The 2023 Draft - Hindsight Picks

[skinzplay]

I always enjoy the pre-draft musings that you guys post here; it's some damn good stuff. I dare say that you'd be a lot better in a FO than some of the guys we have in ours (and certainly better than RR). The major problem, though, is that even if we had picked some of the players mentioned in this thread, they would used (more like misused) in a way that negates any potential positive impact for our team or for their own development. 

[Warhead36]

50 minutes ago, Going Commando said:

 

He was about as dominant as a corner can possibly be.  Two sacks, nine tackles, some of them big time plays in the open field at the LoS, and a pick six.  That was one of the best games I've ever seen a rookie corner have, and it struck me how much better their defensive coaching is than ours.  I know he's better than Forbes period, but when you've got two players drafted near each other at the beginning of their careers, and one guy looks like an All Pro out of the box and the other looks like he's about to get benched, coaching is the difference.

 

It's not just Forbes I'm concerned with either.  Martin has struggled too, and Forrest and Butler have both regressed big time.

They were not drafted near each other. Not even close. Witherspoon was taken #5 overall and was the consensus best CB in the draft(no worse than 2nd behind Gonzalez who inexplicably fell). Forbes was never thought of that highly until reports came out about how much we liked him in the last days leading up to the draft. He was seen as a late 1st rounder type prospect during most of the process.

 

Witherspoon is a stud, but we had no chance at getting him, so I wouldn't fret about it too much.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Warhead36

[HTTSkins]

We always whiff on picks…Forbes is a good one but other than that other teams make a splash somewhere 

[Koolblue13]

I can't wait to see who are next GM is and what they do. I'm so ready to see this team run right. RonMart built a solid foundation.

[Stihl89]

18 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

 RonMart built a solid foundation.

Have they? I mean what they built is largely unsigned for the future 

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

 

 

[skinzplay]

Come on SIP, we got a long snapper, man. Our FO rolls like none other.

[NoVaSkins21]

This team should've gone OL in the 2nd round as they should have last year.  They also should've drafted a MLB, a position that has been lacking for years during Rivera's tenure

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

On 10/5/2023 at 1:59 PM, skinzplay said:

Come on SIP, we got a long snapper, man. Our FO rolls like none other.

 

The sad part of it is we traded two picks to make it happen, giving a future draft pick to a division rival.  How many times has Ron traded down to get a pick the following season -- zero.  The future is now.  He's killed it versus the Eagles approach.  😢

Edited October 10, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

 

[srtman04]

48 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

 

 

Unfortunately, V

Christian Gonzalez is already out for the season.  He may be injury prone.  I think he was hurt leading up to the draft as well. 

[Warhead36]

Banks was the guy I wanted if we had to go CB in round 1(not knowing Gonzalez would be available and rightfully assuming Witherspoon would be long gone).

[Skinsinparadise]

1 hour ago, Warhead36 said:

Banks was the guy I wanted if we had to go CB in round 1(not knowing Gonzalez would be available and rightfully assuming Witherspoon would be long gone).

 

Me, too at the time

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[Voice_of_Reason]

On 10/4/2023 at 8:06 AM, Koolblue13 said:

RonMart built a solid foundation.

Eh. 

 

2020 Draft:

Young - might be gone

Gibson - probably gone

Saahdiq Charles - FA, probably gone

Antonio Gandy-Golden - Gone

Keith Ismael - Gone

Khaleke Hudson - FA, maybe depth

Kamren Curl - Very good, FA. 

James Smith Williams - Good but replaceable, FA

 

2021:

Jamin Davis - Meh.  

Samuel Cosmi - Ok, sometimes good.

Benjamin St.-Juste - Ok, sometimes good

Dyami Brown - Ok, rarely good

Jon Bates - Very good at blocking.  

Darrick Forrest - Looked good last year, but meh this year.  Jury's out.

Camaron Cheeseman - Meh at best

William Bradley-King - Ok depth, replaceable

Shaka Toney - Ok depth, replaceable

Dax Milne - Best catch he's made has been Zach Wilson's ex.  She's fine.  

 

2022:

Jahan Dotson - Good, needs to be better.

Phidarian Mathis - Needs to play more than 10 snaps in career

Brian Robinson Jr. - Very good

Percy Butler - Clueless

Sam Howell - Looks like the gem of the Ron Rivera Era

Cole Turner - Disappeared again

Chris Paul - Ok, replaceable

Christian Holmes - Ok, replaceable

 

2023 - Basically too early to tell, but the only one who has played has been Forbes and he's been wretched.

 

The notable FAs:

Logan Thomas (2020) has been good.  

Leno?

Lucas?

Gates?

Curtis Samuel - Will be a FA

 

I mean, what there was to really like about the roster was the DL, both starters and depth, the secondary, assuming Fuller, St. Juste and Forbes were going to be good + Curl and Forrest.  That's where "it's a good roster" came from.  The whole unit could be replaced by Chantilly High School's JV team and might have as much luck as these twits.  And while I think there's a lot on coaching, it's not all on coaching.  

 

I think they need to blow the whole thing up from the foundation.  

 

Allen

Payne

McLaurin

Dotson

Howell

 

Keep those 5.  Partially because you have to due to contract situations.  Everybody else, meh, replaceable or is a FA.  

[KDawg]

I was still okay with the Forbes pick but he wouldn’t have been who I even would have remotely thought about taking. His size concerned me.

 

I wouldn’t have gone CB in the first. The position was so deep you could grab a guy later.

 

It feels dirty to say, but I probably would have gone Jack Campbell. Anton Harrison, Myles Murphy, Nolan Smith and Sam LaPorta (who I loved) would have been my main considerations. LaPorta via trade back.

 

Harrison would have been questionable but when you’re looking at the draft OL talent it fell off a cliff after he came off the board. At least at OT.

 

In the second I’d have grabbed Mauch or Torrence no matter what I did in the first. And if I was in the 7th and Ivan Pace was on the board he would have been the pick.

 

But I can’t sit here and say I was adamantly opposed to Forbes. I love his potential and his knack for always being around the ball… but his size was always a concern for me and so far it has been a detriment. We’ll see how he develops. 
 

Hopefully next year we take the best players available and use some strategy in the draft.

[Voice_of_Reason]

21 minutes ago, KDawg said:

wouldn’t have gone CB in the first. The position was so deep you could grab a guy later.

I know nothing about players in the draft.  
 

I was calling for a whole scale firing of everyone when we went CB in the first.  
 

I had no idea who Forbes was.  Or really anybody.  
 

Bur going defense in the first AGAIN was an unforgivable sin.  Doing it again the second was just Ron thumbing his nose at everyone.  
 

Stupid on steroids.  
 

They needed to trade up and grab the best tackle on the board in the first and assuming they had a second draft the best guard or TE on the board in the second.

 

They had to go offense in the first two rounds and they didn’t.  They should all be fired for that alone.  

Edited October 11, 2023 by Voice_of_Reason

[NoVaSkins21]

2 hours ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

I know nothing about players in the draft.  
 

I was calling for a whole scale firing of everyone when we went CB in the first.  
 

I had no idea who Forbes was.  Or really anybody.  
 

Bur going defense in the first AGAIN was an unforgivable sin.  Doing it again the second was just Ron thumbing his nose at everyone.  
 

Stupid on steroids.  
 

They needed to trade up and grab the best tackle on the board in the first and assuming they had a second draft the best guard or TE on the board in the second.

 

They had to go offense in the first two rounds and they didn’t.  They should all be fired for that alone.  

Agreed completely.  I would say OL in the first two rounds.  They thought that Forbes college play would automatically translate over to the NFL like a Madden video game.  Never mind that he needs the proper coaching which he doesn't have now.   

Edited October 11, 2023 by NoVaSkins21

[Koolblue13]

I wanted  Nolan Smith then JMS in the first or another OL in the first and second. TE in the 3rd and pass rushing LBer in the 4rth and then I would have taken my shot at secondary players.

 

We knew it was going to be CB in the first though and then the draft went off the rails. I like Strom in the 3rd and think he'll be a good starter, but we put off OL until the big run was over and then sat our of TE and LBer completely, despite it being a great draft for both.

[Skinsinparadise]

he was on my guys list, I never understood why he didn't get more hype.

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Skinsinparadise

[Stihl89]

On 10/10/2023 at 8:08 PM, Voice_of_Reason said:

I know nothing about players in the draft.  
 

I was calling for a whole scale firing of everyone when we went CB in the first.  
 

I had no idea who Forbes was.  Or really anybody.  
 

Bur going defense in the first AGAIN was an unforgivable sin.  Doing it again the second was just Ron thumbing his nose at everyone.  
 

Stupid on steroids.  
 

They needed to trade up and grab the best tackle on the board in the first and assuming they had a second draft the best guard or TE on the board in the second.

 

They had to go offense in the first two rounds and they didn’t.  They should all be fired for that alone.  

I wanted offense pick one but there wasn’t really an option to go. They weren’t taking a WR again. The tackles were off the board. As was Bijan. No guard or TE. 
 

So pretty much everyone was a reach. Should have traded down but based on what was available the best value pick was a CB. Personally think 1st rounders should only go to the premier positions of QB LT WR CB Edge. Trade down otherwise.
 

They just picked the wrong one stupidly. Think they were honestly surprised Gonzo fell and didn’t do enough homework on him. 

[Warhead36]

6 minutes ago, Stihl89 said:

I wanted offense pick one but there wasn’t really an option to go. They weren’t taking a WR again. The tackles were off the board. As was Bijan. No guard or TE. 
 

So pretty much everyone was a reach. Should have traded down but based on what was available the best value pick was a CB. Personally think 1st rounders should only go to the premier positions of QB LT WR CB Edge. Trade down otherwise.
 

They just picked the wrong one stupidly. Think they were honestly surprised Gonzo fell and didn’t do enough homework on him. 

Two things happened:

 

1. They wanted to trade up for Darnell Wright or Lukas Van Ness. Either the price was too high, the player wasn’t available, or someone beat them to it.

 

2. They were fixated on Forbes and were shocked Gonzalez was available and like you said simply didnt do the homework on him. 

[DWinzit]

^^^ It felt like they did not have a full board for the pick. They were ill-prepared for the most important three day event of the year

Edited October 21, 2023 by DWinzit

[Koolblue13]

32 minutes ago, DWinzit said:

^^^ It felt like they did not have a full board for the pick. They were ill-prepared for the most important three day event of the year

Especially day three it just felt like it spiraled completely away from them. 

[Going Commando]

Anton Harrison was the only OL in the vicinity of 16, and he hasn't been very good this year.  He's playing with way better backfield talent than we have, and next to Scherff too, and still struggling.  He'd be getting criticized and written off here.

 

The truth is Dawand is probably the only rookie OL that could have significantly helped us right away, and I wish we had picked him.  But I understand why we didn't.  What are you supposed to do when a player cancels a critical visit with you and essentially tells you he doesn't want to play for you?  You get in trouble when you draft/sign guys who don't want to be here.

 

And as far as CB goes, Gonzalez is out for the year.  He wouldn't have helped us either, and if we had picked him, we'd be lamenting not taking Joey Porter just the same.  But even he has only played 86 snaps so far, and hasn't been a breakout star.

 

I don't think the hindsight is clear at all on what we should have done yet.  I wanted Bryan Bresee but he'd have had trouble getting snaps in a deep IDL rotation here.  The answer is probably going to end up being Myles Murphy, but there is still a chance we keep Chase Young or Montez Sweat (or both).

[Conn]

It doesn’t matter that he’s out for the year, Gonzalez was obviously the better pick there and most thought so at the time. Nothing done in that draft was saving this regime but it sucks they screwed over the next one.