2023 NFL Draft Thread

[bucksfan2]

Detroit gets the #6 and #18 picks in what is a draft with a solid amount of 1st round talent. On top of that they add Jameson Williams, last years #12 overall pick. If I had to guess i'd say they are sold enough of Goffs ability and the fact that they finished the season on an 8-2 run to go and get surrounding pieces as opposed to buying a top pick to draft a QB.

If I were Detroit i'd use the #6 on the best defensive player available, unless there is still a QB on the board at that point and I could trade out for a nice pick package. I'd then use the #18 to trade out of the 1st and add more day 2 picks, possibly a future 1st.

The worst thing an organization can have is a great team but an average QB. A roster that is SB capable but a QB who just isn't it. In today's offensive game, you need a QB who can be a difference maker. Goff isn't that, its why McVey moved on from him. He is good enough to be a stop gap, but if you want to win the title, you need to shoot higher. The last thing you want is Andy Dalton, a good but not great QB, who keeps you competitive each and every year, but falls short in the playoffs.

[BuckeyeRed27]

The worst thing an organization can have is a great team but an average QB. A roster that is SB capable but a QB who just isn't it. In today's offensive game, you need a QB who can be a difference maker. Goff isn't that, its why McVey moved on from him. He is good enough to be a stop gap, but if you want to win the title, you need to shoot higher. The last thing you want is Andy Dalton, a good but not great QB, who keeps you competitive each and every year, but falls short in the playoffs.

I don’t disagree, but Goff literally almost won a Super Bowl.

[Sea Ray]

No one in Chicago is going to be successful without better skill position players.

I don't know if Justin Fields is a legit starter in the league or a fantastic fantasy player. But regardless of that, his skill position players are terrible. If I were Chicago (and I am biased because I am a Fields fan) I would move that #1 overall pick for draft capital to revamp the offense. IMO Stroud won't be successful in a system where the skill position players are garbage. And Bryce Young reminds me of a smaller Justin Fields without the elite running ability.

Seattle is interesting because they have the draft capital and a team that is ready to be a SB contender with a solid QB.

Seattle got solid QB play this year. Geno Smith set franchise records and is a Pro Bowler. With all that, they still just barely snuck into the playoffs and they're looking at an early exit. They're not a QB away from being a Super Bowl contender. They need a lot of help on defense.

[Sea Ray]

I don’t disagree, but Goff literally almost won a Super Bowl.

It's not easy to get a better QB than Goff. Fans get carried away insisting on franchise guys. Well there aren't many of those out there. In fact it's a roll of the dice whether CJ Stroud can even achieve the success Goff has. I think the Lions will go with Goff. The heck with the Super Bowl...this team wants to be a playoff contender. Nothing wrong with that

[Rojo Rijo]

The worst thing an organization can have is a great team but an average QB. A roster that is SB capable but a QB who just isn't it. In today's offensive game, you need a QB who can be a difference maker. Goff isn't that, its why McVey moved on from him. He is good enough to be a stop gap, but if you want to win the title, you need to shoot higher. The last thing you want is Andy Dalton, a good but not great QB, who keeps you competitive each and every year, but falls short in the playoffs.

Goff has absolutely surprised me in Detroit. He ranked #5 in QBR, behind only Mahomes, Allen, Tua, and Hurts.

I also take anything McVay does with a grain of salt. The guy tried to move on from Cam Akers as if he wasnt any good by sitting him until Akers stepped away from the team, somehow LA couldnt trade him at the deadline, they brought Akers back into the fold and then over their last 6 games he handles 104 carries for 512 yards and 6 TDs. That's with a team without Kupp or Stafford. I know he just won a SB but im not so sure McVay is the prodigy he's made out to be. He was extremely inconsistent this year. Even before losing Stafford and Kupp the Rams looked nothing like a defending SB champ.

[Kingspoint]

Defense as well. Pratt is a FA at the end of the year and Logan Wilson the year after.

Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates are FAs and Dax Hill and Tycen Anderson are the only safeties on the roster after this year.

Pass rush could always be upgraded as well.

They can sign a LT in free agency.

Jonah Williams, because of where he was drafted and the number of NFL Starts he's had probably has the next seven years locked in as a Starter somewhere in the league, maybe for three or four teams and even eight or nine more years in the league, as he's missed a ton of games, so he can't be worn out over the next five years. I would personally not want to use Williams as anything more than a reserve who could come in and play LT and RT and even either Guard position, though I wonder seriously if he could play RT and run-block effectively enough to do it.

Don't care how we replace Williams, whether through the 32nd pick (yes, we will win the Super Bowl), through Free Agency (I don't think we can afford this because even a guy like Williams has to be $10M to play LT....we'd be better off finding a career RT who is a FA whose salary has not been high that we could shift to LT after signing him. Since that person may not exist, I think it's best that we target someone in the mid-1st Round that we can trade up with in order to get),....and finally, the third option, someone else already in-house who can take the spot of Williams. I would personally let Williams walk, unless he shows a tremendous jump in production from both run-blocking and pass-blocking during these playoffs. Williams should have been playing for a contract all season and the results have been bad for someone in that position. By letting Williams walk, it's one FA LT that goes into the market that one of our competitors might sign to free us up to sign a different one.

Assume that the 1st Round pick is reserved for Offense. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Round picks can be used for those Defensive needs, while a team can always get a very good LB in the 5th rounds. Irwin has been a pleasant surprise, so I wouldn't be looking at Receiver before the 6th, where there is always a few good ones to choose from. I'd offer up 2024 picks to include in our 2023 1st in order to improve our pick in the 1st Round for a LT prospect. We need to move on from Williams. He wasn't it. A Veteran FA signing would make a lot of sense because of the inexperience at LG, and Williams doesn't qualify for that. There's experience, and then there's good experience.

[Kingspoint]

Find the teams who are rebuilding who have a LT that is at least above average as a pass-blocker, but is too old to fit into their rebuilding plans and offer the appropriate package to acquire him for the Bengals, assuming he fits into the O-Line blocking schemes that we run. There has to be at least one team, if not three, that fit into this category. Last year it was New Orleans and Terron Armstead.

- - - Updated - - -

Goff has absolutely surprised me in Detroit. He ranked #5 in QBR, behind only Mahomes, Allen, Tua, and Hurts.

I also take anything McVay does with a grain of salt. The guy tried to move on from Cam Akers as if he wasnt any good by sitting him until Akers stepped away from the team, somehow LA couldnt trade him at the deadline, they brought Akers back into the fold and then over their last 6 games he handles 104 carries for 512 yards and 6 TDs. That's with a team without Kupp or Stafford. I know he just won a SB but im not so sure McVay is the prodigy he's made out to be. He was extremely inconsistent this year. Even before losing Stafford and Kupp the Rams looked nothing like a defending SB champ.

They were toast when Whitworth retired.

[Kingspoint]

Seattle got solid QB play this year. Geno Smith set franchise records and is a Pro Bowler. With all that, they still just barely snuck into the playoffs and they're looking at an early exit. They're not a QB away from being a Super Bowl contender. They need a lot of help on defense.

The Seahawks are deplete of talent throughout that roster on both sides of the ball. They need a ton of quality bodies. Geno Smith looked great this season. No reason for them to look for another Quarterback when they have so many needs elsewhere.

Jody Allen also isn't going to be buying Free Agents the way Paul Allen did. They value their draft picks more now than they used to and will not likely trade any of them away in order to move up. If anything, they will trade down and acquire more picks. I think Seattle's top 1st Round pick is available.

[bucksfan2]

Seattle got solid QB play this year. Geno Smith set franchise records and is a Pro Bowler. With all that, they still just barely snuck into the playoffs and they're looking at an early exit. They're not a QB away from being a Super Bowl contender. They need a lot of help on defense.

Pro Bowl QB's do little for me. Andy Dalton was a Pro Bowler at times in his career. And when you consider Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, and Herbert are all in the AFC, the bar isn't that high in the NFC. Especially since you have guys aging out of their careers (Brady and Rodgers.) One interesting play for Seattle may be Levis. I don't know what to think of him and tend to think that he has a long road ahead of him to be a NFL starter, but if he can sit the bench behind Smith for a season, they may have something.

The Lions got hot late in the season. Looking at their schedule, it looks like they got hot against some pretty average competition.

Most of the time when franchises move on from a QB, they pretty much are who they are. I can count two in the last 20 years who went to another team to become a franchise level QB, and one (Tannehill) is debatable while the other (Brees) was coming off a massive shoulder injury. I wouldn't place my franchise in the hands of Smith or Goff long term, but that is just me.

[Kingspoint]

Pro Bowl QB's do little for me. Andy Dalton was a Pro Bowler at times in his career. And when you consider Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, and Herbert are all in the AFC, the bar isn't that high in the NFC. Especially since you have guys aging out of their careers (Brady and Rodgers.) One interesting play for Seattle may be Levis. I don't know what to think of him and tend to think that he has a long road ahead of him to be a NFL starter, but if he can sit the bench behind Smith for a season, they may have something.

The Lions got hot late in the season. Looking at their schedule, it looks like they got hot against some pretty average competition.

Most of the time when franchises move on from a QB, they pretty much are who they are. I can count two in the last 20 years who went to another team to become a franchise level QB, and one (Tannehill) is debatable while the other (Brees) was coming off a massive shoulder injury. I wouldn't place my franchise in the hands of Smith or Goff long term, but that is just me.

Smith is definitely not long-term, but their other needs are more pressing for this season. Drafting a QB in the 1st Round is not necessary.

As far as Goff, everyone needs to remember that the Lion's G.M. is the one who worked for the RAMS and suggested they draft Goff at the time, so this guy feels completely different about Goff than, well....everyone else in the world. He does see him as a franchise QB that he's going to ride behind the league's #1 Offensive Line, who will make Goff always look better than he is. If Detroit spent all of their focus this off-season on their Defense, then Goff becomes a heck of a lot more valuable next season. He won't have to put up 35 points to win a game, 24 will do. Goff's connection with St. Brown is as good as Rodgers' was with Adams or Burrows is with Chase, at least production-wise.

[WVRed]

Figured we could use a separate thread from the NFL discussion for all things draft related.

With Jalen Carter having legal trouble someone I was hoping might fall to the Bengals in Calijah Kancey might now jump Carter as the top DT:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...t-combine-2006

[KoryMac5]

These D Lineman are out of this world...to run that fast at 282 lbs is unreal...I may get 5 flat at 180...with the wind at my back.

Calijah Kancey DT Pitt looking really sharp as are others...might be there at pick 28 for Bengals.

[UKFlounder]

https://www.redszone.com/forums/show...L-Draft-Thread

[WVRed]

https://www.redszone.com/forums/show...L-Draft-Thread

I thought there was a thread for this but went looking and couldn’t find it. Thanks.

Mods, could we just merge this one into the threads? Sorry for creating a new one.

[WVRed]

Posted this elsewhere but someone I was hoping would be there at 28 (Calijah Kancey DT from Pitt) blew up the 40 at the combine. With Jalen Carters legal issues I could see Kancey now being the first DT off the board now.