2021 GMO Draft - UDFA

I felt like I was forced to rely on the draft for replacement players that would start sooner than later. The Steelers had no cap room and even with Pouncey and McDonald retiring, and cutting Ben, I still barely got under the cap. Free agency was out of the question. I'll pick up some later if they're cheap.

I hope the Steelers cap is better next year so I can dabble in the free agent market.

I had a great time though and I'll keep working the team.

 

So true - especially in this exercise, where you really have to take it in the context of what you did in free agency and with the cap.

 

Titans are OTC


Thanks Lyman......you guys are way ahead of schedule.....(9 hours)

I wanted to Pick Travis Etienne RB from Clemson.....but that DAMN Lyman took him in RD 2.....lol
Then I wanted Tre Brown CB from Oklahoma...........GONE

I'm finding this last Round very difficult to pick.....so to save time and energy could you Please make an AUTO-Pick for the Titans.

Thank you........my house has Sold and I'm closing the deal this morning....very busy right now and I'm off to the Bank.

I appreciate all your help in this Draft.....Lyman and Truth....Thank You.

 

Congratulations on the sale, VV !

 

Thanks Torgo...........The Market has gone through the roof because of Covid and it was a great time to sell.

I can relax and retire and buy a Round of Beers.

 

the TITANS select;

a WATER BOY

 

TB Buccaneers, standing by...

 

As promised:

My Draft Board:

Even though I’m retired, I don’t have either the time nor the inclination to watch film on upwards of 500 college players. And, if I did, my wife would probably field dress me in the garage.

There are people (sites) that do this for a living and are much better qualified to evaluate a player than am I. So I find a site that ranks every draft eligible player from 1 to 500+. Let’s call this “Site A”. I copy/paste this 500+ player ranking into a spreadsheet.

Then I go out and find “Site B” and copy their rankings into the same spreadsheet. This is where it becomes tedious in entering Site B’s ranking along side of Site A’s ranking for the same player. Rinse and repeat for “Site C”.

What I end up with is three separate rankings for most of the players. I then calculate the average of the 3 rankings for each player. Keep in mind, some of these players end up with only 1 or 2 rankings. So I weight the average by multiplying those with 3 averages by 1, those with 2 averages by 1.2 and those with only 1 ranking by 1.4. My thinking is, if one or more of those sites didn’t even rank a player, then that player should be ranked lower than those that were ranked by all three. Let’s call this result the “Adjusted Average”.

Now it’s just a matter of sorting the entire list by the Adjusted Average and assigning an O/A ranking of 1 through 500+. (I can also sort by position and assign a positional ranking)

 

Patriots summary

Pressing needs:
a starting QB
legitimate NFL caliber pass catchers
improved front 7 on D

Goals going into FA (and how/if they were met):
find a capable veteran QB so I wouldn't have to force one in the draft (#1 target was Jimmy G, emphatically rebuffed, inquired about pretty much any QB that might possibly be available, ended up trading for D. Carr)
sign 2 starting WR's and a starting TE (Juju, C. Samuel, and Jonnu)
sign a legitimate run-stopping DT (D. Tomlinson)
add an edge defender that fits the scheme (M. Milano, also brought back Van Noy after release)
re-sign at least one of Joe Thuney and David Andrews (got both)
re-sign James White, Lawrence Guy, and Nick Folk (got the first two, signed Prater instead of Folk)
re-sign at least one of Adam Butler and Deatrich Wise (got Butler)
re-sign as many core ST players as possible (Bethel, C. Davis, Calhoun, Copeland, Burkhead, plus added Pringle
try to go into the draft without any glaring holes on the roster (pretty close to where I wanted to be...didn't feel like I had to draft any certain position)

Draft
1.11 Trey Lance, QB, NDSU. Plan going in was to hope either Kwity Paye or Rashawn Slater was on the board at 15, or possibly move up a couple spots to ensure I got one of them, or else hope either Surtain or Horn slid through. When the expected early run on QB's didn't happen, the calculus changed. I tried to trade up to 1.09 for Lance but that didn't work out, Denver surprised me by going with Jones, and when Lance was still on the board at 11 I was able to execute a trade with the Giants to get him.

3.14 Elijah Moore, WR, Ole Miss. Planned target with the 3rd rounder I picked up on the Lance deal was Tay Gowan. With Moore still sitting there, even with adding two starting WR's in FA, I felt it was just too much value to pass up and made another move up.

3.33 Payton Turner, DE, Houston. This was my targeted player with this pick. Bit of a late bloomer and some level of competition concerns but he's a perfect fit athletically and physically for a Pats edge player. Chandler Jones type potential, IMO.

3.40 Spencer Brown, OT, Northern Iowa. I know Belichick will never draft this many small school guys, but this was another player I felt was a perfect fit physically with what the Pats look for at OT, so I made another trade up because I didn't feel he would last until my 4th round pick. With one more cheap year of Isaiah Wynn, Brown can basically take a redshirt and then compete for the starting LT spot in 2022.

4.27 Milton Williams, DL, Louisiana Tech. Another trade up and another smaller school guy with high end athletic traits. Couldn't believe he was still on the board, he was neck and neck with Brown for me at the end of the 3rd. With Tomlinson, Guy, and Butler around he doesn't need to play right away but has serious game-wrecker potential and think he could fit playing on the end in the Pats' scheme, as well.

5.14 Thomas Graham, Jr., CB, Oregon. This is more of a Belichick type pick. Solid player, does his job, good production at a Power 5 school. Should probably go a little higher but between the opt out and lack of great long speed this wouldn't surprise me, either.

6.11 Justin Hilliard, LB, Ohio St. Kinda surprised with the plethora of Ohio folks around here and with Browning and Werner off the board that Hilliard was still here. I had Elerson Smith rated a little higher here but since I'd already taken Turner and Williams decided to go with Hilliard here and hope I could convert my two remaining 7th's into a 6th to add Smith. Didn't work out but that's OK...I mean there's zero chance BB would ever take two guys from NIU in the same draft, right?

7.01 Reed Blankenship, S, Middle Tenn. St. Oh here we go back to the small school guys...I love Blankenship's game...think with a year to learn from Devin McCourty he and Kyle Dugger could make a nice safety duo going forward.

7.15 Kene Nwangwu, RB/KR, Iowa State. As I mentioned earlier I was hoping at least one of Brenden Jaimes or David Moore would be here but both went between 7.01 and here. Considered Demetric Felton (whom the Pats have met with but seemed a little superfluous with Samuel and E. Moore already on board, and possibly even J.J. Taylor when thinking about Felton as a COP RB) and a couple other guys that are still undrafted here, but felt like Nwangwu's size as a RB and special teams prowess fit the Pats GMO roster construction a little better. And we know how much Bill loves his ST demons.

I'm pretty happy with how this went.

 

And this accounts for your uncanny ability to select someone BUF coveted. My ranking strategy largely followed your approach. The biggest difference is that your approach was a bit more refined than mine.

 

My Draft Board; as I am sniped constantly.

 

For our 1st and only Auto-Pick of the draft . . . .

Deangelo Malone, EDGE - Western Kentucky

 

Bucs are OTC

@Willie

 

the TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS select last, but not least...

Damon Hazelton - WR - Missouri


the end

 

Good job, Gentlemen!

@Lyman and @Tim and @RTTRUTH Thanks for your hard work and dedication. Now fix me a sandwich, Im starved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Rather than weighting, my version of the adjusted average is that the guys who don't make the top 350 for any given site all get an arbitrary number such as 375 or 400. Or in your case, if you really are going to 500 on three different lists, put in something like 525 for anyone not ranked in the top 500. That lets you eliminate the weighting factors.

 

(I'm about to make TopDawg a very happy person.)

I suspect now is as good a time as any to let you all know that I'm retiring from the GMO. Hopefully you can muster a full slate of participants next year.

 

Have a heart. At least give him a cheerleader...

 

Ya underdog Smith went just 3 picks later. I get that strategy though where you pass on a guy you like more so you can get both south since you think you can get both if you swap the order. I've done it more than a couple times in the past.

 

Really solid breakdown UD. The Turner pick really is interesting. His projections are all over the place. And the tape I've found on him didn't exactly let me come up with a concrete vision of my own as to what he'll become. He's got his share of athleticism. Has some flashes where he looks like a breakout candidate, but also goes missing periodically on drives. It's hard to say what he will ultimately become, but IMO not at all out of the realm of possibility that he goes a bit higher in the real deal in April than you grabbed him here.

I'm pretty intrigued by Blankenship also. I should look into his testing times. The tape is pretty good, and littered with turnovers. Small school competition mind you. But still leaves you wanting to see more. Tough to judge his athleticism though, at least to anything concrete. I'm guessing between 70th-80th percentile