2024 Comprehensive Draft Thread

[Koolblue13]

I can't find anything recent on Knox. Basically a Chase Claypool type of TE 6'5" 238 4.48 40

 

Surprised he's not higher on lists. Seems like a day two lock.

[Koolblue13]

Not much I can find on Baylor Cupp either, but he's definitely my day TE crush

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

1 hour ago, Chump Bailey said:

I'm not sure when we will look CB in the draft but I do think it will be sooner than later. 

 

I really like this player though I doubt he gets past the 2nd round:

 

Missouri CB #2 Ennis Rakestraw Jr.

 

He's vocal, he directs traffic. I don't like his slide-shuffle technique, but that's how and when he directs traffic, and the Nickel corner has capitalized with his direction. He has done some press, and has done some Nickel. Need to watch more, as the game I'm currently watching clearly does not have a potent enough passing offense to measure Rakestraw.

 

Watching another one against Kansas State now...and hold the phone, they have Cooper Beebe playing RT for a series or two? What?

 

Rakestraw seems really intense, in a good way. PFF has him in the 1st round, I'm not seeing that, I don't think he'll test stellar but he could wind up a good pro just from how much it looks like he wants it. Still haven't seen enough to measure his pure 1-on-1 coverage ability yet, but he's easy to like.

[oraphus]

3 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

After every draft some regulars here including me often have give or take 10 guys on our radar, its amazing Ron would grab zero of them and just about always every team in our division would grab one or two of those UDFAs.  Only UDFA Ron signed that I recall touting that I wanted as a late rounder was Jaret Patterson.

 

Not that UDFA is the be all and end all.  But to build a team be aggressive on all counts.  And Ron didn't have an aggressive bone in his body.

I actually use Ron for drafting.. for every player i am interested in, i ask myself... "what would Ron do?"  .. and then do the opposite. 

[actorguy1]

 

 

[Going Commando]

14 minutes ago, Always A Commander Never A Captain said:

Watching another one against Kansas State now...and hold the phone, they have Cooper Beebe playing RT for a series or two? What?

 

He played tackle his first two seasons I think.  Settled in to guard in 2022.

[DWinzit]

Yeah Beebe played LG in 2019, 2022 and 2023. RT in 2020 and LT in 2021

[Koolblue13]

I really love this video. You can find a spot on every single play for Sinnott.

 

 

 

I'm guessing he is a day 3 guy, with Stover and Johnson going before him. Maybe a few others. Juszynski or however you spell it type of FB/TE/HB type of guy who loves to block and hit. 

3 minutes ago, DWinzit said:

Yeah Beebe played LG in 2019, 2022 and 2023. RT in 2020 and LT in 2021

Probably the best OL in the draft, but will go around 20.

[Chump Bailey]

1 hour ago, Always A Commander Never A Captain said:

Rakestraw seems really intense, in a good way. PFF has him in the 1st round, I'm not seeing that, I don't think he'll test stellar but he could wind up a good pro just from how much it looks like he wants it. Still haven't seen enough to measure his pure 1-on-1 coverage ability yet, but he's easy to like.

 

I thought he looked good against LSU. Had some reps with Nabers and B Thomas Jr. They seemed reluctant to test him. He appears well suited for man and press IMO. 

[illone]

Last thing I want this org to do is draft a QB to sell tickets.

 

That's how things were done previously.

 

Football people should not be involved in ticket sales, that's a totally different department. 

 

If the team president is somehow getting involved in personnel decisions then we are in big trouble.

 

By the same token if the new GM is getting involved in design and deployment of "Major Tuddy Bobble Head" day, then we are in deep ****.

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

38 minutes ago, Chump Bailey said:

 

I thought he looked good against LSU. Had some reps with Nabers and B Thomas Jr. They seemed reluctant to test him. He appears well suited for man and press IMO. 

 

Pity, looks like he got hurt earlier on in that game.

 

Started watching Darius Robinson a bit, the Edge teammate of Rakestraw. He flashes some potential. He needs to work on his speed to bull, too often he's focused more on making sure he's got good leverage before popping the OT, which can slow down his steps and make it obvious. His inside moves he brokes out every now and then, but he's not the type of guy whose going to win with speed and bend.

 

The weight can't be right for him. He's often listed between 290 and 296lbs, and he doesn't look that big. Maybe he used to be? He does have a mean pop that can really jar the OT though, so clearly he's got some length and weight behind his punches. Really curious how he tests, because I think there's something to work with there. I think he's got more potential than PFF's ranking of 202.

[Skinsinparadise]

Junior Colson, LB, Michigan.  6 '3, 247.   Just turned 21.  High character player, coming from poverty in Haiti.   Good player IMO.  Doesn't hit me that he's great but good.   And the intangibles surrounding him makes him more enticing for me.

 

Played banged up this year, still came just short of 100 tackles and has over 100 tackles the season before.

 

Not flashy but he's good IMO.   Around the ball, good play recognition.   Sheds tackles well, works his way through traffic.  One of the better LBs I've watched as to making plays in traffic versus getting washed out.

 

Good downhill and open field tackler.   In coverage, he looks to me just OK.  He backpeddles well and looks fluid.  But seemed a beat behind in coverage and wasn't making plays but strkes me good enough.

 

Moves well.  Supposedly 4.4 speed.  Good blitzer albiet without much of a pass rushing plan aside from using their speed.   

 

In the 2 games I watched played mostly on the strong side, some weak side. 

 

3rd roundish?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11 by Skinsinparadise

[Skinsinparadise]

1 hour ago, illone said:

Last thing I want this org to do is draft a QB to sell tickets.

 

That's how things were done previously.

 

Football people should not be involved in ticket sales, that's a totally different department. 

 

If the team president is somehow getting involved in personnel decisions then we are in big trouble.

 

By the same token if the new GM is getting involved in design and deployment of "Major Tuddy Bobble Head" day, then we are in deep ****.

 

Is there a contingent of people pushing them to draft a QB for the purpose of selling tickets?

 

I don't see how that's how things were done previously.   Not sure they are selling Wylie jerseys and Forbes jerseys or Wentz or going back further Brian Quick and the number of "meh" signings and draft picks.  Bruce and Ron had their faults but going for the sexy sell ticket moves weren't in their DNA clearly.  They majored in boring.
 

Yes a lifetime ago with Cerrato they liked to make a splash.  But that era has been dead and buried for eons.

 

Edited January 11 by Skinsinparadise

[KDawg]

27 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Junior Colson, LB, Michigan.  6 '3, 247.   Just turned 21.  High character player, coming from poverty in Haiti.   Good player IMO.  Doesn't hit me that he's great but good.   And the intangibles surrounding him makes him more enticing for me.

 

Played banged up this year, still came just short of 100 tackles and has over 100 tackles the season before.

 

Not flashy but he's good IMO.   Around the ball, good play recognition.   Sheds tackles well, works his way through traffic.  One of the better LBs I've watched as to making players in traffic versus getting washed out.

 

Good downhill and open field tackler.   In coverage, he looks to me just OK.  He backpeddles well and looks fluid.  But seemed a beat behind in coverage and wasn't making plays but strkes me good enough.

 

Moves well.  Supposedly 4.4 speed.  Good blitzer albiet without much of a pass rushing plan aside from using their speed.   

 

In the 2 games I watched played mostly on the strong side, some weak side. 

 

3rd roundish?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched him pretty close in the Natty. I like him much more than Trotter.

[Skinsinparadise]

2 minutes ago, KDawg said:

I watched him pretty close in the Natty. I like him much more than Trotter.

 

Only 21, high character, with supposedly great athleticism, and considering his background I figure he's hungry for success.  

 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39287089/junior-colson-michigan-leading-tackler-enter-nfl-draft

Colson, a third-year junior, finished with a team-leading 95 tackles this season, 30 more than the next-closest Wolverine. He won the Lott Award for contributions on and off the field and is a rare three-year contributor who started in the College Football Playoff all three seasons, including against Georgia as a true freshman.

Colson finished his career with a dynamic flourish, as he had a team-high 11 tackles against Ohio State, 10 tackles in the Rose Bowl against Alabama and six in the Wolverines' national title win over Washington.

 

Colson will be in competition for the top linebacker picked in the draft and said he's excited to showcase his speed in the pre-draft process, as he's expected to run somewhere in the 4.4 range in the 40-yard dash.

Colson won the award for Michigan's toughest player, playing essentially the final two months of the season with a wrap on his hand that he broke against Purdue on Nov. 4. He did not come out of the game after suffering the injury.

 

As for other traits he'll bring to the NFL, Colson mentioned speed, coverage ability and versatility as hallmarks.

"Just to be able to go out there and show that I'm that true sideline-to-sideline linebacker," he said. "I do have every tool in the box -- a big wingspan and everything that a team is looking for.

"I do see myself as the best backer in this draft."

Colson said he's spent the days after the national title game grasping significance of the victory, all while heading to Dallas to begin training. He will return to Ann Arbor for the parade Saturday.

"I've truly just been processing it," Colson said. "Just a true processing that we truly just won the national championship. You never truly understand how great it would feel, being able to win and go out and do that. It's amazing. It's on a whole different level."

For Colson personally, the step to the NFL draft marks another impressive life milestone in a remarkable journey. He was born in Haiti and adopted from an orphanage at age 9, when he moved to the Nashville, Tennessee, area.

Considering his humble beginnings, Colson has cherished every opportunity and is relishing this next step.

 

"Oh huge, huge," he said. "Being form a third-world country, every opportunity that I've gotten, it has been special. I've been blessed beyond belief in everything that I do. I'm so blessed. A lot of people in my shoes never get to this point. Being here at this moment and stage in my life is just phenomenal."

Colson thanked his family for their support, including his parents, Steve and Melanie Colson.

"I have a huge appreciation and love for them," he said. "They are my parents, they are my people. They've been with me every step of this journey. They've been my biggest supporters. I'm happy to share this moment and this opportunity with them."

Colson said he's appreciative of his three seasons at Michigan and all the staff did for him.

"I think M was able to turn me from a little kid from Nashville, Tennessee, to become a household name," he said. "They helped turn me into a gentleman, and a man my parents would be proud of."

[illone]

20 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Is there a contingent of people pushing them to draft a QB for the purpose of selling tickets?

 

I don't see how that's how things were done previously.   Not sure they are selling Wylie jerseys and Forbes jerseys or Wentz or going back further Brian Quick and the number of "meh" signings and draft picks.  Bruce and Ron had their faults but going for the sexy sell ticket moves weren't in their DNA clearly.  They majored in boring.
 

Yes a lifetime ago with Cerrato they liked to make a splash.  But that era has been dead and buried for eons.

 

 

 

I should have quoted the post because I cant find it now.

 

That's what I get for starting a reply, walking away for a few minutes, and then tons more posts flood in that I didnt see because I didnt refresh the thread.

 

Woops!

 

Anyways, yea when I say "previously" I lump all Snyder years into that, but you're right that Paddeboat didnt engage in it much if at all.

[Skinsinparadise]

Just now, illone said:

 

 

I should have quoted the post because I cant find it now.

 

That's what I get for starting a reply, walking away for a few minutes, and then tons more posts flood in that I didnt see because I didnt refresh the thread.

 

Woops!

 

Anyways, yea when I say "previously" I lump all Snyder years into that, but you're right that Paddeboat didnt engage in it much if at all.

 

The posts that I've read on the topic including one from me centered on the idea of selling tickets is a bonus but not the operative point.  I don't recall anyone advocating it being the reason to take one but maybe I missed a post.

 

Old school Dan of haveing interesting off seasons but executed incompetently was so long ago.  For much more of Dan's reign of terror he's been executing a boring off season incompetently.

[OtisDriftwood25]

1 hour ago, KDawg said:

I watched him pretty close in the Natty. I like him much more than Trotter.

I thought he was quick to diagnose and sideline to sideline. Very interested. Actually seems like the year of mid round linebackers.

[RWJ]

4 hours ago, actorguy1 said:

 

 

This MAY change the draft.  IF a team wants to trade up for Harrison #1, then we have our pick at QB.  

1 hour ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Only 21, high character, with supposedly great athleticism, and considering his background I figure he's hungry for success.  

 

Colson is one of my favorite LBs in the draft. 

[The Consigliere]

5 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

I hear you but this is the typical strawman argument I see to the fan excitement argument.

 

A.  no one who makes the argument suggests that winning doesn't bring back fans

 

B. no one who makes the argument suggests that a shiny new QB coupled with losing brings the fans back.

 

But things aren't always binary where its just one thing versus the other or that you can only slay one dragon but not two. 

 

I've heard over my lifetime many GMs talk especially in retrospect of deals they've made liking the bonus of jacking up fan excitement.  It's an entertainment business.  And yes it is a bonus to entertain.  Good high profile QBs help bring relevance and entertainment to a franchise -- scoring points is entertaining.  I know its sort of uncool to say this or that player-transaction jacks up excitement too.  But its a real reality. 

 

I used to say all the time on the Bruce FO thread that the dude is going to kill what's left of the fan base because its bad enough to lose but its even worse to do that and be boring.

 

 

I don't see it as straw manning. I don't know how to steel man the excitement position. It's one thing if you're exciting and winning, but exciting while sucking? What does that accomplish? Fans follow winning. I know they'd prefer an entertaining winner to a slog of a winner (say the Bad boys of the NBA, the boring Dump and Chase Devils of the mid-nineties etc, the stultifying Rams-Chiefs bore fest), but it's sustained winning that puts fans in chiefs. For the new ownership group if they can win while being the NFL's version of Magic's showtime Lakers that would be great, but the seats would most reliably be filled by simply providing the fan based with the experience of sustained success for the first time since Bush 1 was president more than thirty years ago, that would do the trick like nothing else. 

[Chump Bailey]

3 hours ago, Always A Commander Never A Captain said:

Darius Robinson

 

I looked at him when I ranked the Edge group a month ago or so. He did stand out to me. I hope he is going to partake in the Senior Bowl. Jalyx Hunt Edge/OLB Houston Christian is another name I have seen for months as being a potential sleeper. He will be at the Senior Bowl. The Yale OT is another I'll be paying attention to.

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

Just now, Chump Bailey said:

 

I looked at him when I ranked the Edge group a month ago or so. He did stand out to me. I hope he is going to partake in the Senior Bowl. Jalyx Hunt Edge/OLB Houston Christian is another name I have seen for months as being a potential sleeper. He will be at the Senior Bowl. The Yale OT is another I'll be paying attention to.

 

He's accepted a Senior Bowl invite, so hopefully he doesn't back out.

 

The Senior Bowl accepted invite list looks pretty good. Deeper than usual. Some legit talent at Edge and almost all the good OL prospects. Will be some fun battles.

[kingdaddy]

6 hours ago, actorguy1 said:

 

 

This announcement got me excited....it's an exciting thought thinking that Harrison could be wearing the B&G this coming season. Wow. 

[e16bball]

8 hours ago, Chump Bailey said:

I really like this player though I doubt he gets past the 2nd round:

 

Missouri CB #2 Ennis Rakestraw Jr.

 

3 hours ago, Always A Commander Never A Captain said:

Started watching Darius Robinson a bit, the Edge teammate of Rakestraw.

On the topic of the Mizzou defense, I actually think the other starting CB, Kris Abrams-Draine (#7), and one of their LBs, Ty’Ron Hopper (#8), merit watching for Day 3 as well.

 

Abrams-Draine is (stop me if you’ve heard this before) very skinny, but he is feisty and he’s definitely got some ball skills. Smooth, effortless mover. Seems he was a WR and QB in HS, so he’s somewhat new to the position but that offensive background probably serves him well to some extent. All-SEC player, 2nd-team All-America, and what appears to be a very high PFF grade for this season. 
 

Hopper is a guy who flashed so much against K-State when I was trying to watch Beebe that I had to rewind to the beginning and just focus on him. Will need some serious work, he makes as many bad plays as good ones — but he makes a lot of good ones. Very splashy, very explosive. In that game alone he shows off serious range to the sidelines and some major pass-rush capability as well. He’s got some instincts as well, but perhaps not much discipline — frequently overruns or takes himself out of the play. Still, a college LB who pops that much on a good defense is probably worth a late flyer.

[clskinsfan]

I just started digging into WR's. Will watch a bunch more tape this weekend and have some thoughts Sunday or Monday. But so far it is one of the stronger classes I have ever seen.