I've gone over each of every team's selections several times, and while I obviously like some better than others, I realized this morning that I really don't hate any of them. Last season, there were a handful of rookie hauls that I just didn't feel really good about immediately after the draft (I think CAR, WAS and JAC were on the list), but I really don't have that kind of gut reaction this season. All in all, I think everyone improved their roster in necessary areas, with some handling a little better than others, but no one completely fucking it up, IMO.
Im hearing split opinions on this years draft, even from members here on the 'L4SN', but what is your personal take on the talent level of this years draft... was it a deep or just a Round 1 or 2 type of thing? Personally, I thought the draft was loaded with talent on both sides of the ball with a slight edge to the offensive side. Im not a dig deep kinda guy, but what was at the surface in this layman's eyes, seemed pretty damn good.
I kind of feel like it's solid throughout the majority of 6 rounds and then there is a steeper drop off. There are players that I like that went late. I consider KT Leveston a steal where he was taken, but there's also some names in there that seem like long shots to make the roster.
@Campbell , what is your opinion of the Steelers draft. I wasn’t thrilled about it but I don’t know a lot about some of the picks. I wanted Xavier Worthy because stretching the field can make your offense move the ball on the ground too. Mahomes to Worthy is going to get the Chiefs into Patriot games.
49ers stand out to me and maybe even the Titans as drafts I don't really like. Both teams reached often IMO in the early rounds. Gray pick was solid IMO though. 49ers seemed set on taking a WR round 1 but I felt they ended up reaching on CB and WR because of the order they picked. I'm not a fan of either prospect from the 1st two rounds. Titans probably reached on both picks too although DT is much shallower of a pool. I'm not sure if he'll have a character issue or not but Sweat still seemed a little high to me even if you discount that. He just looks like an early round 3 guy to me. But he was the 3rd of 4 DTs taken in 5 picks so I see the urgency.
The addition of Laiatu and Mitchell might just be enough for the Colts to make noise in the South, so long as Richardson comes back 100% to start the season. Indianapolis will be one of the more entertaining teams to watch this season, IMO.
Then they will have to pay him or watch him walk. Maybe they should have already extended him because the price seems to always go up if you wait.
I can see them extending him to a deal that works for both the team and Najee, or at least that’s my hope. Maybe something along the lines of a 3 year, 26.25 mil (8.75 year); it would put him as the 7th highest paid guy (based on 2024 contracts). If he does thrive in this offense, some team is probably throwing 10.5+ at him if he hits FA next year.
I think that would be a wise move by the Steelers and I still dont know what the market holds for RB's not named McCaffrey, but with Najee's past stats and the Steelers new-look offense, having him around is a no-brainer imo. Great running back play helps the QB's immensely and provides play-action-fake, keeps defenses honest and all kinds of cool stuff.
The problem is, is Najee really an elite player? Could be, but we may never know. He finished at the top of the middle 3rd of the league last year. He was the 12th best RB in 2023... Jaylen Warren, an undrafted free agent, had a better ypc average behind the same offensive line, two years in a row. If they decide to split carries between the two backs, neither are getting 1,400 yards without an injury to the other. If they continue the way it is and Warren once again has a better ypc average, the Steelers would more likely replace him with another draft pick in 2025 rather than pay him $8M+ per year salary.
Najee’s fifth year option was around 6.7 million. Why would the Steelers not pick it up if they were going to extend him for 8 million a year? They don’t want to pay 6.7 they ain’t going that high. Warren will be the starter before they pay Najee more than 5 million a season.
I see the logic you painted and I really cant argue against it. A 2-back attack is a very highly needed, almost necessary component to winning and the pressure it can take off a QB is nice luxury to have. Each has different attributes and talents to bring to the offense pending on the on-field situations. Drafting RB replacements may not be all that easy, its a huge gamble. But like I said, good points you made.
But, that seems to be the new NFL. When Carolina can have it's pick of RBs with the 42nd pick, in the second round, I don't see too many RBs in the NFL getting the $6M+ per year contracts. There will still be 5-8 guys that will garner top contracts, then the rest of the pack will be struggling to get a contract because they aren't producing enough to not be replaced by a cheaper rookie version. There were 19 RBs taken in the draft, 6 more are considered highly rated UDFAs. The Eagles and Bills are the only teams to grab 2, (1) in the draft and (1) in UDFA. So, 23 teams have a shiny new RB added to their roster from the 2024 rookie pool. That's pretty significant, I would say. Meanwhile, veteran players like Cam Akers, Kareem Hunt (consistent but older at 28) and Damien Harris (two years removed from a 15 TD season, injuries last two seasons). What do they all have in common? They all have a higher career ypc than Najee.. Cam Akers age 24 4.0 Kareem Hunt age 28 4.3 ypc Damien Harris age 27 4.6 ypc Najee Harris age 26 3.9 ypc This league is no longer seeing the 5.0 ypc RB, when they do, they take care of them... The Najee Harris' of the world, can easily be replaced.
Defenses schemed differently for those two up until the last 4-5 games last year. Once Warren started seeing 8 man boxes, he started fumbling.
I always enjoy the post-draft stories like this. Tho the idea that the Giants were prepared to plan for life after Jones should surprise no one. That said if i was a Giants fan id still consider it a + that management was thinking this way. The report says the Giants’ offer was the No. 6 overall pick and their 2025 first-round pick, while the Vikings’ offer was the No. 11 and No. 23 overall picks and their 2025 first-round pick, for the No. 3 pick and two mid-round picks. That is a very generous offer on the Giants part. Assuming its true, very interesting that the Patriots would turn that down. Thoughts: - We know the Giants will have had Maye > McCarthy because having missed out on Maye they didnt just take McCarthy at #6. Assuming of course they weren't trying to move up to #3 for Penix(lololololol). But not taking McCarthy at all suggest the Giants had quite a gap in that rating. It re-enforces my feeling pre-draft that the McCarthy talk got way out of hand. The click-baiters really had a field day with that one. - Maye got relatively little love in the run-up. It was weird how little. Writers were lining up to put McCarthy > Maye but it seems multiple NFL teams didnt see it that way. Its arguable that the principle of high ceiling > high floor when at the top of the draft seems to have prevailed. - Offering a 2025 1st rounder to get from #6 to #3 is a pretty massive overpay. The book says the Giants 3rd rounder was almost exact equal value. Factoring in the QB tax it obvs wasnt, but the Giants 2nd rounder still should've been tempting in its own right. That the Giants were prepared to overpay this much tells us they were very keen to have a post-Jones plan. They also had a probable clear gap between the top3 QBs and the rest. It could also offer a commentary on what the Giants think of the 2025 QB class, tho i cant speak with any authority on that. - Again, assuming the report is true, the Patriots decision to turn down the Giants offer is fascinating. They could've gotten a big ass price for their pick. Clearly the Pats were all in on the concept of a QB with their first pick cos if an offer like the Giants one couldn't move them off the pick its hard to imagine what would, realistically. Maybe the Pats just LOVE Maye. It does suggest however that the Pats & Giants had a similar analysis of much of this QB class. - Other than being rated below Maye(obvs), its hard to say exactly what the Pats felt about McCarthy. Maybe they had no interest, maybe they had lots of interest after Maye. But the fact is trading down to #6 in the hope of landing the 4th QB would've been enormously risky for the Pats. They would've been wide open to a sniping involving the Chargers and they would've already known from their phonecall with the Vikings that they were trying to move up. The concept of the 5th QB(Penix) at #6 clearly held no interest for them. - So the Pats decision was a pretty simple one: Stick with plan A(QB), or take the big trade payment and move to plan B(no QB with first pick). If the Pats had gone with Plan B they would've been sure of landing either the No.2 WR or No.1 OL, both positions of big need in their own right. They also would've had an almost certain top10 overall pick next season. It prob doesnt turn out as well as it did for the Bears when they pulled this move, but its well within the realms of possibility that the Pats could've picked up a top 3-5 overall pick in the 2025 draft. In addition to their own which is also likely top 10 or higher. Bottom line: The Pats turned down a fuckload with this decision. - Having turned down the trade we know that one of these is likely very true. The Pats really liked Maye, or really didnt like the 2025 draft class,or both. It would be very interesting to hear what people think about the 2025 QB class, because that variable casts a long shadow over all of this. People were talking about Caleb Williams from way out. I dont think there's a guy like that in the '25 class tho i could be wrong. EDIT: I realise i didnt even get round to the Vikings. Well, any deal involving two 3rd/4th rounders, even if it was spread over 2 drafts, would've been a complete non starter to me. Given what was on the table from the Giants the phonecall with the Vikings would've been a short one, likely involving some laughing down the line.
