Burgold

Pitching Butler as a candidate to be the buffalo nickel seems odd to me. Maybe I misunderstand the position. It reads like he's a center fielding coverage safety not a in the box blitzing safety who's half linebacker.

That's pretty much where I stand. On the other hand, I very much fear us being horrific on third downs again. If a defense can't get stops or turn the ball over then playmakers don't mean much. I'm glad we got Dotson, Robinson, Howell, and Turner, but whether it's by scheme, player growth, or player acquisition we have to figure out how to make it so easy for teams to get a first down. More, we need to make it less easy for teams to get a first down by completing the easiest of throws to tight ends or running backs in the flats. There were so many wide open (no defender within three yards of the receiver) on third downs last year despite max coverages where we only ever rushed four.

That's crazy! All the money actors spend on 8*10s and she just took a polaroid.

No real theme. Just that they had to be under 500 words and science fiction.

Pretty bad if they are worried about the grid not being able to support the system in early spring. What happens in high summer when the demand really goes up and stays up?

I find it laughable that the conservatives on the SCOTUS are worrying about the "integrity" of the court after so many seats have been held hostage by Mitch McConnell for the sole purpose of installing an ideologue.

Entered a flash fiction contest at Escape Pod. They just put up the first batch of entrants this morning. So for the response to my story has been really positive. I think the winners are generated through crowd response, but I'm not sure. All I know is I can read the stories and they stripped the names out for anonymity.

I don't understand how this hasn't been coached out of him. He's probably been playing organized football since middle school. Don't they teach proper tackling techniques there, in high school, in college? I know he's not alone in this, but it baffles me how "see what you hit" is not part of every football player's foundation.

It is very possible that that tweet has given Percy Butler his permanent NFL nickname. From this day forward, he will be known as butt rockets. Percy "butt rockets" Butler For his sake, I hope it doesn't stick.

The way I think about it is the same way I think about BPA. Ideally, you always want to pick the best player on the board regardless of position, but let's say you have a Patrick Maholmes and three draft picks in a row the best player turns out to be a QB. You aren't going to draft three quarterbacks in one draft. So, you develop a best player available that adjusts by looking at three factors: Best player, best scheme fit, and biggest team need. If the player is not the best player, but is the best scheme fit and the biggest team need, then the "reach" is less for your team than if some other team picked that player. I do think that you have to qualify that by understanding what other team's boards are like though. Just because you rate someone as a really good fit/need you still want to draft him three rounds before anyone else would. Jumping a round might be okay because you don't really know what other team's boards look like and you usually only get one bite at the apple each round and so if you don't grab someone for fear of reaching then it's likely they're gone. To a degree, that's what happened with both Hamilton and Olave. Both would have been grumbled about as reaches at 11, but by 16 they were gone. So, if you wanted them you can't wait even if they would be a "reach."

:fingerscrossed:

I get that complaint because a lot of focus has been on replacing Colins and what he did well last year, but I also remember that Colins got demoted that position because he couldn't cover. In fact, I'd say that the weakness of our safties is their ability/inability to cover both over the top as well as running backs in the flat or tight ends anywhere. Maybe Brisker could have filled that, but I also wonder if Kurl might be better suited to strong and that what we really needed was a rangy free safety.

Some fans just want to be angry. The good news is the team gives them plenty of reasons to be, but for some that's not good enough. They have to go through the spin cycle, too.

I think we ought to be set at back up center. We played over four hundred different centers last year. I actually thought Israel showed promise.

I always start this thread with the disclaimer: No one can judge a draft right after the draft, but heck, since we judge the draft in the microseconds after each pick is made... Let's have fun and put down our draft grades or assessments of the draft. You can do this anyway you want and with as much detail as you want, but end (or start) with a letter grade. Here's my uninformed, uneducated draft grade! Dotson: I really wanted Hamilton, but if not, I wanted a trade down and a weapon. Dotson appears to be a weapon. I think if he were 2 inches taller he'd have been a top ten pick. Given that the league has changed the rules to benefit speed and quickness over toughness, I think size isn't as important as it used to be. Including the trade, I thought this was a good need pick with a high likelihood of early career production. Mathis: This is the head scratcher of the draft. When the agent and player both question the pick you have to also. Still with the departures of Ion and Settle, we needed to upgrade the rotation and he seems like a good player. I also know the players I really question often turn out well just to make me look silly. I'm neutral on this pick. It's a good need fill, but I'm unconvinced Mathis was the best player available. Robinson: I'll trust others who were excited about this pick that this was a good pick. Good, but not great speed. Has some nastiness. Shows power. Supposedly pass blocks well. A fine pick. Butler: I think we've been in need a free safety for a while who can be that last line of defense. Some of the reports say that Percy was the best free safety in the draft. Given that and the fact that he's supposed to be a great special teamer, I think this was a good choice. Howell: Could be the steal of our draft. Howell is drafted at a round where he has time to develop and if he can realize his potential then we get a number 1 pick from someone in trade if Wentz works out or we may have a guy who can take over as a starter. Turner: For some reason, I just don't like this pick. It's probably just that I wanted a guard or a linebacker instead. Good size. Supposedly good hands. Not fast. Not a good enough blocker yet. Paul: We need more olinemen. Reads like a decent developmental guy. Holmes: Have no idea. Commander's draft based on need: B Commander's draft based on players: B-

Let’s trade our final seventh rounder for Houston’s 2023 first rounder. Given their trade history I think they’d do it.

I wonder if Rivera and Del Rio think the light has turned on for Jamin Davis or they saw enough of him at weak that they feel much better about linebacker than we do?

Needwise, I think we still need a guard and a linebacker, but honestly, in the seventh find someone who does something really well. You're not going to find a starter, but you can find someone with a few excellent traits or ridiculous production despite not being fast or big enough.

I've read a couple of reports saying that the safety was the highest rated safety in the draft. I can easily see Kurl being our strong safety and free being our big weakness. After all, how many times did we get beat over the top? If he's a great free and a great special teamer, he could be what we really need.

Nick Fury and the Howeling Commandos

Great pick. If Wentz works out Howell could be trade bait. One of those back ups other teams always get a number one for. If Wentz doesn’t work out we have a high potential guy with a year of pro coaching under her belt.

What a difference one draft pick makes 😂 Board’s entire mood changed. I’m caught up in it, too. Would I trade Hamilton or Jameson for Dotson, Howell, Robinson and Cole? Yes, I would.

I kind of want us to get Howell. I figure it'd be a reward for all KDawg's scouting. I've read more about him on this board than almost any other player.

I suspect it's neither. I think it's, "Are you stupid? You didn't draft my draft crush!" I remember predraft everyone declaring how upset they'd be if we picked Olave at 11 because would be such an overreach. Lo and behold, the Colts trade up to our pick to grab Olave and everyone's upset. Likewise, so many were cold on Hamilton because of his workout numbers. Now, many are apoplectic that Baltimore jumped in to get him before we got a chance. I wanted Hamilton. I'm not sure Hamilton is worth more to our team than a starting running back and a starting receiver. The frustration with the DT pick I think comes from frustration with the Payne, Settle, Ion move, frustration that we didn't take a draft crush, and frustration with the fact that the player himself said, "Boy, I thought I was drafted two rounds too early."

Been thinking about the DT situation. Most of us, including me, thought it was a mistake to cut Ion and lose Settle, too. The consensus seems to be that we needed to resign Settle on the cheap (which is what he signed elsewhere for) to keep the rotation. The thought occurs to me, "What if that wasn't possible?" What if Settle sees himself as a starter and thinks he could never get a shot to fill that role in Washington? What if other teams offered him the chance to compete for a starting position and that was just really more attractive? If so, the story changes. Then, the question becomes if they knew that it was really unlikely that we could get Settle back should we have cut Ion for the cap savings? And I think the answer there is trickier because this coaching staff has never seen good Ion and he was cap expensive. Still, the situation reeks of bad planning. But I do wonder if Settle's departure is less about Washington blowing it than it is about Settle wanting to be elsewhere.