Gil Brandt’s Top 100

[OldTimer1960]

Gil Brandt’s top 100 draft prospect list has quite a few differences from many others.  Interesting read from a guy who had decades as an evaluator and is likely very well connected (still) in the league.  
https://www.nfl.com/news/gil-brandt-s-hot-100-1-0-top-prospects-in-2021-nfl-draft-class

[Mojo44]

Interesting rundown but I am surprised that Andre Cisco didn’t make the top 100.

[TPS]

He's got a pretty good track record too:

https://steelersdepot.com/2020/04/looking-back-at-gil-brandts-2019-top-100-draft-prospect-rankings-7-year-success-rates/

 

Most interesting ranking for me is how he has LBs Werner and JOK the reverse of what most have.  Wonder if JOK could be the big nickel McD wants?

Edited March 25, 2021 by TPS

[947]

Interesting that he has 3 Pass Rushers right around where we pick.

[BarleyNY]

19 minutes ago, Mojo44 said:

Interesting rundown but I am surprised that Andre Cisco didn’t make the top 100.

I do not see Asante Samuel Jr either.   CBs are in a very different order than I’ve seen.  Maybe there’s a lot of disagreement on them in NFL circles.  Could be a good value position in the first or second round.  Also JOK at 45. Damn. 

[Augie]

I am not at all surprised he has TE Kyle Pitts at #3.  It kinda looks like something is wrong when you watch him play, like a grown man playing with his little nephews. 

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

At the end of day 2, two of these players will be wearing Bills blue. The million dollar question is which 2?

[Nester]

I love the RB's near our pick. 

That or edge obv. 

 

Thanks for posting, i enjoy gils lists. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

What does he know about the NFL draft?!  He's a high school coach! 🤨

[Buffalo716]

My one knock on Gil...

 

He literally says Justin Fields could move up his board because of a good pro day

 

I've never talked to an actual scout or coach that actually moved somebody up their board because of a pro day .. that's a pundit thing

 

Looking bad might hurt your stock a bit, but if you're a top notch evaluator or scout, nothing you see should change your evaluation from game tape.. the pro day verifies some things you see on tape

 

It doesn't add anything, except getting to see the ball live

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Buffalo716

[White Linen]

Mac Jones as the 24th best football player in college?  No

 

I also think he has Nick Bolton way too low at 49.  He's also not 215 lbs.  

[ColoradoBills]

9 minutes ago, Nester said:

I love the RB's near our pick. 

That or edge obv. 

 

Thanks for posting, i enjoy gils lists. 

 

You know I do too but we better duck when we say it around here!  LOL.

I think it's a missing piece on offense.

They all seem to be good pass catchers which makes it all the more intriguing.

 

If Beane did that he could go with D with his next 4 picks for all I would care.

[Victory Formation]

There’s my boy Carlos Basham at 33! But some folks thought that taking him at 30 is way too high. 😏

[PrimeTime101]

52 minutes ago, 947 said:

Interesting that he has 3 Pass Rushers right around where we pick.

This means nothing really.  people have a top 100 then they pick for need.  Phillips, Rousseau and Payne expected to be gone by 25

 

The list has Pitts TE at #3 yet I doubt he is drafted till 5 or higher.

 

[TPS]

1 hour ago, BillsRdue said:

At the end of day 2, two of these players will be wearing Bills blue. The million dollar question is which 2?

Are we trading a pick? Or are you assuming they pick someone not on the list?

Bills have 30, 61, and 93

Edited March 25, 2021 by TPS

[MJS]

Maybe others feel differently, but I have not been impressed with Gil Brandt as a writer or NFL analyst. I know he has a good history in the league, but his writing always seems pretty superficial to me. And I highly doubt he puts in the time for film study that he once did. But, that's just my impression. I could be wrong.

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

I am not at all surprised he has TE Kyle Pitts at #3.  It kinda looks like something is wrong when you watch him play, like a grown man playing with his little nephews. 

If there ever was a year we had the capital to trade up for a TE, this is it. Pitts looks like a freak. Still see us going DE @ 30.

[OldTimer1960]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

My one knock on Gil...

 

He literally says Justin Fields could move up his board because of a good pro day

 

I've never talked to an actual scout or coach that actually moved somebody up their board because of a pro day .. that's a pundit thing

 

Looking bad might hurt your stock a bit, but if you're a top notch evaluator or scout, nothing you see should change your evaluation from game tape.. the pro day verifies some things you see on tape

 

It doesn't add anything, except getting to see the ball live

 

Except in this case scouts had limited or no opportunity to see him in person - only on tape.  Likewise, scouts and GMs likely haven’t talked with him in person (maybe by Zoom) due to COVID.

Edited March 25, 2021 by OldTimer1960

[Buffalo716]

21 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Except in this case scouts had limited or no opportunity to see him in person - only on tape.  Likewise, scouts and GMs likely haven’t talked with him in person (maybe by Zoom) due to COVID.

Regional scouts had all of last year to see him, as well as getting to attend Georgia practices to see him, and Ohio State practices at times the past 3 season's

 

And you still have all the tape from this year

 

There is way more than enough tape and info on Justin fields, not like Trey Lance who is a mystery

 

I understand talking to him. But nothing about his throws on his pro day should change anything about his draft status

Edited March 25, 2021 by Buffalo716

[No_Matter_What]

This is what I am talking about. This years boards will be (much) more different from scout to scout and team to team than before.

 

I see many people saying that no chance that player X will be on board at 30, but I am pretty sure we will have lot of unexpected choices. Some guys like Toney, JOK, Rousseau, Phillips, Horn and so on will be available.

[OldTimer1960]

12 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Regional scouts had all of last year to see him, as well as getting to attend Georgia practices to see him, and Ohio State practices at times the past 3 season's

 

And you still have all the tape from this year

 

There is way more than enough tape and info on Justin fields, not like Trey Lance who is a mystery

 

I understand talking to him. But nothing about his throws on his pro day should change anything about his draft status

We are aligned - I was just pointing out that this year is a little different from the perspective of having limited in-person access due to COVID.  

I also imagine that Gil Brandt is no longer grinding through hundreds of hours of tape on these prospects, but I do think he watches some.  My interest is mainly in how connected he likely is to people in the league.

 

[Buffalo716]

Just now, OldTimer1960 said:

We are aligned - I was just pointing out that this year is a little different from the perspective of having limited in-person access due to COVID.  

I also imagine that Gil Brandt is no longer grinding through hundreds of hours of tape on these prospects, but I do think he watches some.  My interest is mainly in how connected he likely is to people in the league.

 

Absolutely and covid definitely made it a funny year

 

And he's definitely still connected

[Bill from NYC]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

I am not at all surprised he has TE Kyle Pitts at #3.  It kinda looks like something is wrong when you watch him play, like a grown man playing with his little nephews. 

I have been saying for weeks that Pitts is a top 10 pick, perhaps top 5.  In college he was virtually impossible to cover, even when he is doubled. He also took coverage away from other receivers, which made their lives much easier, let alone the QB.

 

Again, I liken him to Kellen Winslow Sr. and this is quite the compliment.

[RyanC883]

3 hours ago, Mojo44 said:

Interesting rundown but I am surprised that Andre Cisco didn’t make the top 100.

 

I think Brant didn't rank players like Cisco with injury issues.  

[Mojo44]

1 minute ago, RyanC883 said:

 

I think Brant didn't rank players like Cisco with injury issues.  

That could be the case. He missed a lot of last season because of the quintessential “lower body injury”. Before that he seem to be pretty durable. And as far as I know he is 100% right now.

[machine gun kelly]

Brandt gets dismissed because of his age, and he also gets a ton of credit. He’s an analyst like others and has experience back to 1960.  Sometimes he shows his age, but he also is pretty smart.

 

I just take it as one guys opinion.

[K-9]

14 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Brandt gets dismissed because of his age, and he also gets a ton of credit. He’s an analyst like others and has experience back to 1960.  Sometimes he shows his age, but he also is pretty smart.

 

I just take it as one guys opinion.

Brandt introduced computers and the first analytics to the league way back when. A genuine innovator in that regard and other teams rapidly followed the Dallas model. His assessments are as solid as anyone who is not out in the field on any regular basis. 

[Mr. WEO]

Gotta love Gil's evals:

 

"More so than anything, he can play left tackle, and that means so much in today's NFL."

 

"I think he'll be the kind of quarterback who can take you to the playoffs."

 

"recording a 33-inch vertical and throwing the bar up 33 times. His arms, which people were worried about the length of, measured 33 inches"

 

"should play many years at a high level."

 

 "he just has "it." He's something special."

 

"Surtain ...has very good coverage skills"

 

"should start for a long time and help whomever he ends up with."

 

"Collins makes a lot of plays"

 

My favorites:

 

"has great skills as a player"

 

"lots of upside for the future."

Edited March 25, 2021 by Mr. WEO

[glazeduck]

5 hours ago, MJS said:

Maybe others feel differently, but I have not been impressed with Gil Brandt as a writer or NFL analyst. I know he has a good history in the league, but his writing always seems pretty superficial to me. And I highly doubt he puts in the time for film study that he once did. But, that's just my impression. I could be wrong.

Worth keeping in mind that he's writing for a largely superficial audience. This isn't draftnik.com or the Ispend70hoursaweekbreakingdownfilm twitter handle, this is NFL.com proper, so there's a demand for content that covers a very broad swath of readership. Furthermore, it's entirely possible that this piece was ghostwritten and/or partially quick jots from much longer scouting reports...

Gil's extremely well respected in NFL circles.

7 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

I do not see Asante Samuel Jr either. 

I think there's a reason for that... He's plenty talented, but I think he's gotten a "Draftnik bump" because of his name... He's at best a very borderline top-100 player in my eyes. 

[MJS]

9 minutes ago, glazeduck said:

Worth keeping in mind that he's writing for a largely superficial audience. This isn't draftnik.com or the Ispend70hoursaweekbreakingdownfilm twitter handle, this is NFL.com proper, so there's a demand for content that covers a very broad swath of readership. Furthermore, it's entirely possible that this piece was ghostwritten and/or partially quick jots from much longer scouting reports...

Gil's extremely well respected in NFL circles.

No doubt he is extremely well respected, and for good reason, but he is respected for his past contributions, not his present contributions.

 

I personally don't care for what he writes these days. I read a lot better material on NFL.com from the likes of Daniel Jeremiah or Bucky Brooks.

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

6 hours ago, TPS said:

Are we trading a pick? Or are you assuming they pick someone not on the list?

Bills have 30, 61, and 93

Someone not on the list or a trade up in rd 1-2. Under Beane we definitely have drafted better and I think they find someone under the radar in round 3 that has some upside but wasn't graded because of injury or other factors.

Interesting that no one drafted by Buffalo before 2017 is on the roster and very few are even in the NFL

 

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by BillsRdue

[K-9]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

No doubt he is extremely well respected, and for good reason, but he is respected for his past contributions, not his present contributions.

 

I personally don't care for what he writes these days. I read a lot better material on NFL.com from the likes of Daniel Jeremiah or Bucky Brooks.

I don’t mind Jeremiah or Brooks, but what do they provide that’s better than Brandt? Do you think they see attributes in players that Brandt doesn’t see? If so, what kind?

[stuvian]

Gil can't get through his own top 100 without a nap