True, but they have no 4th, 5th, or 6th round picks. Trading back with the Rams, who own a shitload of picks, they can still get a great player. I think the production of players had a lot to do with team grades, best example I can give you is Emmanuel Forbes.
When was the last time the Steelers drafted a DB that high? Who would the Rams target? Will Levis maybe?
Chris Ballard on pre-draft negative stories about players: “It’s bullshit” Every year, the days and weeks preceding the draft include a flurry of negative stories about certain players. This year, the guy who got the brunt of it was quarterback C.J. Stroud. Last night, Colts G.M. Chris Ballard took a deliberate left turn from comments about his first-round selection, quarterback Anthony Richardson, to offer a “sidebar” about this dynamic. “I get frustrated,” Ballard told reporters. “All the crap that comes out about these kids. It’s crap. Like, it’s bullshit. I’m sorry, but it’s bullshit. Like people that leak these stories, these negative stories on kids. I just don’t — I don’t agree with it. It’s bullshit. “These guys work their ass off to get where they need to be, and then all week you’ve got to read . . . and then they’ve got to answer questions. So, anyway, not on Anthony it’s on some other kids int the draft that are good kids, and I thought had to take a little bit of a beating that they shouldn’t have had to take.” Ballard didn’t name names, but Stroud is obviously the guy he was referring to. Someone wanted him to fall. Someone tried to make it happen, to knock the Texans wobbly at No. 2. It didn’t work. But if the snowball had started to roll, who knows what would have happened? It could have continued, beyond five and 10 and who knows how far? Good for Ballard to speak up. Too many scouts and coaches spread bullshit in order to get a player they love to slide. Too many agents do it to get their client taken before someone else’s client. Too many media step right into the bullshit bear trap without realizing they’re being used. It will never end completely. The goal is to get people to understand why it happens, and to maybe get it to happen less often. PFT ____________ _______________________ I tip my cap to Mr. Ballard for stating this like it is and I agree 100%. CJ Stroud said it best when he said. Im not a test taker Im a football player. I dont really care if a player can tie his own fucking shoes, if he can play, thats the bottom line for me. The stuff some writers and web-sites report is border-line 'defamation of character' and is when taken out of context completely stupid and liable actually. We all and especially GM's, coaches and those paid professionals have to use discernment constantly to read between the lines and sift the BS out from all the reports that come out there. On the other hand some reports can be useful if they are absolute truth and deal with a specific issue, but to slam a 'kid' basically because he had a low test score doesnt mean shit to me if i were a GM or an employer. Can you perform and win, thats the bottom line, period.
Until I started really looking at the Bears roster after the draft started, I would have said Skoronski.
So dumb. If it was someone like Rui Hachimura and the flowers were sakura then I'd be fine but that was ridiculous.
I said last night that I wondered if the Falcons were trying to move back up into the back end of the first round. PFT is reporting that yes, they seriously tried to move up. No word on who their target would have been. My guess is that it would have been someone like Avila to plug that hole at left guard. They're almost at the point where if they do get that instant starter at left guard, the entire roster is essentially complete. With Bijan, I'm happy to have him on board. That's not what I disliked about the pick. It's more that they were likely the ONLY team that would have even thought about taking a RB in the top 12. They had the opportunity to move down - making the deal with Philadelphia that the Bears made one pick later, for example - and left it on the table. Otherwise, the biggest revelation of taking Bijan in the first is that new GM Terry Fontenot does indeed take an approach to the first round that is more BPA than pure need-based. After 13 drafts with Dimitroff passing up better players to take top position needs like a shopping list, this is wonderful to see. That wasn't clear until now because Kyle Pitts was the BPA and also filled a top need, while last year's team needed everything so need-based. This one settled it. Whether Bijan was the very best player on the board vs the top guys at other positions isn't an even comparison, but he was without a doubt part of the group of top talents on the board. And with Atlanta's running game already being the strength of the offense, it was not a true need. So... Fontenot took more of a BPA approach.
The other amusing thing with the upcoming Atlanta draft picks is that the team is on the verge of running out of room on the projected 53-man roster. The Falcons went on such a big spree in free agency that they've just about completed the shopping list. Fontenot is more likely to go need-based the rest of the way because very soon the extra new picks will simply be bumping out previous picks. I see a clear need for a starting left guard. One more WR would be good. If it was up to me, I'd get one more big plugger for the DL because I don't have confidence that Eddie Goldman will actually play. And then there's room on the bench for a #4 safety - unless backup CBs Darren Hall and Cornell Armstrong cross-train at safety, in which case that extra safety prospect would be destined for the practice squad. After that, the remaining draft picks will be hard pressed to beat out the fringe players from last year for those last roster spots.
Sorry for not being on last night fellas. The podcast I’m part of did a live show last night for the draft so the focus was there. I should be a bit more ascribe this evening.
### The Official Draft Day One Discussion Thread ### Jets fans lost their shit when we jumped them to take Brodker Artie Burns and Terrel Edmunds both meh. Stafford is 35 and dinged up I would say yes to Levis
Dorothy and Toto ride by with their bike every 10 minutes and as long as her and her wicked witch neighbor aren't in the air, it is safe to continue. It is only on the other side of the state line so it isn't that far to KC in Missouri
