2024 Comprehensive Draft Thread

[Est.1974]

7 hours ago, Commander Adama said:

What am I missing about Drake Maye? Watching that Clemson game of his, and Clemson was not good this year, I did not see progression of reads. I saw inaccuracies. I saw one look, then run. He did not look that great to me, so what am I missing that people are seeing that he should go #2 to Washington?

Yeah, I’ve openly admitted I’m no expert on this 😂 but I don’t know what I’m missing either with Maye. I simply don’t get the excitement over him, although that is clearly a very unpopular take. 
 

It’s Williams or trade back for me.

[Going Commando]

8 hours ago, Commander Adama said:

What am I missing about Drake Maye? Watching that Clemson game of his, and Clemson was not good this year, I did not see progression of reads. I saw inaccuracies. I saw one look, then run. He did not look that great to me, so what am I missing that people are seeing that he should go #2 to Washington?

 

You're missing the elite arm talent, athleticism, instincts, anticipation, and creativity.  In that Clemson game, those one look and run plays were either RPOs he got monster yardage on, or scrambles where he picked up positive yardage after his protection and play call failed.   Those were some of his best plays.  He managed a broken protection on third and long and got them into fourth and manageable, and then on the fourth down play hit a beautiful go ball in an NFL window, on time and with perfect placement.  On the first TD ball, he felt the backside blitz wasn't picked up and drifted out of the pocket to buy time, and then dealt with his RT losing by throwing a fadeaway 40 yards down field on the money.  On that second and six throw early in the third quarter, he opened that meager window by manipulating that safety out of his zone and then gunned it for the first.  On the next throw in the video, first and ten playaction pass from their 25, that was an awesome go ball, thrown with anticipation and perfect placement from the far hash that was 60 yards in the air and should have hit for a massive gain, but his WR beefed it.  That play is what he can do from a clean pocket with a modicum of a win on the outside.  On that ridiculous left handed throw on that RPO that became an impromptu screen pass that hit for a big first down, that was a Patrick Mahomes level throw showing off elite creativity.  All of this stuff is high level quarterbacking where he is doing all of the big play creation, and it's all from his worst game of the season.

 

Clemson had the eighth best defense in the country this year BTW, their offense was mediocre but their defense was elite.

[FootballZombie]

46 minutes ago, Going Commando said:

I don't understand why those throws are supposed to be impressive, or what special NFL skill they are demonstrating.

 

Not every skill has to be special. Some are simply fundamental to good QB play. In those clips there were several things you need your QB to do.

 

 

-Head/eyes manipulation of safety (hard to know if it was intentional, but its there)

-Going through a progression

-Not taking off and running after 1st read, or 2nd read

-Scanning both sides of the field. Clearly not a half field read.

-Feet/Shoulder alignment to new targets. Some good mechanics there

 

I'd say it would not show much if these were 1st read red stripe rips to wide open guys, but these were multi progression reads to guys on the opposite side of the initial read. It does not matter if the recipient is wide open or not, he worked his options until he found a guy that presented a great opportunity for success. That is what you want your QB to do. Those are quality NFL reps.

 

 

I also thought it was interesting that Daniels does not pat the ball b4 throwing in those clips. I'm interested to learn his hand size at the combine.

[Going Commando]

12 minutes ago, FootballZombie said:

I'd say it would not show much if these were 1st read red stripe rips to wide open guys, but these were multi progression reads to guys on the opposite side of the initial read.

 

None of those were hard reads or throws.  He's just reading the safety and throwing the same concept against bad zone coverages from clean pockets.

 

These aren't demonstrations of NFL caliber reading skills or timing or throwing ability.  It's not hard to work back to a post running to your hash when you have six seconds to throw and all of the zone defenders committed long ago and your WRs are five steps out of their break and have four steps of separation.

[KDawg]

21 minutes ago, FootballZombie said:

 

Not every skill has to be special. Some are simply fundamental to good QB play. In those clips there were several things you need your QB to do.

 

 

-Head/eyes manipulation of safety (hard to know if it was intentional, but its there)

-Going through a progression

-Not taking off and running after 1st read, or 2nd read

-Scanning both sides of the field. Clearly not a half field read.

-Feet/Shoulder alignment to new targets. Some good mechanics there

 

I'd say it would not show much if these were 1st read red stripe rips to wide open guys, but these were multi progression reads to guys on the opposite side of the initial read. It does not matter if the recipient is wide open or not, he worked his options until he found a guy that presented a great opportunity for success. That is what you want your QB to do. Those are quality NFL reps.

 

 

I also thought it was interesting that Daniels does not pat the ball b4 throwing in those clips. I'm interested to learn his hand size at the combine.

I think it matters if the receiver is wide open or not for Daniel’s, specifically, because most of the time he is throwing to wide open receivers and not connecting on more “NFL” type throws.

 

They look pretty. But whenever his receivers were covered, even with enough separation for a throw, he ran. He doesn’t like fitting the ball into windows.

 

I question him at #2. But I do think he’s a first half of the first round QB talent.

[FootballZombie]

10 minutes ago, KDawg said:

I think it matters if the receiver is wide open or not for Daniel’s, specifically, because most of the time he is throwing to wide open receivers and not connecting on more “NFL” type throws.

 

They look pretty. But whenever his receivers were covered, even with enough separation for a throw, he ran. He doesn’t like fitting the ball into windows.

 

I question him at #2. But I do think he’s a first half of the first round QB talent.

 

I meant in the context of those specific clips.

I don't care if a WR is wide open after a QB has made several reads to find a great option.

 

In general yes, having a great cast of WRs limits the need/want/will to throw tight window stuff. Having wheels like his doubles down on that as well. Why risk anything when you avg 9 yards a carry.

 

Tight window stuff is certainly something that will be more necessary in the NFL, but in terms of evaluating the value of the above specific clip, I don't care one iota.

[Going Commando]

4 minutes ago, KDawg said:

They look pretty. But whenever his receivers were covered, even with enough separation for a throw, he ran. He doesn’t like fitting the ball into windows.

 

You're right.  I wonder if his third season made him gunshy about tight window throws?

 

Also he has marginal physical strength for an NFL QB prospect.  I don't think he has an elite arm, and maybe he's just a realist about his ability to drive anything outside of his comfortable throwing range against zone.  He moves on to use the special tool that he does have instead, his speed and creativity as a runner.

 

I think him not having an NFL body is a much bigger deal than the people who like him over Maye or Williams realize.  It has kind of a lot of downstream impact on his playing style, and what can realistically translate to the league.  It's the root of why he's not in the first tier with Maye and Williams, and I'm not sure it's something he can change.  His hips and shoulders are so narrow that I don't think he's going to be able to get that big or strong. 

[DWinzit]

If Maye and Williams were not in this draft, what QB's would be going in the top 10?

I assume Daniels but who else?

Penix would have but wow was he exposed in the championship game. Not sure where he fits now

Would Nix or McCarthy?

I could at least see all of thee guys reaching the 1st round in a QB hungry league.

[KDawg]

11 minutes ago, DWinzit said:

If Maye and Williams were not in this draft, what QB's would be going in the top 10?

I assume Daniels but who else?

Penix would have but wow was he exposed in the championship game. Not sure where he fits now

Would Nix or McCarthy?

I could at least see all of thee guys reaching the 1st round in a QB hungry league.

Daniels without a doubt. I have my reservations but 100%. Without Maye and Williams he’d be QB1.

 

McCarthy would also be in consideration and you’d probably hear more talk about Nix.

 

Nix is fundamentally one of the most clean prospects in the draft. He’s not without faults but he’s pretty clean overall. He’s above average in most categories, too. But he didn’t elevate himself enough beyond above average.

Edited January 16 by KDawg

[DWinzit]

8 minutes ago, KDawg said:

Daniels without a doubt. I have my reservations but 100%. Without Maye and Williams he’d be QB1.

 

McCarthy would also be in consideration and you’d probably hear more talk about Nix.

 

Nix is fundamentally one of the most clean prospects in the draft. He’s not without faults but he’s pretty clean overall. He’s above average in most categories, too. But he didn’t elevate himself enough beyond above average.

That's about what I was thinking. I like McCarthy over Nix but I don't love either of them. I sure am happy we have all of them along with the top 3 for our new regime to study and make their own decision.  Thank you

 

I figure Daniels would be the first selection

Edited January 16 by DWinzit

[Going Commando]

14 minutes ago, DWinzit said:

If Maye and Williams were not in this draft, what QB's would be going in the top 10?

I assume Daniels but who else?

Penix would have but wow was he exposed in the championship game. Not sure where he fits now

Would Nix or McCarthy?

I could at least see all of thee guys reaching the 1st round in a QB hungry league.

 

Probably just Daniels and McCarthy.  Nix and Penix would have had a better chance of going in the first though.  As is, they're probably going to go in the second of this class because of the three underclassmen.

[DWinzit]

2 minutes ago, Going Commando said:

 

Probably just Daniels and McCarthy.  Nix and Penix would have had a better chance of going in the first though.  As is, they're probably going to go in the second of this class because of the three underclassmen.

So you are figuring 4 in the 1st round more than likely. That makes sense. ike I said, I dont have a great feel for where Nix falls. I do believe McCarthy is gone no later than around 15-20

[mhd24]

1 minute ago, DWinzit said:

So you are figuring 4 in the 1st round more than likely. That makes sense. ike I said, I dont have a great feel for where Nix falls. I do believe McCarthy is gone no later than around 15-20

 

Have no idea where McCarthy goes.  I could easily see Denver taking him with their pick considering Russ is gone.  Heck, he could go as high as Atlanta at 8 if they can't sign Cousins or trade for Fields.

[UK Skins]

I don't know where to ask this, so I'll try here as it's kind of draft related please. When they do the player introductions on TV why do some players give a High School and not a college? Is that because they didn't go to college, in which case how do they get drafted? I've always wondered.

[DiscoBob]

2 minutes ago, UK Skins said:

I don't know where to ask this, so I'll try here as it's kind of draft related please. When they do the player introductions on TV why do some players give a High School and not a college? Is that because they didn't go to college, in which case how do they get drafted? I've always wondered.

 

They went to college, it just became a way of being different from every other intro.... just a way to make it more interesting

 

[88Comrade2000]

Considering how many teams need qb, you may see qbs taken higher than they should.  You have to strike until you finally hit on one.

[HTTRDynasty]

This is huge. He was still the best C in the league. Significantly weakens a division rival. If we play this offseason right, we can definitely make some noise sooner than most think.

 

 

[DWinzit]

1 minute ago, HTTRDynasty said:

This is huge. He was still the best C in the league. Significantly weakens a division rival. If we play this offseason right, we can definitely make some noise sooner than most think.

 

 

Great player....good riddance! 

[KDawg]

Good bye Tush Push.

[mhd24]

25 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

This is huge. He was still the best C in the league. Significantly weakens a division rival. If we play this offseason right, we can definitely make some noise sooner than most think.

 

 

 

The Eagles kind of planned this as Jurgens can slide right in at C.  Still, huge loss for them.

[HTTRDynasty]

Just now, mhd24 said:

 

The Eagles kind of planned this as Jurgens can slide right in at C.  Still, huge loss for them.

You don’t replace All-Pro production that easily. It’ll be a while before they have anyone at that position playing at Kelce’s level, if ever. 

[Skinsinparadise]

[clskinsfan]

3 hours ago, Going Commando said:

On the last one he actually turned down the NFL throw to wait for the easiest throw to come open

Exactly. Guy was open and probably scores. I am not gonna hate on Daniels too much. But when those are your "highlights" on in cutting medium range throws that might be an issue. If Caleb and Drake werent in this draft Daniels would go 1 overall. But they are.

[Anselmheifer]

25 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

 

God, if we draft Maye and Brock Bowers starts falling….

 

SIP, you talk about Maye’s accuracy to all 3 levels, processing, and NFL window throws. Kdawg sees him as a taller, faster Howell, it would seem. How do you think Howell compares with Maye in terms of accuracy to ll 3 levels, arm strength, processing, tight window throws? Strictly based on college tape.

[KDawg]

Just now, Anselmheifer said:

 

 

God, if we draft Maye and Brock Bowers starts falling….

 

SIP, you talk about Maye’s accuracy to all 3 levels, processing, and NFL window throws. Kdawg sees him as a taller, faster Howell, it would seem. How do you think Howell compares with Maye in terms of accuracy to ll 3 levels, arm strength, processing, tight window throws? Strictly based on college tape.

 

Speaking for me, you also can't teach height, speed and athleticism. 

 

I think they compare similarly in a lot of that stuff, but Maye's height is going to let him make throws that Howell literally can't.

 

I think Howell actually has better mechanics. Which is why I think Maye's upside is so high. His technique isn't great... but that is teachable.