Aurelius

Claypool is big, fast and very talented. He’s also still young enough to maybe grow out of the knucklehead phase and mature a bit. He also now has a QB and can compete for a roll here. I like this move. Inexpensive with potential for high yield if the kid decides to step it up.

Our WR stable.

Simple question that answers it all. Where does our #1, #2 and # 3 WR rank amongst NFL rankings for WR’s? It’s an important question. We run a majority passing offense with one of the best QB’s in the league, and formerly one the better offenses. Extrapolate that out and the answer is simple.

We are down our #1 and #2 receivers, one of whom was Stefon Diggs, a real matchup problem for defenses. Right now we have replaced them with a second round rookie draft pick and Curtis Samuel. As of now, our #1 and #2 WR’s have a grand total of 4 NFL receiving TD’s last season. I think everybody has a right to be concerned as we don’t have any proven downfield scoring threats on the corners to open the field up. I’m not saying Coleman won’t be good in time, or even as a rookie but we have one of the best QB’s in the nfl and without many threats at the wr position; teams are gonna give us a much shorter field for our RB’s TE and slot to work in. I’m still hoping we make a big free agent Hail Mary somewhere along the way but not sure if that’s in the cards.

I remind all that the Patriots won a ton of superbowls, without wide receivers half as good as these. We also have the secret sauce of the two amazing tight ends that we do. Add the 4th leading RB I. The leave and new additions. I think we are gonna be more than fine.

His running is actually really fluid too. Doesn’t run like a lineman.

Plenty of 7th rounders are throwaways, but nice to see an absolute physical specimen that is right now just raw materials. Guy can move like a tight end at 6’7” 300+. Kid ran a 4.79 which is incredible and clocked above 20mph as well. Great type of guy to have on practice squad and develop and see what he can become. Will need strength and a lot to learn but a good gamble to take this late.

Teams are going to have a tough enough time figuring out how to guard Kinkaid and Knox in the middle of the field, with Shakir’s route running in the slot. He will be more than fine on the edge as a WR. Curtis has more than enough speed on the other side. For all intents and purposes, Andre Reed was more of a possession guy across the middle, rather than a speed guy separating on the edge. Lofton was our downfield guy. People are making a bit much abojt his separation but he will more likely do that with his physical ability to pull the ball down ala Tee Higgins who many here were also interested in. Higgins another big, “slow” receiver in same mold.

I just think Beane thinks this draft was weak overall and top heavy. The fact that Beane didn’t have more than 20 or so guys graded first round talent says something. We also drafted heavily thisnyear based on need, production and motor as well as character. There’s a reason for that, which is that we are pretty cap-poor this season and need to fill some big holes with younger, cheaper talent asap. It’s a smart move if you don’t this draft has all the blockbuster guys you’re looking for. Trade down and grab more picks abs fill the roster with competition.

All depends. Frank Gore played forever and maybe still had goal line gas in his tank. This guy seems very similar in the metrics to Gore, especially punishing running style etc. I also wouldn’t underrate him based on his numbers in the SEC alone. Multiple 1000 yard rushing seasons and 21 TD’s in SEC doesn’t happen without this guy having quite a bit of ability. 7 receiving TD’s and only 2 fumbles this season also say something.

Small DT? Aaron Donald is 2 inches shorter and dominated everybody. The size factor doesn’t mean much able smaller DT’s can be every bit as disruptive or moreso if they have speed and power. This kid looks good. I don’t know why we all think we are experts. Everybody else passed on this Franklin guy too. Must be reasons and we have a ton of other needs.

Another guy who did “OK” as a big wr that was clocked even slower than Coleman was Larry Fitzgerald. It seems Keon has exceptional hands and play-on-ball skills which are what the Bills covet. Let’s give him a shot before we write him off. Could end up being a real stud for us.

Then again he’s kinda a lot like Eric Moulds, who was also big and “slow” but ended up being real good.

3 Tight end sets…🤣

Agree, I just think we are trying to get value and highest picks based on our draft board. I don’t mind trading down more as long as whim we covet is still there where we want him.

Won’t be Coleman and Franklin. One of them will be Mitchell imo if we don’t trade out. He’s a #1 wr candidate with size and speed. If we don’t move I thin he’s our next pick but who knows.

This is pretty damn good for us overall.

Truth be told, people get hung up on drafting the highest pick etc. Having a low first rounder is ripe for trade downs and can get HUGE value to move up draft spots all over. Frankly it has more trade value than trading talented roster guys. We didn’t give up anybody thus far that we wanted (and was available to us), which I think is the overall point. I think we did great by trading down and thought it was likely.

Frankly I think Adonai Mitchell is probably the guy we wanted since Thomas went off the board. When we found out other teams would trade up and weren’t gonna take Mitchell, we agreed to trade down. We aren’t in the market for a small wide receiver like either of the Xavier’s, which were the only two off the board since we could have drafted potentially. Mitchell is 6’4”+ and 4.3 nastiness. Another megatron type but faster. We lost nothing by trading down, only gained more and better picks. I bet we go with Adonai tomorrow with first pick and we significantly bolstered our draft position by drafting down twice. Bottom line is we don’t trade down if our guy at any position is there. If he isn’t and we can still get him lower, then it’s money for us.

I’m not sure I’m against this. Clear some space and get some value.

Yes but the truth is that Morse is near retirement. Our right tackle whom I really like being Spencer Brown, is a late round draft guy who has struggled with injuries and has been hit or miss between injuries and consistency. Those are the two next pieces that need to be addressed in either free agency or the draft and they will be fine for now but are definite needs moving forward.

Took pressure off the tackles too to cover the inside rush.

Two biggest improvements overall in this team have been McDermott’s takeover of the defense and McGovern and Torrence taking over the guard spots. There are other bright spots but these clearly stand out. Transformed the line totally, and one guy is only a freshman and will likely be a pro bowler by year 2.

I will say only one thing. The one move we should have made was cutting some fat and grabbing Christian McCaffery even if he was expensive. He’s paid huge dividends and somehow Sf doing ok on the cap space. He would have been the cherry on top.

We can talk about Bernard etc, but by far the most impactful of all is Torrence. This guy is a rookie and plays like an All-Pro. He has totally anchored the right side of the line both run and pass-wise and is well beyond his years with football understanding. He’s never physically overwhelmed thus far and has been a rock, always communicating etc. he makes the entire right side better. Kudos to him. Totally steal of a pick.