Nothing irrelevant about the fact that Saquon Barkley's athletic profile, production compared to situation and work ethic put's him in the discussion as a top 5 pick, compared to Dalvin Cook's athletic profile, production compared to situation and character flags put him out of the first round discussion. There is no measurement available to suggest that Dalvin Cook is better than Saquon Barkley. None.
Stanton is on the right side of .500 for his winning percentage, so that's a plus. The guy also played solid a fully functional knee, so you have that. Not quite Kindred playing his senior year with a broke collar bone, but pretty significant from a leadership perspective for a qb.
I understand that you wouldn't want either of these options, but I think this is probably the decision that the Browns are going to make at #1. If you had to choose, would it be safe to assume that you would prefer Darnold?
I was being genuine, actually. I'd prefer Saquon Barkley to the wrong QB choice at #1. In my eyes, both Darnold and Allen are the wrong choice. Darnold is a slightly better version of DeShone Kizer. Josh Allen is a significantly worse version of DeShone Kizer.
^^^^^ So if you're asking what the rankings look like, yes... Darnold is ranked above Allen. But they're both distantly behind Mayfield, Rosen, and even Lamar Jackson.
I agree he is locked into the top 6, but Mayfield is locked into the top 3 imho...Darnold as well. Sheer need will draw a suitor for all of these QBs, higher than they probably should be. 6' 3/8" will not be enough of a deterrent, imho, to keep Mayfield from being either the first or second QB chosen.
@Tim... also... how has that percentage changed from mid-season or even pre-season? Sam Darnold has been the consensus top pick from the media since his freshman bowl game against Penn State. On the flip side, most people within the actual NFL have never had him rated that highly from what I've read (I obviously don't have any contacts). Darnold was 100-percent the lock pre-2017... and now it's only 65-percent?
I can't see Baker anywhere in the top 4. He could possibly go to Denver at 5, but I think it's more likely that he ends up in the 10-12 range or a touch later.
For the same reasons that a guy like Mahomes (or Mayfield) is considered a third round pick early on, only to see their stock sky rocket as the process moves forward. When players move up the board and get themselves in the mix for the best available at their position, the guys that were the original consensus #1 start to lose some of their value. As more information becomes available a players stock will rise and fall in degrees. It's really rare that a guy is considered the top pick of the draft at the beginning of the year and remains that high without seeing some question marks or other candidates get involved in the discussion.
All due respect Tim...and I do value your opinions extremely high when it comes to discussing rookie prospects...I don't think you are giving Mayfield enough credit in where he is valued in this process. I think he is very much in, and probably leading, the discussion for #1 overall. I don't believe the media is giving him any respect, and analytically he is at a disadvantage for any system that takes measurements into account, depending on the weight it is given. But taking out his height, there are so many aspects that he leads ALL prospects in, and other aspects where others are ahead of him, but he is 2nd our 3rd and others are only leading in 1-2 categories, then a major drop off in other categories. He doesn't have a major drop off in anything other than height. There isn't a major hole in his game...every other prospect has that thing that you just have to question...Mayfield's is height and cockiness. Neither of which do I personally see as a detriment in this particular case...I can't always say that, but not in this case.
I understand that you believe that, and you have your reasons. I think drastically different in this case. I had Watson as the #1 overall QB of last year's draft class, but didn't expect him to go any higher than where he did at #12...I certainly didn't expect two QBs to go before him, yet it's always a possibility. I am notoriously hard on QBs. I have a personal opinion that a QB can set a team back as much as a good one can help a team make enormous strides. This season, I see Mayfield as the best prospect to come out since Andrew Luck, which plants him firmly in my top 3 overall of his class, regardless if I have 4 other players rated higher than him overall. QB is a trump card, and in this case, I feel he should easily be the #1 overall pick. Regardless, with so many teams jockeying for a QB in the top 4 picks, I expect Mayfield to go either first or second among QBs and I expect it to happen in the top 3 picks.
Chad Pennington went ahead of Tom Brady, Lamar Miller went 4th round while T Rich went #3 overall....Cook avgd 6.5 yds per touch in his brief rookie year...I dont care what you say....to say Cook doesnt belong in the same sentence w Barkley is hilarious Cook 4,188 yds from scrimmage last 2 yrs w 40 TDs Barkley 3,801 yds from scrimmage last 2 yrs w 43 TDs I guess Im wrong here lol
You are, because you think in shallow terms. Compare offensive lines, quarterbacks, receivers, other backs on the roster and how often the defense put the prospect back on the field, then compare the competition they played against in the vacuum of the exact situation player by player. There is no measurement available to suggest that Dalvin Cook is a better prospect than Saquon Barkley. None.
I think it's much easier for people to view it that way when they take out some of the decision making process that GMs, coaches and scouts will still use when considering which quarterback to take at the top of the draft. There will be jobs on the line with these decisions, so deviating too far from regular NFL norms will be something that the collective will want to hedge their bets against. Mayfield's size will be a factor on draft day. I think both yourself and SAS have put up really good arguments over the last couple months as to why it shouldn't be, but it's going to be really difficult for a GM to make that call knowing that his time behind the desk could get cut extremely short if he takes what will be considered somewhat of a gamble high in the draft and they don't work out. Cleveland is connected to most of the quarterbacks at the top to some degree, but no two more so than Darnold or Allen. The Jets wanted to position themselves to get one of three, but it's likely they will get the very next QB available as the Giants appear to be poised to take Barkley. That puts the Jets on at three with what looks like a solid connection to Allen. If Cleveland doesn't trade out of #4, Mayfield is already out of the top 4. If the Bills trade up, then they will have the decision of Mayfield or Rosen, and again, it's very possible that if they view them equally that size would win out. Mayfield has done some great things at Oklahoma and has put out some solid tape, but at the end of the day I wouldn't be surprised if he was drafted a bit later than what a lot of people believe he will be, based mainly on predetermined bias within the league.
FSU had a porous OL over his career....any guys get drafted and pan out? Our best WR drafted was KB but then it was Rashad Greene..yes he played w Winston....Cook is an animal and has game speed....not worried bout his 40 time when I watched him explode through holes vs the fastest teams in the ACC and around the country
His 40 time is not the entirety of his athletic profile. There has not been a running back selected in the NFL draft in the first round in 16 years that had as poor of a combine as Dalvin Cook.
And he still exploded on the scene w eye popping #s in his first few games...started over a vet in Murray and McKinnon, who according to Shanahan will be a workhorse in the run and pass game
And ended up with the same type of production working in Minnesota's offense as quarterback converted to running back that never had the support of the coaching staff.
Btw, Im in total agreement about Mayfield...I dont even think his name comes up w being the #1 pick...Darnold, Rosen and Allen are in the discussion for the Browns
