DCOrange

And just like that Maliq put out word that he’ll be back!

It was just some random whispers before...not from anyone I trust but more just gut feeling kinda stuff about Maliq Brown leaving. I've now heard from someone I do trust that it's something we have to actually be worried about. Doesn't sound like it's set in stone the way Judah leaving is, but Maliq is at least considering leaving because of Donnie coming in and our desire to get a real center. FWIW, one person I know who is very close with Autry is saying we shouldn't be so quick to write Judah off, but basically everyone else I know that is in the know is saying there's no chance he's back next season.

I think they consider a WR even without a trade but we'll see.

I think WR is definitely a consideration for them with their first round pick.

The buzz I've been seeing everywhere is they're likely to sign Jacoby Brissett this offseason to be the bridge QB in case they pass on QB at 3/trade the pick.

Like I said, I get it. The QB play has been horrible there for a few years and like I said, Diontae is a talented dude. Probably a better player than anyone we're likely to get in the draft and he would obviously cost much less than a 1st round pick. I do wonder if he's viewed as a culture fit though. Even with guys like Von who have proven to not be a choir boy, he's at least a guy that you know will give it his all to try to help the team. That cannot be said for Diontae after this past season. I think he's worth considering regardless.

He's one of the more talented WRs in the league IMO (not like top 10 or anything but probably top 30) but he had a really weird season this past year. Granted the QB play in Pittsburgh has been atrocious in recent years but he seemed to just give up last year.

That's why I think my preferred option would be to trade down into the 30s or 40s. Realistically though, I do think some of the guys we're currently talking about here will be available at 60, but Beane is not the type of guy that sits back and thinks "I'll just take whoever falls to me because your guess is as good as mine on which one will be good." I personally have 13 WRs graded in the first two rounds, and that doesn't even include Malachi Corley, Xavier Legette, or Xavier Worthy (or guys like Javon Baker and Jermaine Burton that I haven't scouted). So we're talking about like 15-20 WRs that are top 2 round quality if you assume those guys are in. I very much doubt that 15-20 WRs will be taken in the first 59 picks. I also don't necessarily think it has to be a pass rusher or a WR at 28. My point is moreso that I personally expect the WRs available at 28 to be borderline 1st round caliber while there will likely be higher rated prospects at other positions sitting there. Could be a defensive back, could be O-Line, DT, etc.

I'll give a serious response. It depends on what exactly you're looking for, but here's some of the sites/authors I like to read. I'll bold the ones that are behind paywalls. Reception Perception - https://receptionperception.com/; Particularly good for WRs and QBs (both for NFL players and draft prospects). The main thing I love is that they chart how often WRs run each route type, how successful they are on those routes, success rates against man vs. zone, etc. and they do similar charting for the QBs. Dane Brugler/The Athletic - He usually releases a handful of big boards with some blurbs about the prospects, but the real value is his extremely in depth draft guide (over 300 pages last year) breaking down pretty much every prospect with a pulse, even going back to their high school stats in a lot of cases. First Draft podcast with Mel Kiper & Field Yates - Can be found on any of the podcast platforms you may use and I believe they've begun televising/broadcasting on YouTube as well. I wouldn't say they go super in-depth on guys, but more just simple breakdowns of their top prospects, sleepers, WR big boards, etc. PFF Draft Guide - They have a lot of good NFL Draft content, but their draft guide is particularly good. In recent years, they've begun including their charting for WRs and QBs similar to Reception Perception and I always enjoy seeing the differences between their findings and the consensus (a couple notable examples this year: they have Jayden Daniels #22 on their big board, Keon Coleman #57, and Xavier Worthy #69). Derrik Klassen/Bleacher Report - Bleacher Report kinda hit the scene as poor quality analysis, but in recent years they've employed Matt Miller, Nate Tice, and now Derrik Klassen as their draft experts and they're all very good reads IMO. You can basically just google "(Insert Prospect Name) Scouting Report Bleacher Report" and get a pretty deep breakdown of any prospect you want. The Ringer NFL Draft Guide - https://nfldraft.theringer.com/; great interface and fairly detailed scouting reports on their top 50 or so prospects. They'll eventually add Ben Solak's QB charting as well, which is insanely deep. Daniel Jeremiah - I always enjoy reading his big boards, seeing who's moved up and down, etc. RAS.football - https://ras.football/ This is the guy that calculates every prospect's RAS rating (basically their athleticism score). It's the only thing on his website so no need to go there for anything else. Mockdraftable - https://www.mockdraftable.com/; database that basically shows how a given prospect performed at the Combine in one neat graphic. PlayerProfiler - https://www.playerprofiler.com/; has advanced stats for both NFL players and draft prospects. Famously the place where everyone gets prospect's breakout ages from. Matt Harmon YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@MattHarmonRP; This is the main guy from Reception Perception. 2 Minute Drill YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@2MinuteDrillFB/videos; quick two minute scouting reports of a ton of prospects Brett Kollman YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@BrettKollmann/videos; more in-depth film breakdowns of prospect Spreadsheet of videos to scout prospects yourself - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18a0E2eJPc14LmSOw6vJtvhryNWC-ojOffARtFlCV3xk/edit#gid=0 My WR Metrics Spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12pCgsJPa9X-jjNMOZ_exJTAEfxmZOeETzEm8SNkuXec/edit#gid=1244172747

It'll be interesting to see how the team actually feels. I personally don't think the deep WR class is about the first round personally. I know some like Kiper/Field Yates think they could tie the record for first round WRs...I'm personally not as high on them as they are. To me, there's 4 no brainer first round WRs and then there's like 10 guys that are borderline 1st/2nd round talents. Most draft pundits have roughly 5 or 6 WRs in the top 32 of the big board and 4 or 5 pass rushers in the same range. It's just that once you get past the first round talents, there aren't many pass rushers left while there are a million WRs.

I am not a Legette guy, but those stats against the SEC are still good and dwarf some of the guys that are considered above him in the draft like Mitchell and Coleman. He was undeniably very productive this season, and importantly IMO was very productive against man coverage specifically.

I have a hard time envisioning Beane, with his track record, collecting more picks when we already have 10 or whatever. But I agree, I think I’d probably look to trade down or draft a different position if Thomas doesn’t make it to 28 (which he almost certainly won’t). After the top 4, the other guys that I believe are fringe first rounders are currently sliding down the board and seem gettable in the 40s at this point.

Definitely a little reminiscent of Beane being excited by Gabe running a slower than expected 40 lol. I think anyone that watches Franklin on film knows he’s still one of the fastest WRs in the class. I think the shaky hands he showed at the Combine is concerning though; that was something I had flagged as a potential flaw in his game on film but it’s always tough when you’re just watching a handful of games.

New WR spots (change from last version in parentheses, + means they moved up the board, - means they moved down): 2. Marvin Harrison Jr. (0) 3. Rome Odunze (0) 4. Malik Nabers (0) 17. Brian Thomas Jr. (-1) 25. Adonai Mitchell (+8) 34. Ladd McConkey (+8) 39. Ricky Pearsall (+9) 41. Xavier Worthy (0) 43. Troy Franklin (-6) 45. Keon Coleman (-9) 47. Malachi Corley (-3) 49. Roman Wilson (+1)

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I'd guess if he's saying he's not in his top 8 WRs, he's probably shortly after that, which in this class likely means he likes him a decent amount. Just not at 28.

My real guess would be that we trade up for Thomas or pass on WR at 28. If we have to go WR and it has to be at 28, my guess right now, as much as I would not like it, would be Xavier Legette. I think at 28 (again limiting just to WRs), it's likely a decision between Legette, Coleman, and McConkey and my guess would be that's the order they have them in.

McConkey played out wide a lot more than Pearsall did, but I think Pearsall is probably in the same boat where he might be able to play out wide but might be better suited to the slot. He was close to a 50/50 split this past season between lining up out wide vs. the slot and he was mainly playing outside at the Senior Bowl practices.

It's not about how old he'll be on his rookie contract; it's about the fact that he literally didn't do anything in college until he was a very old (for a college player). The track record for WRs like that is historically atrocious. People can say if he was 21 instead of 23, he'd be a top 10 pick, but he was 21 once upon a time. He had 63 yards that season.

I think taking emotion out of it, this was an obvious move. Really sucks that he couldn't stay healthy.

Hopefully means 3-4 new WRs coming in this offseason. A man can hope.

It's the same deal as Mitchell. They both just flat out don't run their routes an alarming amount of the time, cut routes off early, give zero effort blocking, etc. And it isn't just when the plays are being run to the other side of the field. This is obviously bad just in general, but it's especially bad to pair that up with a QB like Allen who extends plays and tries to find guys to throw the ball to on the run.

I should add that I think including 2018 would mean adding DK Metcalf to the list, so it's not impossible to be good despite this. And even then, 2018-2023 isn't exactly a huge sample.

The staff initially thought he'd return around the holidays this season, but he suffered another setback. At this point, it'll be going on two years since he played in a competitive game; he's a very talented player and I know the staff is very high on his skillset, but I think we have to basically treat any contributions he gives us as a bonus at this point. Last I heard, we have no plans to bring in a guard through the transfer portal, so probably planning to just roll with Quadir, JJ, Copeland, Cuffe, and Elijah Moore as ball handlers. Sounds like our main focus in getting a legitimate center, which makes a ton of sense but it'll be interesting to see how we make the roster work with Maliq and Freeman both best at PF. Freeman will almost certainly be starting, so is the plan to demote Maliq to make room for a center or are we talking about more of a depth C rather than a legitimate starter? Not sure.

I do think we could definitely improve our offensive spacing by subbing Judah out for a better shooter, but he's by far our best scorer right now and probably our best creator for teammates too. Not an easy guy to replace.

If we could just get Judah to stay one more year, I feel like next year's team could be awesome. Going to have to hope for more improvements from Quadir/JJ and or maybe some portal luck. Donnie Freeman is probably the first kid to come here in a decade where he's pretty much a no-brainer NBA player unless he literally doesn't improve at all.