2016-2017 NFL Season Thread [Archived] Football • Page 184

arrested again....this time for punching a 70 year old man. clown.

fuck this dude.

 

We all joke, but even 2014 RGIII is, bare minimum, a top 3 QB for the Browns since they returned. It was a summer in Cleveland of celebrating a world championship and not having a QB competition. Strange times on the lake, man.

They actually did pretty well in their first draft this year, but we can't all support teams with draft gurus running the show.

 

Marcus Smith is still on the team and actually has played fairly well this preseason. I cried a few tears of sadness when Danny went to Cleveland because I'm sure his career will be ruined there but thems the breaks.

 

100% healthy huh?

 

I mean, North Dakota. That's the lifestyle in the northern prairies and Canada. Probably wasn't even just hunting for sport.

 

Scouting Marcus Mariota is annoying because half the time his pocket presence is great and half the time it's horrible.

When it's great he actually can be pretty scary. The game against us at home, where they won 42-39 was definitely his best game. Giving it a closer second look yeah the Jags defense played terribly but that's not the whole story, Mariota converted a lot of third downs with really nice decisions. He did not at all look like this most of the year though so it's hard to call it more than potential, he definitely still looks quite awkward in that dropback, play-action vertical offense.

 

Randall posted his 2013/2014 draft grades for the Jags and I'm bored so here are mine for the Panthers.

2013:

Round 1: Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah
Star was at one point a top 3-5 projected pick. His stock dropped a good amount due to concerns over a heart condition. Even after doctors cleared him, teams were hesitant. Luckily, this meant he fell all the way to #14 and made Gettleman's first draft pick as Carolina's GM an easy one. Star had a fantastic rookie season in which he ranked 2nd in run stop percentage among DTs. He was a big part of the defense's resurgence that season. He followed up with another great season in 2014, but he carried a nagging foot injury with him. The following offseason he had surgery on the foot and missed a couple games in the beginning of 2015. After a slow start he returned to form toward the end of the season. He is now completely healthy and is expected to return to his dominant ways in 2016. (A-).

Round 2: Kawann Short, DT, Purdue
Coming into this draft, the Panthers weakest position was easily defensive tackle. And bringing in a new GM in David Gettleman who loves loading up on DL, it was no surprised he double-dipped with another tackle in the second round. Short was projected as a 1st round pick, but like Star his stock fell shortly before the draft. Short's career didn't start off as quickly as Star's but he has since turned into one of the better DTs in the entire league. Him and Star compliment each other so well. In one draft Gettleman turned our weakest position into perhaps our strongest. Short's 2015 season was unreal. He became the first DT to win DPOM twice in one season, and earned 2nd-team all-pro. (A+)

Round 4: Edmund Kugbila, OL, Valdosta State
Kugbila was a disastrous pick. He was plagued by injuries and when he was healthy, he struggled mightily. I've never been a fan of drafting small-school OL and he is a good example of why. With how well the first two picks went in this draft it makes this one easier to swallow, but he never saw the field. Terrible pick. (F).

Round 5: AJ Klein, LB, Iowa State
Klein started his Panthers career as a ST guy but quickly earned a starting role when Chase Blackburn (gross) went down with an injury. Klein has weirdly become a fan-favorite despite never sticking out as a star player. However, he is a solid player and would likely start on most NFL teams. This past season Kuechly went down with a concussion and missed 3 games. Klein started all 3 games and was great. He obviously wasn't Luke, but it's nice to have a guy like Klein who can play all 3 LB positions in case one of your starters goes down. I suspect he will be leaving for a starting role after his contract is up. (B+).

Round 6: Kenjon Barner, RB, Oregon
Late-round RB that never panned out. He saw limited play-time and I don't think he ever won over the coaches. That became apparent when we traded him the following offseason to Philly for a 7th round pick. (D).

Overall: B+

2014:

Round 1: Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State
KB had a fantastic final season at FSU which included the game-winning catch in the National Championship game. He dominated with his size and physical play. However, a lot teams seemed to be turned off by his combined performance and overall athleticism. Gettleman didn't care about the poor workout. After drafting KB, he said "you can't teach size". Benjamin turned out to be a major win. He quickly became Cam's favorite target. He finished the season with over 1K yards and 9 TDs. He also had an amazing catch over both Richard Sherman AND Earl Thomas on the same play. Impressive for a rookie. (A).

Round 2: Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri
Gettleman has made a theme of drafting guys who fall in the draft late in the scouting process. His first two picks in 2013 were examples, as well as his first three picks in this draft. Ealy comes from a school that seems to pump out pass-rushers into the NFL every season. Ealy's career got off to a slow start but he made huge strides in his second season including a monster performance in the SB. Fans are hoping he carries that momentum into 2016. (B).

Round 3: Trai Turner, OG, LSU
Yet another draft day "steal". Despite having a impressive combine (leading all DTs in 40-yad dash, 10-yard split, and 20-yard shuttle), most "experts" were low on Turner because he was so young, and most thought he needed one more season of college ball. Turner proved everyone wrong. He instantly improved our interior line and was a day-1 starter. Turner made the pro-bowl in his second season and ranked as a top 5 OG according to PFF. (A+).

Round 4: Tre Boston, S, UNC
Boston was a CB converted to S at UNC and gradually improved his run defense in his senior season. He has mostly been a depth and ST player but he is expected to be the starter this upcoming season. Boston was never expected to make an impact right away and has shown improvement over his first two seasons. The coaching staff is anticipating somewhat of a breakout season for Boston. Playing behind a dominant front seven will surely help. (B).

Round 5: Bene Benwikere, CB, San Jose State
A ballhawk in college but lacks any eye-popping athleticism. The Panthers traded up to get him, so obviously Gettleman saw something he liked. Bene surprised everyone with a breakout rookie season. He finished the season with a rookie-low 72.9 opposing QBR, allowed 0 TDs, and ranked #3 overall in yards per reception. In his second season Bene slid inside to the nickelback role. He suffered a broken leg late in the season and missed the playoff run. (A+).

Round 6: Tyler Gaffney, RB, Stanford
I loved this pick at the time. Gaffney was one of my sleeper RBs in this draft class. Unfortunately, he was injured during training camp. The Panthers waived him with the expectation that he would clear, and they could then add him to IR. However, the dirty Patriots saw this as an opportunity to steal a draft pick. They quickly claimed Gaffney off waivers and that was that. (D).

Overall: A+

 

yeah that's two pretty damn good drafts with hindsight. Gettleman is a mastermind.

 

He's a questionable offseason this year. The release of Josh Norman really doesn't make sense to me. It was clear he wasn't going to pay him big money in a long-term contract. But why not just use him under the tag for this season while preparing for his absence? Instead, he was forced to go away from his draft philosophy and drafted 3 CBs in a row. One of which didn't make the final roster. Bradberry has looked great but he's a rookie.

 

2013 Dolphins draft grade:
Jelani Jenkins- B
Everything else- F-

2014 Dolphins draft grade:
Jarvis Landry- A
Everything else- D

 

FYI he was hunting in New Jersey. which, to me, seems impossible because i didn't know Jersey had anything remotely close to resembling a "field".

 

smdh

New Jersey is one of the most beautiful states

 

There are rural parts of most states, I thought that was a given.

 

Basically any team who doesn't have a mastermind gm

 

I'm not even sure that would be true if you considered every state, province, whatever else in the world.

 

Here are my super lazy top of my head rankings, if I need to justify any of em I will.

2013 Texans:
1-27 Deandre Hopkins: A+
2-57 DJ Swearinger: C
3-89 Brennan Williams: F
3-95 Sam Mongtomery: F
4-124 Trevardo Williams: F
6-176 David Quessenberry: C-
6-195 Allen Bonner: C-
6-198 Chris Jones: F
6-201 Ryan Griffin: C+

Overall: Pretty fuckin bad but also Nuk

2014 Texans:
1-1 Jadeveon Clowney: B-
2-33 Xavier Su'a-Filo: C+
3-65 CJ Fiedorowicz: B-
3-83 Louis Nix III: F
4-135 Tom Savage: B+
6-177 Jeoffrey Pagan: C
6-181 Alfred Blue: B-
6-211 Jay Prosch: B+
7-216 Andre Hal: A-
7-256 Lonnie Ballentine: B-

Overall: Still not great but at least better than 2013 overall

 

Eagles 2013 Draft

1-Lane Johnson: B+
2-Zach Ertz: B+
3-Bennie Logan: A
4-Matt Barkley: F
5-Earl Wolff: F
7-Joe Kruger: F
7-Jordan Poyer: F
7-David King: F

Some real players at the top but garbage at the bottom.

Eagles 2014 Draft

1-Marcus Smith: C (he's starting to show up in a 4-3 now so still reserved on him)
2-Jordan Matthews: B
3-Josh Huff: C
4- Jalen Watkins: B-
5-Taylor Hart: D
6- Ed Reynolds: C-
7- Beau Allen: B

Extremely below average draft. Nothing special.

 

I remember how badly I wanted him for the Steelers. Thought he was the perfect fit. Stunned he just completely fell off

 

Its definitely gonna be magical watching them waste 15 draft picks instead of 7

I havent seen Carson Wentz play a snap, so, that alone gives the edge to RG3. I know RG3 is a starter at some level (even if he's not a top 15 guy).

And if both guys get hurt, I'd take Josh McCown 1000x before Chase Daniels. So, that alone tips what may be a tie between RG3/Wentz.

And then there's what they are throwing to, which id probably give to the Browns as well...

Gonna be fun to see how the Browns lose that game 17-13

 

2013 Rams:

1-8 Tavon Austin: C
1-30 Alec Ogletree: B
3-9 T.J McDonald: A
3-30 Stedman Bailey (No longer with team): C+
4-16 Barret Jones: F
5-16 Brandon Mcgee: C-
5-27 Zac Stacy: B-

2014 Rams:

1-2 Greg Robinson: F
1-13 Aaron Donald: A+
2-41 LaMarcus Joyner: C+
3-75 Tre Mason: C-
4-110 Maurice Alexander: B-
6-188 E.J Gaines: A
6-214 Garret Gilbert: C+
7-226 Mitchell Van Dyk: C-
7-241 Christian Bryant: B-
7-249 Michael Sam: B
7-250 Demetrius Rhaney: A- (Somehow still on our roster)

 

Just realized Bengals released Paul Dawson, remember when people thought he was a first round talent?

 

When did Bailey leave the team? Thought he was still technically a Ram.

2013:

1-2 Luke Joeckel: F
2-33 Jonathan Cyprien: C+
3-64 Dwayne Gratz: D+
4-101 Ace Sanders: D
5-135 Denard Robinson: C
6-169 Josh Evans: C-
7-208 Jeremy Harris: C-
7-210 Demetrius McCray: B

2014:

1-3 Blake Bortles: A
2-39 Marqise Lee: D+
2-61 Allen Robinson: A+
3-93 Brandon Linder: B+
4-114 Aaron Colvin: B
5-144 Telvin Smith: A+
5-139 Chris Smith: C
6-205 Luke Bowanko: C+
7-222 Storm Johnson: C
UFA Allen Hurns: A+

 

Joined the WVU coaching staff as an assistant this off-season, think he's still trying to push for a comeback. Such an unfortunate story.

 

2013 Draft
1- 17 (17) Jones, Jarvis OLB - C-
2- 16 (48) Bell, Le'Veon RB- A+
3 - 17 (79) Wheaton, Markus WR - B
4 - 14 (111) Thomas, Shamarko SS - C+
4 - 18 (115) Jones, Landry QB - D
5 - 17 (150) Hawthorne, Terry CB - F (didnt make team)
6 - 18 (186) Brown, Justin WR - D
6 - 38 (206) Williams, Vince LB - A
7 - 17 (223) Williams, Nick DT - F (on IR out of camp, never played)

2014 Draft
Rd 1 – #15(15) Ryan Shazier (OLB) - B+
Rd 2 – #14(46) Stephon Tuitt (DE) - A
Rd 3 – #33(97) Dri Archer (RB) - F
Rd 4 – #18(118) Martavis Bryant (WR) - B+ (would be an A+ if not for the suspensions)
Rd 5 – #17(157) Shaquille Richardson (CB) - F (didnt make the 53 man)
Rd 5 – #33(173) Wesley Johnson (C) - D
Rd 6 – #16(192) Jordan Zumwalt (OLB) - C-
Rd 6 – #39(215) Dan McCullers (DT) - B+
Rd 7 – #15(230) Rob Blanchflower (TE) - D

So, the good news in these years is that, Jarvis Jones aside, they did a pretty good job with their top picks. And they got some value out of the late rounds (Williams, McCullers, Bryant). But everything about Landry/Dri is a nightmare. They traded up, losing a 2014 3rd...and then wasted the compensatory pick they got on a shit kick returner.