MrEpsYtown

Lovely looks fun

Ian tweeted this out:

So kind of mitigating some of the risk with the Coleman pick by having a backup plan that could hit. It's a fair point and makes sense. Speculating here, but my guess is that they like the young guys they have at the bottom of the roster more than what was available at that point in the draft. I don't know what Shorter is, but when I look at Baker I see a smaller Shorter. Maybe they feel a KJ Hamler does a lot of the things Franklin does, albeit he is smaller and has a bad injury history. I would have loved Tez Walker somewhere. But if you are going to trade assets to move up for a guy, he better make the roster IMO. But to your point, that should not stop them from adding to the competition.

I am seeing this sentiment a lot. I guess my question is why? Like why would trading up in the 4th for a guy like Baker or Walker or Franklin have made that much of a difference in your mind? I think it made sense to stack receivers, but it has no impact on how I feel about Coleman. Not trying to be a jerk, just like genuinely curious.

I love the comp and the difference between these guys is just refinement in their game. You have a guy in Pittman whose dad played in the NFL, who was born and bred to do this thing, and you have a guy in Coleman who spent half his time playing basketball without the daily support of a former NFL player. Pittman was also much older when he came out and is already turning 27 this season. Coleman is a raw, young, unrefined version of a Pittman.

Very well-thought-out out post. I appreciate the time it took. A few of my thoughts... I think there were a couple of things at work here with the leadership guys. With the team in "transition," I think they needed a culture change. It seemed like things had gotten a bit rotten, and stale, and the Diggs stuff felt like a cancer spreading through the team. This is a culture/leadership reset to go along with the cap reset. They did acquire a lot of talent and if those guys happen to be a bit older it does not really matter because they are cheap labor for 4 years. I would much rather grab Carter in the third round than pay a guy like Tim Settle. I think it is a good approach because if you simply go boom or bust, there is a good chance you still have to go sign washed-up vets if the young guys are not ready to contribute. You want to avoid having to add AJ Klein for a playoff game. While it is true that a lot of this draft is singles and doubles, the Coleman pick is the ultimate swing for the fences pick. This is like the Josh Allen of receivers in some ways. He is unconventional and has holes in his game that can be fixed. He is young and if it hits it is massive, massive upside. A guy who is shifty enough to return punts at 6-3, 215 and to be a D1 big time basketball recruit who can't run good routes? That screams to me a kid who has not been coached enough. Clearly, he has the potential to put that together. He just has to learn how to run routes without the ball the way he runs and moves with the ball in his hands. All that time spent on basketball and AAU stuff probably hurt his football development some. Huge potential is there, but it is risky. You have to trust your development system. Ladd McConkey would have been a bunt. Micthell was my guy, and Mitchell would have been a big swing, but you may be bringing in another head case. He started his Lions interview with the media Josh Rosen style, saying how angry he is about being passed up etc rather than being thankful and grateful. A lot of people wanted Javon Baker as the second guy, an underachieving former big time prospect who runs 4.55? That guy is already on the roster, he's a lot bigger and named Justin Shorter. The bold move up into the top ten just wasn't going to happen. It sounds great on paper, but it is clear none of those teams were going to move all the way down to 28. Additionally, there would have been no second or third round pick this year and likely no 1 or 2 next year. So now you are stuck filling out the roster with mediocre veterans again. This path just never seemed realistic to me. Should they have double-dipped with another WR? Maybe. But if the value wasn’t there for them I get it. In hindsight they must really like what Hamler, Shorter, Shavers etc bring to the table. Hamler is the sleeper here imo. He's still younger than a bunch of the guys who got drafted. Whether we agree with it or not, we don’t know what these guys are doing in the background. It was a solid draft with basically 4 swing for the fences picks in Coleman, Solomon, Grable, and Clayton. The rest of the draft was adding a bust-proof future starter safety and a DT who is excellent at rushing the passer from the interior, and then a bunch of solid depth. Did they do enough to really help Josh? Maybe. They got him the receiver he wanted and a back who can get tough yards. I am not sure what else they could have done aside from draft another receiver somewhere who may or may not make the team. Perhaps a trade-up for Franklin or Walker would have made sense, but again those guys have flaws as well and you have to consider what you miss out on if you make those moves. If Coleman hits, it does have the potential to put the team over the top in a way that no one else outside the top 3 receivers could.

That is definitely true. If we drafted Worthy, fans would be complaining about our WR corps being too small, that we should have drafted someone bigger and people would be worried about us letting Coleman/Legette fall to the Chiefs.

His vision and instincts are crazy in these highlight films. I watched so many WR highlights this year I forgot how much fun it is to watch RBs.

Have to include Casey Toohill in this. His contract is modest with very little guarantees, but he’s a part of the conversation. Miller, Rousseau, Epenesa are locks. The last 2 spots I figure come down to a 3 way competition between Toohill, Jonathan, Solomon. My money is on Toohill and Solomon, Jonathan maybe a practice squad spot.

I will say this, they do not have an X receiver. Brown and Worthy play in an out and are small so can’t win consistently against press. Maybe Worthy can, but that was the concern pre-draft. For all the hype about Rice, he mostly played a big slot. Kelce obviously a generational TE. Like us, Reid, and most teams move guys around and hopefully create opportunities for receivers. The argument about winning one on ones as a boundary X…there aren’t that many guys in the NFL who can.

It’s a fun dramatic media story. Just to add, the Chiefs did not have a great draft. I love Jaden Hicks and I think that he was their best pick. The linemen they added are meh and they gave up a third to move up a few spots. The TE is interesting. If Worthy is good, it’s fine. I would not trade our draft for theirs.

I think it makes a ton of sense to churn through late round RBs for 4 year rookie contracts and never pay any of them. In that case, his age really does not matter. The tread on the tire doesn’t matter. What does matter is that there is a maturity in his game and his body that make him plug and play and very cheap labor for the next 4 years.

I think it makes sense to check in on Simmons, Quandre Diggs, Eddie Jackson as possible starters. That’s if you want a true full time starter. Outside of those 3 I don’t see any true starters better than what we have. But I do think we are actually ok with Edwards, Bishop, Rapp. Lewis would be the fourth. I am not a Lewis guy, but they clearly are and he offers position flexibility. Bishop is going to start somewhere imo. You could add some functional young depth like a Terrell Burgess who is coming out of the Washington system, so would be familiar with the concepts here. He is also excellent on special teams. Another guy who makes sense on some level for depth is Will Harris. He has position flexibilty as a safety, outside corner or nickel where he has played predominately the last couple of years. So I think there could be room to add a starter if the price is right and there are some opportunities to add depth out there.

This is why I don’t bet. Didin’t have Quintez Chephus on my bingo card

So in my opinion, your starting center does not have to be versatile. He can be a center only guy. However, your backup center cannot be a center only guy, he should really have position flexibility. Let’s say McGovern starts at center and Edwards at LG and lets say Edwards gets hurt…this regime is not going to want to move their starting center over to guard and stick Van Pran in there in the middle of a game. That just becomes a messy move. If it becomes a long term injury, you can make that switch during the week. Van Pran either needs to win the center job, or needs to prove he can do enough at guard to get us out of a game. I do not think he has a chance to start at LG. Cross training him makes a ton of sense in that regard, but this is a polished center who I do think has a chance to start right away at center.

I love that comp

To me, they believe Coleman is their X, Samuel is the Z or the other receiver and Shakir is the slot. Beane has talked in the past about the “4” that they look for and that was Harty last year. A guy who can play inside and outside, kind of knows all the positions and if he comes with return ability, even better. That is still missing from the roster, though KJ Hamler could fill that role. Mecole Hardman makes the most sense with the speed and return ability. I am guessing he is a bit too expensive. This would also be pretty high profile so I feel like someone would have reported it. But I like that fit. Jamal Agnew is probably in the same category, same type of player with a ton of return ability as well. He’s got all pro return ability. Kind of a poor man’s Hardman. Similar size and speed, Agnew is a bit older. If I were a betting man, I would say Agnew was here today. With the new rules for kickoff this would be a dynamite add. I am a Jalen Guyton guy. Good size and speed combination. He tore the ACL a couple of years ago so should be fully healthy at this point. Small guy who is stupid fast and fills that “4” role that Harty was in and would be cheap is Scotty Miller. 4.28 with some big play ability when he was with Tampa. MVS makes some level of sense. He, like Chark are big and fast so they fit. but both are probably out of the price range.

Really great feet. Nice punch and gather. Didn’t know much about him, but he’s definitely interesting and this is the type of guy Kromer can mold.

After how things went down last year I hope they carry 6. But this dude is much cheaper than a guy like Matekevich and has way more upside.

FWIW I don’t think Browning has a chance to unseat Martin, but he holds, kicks FGs, punts, and handles kickoffs, so he’s interesting. He was Ariza’s holder before taking over the job.

Man people were excited for that one Yes! Hopefully he keeps his pants on.

He’s better than a lot of the guys drafted in those last couple of rounds.

Everybody happy now? We got a receiver named Xavier!

Ryan Rekhow is interesting and probably draftable. Matthew Hayball as well. He’s a lefty.

McGovern is going to start. Van Pran would have to beat out Edwards/Collins imo and McGovern goes back to guard. I love Edwards, but I do think Van Pran has a chance to push to start.