FootballZombie

You always leave the door open to godfather offers. Problem is somebody has to offer it. The chances of that deal coming across the table is slim to none. The kind of compensation needed to move us or the Pats off our spot is astronomical. You'd pretty much have to be a moron to pay that price. But if someone wants to get froggy and do something royally stupid? Doors open.

I saw someone posted the rankings, but I don't think I've seen anyone post the vid w/ associated explanations. Unfortunately there are no timestamps in the vid but someone in the comments posted this so you can jump around to the prospects your interested in. Its not a long watch if you only review the sections involving WIlliams, Daniels and Maye like me. 8:35 Caleb Williams 14:48 Jayden Daniels 16:36 J.J. McCarthy 18:38 Drake Maye 20:55 Michael Penix Jr. 24:02 Bo Nix 27:05 Jordan Travis 27:46 Joe Milton

I agree for the most part. If you want to say a guy was hurt or suffered from "X", fine whatever. But it does not give you the right to claim a newfangled reality where a prospect is the complete opposite of whatever problem was displayed. That is simply giving credit for things a prospect did not display, show or earn, and is pure wishcasting. Its also a good way to get hella burned. You wanna know when you can say Maye is a good decision maker that does not hero ball it all the time? When he puts it on film. You wanna know when JD can be a guy you rely on to protect himself properly? When he puts it on film. Sure there are surrounding circumstances that add to those issues an likely made them worse, but you are what your film says you are. I'm not bringing in Maye with the thought that he is some high level quality decision maker in the same way I don't expect JD to be a sliding savant. I'd do everything in my power to accelerate the learning process around these issues (see previous posts involving Rafiki and Da Slide Coach) but I don't give them the stamp of approval until I see it on the field.

I don't agree w/ that. The game plan changes radically when your facing a high impact duel threat QB. You can't rush the passer in the same manner as rush lanes and rush discipline takes priority. DBs have to be able to keep their eyes in the backfield to help assist on the outside, making trail technique more risky. Spies are almost mandatory Makes the play truly 11-on-11 when the QB fakes/runs. That is nightmare scenario for DCs as you are likely taken out of playing the way you want to before the kickoff even occurs. We have heard this from coaches from virtually every level as well.

Even harder to see a trade down happen at pick 2 in a draft w/ 3 blue chip prospects. Pick #3 is the pressure point to get into the party. I agree that is exceedingly unlikely we move off the spot and I got chances of us getting JJ in the Caleb range. I just need the Pats to hold their water and take the 3rd guy so the Giants don't get the oppo to. I'm pretty sure New England will but a Godfather deal is a Godfather deal.

Mariota checks a ton of boxes. We could not just grab any vet QB. -Had to be a guy who would have to provide a positive impact on a rook and help him come along. That requires some level of history working alongside young talent. You absolutely don't want a guy who will simply be there to compete for his own personal interest and have the "its no my job to mentor" mentality. (See Tannehill-Willis, its bad for everybody) Mariota has worked alongside young talent in the shape of Ridder and Hurts and we have had positive takeaways from his work with them. -Had to probably be a guy who would have to be comfortable not being given a handshake deal to start given our situation in the draft. Mariota in his opening presser made very clear he is willing to do whatever the org wants him to. If they need him to be big bro and mentor a dude he is game, if he has gotta come in and start he'd do it to. -If your want to run a playbook with a lot of QB runs, similar to what Kliff and Johnson have done in the past, then you need a guy who can run. Mariota can run. -Willing to come for 6 Mil. Pretty cheap. -He has a history of working with some of our staff as recently as last season. Makes the transition easier.

So many players have to fear for their job security lol. Triple A guys r killing it.

I'm pretty sure we will bring in Maye for a Top 30 visit too which will make this line of thinking look silly but aside from that, this has gotta be one of the takes of all time. You can't see any good reasons to bring in a QB your considering w/ a top #2 pick? Not one?

He goes out of his way to say his sources on Maye and JD are from around the NFL. but that JJ stuff pretty much HAS TO come from a primary team source.

This is still carrying me thru this offseason.

News guys, twitter even mocks... The last week has shown a clear shift in group think. Even a month ago the numbers were super close. Now a gap is forming. https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/mock-drafts/2024/consensus-mock-draft-one-week-2024 (I set the scale to 1 week) Of course this aint concrete data or nothing. Just for fun.

1st story on ESPNs sidebar. Orioles prospects light up for 26 runs in record-setting show https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39871935/orioles-prospects-26-runs-record-setting-show Heston Kjerstad went 5-for-7 with two home runs and 10 RBIs Kyle Stowers had three homers, four hits and seven RBIs Jackson Holliday had four hits At what point do you bench guys as a favor to the other team?

Don't think I saw this posted. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39872515/sources-caleb-williams-visits-bears-ahead-nfl-draft Sources: Caleb Williams visits with Bears ahead of NFL draft USC quarterback Caleb Williams was inside Halas Hall on Wednesday for his pre-draft visit with the Bears, sources confirmed to ESPN. Williams, the presumptive No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, dined with Bears brass Tuesday before taking his prospect visit Wednesday, sources said.

Whoa If your gonna dream, dream big I guess...

I don't think any of these guys who have been saying we are leaning towards JD have claimed to have information from our team. Not that I have seen anyway. Most of them go out of their way to let us know that our brass is being airtight, or to let us know that they are not 100% confident in the info. From what I can gather, anyone who made some kind of attempt to cite their sources went with the line of thinking that when polling the rest of the league, the selection is JD over Maye by some significant margin. Enough so, that you would think the average NFL team (that would be us) would probably align with said consensus big board. The only person who claims to have inside info is that un-named former NFL exec from Twitter who somehow has the scoop on what multiple teams are going to do and totally has a girlfriend in Canada... and Keim when he specifically says JJ at 2 is seriously unlikely. That has to come from a team source.

Looks like in terms of Top 30 visits Jayden and Penix are still the only QBs who has a confirmed visits w/ us. I expect that to change at some point, but they are clearly taking their dear sweet time in that department. Also interested to see who the Patriots are looking at (don't want some guys leaking their way to the Giants) Cherry picking, they have visits set up w/ Jayden, Drake and JJ and I have seen reports of Bo Nix as well. I don't think JD has actually met w/ anybody Top 30 wise yet. The Giants met w/ Maye in house already, I think that is the only one he has actually completed.

God tier trivia question for the future.

Sounds like Schefty is about where Keim is. He probably hears enough from around the league that you would think the average team would mirror it and lean towards Daniels, but not enough from the right places (the team itself) that you can lock it in w/ all confidence. I can live with that, and feel good about that. I don't have JD and Maye separated by a lot if anything myself so I don't discount the idea that its a hard choice.

JD released a message thru the Players Tribune. Covers a lot about his life and journey. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/jayden-daniels-lsu-football-nfl Touches on his grandparents, his relationship w/ football (Passed down thru family and Dad was a D1 corner), what he went thru at HS and both colleges. Not a lot in terms of on the field stuff, just a look into his mindset. He did explain his relationship w/ Herm Edwards in detail tho, and I thought that was interesting. He really valued the human aspect of HE, and I feel like that is something he can get from DQ here as well. "Man, that’s my dog. I’m not even kidding. There’s almost nothing I can say that could ever do justice to that relationship. He looked out for me. I used to sit up in his office, and he used to just talk to me about anything … life lessons about the NFL and stuff like that. He’s somebody who’s coached and played at the highest level, and is also human too. He was real about the stuff he’s been through. Listening to his stories…. I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything. After my grandparents passed, I remember he was the first person who called me. He was like, “I know football is your thing, but really take this time with your family.” He said, “I don’t even want you to come back to school right now. Take care of you.” He knew how important my grandparents were to me. And he told me it was O.K. to be selfish, in a way, to care of my mental health." Also saw what Herm told him when he chose to move on was interesting as well "“If there’s nothing there, you always got a spot with me.”" There are also snippets of how he interacts w/ others and how he views himself "Just getting invited would have been a huge honor no matter what. But I’m not afraid to admit, I wanted the Heisman. One thing that I think gets overlooked sometimes is that dog and that competitive edge in me. People don’t really get to see that side because of who I am as a person. I’m more reserved. I’m calm, I’m quiet. But I’m very competitive. I don’t back down from anything or anybody. So I worked hard for it, and I hoped God would meet my effort with a blessing." Bit of insight, but its a decent length read.

Dying after that one. lol As a Zombie let it be known that I am a brain man.

Pretty sure the year they won it all Russ had career highs in carries and yards. Like 800+ or something like that...

So much talk of sliding. I'm here for it. Been there from the beginning before anyone turned on the light switch. Lets check in on the current mindset of my guy "Da Slide Coach" as he prepares to hunt the most dangerous game of all. Ya'll think I'm playin. If it was up to me, sliding would not only haunt JD's dreams, but his waking hours as well. All "light weights on u" style. I know Wash QBs have a history with water slides but I'd find the biggest one and make him hold perfect football slide form all the way down.

Warren Sapp took a coaching job at Colorado so we probably won't see him popping his head in around here this year.

Almost had me I refuse to click.

Wanted to hit on this a bit more. Ability to change is a big part for determining what a guy can become when moving from the college to the NFL. Without talking to a prospect, or buying into possible baloney being sold from those who's sole intent is to sell ice to Eskimos, the ability to change and the work put in to make it happen shows up on film. Teams really value the prospects that demonstrate the ability to grow and penalize those that regress. No one is guaranteed to reach their potential, most people never do, but if I can see a prospect tangibly grow and improve over time, it is certainly easier to put faith in a guy that he will eventually reach his limits. If I have to instead wonder why a guy didn't improve, or even regressed, that is a much more convoluted projection.