to be dynamic and you have to realize that your run D is likely to suffer if you are playing a 280lb DT.

I haven’t watched enough/read enough about this year’s prospects yet, but what I have seen in games and read about Hockenson is intriguing. He is reportedly an outstanding blocker and pretty good receiver as well. I watched tha game cut up against Wisconsin last year so far and he looks like a better, smoother athlete than you might think for a really good blocking TE.

I like this idea as well. Hockenson is a very good blocker and a pretty good/reliable receiver. Addresses pass catching and helps OL with one player.

BPA means different things to each team. I'm pretty certain that if you could really poll each team for their top 32 players, there would be 32 different lists. It isn't as simple as who are the best players in order. How a team evaluates the best player is up to them. I would imagine that a team's player rankings consider: current level of play, upside, how does a player fit what your team does, perceived work ethic, untapped potential, smarts, off-field concerns and many more things. For example, is Jonah Williams better than Jawaan Taylor? I think it depends on how a given team values pass blocking vs run blocking and whether they think Williams is "maxed out" while Taylor may have more upside.

The problem with the Spiller pick was more that he wasn't as good as they thought he was - not because they already had Lynch (whom they had grown very tired of). I see it more as a missed evaluation rather than a logical flaw. Every team misses on some picks - even high ones.

For those interested, someone posted this thread in the college football section. It has a link to a spreadsheet that contains many draft prospects with links to game cut-ups for many of the prospects. The links aren't just to Youtube highlights - most are every play from full games with emphasis on following the specific prospect. I think it is fun to watch these, but I caution those who haven't watched before- even very good players don't have an impact on a high percentage of plays in a full game. If you go to watch some of the WRs, you will see many plays where they are just running routes which may be decoys or secondary or tertiary options on plays. You will also see lots of plays of them blocking (or faking it).

What do you think of Metcalf? I'm not completely sold, but man does he have impressive tools. I think your follow on post is pretty spot on, I'd expect DL or CB in the first - I'd lean to DL only because I don't think they could pay Tre' White and another first round CB long term. I certainly respect the importance of CB, though. I haven't dug into the DL prospects deeply yet - who do you think the Bills might consider at 9?

I think this sells a number of contributors short. I know that there are some here that watch a lot of game tape and some also that have significant backgrounds in playing or coaching. I think they are doing much more than reading walterfootball.com. I don't put myself in the above category, but I do watch game tapes of some of the top prospects that are discussed here and I've long read many of the top draft publications including Ourlads, Draft Insiders, Optimum Scouting and I used to read GM Jr by Russ Lande (who has been a NFL scout) and ProFootball Weekly's publication when Joel Buschbaum was doing the scouting. I appreciate reading the opinions of the folks on here that are really keeping on top of the prospects and watching for themselves.

I was watching some game tapes of Mississippi WR DK Metcalf and then WR AJ Brown. For sure, Metcalf has more than you could ask for physical tools, but top 10 is too rich for me from what I’ve seen so far. I really liked AJ Brown - he is big at 6’1 225 strong pounds. I thought that Brown was a smooth route runner who seemed to be very competitive and clutch. He definitely seemed to make more plays than Metcalf. I don’t know how high you’d need to take Brown, but if he makes it out of the first, I would be calling to see what it would take to move up to the top of the 2nd. As I was watching games of Metcalf and Brown, WR Demarcus Lodge kept catching my eye. He has some quicks and speed. He showed enough for some consideration.

I watched Butler against West Virginia and Iowa and I see a very big guy who is a willing and good blocker, but I don’t see him getting open very often. Granted, WV and Iowa outclass the whole Iowa State team, but what am I missing? i went back and watched vs Oklahoma and he made some big plays in that game. Still, I don’t see him getting open very often. Most plays that I saw him make were contested plays where he was covered, but won anyway.

Disclaimer: I claim no expertise as a scout, but I’ve been watching football for 50 years and I am an avid draft fan. I watched some some game tapes of Iowa TE Noah Fant and I don’t think that I see a first round prospect there. He was consistently one of the last players moving at the snap - in one instance he was so late moving that it caused an INT. We know that he isn’t much of a blocker and , in the games that I watched, he didn’t show a lot of effort and polish in his routes. He is definitely an outstanding athlete, but I didn’t see it translate to being open and making many plays. For those that watch much more than a few games, what do you see and why is he considered to be a potential first round pick?