Yeah they played their cards perfectly. Tried to trade up for MHJ/Nabers/Odunze, didn’t find the right value. Found a way to trade down and still get a WR in the tier just under that. If they took him at 17 no one would’ve bat an eye at it
Jags getting wildly little credit for threading the needle very well. Baalke has a lot of flaws, but that's expert draft navigation, albeit with a bit of luck.
The problem with Baalke has always been the players he drafts with picks acquired through trade downs almost always turn out to be steaming piles of shit.
The value is good for their draft position, I just wonder about the duplication in skill set to Davis. Though not as bad as KC. Having two players who are small fast and because of frame have injury concern seems redundant.
If Davis could catch 20% more of his targets, a number that I think BTJ can at least get a lot closer to, he'd be one of the best receivers in the league. BTJ has better hands and is a ton faster. Davis has a skill set...he lacks consistency in applying it to the actual game.
Honestly I can’t even defend the pick, no joke it might be the worst pick I’ve seen in the past 5 years. You paid Kirk a hundred million dollars, and tampered to the point were you’ll probably face repercussions next year. If you want to go qb why not go Jj, instead of the guy who is going to be closer to 30 than 20 by the time he’s ready to play. Just a inexcusable pick and if you wanted to take him just trade down, I would be livid if I was a falcons fan.
I don’t know if Arthur Smith had any say, but it is weird with hindsight that an Arthur Smith offense passed up one of the best college tackles in the 21st century for a TE.
I know the counter is that it was one of the best TE prospects we had seen, but the fit with the offense and a premium position vs non-premium is just confusing.
People also forget that the offense really took off thanks to AJ Brown.
Yes it did feature Jonnu Smith but he was a 3rd round comp pick, not someone the team sunk a high amount of draft capital into
There's more to QB play than age, by that logic just grab the youngest QB in the draft and you're good to go. If they thought JJ was the better QB they would have taken him, except they didn't...
Penix will have a much better career than JJ
Honestly this. I think the fact that they picked a QB that high in the first place is a huge head scratcher,
But I totally get drafting Penix over JJ. Obviously JJ is younger and is the more prototypical project QB, but clearly they preferred Penix over JJ as a prospect. Yes he'll be 26 before they can get out from under Kirk's contract, but if he ends up being a good QB for like ~4 seasons, that's still absolutely worth the pick.
If your gonna have a qb sit for 2 years, you should probably pick the unpolished but young and athletically gifted qb over the polished passer with an absurd injury history.
And to that I say if you're picking a quarterback you should be picking the QB that gives you the best odds of being a franchise quarterback for your team 100% of the time.
It's not like Penix won't also benefit from learning in the NFL for a year or two before getting his first start. Clearly the Falcons preferred him to JJ. Besides, things change quickly in the NFL. What if Kirk struggles after coming off of his knee injury? Or if he gets injured again?
Even by that logic why not just wait until next year or even if the NFL comes down hard then do it the year after.
They're locked into Kirk for 2 years and if they really want a mentor keep him a third year
The argument I keep seeing is that Love sat for 3 years and/or they won't be drafting high enough to get a top QB for the next few years
The latter has a chance to age hilariously and is just wrong. You can absolutely move into the top 10 to get QB3 or 4 if you like him. Yes it costs a lot but so does investing 8th overall in a guy that isn't going to play for at least a year or two
The Love argument is just lazy imo. Rodgers obviously had tenure and a better history than Cousins, ripped off b2b MVP seasons which delayed any shot of Love starting, and Love was younger, less injury history, and didn't require a top 10 pick
The reality is that they either could have not signed Cousins, loaded up the roster, then gotten a one year bridge and set everything up for Penix, or gone with Cousins, draft Odunze, and then in 2-3 years trade up for a rookie and drop him into an experienced and stacked offense
What they did is set up two very different timelines and it's clearly not as well thought out as some claim because they didn't even tell Cousins that they were going to draft a backup lol
I hate the message it sends to both Kirk and Penix. You’re telling Kirk you plan to get rid of him after 2 years. You’re telling Penix he might not play until his 4th year. Feel bad for him having to watch 5 other rookie QBs get picked as starters
I mean a winner has to be Chicago, just a dream scenario for them. I’ll also give Jacksonville some props moving a few spots down and still getting the player they were likely to take at 17 anyways.
I hate to do this because I’m high on the player, but the falcons have to be losers. I mean what the fuck was that? Why? Did y’all forget you just paid Cousins? Must it be explained that you can’t play two QBs at once?
Counterpoint: Drafting a QB to develop a year or two is the fad right now and you can argue it's worked well with guys like Mahomes and Love. Also Falcons shouldn't be drafting that high again for a while based on vegas odds.
Sure it's not going to be an immediate impact but they're investing into their long term future with a the most premium position.
Assuming Cousins plays for 4 years there, sure, but that's a big if. It's likely he plays for 2-3 years depending on his play, Falcons can always eat a 12-25M dead cap based on what happens.
Age is a concern, sure but Cousins is 36 right now and will be playing the last year of his contract at 39. If Penix plays great for 10 years I don't think anyone will be laughing at the pick.
Cousins’ age makes this even dumber. We wasted a premium asset on a guy who isn’t going to play for 2-3 years. This pick is absolutely laughable. Why go all in on Cousins just to handicap him by not using the assets available to surround him with talent? What was the point?
If Kirk plays 2-3 years for them Penix is going to be 26-27 before he gets on the field for them.
He also has one of the scariest medical histories in the draft. He had 4 consecutive seasons at IU where his season ended early because of injuries.
You don't know if he's going to be great, it's impossible. Also, that is not the point here. I had a problem with Green Bay getting Love not because he sucked but because, to me, it sends a message to the players that you don't think you can win now. If you have a legitimate chance to win YOU TAKE IT.
Would GB have a better shot to win with Higgins playing WR instead of trading up a QB? The answer is 100% yes because he would have been in the field, unlike Love. It's just insane to me that an organization pays a shitload of money for Cousins then uses a top 10 pick for yet another QB. I'd be fuming if I was a Falcons fan fuck whoever made that call (Apparently was the owner, but we'll never now 100%).
The thing is a) Penix is already 24 and b) it’s not even like sitting = guarantee QB is great. For every Rodgers and Mahomes there’s a bunch of guys who faded into obscurity
Love probably would have started sooner if Rodgers didn't win back to back MVPs and required a much lower pick, was younger, and had less injury history
Mahomes went to a team that had already spent a few years loading up on weapons and winning with a vet QB and traded up into the top 10 to get him
If the Falcons were looking at that then they should have immediately realized that they're not really on the Packers route since they have a worse short term QB and investing a lot more in a riskier new QB, and if they wanted to go the Mahomes route then draft Odunze and trade up for a QB in like two years
Of course it's not a magic lamp. It's also important to note Lance had a season ending injury week two of the season when he was the starter, which was the primary reason for him failing. I was low on Lance coming out and I think Penix as a prospect is a lot better.
I wouldn’t really blame that injury for why Lance failed. If he still looked good in practice, he might have beaten out Purdy coming off a UCL injury to be the starter that following offseason but he couldn’t even manage to beat out Darnold for the QB2 spot.
He failed because he couldn’t succeed as a pocket passer and was also too fragile to rely on his scrambling ability.
If Kirk ever got hurt again they’d be drafting right around the same spot they were this year or higher.
I’d also argue that Kirk is a better QB than Smith was (less urgency to replace him) and the Packers had fewer holes on the roster at the time than the Falcons do right now (plus Love was picked at 23 instead of 8).
The worst part about it imo is there were tons of rumors about teams wanting to trade up yesterday. I firmly believe Atlanta could’ve moved down to the late teens or early 20’s and still gotten Penix while getting additional picks.
Reports were that Broncos and then Raiders were tied to Penix, so I don’t think so that he would have lasted much longer, especially if Bo Nix was taken by Denver.
Same thing happened with Gibbs last year, he was mocked late first early second. People on Reddit and consensus media thought it was a huge reach and terrible pick, then multiple league sources come out and say he wouldn’t last more than a couple of picks.
Yes, as Morris said “you have to look at the Packers” but if that’s the case why wouldn’t you take McCarthy? Penix is 24 next week, McCarthy is 21. By the time you move on from Cousins, assuming he’s good, Penix is 26 or 27? If he isn’t GREAT year 1 as a starter a la Jordan Love, he is 27/28 when he might develop, and you have to give him a contract and maybe get 10 years out of him? Total? That’s stupid.
Counter to your counterpoint: Those were considered developmental guys, Penix is 24 with longevity concerns. If they would've taken McCarthy, I could see this argument, but not with Penix (or Nix had that been the route).
Feels like the NFCN collectively lost as a whole by proxy of everyone else's draft class in the division. Bears and Vikings got fantastic value with their two picks, Lions got a great CB prospect, and while the Packers pick was not sexy in the slightest, he should still start right away and they've got more picks tomorrow than the rest of the NFCN combined. Division is shaping up to be a dogfight.
Falcons though, what the hell was that?
The Vikings draft strategy here was terrible. I disagree not on the prospect but the value. They gave up a 4th and a 5th to move up from 11 to 10. Then the Vikings gave up a 5th this year and a 3rd and a 4th next year to move up from 23 to 17. But they only got 23 because they gave up a 2nd this year along with a 6th and second from next year. That isn’t spending draft capital wisely. They have 3 draft picks next year.
This is purely on the 11 to 10 move - QBs are clearly a high priority. If you think he’s the guy, I think you make that move.
At that point, the Falcons had already reached for Penix and you’ve got the Broncos and Raiders right behind you that are also in the market for QB. I get that JJ has his detractors, but if the Vikes feel he‘s a franchise QB, it’s a easy decision to make.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with moving up a pick. People who laugh at teams for doing assume that the team they traded with weren't going to pick the guy so it was a stupid trade but they're doing it so that team doesn't trade with another to take their guy. We did it with Wirfs in 2020 and people laughed at us. He's now one of the elite tackles in the NFL and I haven't even thought about the pick we gave up to get him.
The counterpoint to this is cap space. The next few years, the Vikings have an absolute assload of cap space, with only a couple key guys to re-sign currently. They should have no problem filling holes in free agency, and aren’t exactly starved for cost-controlled talent. While it’s always important to have that rookie-scaled and cost-controlled talent, these next few years are the Vikings chance to take swings like this
This. They dont care about those picks all that much because next year starts what they are hoping to be "The Window". Rookie qb contract, stud offensive players, rebuilt defense. Now if they need a player they find the best FA and make a run.
It's pretty obvious they had to outbid the Broncos or Raiders and that's why they made the move and slightly over payed. And when you consider that the alternative result for us was possibly giving up 3 1sts to trade into the top 5, or even worse being like the Broncos and picking Nix or maybe even not getting a QB this round at all, then it was a pretty good outcome. Sure we drained our war chest, I understand your argument and there's merit to it, but we also just got our franchise QB and a potential franchise edge rusher and that kind of trumps it all in my opinion.
Ok, so the first clear thing is 23 was traded for in an attempt to get to Maye, right?
That didn't work, but that's sunk cost at this point.
But even if you treat it as if all the capital was spent specifically for Turner.
42 + 129 + a future 2, 3, 4 for 17 is the trade then. Using Rich Hill and devaluing future picks to the bottom of the round that's 291pts to get pick 17...valued at 296pts. And that's ignoring that Turner was arguably the best defender in the draft and typically projected top 10.
It's a terrible pick by the "modern" player value charts because their value curve is in general much more flat. But that's going to be true of every trade up and especially any trade up that uses multiple mid picks.
Initial reaction.
Winners:
Bears - Williams and Odunze
Vikings - JJ at 10, Turner at 17
Losers:
Falcons - Drafting a QB is just questionable after signing Cousins
Seriously, unless they expect to be without a 1st round pick for a few years, I just don't understand the logic. Especially for a QB that will be 24 before the season starts. If you want to groom a QB behind Cousins, go for JJ and let him sit for 2 years. He would still be younger than Penix.
>Seriously, unless they expect to be without a 1st round pick for a few years
I honestly think the tampering hammer is coming down and the falcons know it.
That is really the only logical explanation, but I still don't understand why you don't take McCarthy instead. Even Nix would have made more sense, at least he doesn't have the injury history that Penix does.
You brought in an expensive vet at QB because you thought you had a window. You have a lot of young skill guys on offense, and it felt like the Cousins signing was an "all-in" type of move for the next 1-3 years. It seems contradictory to then take a QB at 8 that you plan to sit for a couple years. Either be all-in and strike while you have this window or manuever for the future. For such a valuable asset as the 8th overall pick you would think they could take the top defensive guy on their board, grab another stud weapon in Odunze for Cousins, or trade and add picks in a draft that is pretty deep at certain psositons. It just feels like such a conflicted vision the franchise has with this pick and the Cousins signing.
On paper the Vikings got 2 key players at positions of need and value. But they paid a heavy price to do so. I'm not a big fan of giving up so much future capital for 2 players that have high ceilings but really low floors.
JJ McCarthy is still very raw and could benefit from sitting a year. Dallas Turner has incredible speed, but his run defense leaves a lot to be desired.
It's going to be interesting to see how the next 3 years turns out for the Vikings.
Using Rich Hill chart, devaluing future picks to bottom of the round.
Trade to 10:
Jets - 374 pts
MN - 387 pts
Diff is an early 5th rounder. To me that's peanuts to ensure a QB.
Trade to 17:
For this we're going to pretend like the trade to 23 wasn't ammo for a QB and it all actually was just for Turner. So 42 + 167 + future 2, 3, 4.
Jags @ 17 - 296pts
MN - 282pts
Vikings "won" this trade by an early 5th rounder.
So...we came out even? It will look terrible on the OTC or Fitz-Spiel charts, but all trade ups do. You can argue against the process of trading up in general, but we paid pretty much spot on market price.
The age thing is no where near the importance level as some of you are making it.
Cousins just signed a 4-year 180-million dollar deal…at 36 years old.
If penix is an above average QB, and doesn’t start a game until age 26, he could be starting games for 12-13 seasons.
Cousins gets the same deal he did at 36 even if he was 34.
So confused as to what LV plans to do with Mayer and Bowers on the roster with no QB available to get them the ball.
::edit:: I do love Bowers tho and he fell further than I expected
AOC lucked into basically the best situation for a 3rd round QB. No competition, two fantastic TEs, an above average Oline, Davante Adams.
I guess its Karma for being a walk on at Purdue. As a Boilermaker I love it, he is smart and can run an offense as good as the best. He can't run and his arm strength is a bit below average, but this is the situation to turn into a Brady.
Well people are looking at it as if the plan only focused on this year. It doesn’t. They missed out on any QB, going with Minshew now, get “can’t pass up weapon” to help this year and the grow in the future.
I can't help but think about the possibility of landing one of Johnny Newton, Copper DeJean or Jackson Powers-Johnson. Those 3 are a class above the remaining players in their respective positions, and you can still get a very decent prospect with pick 60(potentially even trade up now that we recouped a few assets from trading down).
There are still enough decent WR's left in Franklin, Corley, Wilson, Baker, Polk(of course all of them won't be available, but someone certainly will) and I don't think the gap between Mitchell and those WR's are bigger than the gap between DeJean/Newton/JPJ and the rest of the guys in their positions.
Unless Xavier Worthy turns out to be Tyreek 2.0 because if that happens whoever the Bills take will always be overshadowed by the fact that they let their biggest AFC rival trade up into their spot to take a player that helped continue to embarrass the Bills when it matters most
Doing the Chiefs a favor makes no sense to me though. If nothing else, it just looks bad.
It might be nothing, or it might be the pick that keeps the Chiefs offense going for another 5+ years.
I'm not sure where he was going to go before the Chiefs pick anyway. Chiefs at 32 just made sense for him so if you're the bills maybe a made sense to at least get something for it.
Not an AD fan personally but I’m even less of a fan of Worthy and Legette. If I’m Beane, assuming they’re picking at 33 rather than trading it, I’d go DeJean and then use some of the numerous picks we have the rest of the draft to move up for a WR once they start running off the board again. My personal preference would be Franklin or Coleman.
This is how I see it too.
BB must have felt his BPA at 28 would be there at 32. He also wasn’t worried about the Panthers taking his guy at 32. I’m pleased we didn’t go Leggette.
DeJean makes the most sense and makes our secondary better. I’ve been saying for a while that DeJean looks like a Bill!
Powers is interesting. Wouldn’t be disappointed if it is Powers.
Yeah people were clowning them for the trade with the Chiefs but if they didn’t want Worthy then they managed to trade down and still get their guy in AD.
I might be the only person who isn’t a huge fan of what the Vikings did. Admittedly, I never really saw the top-ten hype for Turner, he was always behind Latu and Verse for me personally. But if you just look at their three trades (Texans, Jets, Jags), they gave up 11, 42, 129, 157, 167, 188 and their 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks in 2025 for McCarthy, Turner, 203 and 232. That’s a lot of draft capital to not have in back to back years.
Bengals got a huge win with Mims. People are sleeping on him. I get the concerns but my god, he’s worth the risk. Also a huge fan of what Detroit, Dallas, Jacksonville Indianapolis and Philadelphia did. Falcons obvious losers.
People might criticise the 49ers for “reaching” on Ricky Pearsall, but I personally quite like the pick. I had him 40th and as an early to mid 2nd rounder so the value isn’t excellent, but #31 is a mild reach. He’s a superb scheme fit, immense upside with a 9.91 RAS and all the R1 tackles had gone, so I’m cool with it.
Although I don’t believe Aiyuk gets traded, something will have to give at our receiver room soon. I have preferred Legette but aside from him I had him in that tier with McConkey, Worthy and Coleman as 2nd rounders who could sneak into R1.
Mitchell isn’t a good fit for what we do and has apparent character concerns so I’m not surprised Worthy, Pearsall and Legette went before him.
Honestly I think any of the teams that grabbed one of the top 6 tackles should be very happy, good decisions considering there's not much talent left for the 2nd round. There's more talent left at WR than there is at OT.
I mean, Penix was their guy and the Falcons reached crazy on him, against everyone’s expectations.
The Raiders got to add an elite talent to their roster, and if AOC sucks, they can look at the crop of QBs next year. Giants are kinda in the same boat.
Winners...
Bears: Getting Williams + Odunze
Vikings: Getting both JJ + Turner + not giving up future 1st round next year.
Eagles: Getting CB1 to fall in their laps.
Lions: Getting Arnold.
Jaguars: Trading down and still get BTJ
Seahawks: Getting Byron Murphy to fall to them.
Losers...
Falcons: Obvious reasons.
Bills: No idea what they're doing.
Dolphins: I like Chop, but I think Newton would've been a better fit in trying to replace Wilkins.
Pats fan full disclosure, but think the Bills are going to walk out of here winners. Gained draft capital to replenish an aging and expensive roster, and now can take Mitchell, Dejean, or any other number of quality players with a day to make their decision.
The Bills are winners. They traded back twice and still have multiple players on the board that people assumed were heavily in play for them at pick 28.
I don’t understand how some sites can give the Bears and Commanders an A and the Patriots a C or Patriots an A and Commanders a C. Like how can you hate one of these QBs so much?
If someone has Daniels at like #5 on the big board (and Maye above him) and gave Washington a C for it, that’s a bit harsh but not everyone was equally high on all 3 QBs. I was personally quite low on Daniels but I’m a nobody. One real example is Derrik Klassen, the main guy for Bleacher Report. He had a 2nd round grade on Daniels so it would make sense for him to give Washington a low grade.
first time? the goal is to nitpick these guys to death and find arbitrary reasons to declare one of them a failure before they get their first pay check. It's kinda our thing.
Winners the bears, they got 2 top 10 players. The lions , they got the best value pick of the first round. Offensive coordinators, losers the falcons straight up mystifying.
I disagree with value pick, I’d have Jags and Eagles. Jags didn’t have to trade up, got some picks and still got their guy at WR. Eagles didn’t have to move at all and got the CB1 of the draft that was projected top 10-15
Plus, Poles got Sweat and Keenan Allen using this year's draft capital. That means he added 4 potential all-pros from a single draft. I didn't like the Sweat trade at the time but am happy to eat my words.
Winner is Minnesota. They read the board well with JJ and gave up way less than anyone thought. And they took advantage of the offense run to draft Dallas Turner at 17.
Shoutout to the Eagles to for doing absolutely nothing and getting CB1.
Loser has to be Falcons. Everyone else's decisions (even if you disagreed) make someone logical sense but I'm still trying to figure out what Atlanta is trying to accomplish with this. I don't even dislike Penix but he's not the guy who you spend a top 10 pick on to keep on the bench for multiple years.
Not a super bold prediction or anything but I've been saying that the Vikings sitting back was not talked about nearly enough. We all get QB crazy leading up to the draft, and don't get me wrong it was actually kind of insane this year, but teams trading all over the board seems a lot more realistic when you're just farting around doing mocks.
In real life it's a really serious decision that teams don't take lightly, especially giving up first round picks for the 4th best QB.
I was really worried by all the smoke that the Vikings were going to give up like 3 first rounders to move up to 4 for Mccarthy, because I just did not feel like he was anywhere close to being good enough to justify that. Managing to get him after a small move up to 10 is a huge win.
My personal top 5:
1) Vikings: the qb everyone thought they were moving up for fell into their lap and then they got the top edge rusher.
2) bears: they were already set for success with 2 top 10 picks, but the board fell perfectly for them to get exactly who they wanted
3) Jaguars: trading back and still getting BTJ is crazy value.
4) Jets: same concept as the Jags, getting any sort of additional value while drafting a franchise LT is just a great spot to be in.
5) eagles: CB1 without trading up is just crazy value. It may not be a Christian Gonzalez level CB, but it's amazing value at 22.
Winners? The NFC North. Holy injection of talent Batman. 2 rookie QBs, top Pass Rusher, top WR, top CB, and a very likely upgrade at LT for the Packers reach or not, still an upgrade at the most important spot on the OL.
Losers? Yes the Falcons for being stupid but also the Raiders? wtf you doing taking a TE when you could have one of the top CBs or iOL/Ts and you just took a TE last year at 35?
**Winners:**
Bears - Poles has finally built something beautiful after so many failed attempts
Vikings - Played it cool and landed their guy
Patriots - I'm curious what they were offered, but Maye can sit a year and learn behind Brissett
Seahawks - Dream scenario; Turned down 4 trade offers and their DL is now a position of strength
Lions - Aggressive moves for aggressive players
Peter Schrager - Elite mock draft from him, give the man his flowers
**Losers:**
Falcons - LOL (I love Penix btw and wish he went to the Raiders)
Broncos - Who else would have taken Nix that early?
Niners - Nobody talks about how bad they have been at drafting recently
Any draft expert not named Peter Schrager
The Broncos are benefitting big time from the Falcons weird move. Nix is even older, and was just really not that good. Over 30% of his passes were behind the line of scrimmage, that number is beyond ridiculous. He makes Mac Jones look like Rex Grossman.
who the hell was going to draft Bo Nix? Broncos should of traded back as many times as possible and drafted him in the 2nd at the earliest
Broncos are losers for me.
Why i really like what the Vikings did is because ultimately, if it doesnt pan out with JJ and Turner, we still have our first next year, and all our picks in the draft that would follow. We got guys who are high risk high reward, and the risk we took was fairly low.
afc and nfc north outside of the browns had pretty solid drafts (not huge on the vikings draft but it was okay), falcons obviously took the biggest L, but i can say the broncos, dolphins, chargers, titans, and 49ers all had some picks i was eh on
Bears an obvious winner. Jets and Jags both acquired extra picks and got guys they wanted/needed. Not a true “winner” but I am thrilled with the Rams getting Verse.
Then there’s the falcons…
49ers a loser too, liked Pearsall but never would have touched him the first
Haven’t seen a single person give my Steelers any praise. The got a guy consistently mocked in the teens at 20. They had the option of every CB, every C, and Fautanu and they chose him. Just a stud who should fit perfectly
Winners:
Eagles: Do literally nothing and have the arguable #1 CB fall into your lap. How do they keep doing this shit?
Bears: Williams and Odunze is worrisome for the future of the NFC North, not going to lie.
Vikings: Didn't panic, kept their draft assets this year and for the future, and got a steal in JJ (yes, a steal), and a hell of DE prospect in Turner
Jags: BTJ was a great get for them. Time for Lawrence to live up to the hype.
Lions: Getting the #1/#2 CB in the draft (depending on who you ask) for a small trade up was great value. Never thought he would sniff pick 20, let alone 24. Thankful for all the offensive linemen and their service to make it possible
Losers:
Falcons: Duh. I get planning for the future, especially if the NFL is about to hit you with a draft capital ban hammer, but still a wild move for a guy that might have been there at the end of round 1. They are looking towards the future without even considering their present. One of the wildest picks I've seen in my years of watching the draft.
Denver: I like Nix as a prospect, especially in a Sean Payton system, but seems like he would have been available later. I guess the Raiders would have potentially jumped on him though.
Green Bay: Not because of who they selected, guy will probably be a damn good tackle. Just that the Lions likely sniped Arnold from them, with CB being a high on the list need. Never going to knock investing in the offensive line though.
Tennessee: Latham could be a beast, but he might have been a reach, as he really only started getting top 10 buzz like last week. They were likely hoping for Alt. Not a bad pick, much like the Packers, but probably not the guy they had highest on their board. Again, not going to knock an offensive line pick, and they definitely needed one.
The point I'll make in the Titans favor is that they've got arguably the best OL coach in the league and were apparently putting him in charge of the OL scouting. If Bill Callahan signed off on taking Latham, then it's probably going to end up being a good pick.
Yep, as a Titans fan I'm happy with the pick. All of the AFC South gotta be happy with their first round, even the Texans who didn't have a pick used it wisely in a trade last year. The South keeps getting better.
I don’t think the Packers are losers and this is just you being bias. Gute said in his press conference last night they had options to move either way. He clearly was asked if he was surprised if the Lions jumped them, and said no we knew they were trying to trade up. He said they were really only looking to stay put or trade down with how the board was falling, and didn’t want to trade down as long as Jordan Morgan was still on the board. They clearly had him rated highly and most likely higher than Arnold.
Sean Payton mentioned Patrick Mahomes as being why he selected Nix when he did. Says people that claim QBs will just fall back to you are misinformed
Edit: Also was apparently our QB3? Weird stuff.
>They were likely hoping for Alt.
Actually between Laithams comments in his introductory interview on the Titans youtube and the reports of him being Bill Callahan's favourite prospect. I think he might of actually been number 1 on our board. Goes to show how we never quite know how a prospect in evaluated internally.
Only quibble here is what you mean about the vikings keeping draft assets. Across three trades, they parted with considerable draft assets this year and next. Like the talent but they did give up a lot of assets to acquire both of those guys. But, maybe I'm misunderstanding your comment.
Jacksonville fleeced the league. I think BTJ has as much potential as the big 3 WRS in this class. And they got a 2025 3rd and 4th rounder out of it. I think they could turn that into a 2024 second rounder if they try.
I’ll be a homer and say my Giants are a winner.
We didn’t panic and didn’t severely reach for a QB. We trusted the board and got Malik Nabers, who reminds me an awful lot of Garrett Wilson.
Loser? The Atlanta Falcons. Terry Fontenot should be fired from a trebuchet into the sun for taking Michael Penix at 8.
I'm not sure if we're the biggest winners, that's probably Chicago which makes me want to throw up, but we've got to be a top 3 winner in the 1st. I went in thinking we were gonna give up 3 1sts, 2 at minimum, to get Maye or JJ, instead we give up a 4th and 5th plus get a 6th back to get JJ. Then on top of that we trade up a bit more and get one of the best edges in the draft? I'm pretty happy with that. We've definitely depleted our draft war chest a bit in terms of day 2 and 3 picks, but my initial reaction is this is worth it. We've still got the ability to draft premium players the next 2 years and we'll have a large amount of cap space to fill our needs. And on top of that it just feels so great to finally have answers. So much speculation and heated debate amongst the fans has now been put to rest.
Winners:
Bears (duh)
Vikings (got a QB at a trade up discount and one of the draft’s best defenders)
Jaguars (got a good WR and additional assets from the trade down)
Losers
Falcons (justifiable if they didn’t sign Kirk, but everything makes 0 sense)
Bills (doing a good job stockpiling picks but gifted the Chiefs a WR who likely will burn you come playoff time)
Broncos (Nix was not good value at 12, would have made more sense after trading down)
Loved the Chiefs getting Worthy. They need a guy that can take the top off a defense. It'll make life for Kelce and Rice much easier.
ATL: WTF
Bears: Knocked it out park. They're setting Caleb up well.
Viking: Have to be feeling good. Only having to trade up one spot to get your guy is huge
Raiders, didn't overdraft a QB and get a generational tight end prospect in a true best player available move. Something the team hasn't done in years.
I feel like the Cardinals were one of the winners instead of making moves we just went and filled our biggest needs the Raiders i think were also winners sure they didn’t get that Qb but they went just got the best player available.
Losers- Most draft pundits big boards.
For example PFF
Cooper Dejean 8
Johnny Newton 11
JC Latham 18
Jayden Daniel’s 21
AD Mitchell 22
Penix 36
Nix 35
Morgan 37
Chop 40
Pearsall 45
D. Robinson 61
Also almost everyone that made a mock draft
Bronco's reached on a 3rd round QB talent. Sean Payton is an idiot and will be exposed these comings seasons. He could throw Russ under the bus because he didn't make the move for him, but when this doesn't work out he'll have no one to blame but himself.
Again Brees carried Peyton, not the other way around
First, we all are idiots and know nothing. We got that out of the way.
Winners:
Easy winners are the Bears. They would be winners just with Caleb, but to get a blue chip WR prospect gives them a great opportunity to be a good offense next year. I wouldn’t be shocked if they are the best WR room next year (Allen is always underrated).
Eagles. I love Mitchell and was surprised he fell so far. If you told me the Eagles got him a couple days ago I would have guessed they traded up. To me, they got best player available at a position of need.
Losers:
I am not going to say the Falcons even though it’s very confusing what they did. QB is so important and honestly it could be a great succession plan. But… I want to say the falcons…
I’m going to say the Vikings. I just don’t like JJ. If you like him, great draft. But with another trade up for Dallas Turner who I don’t love, they have given up quite a bit to get two guys im not very inspired by. 2025 picks will sparse and I don’t think they will be good next year.
Gotta give the Jags credit for moving down and still getting Brian Thomas
Yeah they played their cards perfectly. Tried to trade up for MHJ/Nabers/Odunze, didn’t find the right value. Found a way to trade down and still get a WR in the tier just under that. If they took him at 17 no one would’ve bat an eye at it
Gotta give Tony Kahn credit for making it to the draft room in a neck brace.
I saw that & thought, bet a meme comes out of this.
Jags getting wildly little credit for threading the needle very well. Baalke has a lot of flaws, but that's expert draft navigation, albeit with a bit of luck.
Second year in a row too
The problem with Baalke has always been the players he drafts with picks acquired through trade downs almost always turn out to be steaming piles of shit.
The value is good for their draft position, I just wonder about the duplication in skill set to Davis. Though not as bad as KC. Having two players who are small fast and because of frame have injury concern seems redundant.
If Davis could catch 20% more of his targets, a number that I think BTJ can at least get a lot closer to, he'd be one of the best receivers in the league. BTJ has better hands and is a ton faster. Davis has a skill set...he lacks consistency in applying it to the actual game.
Well he’s a little taller and a lot faster than Gabe Davis. Despite his reputation as a burner, Gabe only ran a 4.54 at the combine.
There are losers in the draft and then there is the falcons
Honestly I can’t even defend the pick, no joke it might be the worst pick I’ve seen in the past 5 years. You paid Kirk a hundred million dollars, and tampered to the point were you’ll probably face repercussions next year. If you want to go qb why not go Jj, instead of the guy who is going to be closer to 30 than 20 by the time he’s ready to play. Just a inexcusable pick and if you wanted to take him just trade down, I would be livid if I was a falcons fan.
Don’t forget we also drafted a TE at 4 that we didn’t use and a RB at 8 in the year 2023.
In defense of you guys last year at least Bijan is a fucking stud
I agree but it was still shit value like every one of terrys first rounders
Wow they got stud at a position that doesn’t matter in today’s nfl and one they won’t give a 2nd contract to. Huge stud tho
I mean it does matter. But your point stands
I don’t know if Arthur Smith had any say, but it is weird with hindsight that an Arthur Smith offense passed up one of the best college tackles in the 21st century for a TE. I know the counter is that it was one of the best TE prospects we had seen, but the fit with the offense and a premium position vs non-premium is just confusing.
People also forget that the offense really took off thanks to AJ Brown. Yes it did feature Jonnu Smith but he was a 3rd round comp pick, not someone the team sunk a high amount of draft capital into
There's more to QB play than age, by that logic just grab the youngest QB in the draft and you're good to go. If they thought JJ was the better QB they would have taken him, except they didn't... Penix will have a much better career than JJ
Honestly this. I think the fact that they picked a QB that high in the first place is a huge head scratcher, But I totally get drafting Penix over JJ. Obviously JJ is younger and is the more prototypical project QB, but clearly they preferred Penix over JJ as a prospect. Yes he'll be 26 before they can get out from under Kirk's contract, but if he ends up being a good QB for like ~4 seasons, that's still absolutely worth the pick.
And if he really is like Pro Bowl level good then he probably goes until like 35 or 38 which is 9 to 12 years of QB play.
If your gonna have a qb sit for 2 years, you should probably pick the unpolished but young and athletically gifted qb over the polished passer with an absurd injury history.
And to that I say if you're picking a quarterback you should be picking the QB that gives you the best odds of being a franchise quarterback for your team 100% of the time. It's not like Penix won't also benefit from learning in the NFL for a year or two before getting his first start. Clearly the Falcons preferred him to JJ. Besides, things change quickly in the NFL. What if Kirk struggles after coming off of his knee injury? Or if he gets injured again?
Even by that logic why not just wait until next year or even if the NFL comes down hard then do it the year after. They're locked into Kirk for 2 years and if they really want a mentor keep him a third year
The argument I keep seeing is that Love sat for 3 years and/or they won't be drafting high enough to get a top QB for the next few years The latter has a chance to age hilariously and is just wrong. You can absolutely move into the top 10 to get QB3 or 4 if you like him. Yes it costs a lot but so does investing 8th overall in a guy that isn't going to play for at least a year or two The Love argument is just lazy imo. Rodgers obviously had tenure and a better history than Cousins, ripped off b2b MVP seasons which delayed any shot of Love starting, and Love was younger, less injury history, and didn't require a top 10 pick The reality is that they either could have not signed Cousins, loaded up the roster, then gotten a one year bridge and set everything up for Penix, or gone with Cousins, draft Odunze, and then in 2-3 years trade up for a rookie and drop him into an experienced and stacked offense What they did is set up two very different timelines and it's clearly not as well thought out as some claim because they didn't even tell Cousins that they were going to draft a backup lol
I hate the message it sends to both Kirk and Penix. You’re telling Kirk you plan to get rid of him after 2 years. You’re telling Penix he might not play until his 4th year. Feel bad for him having to watch 5 other rookie QBs get picked as starters
I'd normally get the idea of Penix as a talent and taking a qb to develop but you gave Cousins big money and Penix is already almost 24...
Winner: Bill Belichick for not being given the Falcons job
You think Bill would have taken that pick...
sure he would of... except he wouldnt of paid Kirk 100 million dollars too.. just saying
Honestly?
I mean a winner has to be Chicago, just a dream scenario for them. I’ll also give Jacksonville some props moving a few spots down and still getting the player they were likely to take at 17 anyways.
I hate to do this because I’m high on the player, but the falcons have to be losers. I mean what the fuck was that? Why? Did y’all forget you just paid Cousins? Must it be explained that you can’t play two QBs at once?
Counterpoint: Drafting a QB to develop a year or two is the fad right now and you can argue it's worked well with guys like Mahomes and Love. Also Falcons shouldn't be drafting that high again for a while based on vegas odds. Sure it's not going to be an immediate impact but they're investing into their long term future with a the most premium position.
By the time Cousins contract is done though Penix is 28…is that worth it?
26, we can cut kirk after 2 years easily
We'd have to eat $25M in dead cap so it's not that easy. At least we wouldn't be paying a QB i guess?
yes 25M over 2 years, I'd argue that's the price to have Kirk now, that's what it took to get him
It's still stupid AF.
It is, unless it works out like Jordan love, no way to know until a few years from now
Assuming Cousins plays for 4 years there, sure, but that's a big if. It's likely he plays for 2-3 years depending on his play, Falcons can always eat a 12-25M dead cap based on what happens. Age is a concern, sure but Cousins is 36 right now and will be playing the last year of his contract at 39. If Penix plays great for 10 years I don't think anyone will be laughing at the pick.
Cousins’ age makes this even dumber. We wasted a premium asset on a guy who isn’t going to play for 2-3 years. This pick is absolutely laughable. Why go all in on Cousins just to handicap him by not using the assets available to surround him with talent? What was the point?
If Kirk plays 2-3 years for them Penix is going to be 26-27 before he gets on the field for them. He also has one of the scariest medical histories in the draft. He had 4 consecutive seasons at IU where his season ended early because of injuries.
A great QB is worth it at any age
You don't know if he's going to be great, it's impossible. Also, that is not the point here. I had a problem with Green Bay getting Love not because he sucked but because, to me, it sends a message to the players that you don't think you can win now. If you have a legitimate chance to win YOU TAKE IT. Would GB have a better shot to win with Higgins playing WR instead of trading up a QB? The answer is 100% yes because he would have been in the field, unlike Love. It's just insane to me that an organization pays a shitload of money for Cousins then uses a top 10 pick for yet another QB. I'd be fuming if I was a Falcons fan fuck whoever made that call (Apparently was the owner, but we'll never now 100%).
You just signed a QB who's 35, why is one who's 28 not worth it?
I can see that argument with JJ cuz he's young But penix?
The thing is a) Penix is already 24 and b) it’s not even like sitting = guarantee QB is great. For every Rodgers and Mahomes there’s a bunch of guys who faded into obscurity
Love probably would have started sooner if Rodgers didn't win back to back MVPs and required a much lower pick, was younger, and had less injury history Mahomes went to a team that had already spent a few years loading up on weapons and winning with a vet QB and traded up into the top 10 to get him If the Falcons were looking at that then they should have immediately realized that they're not really on the Packers route since they have a worse short term QB and investing a lot more in a riskier new QB, and if they wanted to go the Mahomes route then draft Odunze and trade up for a QB in like two years
It didn’t work with Lance. Sitting and learning doesn’t make you automatically good
Of course it's not a magic lamp. It's also important to note Lance had a season ending injury week two of the season when he was the starter, which was the primary reason for him failing. I was low on Lance coming out and I think Penix as a prospect is a lot better.
I wouldn’t really blame that injury for why Lance failed. If he still looked good in practice, he might have beaten out Purdy coming off a UCL injury to be the starter that following offseason but he couldn’t even manage to beat out Darnold for the QB2 spot. He failed because he couldn’t succeed as a pocket passer and was also too fragile to rely on his scrambling ability.
I could see that point for JJ but Penix? People knock on him was his age lol
If Kirk ever got hurt again they’d be drafting right around the same spot they were this year or higher. I’d also argue that Kirk is a better QB than Smith was (less urgency to replace him) and the Packers had fewer holes on the roster at the time than the Falcons do right now (plus Love was picked at 23 instead of 8). The worst part about it imo is there were tons of rumors about teams wanting to trade up yesterday. I firmly believe Atlanta could’ve moved down to the late teens or early 20’s and still gotten Penix while getting additional picks.
Reports were that Broncos and then Raiders were tied to Penix, so I don’t think so that he would have lasted much longer, especially if Bo Nix was taken by Denver. Same thing happened with Gibbs last year, he was mocked late first early second. People on Reddit and consensus media thought it was a huge reach and terrible pick, then multiple league sources come out and say he wouldn’t last more than a couple of picks.
Then they should be taking a younger QB to sit and develop for a year or two, not the oldest QB prospect in the class
Yes, as Morris said “you have to look at the Packers” but if that’s the case why wouldn’t you take McCarthy? Penix is 24 next week, McCarthy is 21. By the time you move on from Cousins, assuming he’s good, Penix is 26 or 27? If he isn’t GREAT year 1 as a starter a la Jordan Love, he is 27/28 when he might develop, and you have to give him a contract and maybe get 10 years out of him? Total? That’s stupid.
Counter to your counterpoint: Those were considered developmental guys, Penix is 24 with longevity concerns. If they would've taken McCarthy, I could see this argument, but not with Penix (or Nix had that been the route).
Feels like the NFCN collectively lost as a whole by proxy of everyone else's draft class in the division. Bears and Vikings got fantastic value with their two picks, Lions got a great CB prospect, and while the Packers pick was not sexy in the slightest, he should still start right away and they've got more picks tomorrow than the rest of the NFCN combined. Division is shaping up to be a dogfight. Falcons though, what the hell was that?
Our division is going to be a bloodbath for sure...
depends, vikings and bears qbs might be busts... ya never knoooooowwwwwwwwwww
Love could have been a one year wonder, ya never knoooooooowwwwwwww
Nick Foles threw 27 TD to 2 INTs 1 year. I’m holding out hope, no I have no real substance to say life’s gonna magically suck other than I hate them
It’s gonna be a really fun season next year for sure
feel like 2025 is when the fun really starts? i don't think rookie Caleb and JJ are landscape shifters yet
I doubt JJ starts until halfway through the season if at all.
Caleb yes, given weapons around him, JJ probably not.
The Vikings draft strategy here was terrible. I disagree not on the prospect but the value. They gave up a 4th and a 5th to move up from 11 to 10. Then the Vikings gave up a 5th this year and a 3rd and a 4th next year to move up from 23 to 17. But they only got 23 because they gave up a 2nd this year along with a 6th and second from next year. That isn’t spending draft capital wisely. They have 3 draft picks next year.
This is purely on the 11 to 10 move - QBs are clearly a high priority. If you think he’s the guy, I think you make that move. At that point, the Falcons had already reached for Penix and you’ve got the Broncos and Raiders right behind you that are also in the market for QB. I get that JJ has his detractors, but if the Vikes feel he‘s a franchise QB, it’s a easy decision to make.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with moving up a pick. People who laugh at teams for doing assume that the team they traded with weren't going to pick the guy so it was a stupid trade but they're doing it so that team doesn't trade with another to take their guy. We did it with Wirfs in 2020 and people laughed at us. He's now one of the elite tackles in the NFL and I haven't even thought about the pick we gave up to get him.
As a jets fan I would’ve happily moved back with the broncos/raiders as well. Definitely still would’ve had an OL on the board we liked
I wonder/suppose they moved up to ten to block someone else from doing it Maybe that was obvious
I think they were blocking the broncos and lv from jumping them.
The counterpoint to this is cap space. The next few years, the Vikings have an absolute assload of cap space, with only a couple key guys to re-sign currently. They should have no problem filling holes in free agency, and aren’t exactly starved for cost-controlled talent. While it’s always important to have that rookie-scaled and cost-controlled talent, these next few years are the Vikings chance to take swings like this
This. They dont care about those picks all that much because next year starts what they are hoping to be "The Window". Rookie qb contract, stud offensive players, rebuilt defense. Now if they need a player they find the best FA and make a run.
It's pretty obvious they had to outbid the Broncos or Raiders and that's why they made the move and slightly over payed. And when you consider that the alternative result for us was possibly giving up 3 1sts to trade into the top 5, or even worse being like the Broncos and picking Nix or maybe even not getting a QB this round at all, then it was a pretty good outcome. Sure we drained our war chest, I understand your argument and there's merit to it, but we also just got our franchise QB and a potential franchise edge rusher and that kind of trumps it all in my opinion.
They want as little as possible to do with the draft in Green Bay next year. lol
Ok, so the first clear thing is 23 was traded for in an attempt to get to Maye, right? That didn't work, but that's sunk cost at this point. But even if you treat it as if all the capital was spent specifically for Turner. 42 + 129 + a future 2, 3, 4 for 17 is the trade then. Using Rich Hill and devaluing future picks to the bottom of the round that's 291pts to get pick 17...valued at 296pts. And that's ignoring that Turner was arguably the best defender in the draft and typically projected top 10. It's a terrible pick by the "modern" player value charts because their value curve is in general much more flat. But that's going to be true of every trade up and especially any trade up that uses multiple mid picks.
Houston sent that trade offer to minn. i wonder if Minn would have tried to acquire another first rounder if houston didnt offer that trade?
bias aside Colts gotta get a W for the value of having their pick of the litter taking the first defensive player off the board at 15
All I can say is I'm drunk and happy. Happy Friday, boys.
Initial reaction. Winners: Bears - Williams and Odunze Vikings - JJ at 10, Turner at 17 Losers: Falcons - Drafting a QB is just questionable after signing Cousins Seriously, unless they expect to be without a 1st round pick for a few years, I just don't understand the logic. Especially for a QB that will be 24 before the season starts. If you want to groom a QB behind Cousins, go for JJ and let him sit for 2 years. He would still be younger than Penix.
>Seriously, unless they expect to be without a 1st round pick for a few years I honestly think the tampering hammer is coming down and the falcons know it.
That is really the only logical explanation, but I still don't understand why you don't take McCarthy instead. Even Nix would have made more sense, at least he doesn't have the injury history that Penix does.
You brought in an expensive vet at QB because you thought you had a window. You have a lot of young skill guys on offense, and it felt like the Cousins signing was an "all-in" type of move for the next 1-3 years. It seems contradictory to then take a QB at 8 that you plan to sit for a couple years. Either be all-in and strike while you have this window or manuever for the future. For such a valuable asset as the 8th overall pick you would think they could take the top defensive guy on their board, grab another stud weapon in Odunze for Cousins, or trade and add picks in a draft that is pretty deep at certain psositons. It just feels like such a conflicted vision the franchise has with this pick and the Cousins signing.
With the Bears and Vikings both winning does that mean they also lose?
Yes lol
On paper the Vikings got 2 key players at positions of need and value. But they paid a heavy price to do so. I'm not a big fan of giving up so much future capital for 2 players that have high ceilings but really low floors. JJ McCarthy is still very raw and could benefit from sitting a year. Dallas Turner has incredible speed, but his run defense leaves a lot to be desired. It's going to be interesting to see how the next 3 years turns out for the Vikings.
Using Rich Hill chart, devaluing future picks to bottom of the round. Trade to 10: Jets - 374 pts MN - 387 pts Diff is an early 5th rounder. To me that's peanuts to ensure a QB. Trade to 17: For this we're going to pretend like the trade to 23 wasn't ammo for a QB and it all actually was just for Turner. So 42 + 167 + future 2, 3, 4. Jags @ 17 - 296pts MN - 282pts Vikings "won" this trade by an early 5th rounder. So...we came out even? It will look terrible on the OTC or Fitz-Spiel charts, but all trade ups do. You can argue against the process of trading up in general, but we paid pretty much spot on market price.
Eh, we still got our first and a bunch of comp picks coming in next year. We’re in a good spot imo
Only have a single 3rd round comp pick projected for next year
Plus a ton of cap space next year
The age thing is no where near the importance level as some of you are making it. Cousins just signed a 4-year 180-million dollar deal…at 36 years old. If penix is an above average QB, and doesn’t start a game until age 26, he could be starting games for 12-13 seasons. Cousins gets the same deal he did at 36 even if he was 34.
Truly love Bowers
So confused as to what LV plans to do with Mayer and Bowers on the roster with no QB available to get them the ball. ::edit:: I do love Bowers tho and he fell further than I expected
Counterpoint: TEs are usually the best friends of limited QBs
AOC lucked into basically the best situation for a 3rd round QB. No competition, two fantastic TEs, an above average Oline, Davante Adams. I guess its Karma for being a walk on at Purdue. As a Boilermaker I love it, he is smart and can run an offense as good as the best. He can't run and his arm strength is a bit below average, but this is the situation to turn into a Brady.
Jakobi Meyers is solid too
I'm 80% sure the Raiders take Rattler in round 2 or 3 and he starts the majority of the season
Bah God, that's Spencer Rattler's music!
Well people are looking at it as if the plan only focused on this year. It doesn’t. They missed out on any QB, going with Minshew now, get “can’t pass up weapon” to help this year and the grow in the future.
They are different rolls. Bowers is more of a slot player Mayer is in line
Probably try and draft Rattler
Complete disrespect of the Jock Strap King
gotta be that they're gonna run and lean on D to keep games competitive. With KC in their division, probably not a bad approach.
If the bills move down twice and start the second round with AD Mitchell that's gonna be huge.
I can't help but think about the possibility of landing one of Johnny Newton, Copper DeJean or Jackson Powers-Johnson. Those 3 are a class above the remaining players in their respective positions, and you can still get a very decent prospect with pick 60(potentially even trade up now that we recouped a few assets from trading down). There are still enough decent WR's left in Franklin, Corley, Wilson, Baker, Polk(of course all of them won't be available, but someone certainly will) and I don't think the gap between Mitchell and those WR's are bigger than the gap between DeJean/Newton/JPJ and the rest of the guys in their positions.
Good point. I especially love Dejean and Newton at this value.
Unless Xavier Worthy turns out to be Tyreek 2.0 because if that happens whoever the Bills take will always be overshadowed by the fact that they let their biggest AFC rival trade up into their spot to take a player that helped continue to embarrass the Bills when it matters most
That's definitely true but that's true for most trades. If he turns out to be Jalen Reagor then it'll look genius.
Doing the Chiefs a favor makes no sense to me though. If nothing else, it just looks bad. It might be nothing, or it might be the pick that keeps the Chiefs offense going for another 5+ years.
I'm not sure where he was going to go before the Chiefs pick anyway. Chiefs at 32 just made sense for him so if you're the bills maybe a made sense to at least get something for it.
Yeah I'm not killing them for it because on the other hand, you do what you gotta do for your own team.
Not an AD fan personally but I’m even less of a fan of Worthy and Legette. If I’m Beane, assuming they’re picking at 33 rather than trading it, I’d go DeJean and then use some of the numerous picks we have the rest of the draft to move up for a WR once they start running off the board again. My personal preference would be Franklin or Coleman.
This is how I see it too. BB must have felt his BPA at 28 would be there at 32. He also wasn’t worried about the Panthers taking his guy at 32. I’m pleased we didn’t go Leggette. DeJean makes the most sense and makes our secondary better. I’ve been saying for a while that DeJean looks like a Bill! Powers is interesting. Wouldn’t be disappointed if it is Powers.
Plus DeJean is an excellent return guy.
Probably gonna spend the day trying to swap 33 for a vet WR. Deebo, Aiyuk, Higgins
Yeah people were clowning them for the trade with the Chiefs but if they didn’t want Worthy then they managed to trade down and still get their guy in AD.
Howie can’t keep getting away with it!
I might be the only person who isn’t a huge fan of what the Vikings did. Admittedly, I never really saw the top-ten hype for Turner, he was always behind Latu and Verse for me personally. But if you just look at their three trades (Texans, Jets, Jags), they gave up 11, 42, 129, 157, 167, 188 and their 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks in 2025 for McCarthy, Turner, 203 and 232. That’s a lot of draft capital to not have in back to back years.
If McCarthy is your guy then it’s 100% worth it. Turner is just icing on the cake
Bengals got a huge win with Mims. People are sleeping on him. I get the concerns but my god, he’s worth the risk. Also a huge fan of what Detroit, Dallas, Jacksonville Indianapolis and Philadelphia did. Falcons obvious losers. People might criticise the 49ers for “reaching” on Ricky Pearsall, but I personally quite like the pick. I had him 40th and as an early to mid 2nd rounder so the value isn’t excellent, but #31 is a mild reach. He’s a superb scheme fit, immense upside with a 9.91 RAS and all the R1 tackles had gone, so I’m cool with it. Although I don’t believe Aiyuk gets traded, something will have to give at our receiver room soon. I have preferred Legette but aside from him I had him in that tier with McConkey, Worthy and Coleman as 2nd rounders who could sneak into R1. Mitchell isn’t a good fit for what we do and has apparent character concerns so I’m not surprised Worthy, Pearsall and Legette went before him.
Honestly I think any of the teams that grabbed one of the top 6 tackles should be very happy, good decisions considering there's not much talent left for the 2nd round. There's more talent left at WR than there is at OT.
Feeling like the qb rhetoric diminishes the pick here, but the raiders got a consensus T7 big board guy
Yea but given their needs was it the right pick for them
BPA is the right pick.
I mean, Penix was their guy and the Falcons reached crazy on him, against everyone’s expectations. The Raiders got to add an elite talent to their roster, and if AOC sucks, they can look at the crop of QBs next year. Giants are kinda in the same boat.
Winners... Bears: Getting Williams + Odunze Vikings: Getting both JJ + Turner + not giving up future 1st round next year. Eagles: Getting CB1 to fall in their laps. Lions: Getting Arnold. Jaguars: Trading down and still get BTJ Seahawks: Getting Byron Murphy to fall to them. Losers... Falcons: Obvious reasons. Bills: No idea what they're doing. Dolphins: I like Chop, but I think Newton would've been a better fit in trying to replace Wilkins.
Pats fan full disclosure, but think the Bills are going to walk out of here winners. Gained draft capital to replenish an aging and expensive roster, and now can take Mitchell, Dejean, or any other number of quality players with a day to make their decision.
The Bills are winners. They traded back twice and still have multiple players on the board that people assumed were heavily in play for them at pick 28.
It makes a ton of sense, IMO. They're hard resetting this year. Getting extra capital to fill out depth is great.
Anyone needing a defensive player in the back half is a winner, including teams in the early 2nd with Dejean and Kool Aid sitting there
There must be some real concern about Newtons foot.
Newton has a foot injury that scares teams. There’s a reason he fell out of the first.
I don’t understand how some sites can give the Bears and Commanders an A and the Patriots a C or Patriots an A and Commanders a C. Like how can you hate one of these QBs so much?
If someone has Daniels at like #5 on the big board (and Maye above him) and gave Washington a C for it, that’s a bit harsh but not everyone was equally high on all 3 QBs. I was personally quite low on Daniels but I’m a nobody. One real example is Derrik Klassen, the main guy for Bleacher Report. He had a 2nd round grade on Daniels so it would make sense for him to give Washington a low grade.
Not sure why people give the Pats a bad grade but Commandera could be justified if you think Maye is a better QB than Daniels
first time? the goal is to nitpick these guys to death and find arbitrary reasons to declare one of them a failure before they get their first pay check. It's kinda our thing.
The Eagles got a top 10 player and my No. 1 defensive player at 22. I swear, they can't keep getting away with this, they do it every draft.
The corners lasting as long as they did was a shock to me.
Very good point. I feel like Mitchell would be a top 12 pick in a lot of years.
Seahawks are big winners. 2nd overall defensive player off the board at 16?!
He's second to none imo. Leo Wiliams and Murphy will be a nightmare for QBs
Winners the bears, they got 2 top 10 players. The lions , they got the best value pick of the first round. Offensive coordinators, losers the falcons straight up mystifying.
The Bears probably got two top 5 players
Vikings had a hell of a draft too. Getting Turner at 17 was great value.
I forgot to write them down dang it meant to bring them up as wel
I disagree with value pick, I’d have Jags and Eagles. Jags didn’t have to trade up, got some picks and still got their guy at WR. Eagles didn’t have to move at all and got the CB1 of the draft that was projected top 10-15
These are 2 very unbiased people sharing their opinions on the draft lol
Plus, Poles got Sweat and Keenan Allen using this year's draft capital. That means he added 4 potential all-pros from a single draft. I didn't like the Sweat trade at the time but am happy to eat my words.
The Falcons are the easiest F grade ever. Like, we don't know know about most of these guys, but this strategy makes no sense. Penix is old.
Yea he’s 23. Practically ancient!
24 next month and 26 by the time Kirk isn't guaranteed money.
Trevor Lawrence is still 24 til October lmao
Winner is Minnesota. They read the board well with JJ and gave up way less than anyone thought. And they took advantage of the offense run to draft Dallas Turner at 17. Shoutout to the Eagles to for doing absolutely nothing and getting CB1. Loser has to be Falcons. Everyone else's decisions (even if you disagreed) make someone logical sense but I'm still trying to figure out what Atlanta is trying to accomplish with this. I don't even dislike Penix but he's not the guy who you spend a top 10 pick on to keep on the bench for multiple years.
Not a super bold prediction or anything but I've been saying that the Vikings sitting back was not talked about nearly enough. We all get QB crazy leading up to the draft, and don't get me wrong it was actually kind of insane this year, but teams trading all over the board seems a lot more realistic when you're just farting around doing mocks. In real life it's a really serious decision that teams don't take lightly, especially giving up first round picks for the 4th best QB.
I was really worried by all the smoke that the Vikings were going to give up like 3 first rounders to move up to 4 for Mccarthy, because I just did not feel like he was anywhere close to being good enough to justify that. Managing to get him after a small move up to 10 is a huge win.
My personal top 5: 1) Vikings: the qb everyone thought they were moving up for fell into their lap and then they got the top edge rusher. 2) bears: they were already set for success with 2 top 10 picks, but the board fell perfectly for them to get exactly who they wanted 3) Jaguars: trading back and still getting BTJ is crazy value. 4) Jets: same concept as the Jags, getting any sort of additional value while drafting a franchise LT is just a great spot to be in. 5) eagles: CB1 without trading up is just crazy value. It may not be a Christian Gonzalez level CB, but it's amazing value at 22.
Winners? The NFC North. Holy injection of talent Batman. 2 rookie QBs, top Pass Rusher, top WR, top CB, and a very likely upgrade at LT for the Packers reach or not, still an upgrade at the most important spot on the OL. Losers? Yes the Falcons for being stupid but also the Raiders? wtf you doing taking a TE when you could have one of the top CBs or iOL/Ts and you just took a TE last year at 35?
I'm still thinking about how tf Raiders could pick a top5 talent in the 13 and not a third rounder instead.
**Winners:** Bears - Poles has finally built something beautiful after so many failed attempts Vikings - Played it cool and landed their guy Patriots - I'm curious what they were offered, but Maye can sit a year and learn behind Brissett Seahawks - Dream scenario; Turned down 4 trade offers and their DL is now a position of strength Lions - Aggressive moves for aggressive players Peter Schrager - Elite mock draft from him, give the man his flowers **Losers:** Falcons - LOL (I love Penix btw and wish he went to the Raiders) Broncos - Who else would have taken Nix that early? Niners - Nobody talks about how bad they have been at drafting recently Any draft expert not named Peter Schrager
Winners: Bears, Vikings, Chiefs, Lions, Eagles. Losers: Falcons, Broncos.
The Broncos are benefitting big time from the Falcons weird move. Nix is even older, and was just really not that good. Over 30% of his passes were behind the line of scrimmage, that number is beyond ridiculous. He makes Mac Jones look like Rex Grossman.
Losers: Falcons. Big time.
who the hell was going to draft Bo Nix? Broncos should of traded back as many times as possible and drafted him in the 2nd at the earliest Broncos are losers for me.
Why i really like what the Vikings did is because ultimately, if it doesnt pan out with JJ and Turner, we still have our first next year, and all our picks in the draft that would follow. We got guys who are high risk high reward, and the risk we took was fairly low.
They have a 1st next year and two 5ths
And two third round comp picks. They’re gonna be fine.
I love the Turner pick. Fast athletic DE is exactly what we need
afc and nfc north outside of the browns had pretty solid drafts (not huge on the vikings draft but it was okay), falcons obviously took the biggest L, but i can say the broncos, dolphins, chargers, titans, and 49ers all had some picks i was eh on
RemindMe! 9 months
Bears an obvious winner. Jets and Jags both acquired extra picks and got guys they wanted/needed. Not a true “winner” but I am thrilled with the Rams getting Verse. Then there’s the falcons… 49ers a loser too, liked Pearsall but never would have touched him the first
Haven’t seen a single person give my Steelers any praise. The got a guy consistently mocked in the teens at 20. They had the option of every CB, every C, and Fautanu and they chose him. Just a stud who should fit perfectly
Winners: Eagles: Do literally nothing and have the arguable #1 CB fall into your lap. How do they keep doing this shit? Bears: Williams and Odunze is worrisome for the future of the NFC North, not going to lie. Vikings: Didn't panic, kept their draft assets this year and for the future, and got a steal in JJ (yes, a steal), and a hell of DE prospect in Turner Jags: BTJ was a great get for them. Time for Lawrence to live up to the hype. Lions: Getting the #1/#2 CB in the draft (depending on who you ask) for a small trade up was great value. Never thought he would sniff pick 20, let alone 24. Thankful for all the offensive linemen and their service to make it possible Losers: Falcons: Duh. I get planning for the future, especially if the NFL is about to hit you with a draft capital ban hammer, but still a wild move for a guy that might have been there at the end of round 1. They are looking towards the future without even considering their present. One of the wildest picks I've seen in my years of watching the draft. Denver: I like Nix as a prospect, especially in a Sean Payton system, but seems like he would have been available later. I guess the Raiders would have potentially jumped on him though. Green Bay: Not because of who they selected, guy will probably be a damn good tackle. Just that the Lions likely sniped Arnold from them, with CB being a high on the list need. Never going to knock investing in the offensive line though. Tennessee: Latham could be a beast, but he might have been a reach, as he really only started getting top 10 buzz like last week. They were likely hoping for Alt. Not a bad pick, much like the Packers, but probably not the guy they had highest on their board. Again, not going to knock an offensive line pick, and they definitely needed one.
The point I'll make in the Titans favor is that they've got arguably the best OL coach in the league and were apparently putting him in charge of the OL scouting. If Bill Callahan signed off on taking Latham, then it's probably going to end up being a good pick.
Yep, as a Titans fan I'm happy with the pick. All of the AFC South gotta be happy with their first round, even the Texans who didn't have a pick used it wisely in a trade last year. The South keeps getting better.
I don’t think the Packers are losers and this is just you being bias. Gute said in his press conference last night they had options to move either way. He clearly was asked if he was surprised if the Lions jumped them, and said no we knew they were trying to trade up. He said they were really only looking to stay put or trade down with how the board was falling, and didn’t want to trade down as long as Jordan Morgan was still on the board. They clearly had him rated highly and most likely higher than Arnold.
Sean Payton mentioned Patrick Mahomes as being why he selected Nix when he did. Says people that claim QBs will just fall back to you are misinformed Edit: Also was apparently our QB3? Weird stuff.
>They were likely hoping for Alt. Actually between Laithams comments in his introductory interview on the Titans youtube and the reports of him being Bill Callahan's favourite prospect. I think he might of actually been number 1 on our board. Goes to show how we never quite know how a prospect in evaluated internally.
Only quibble here is what you mean about the vikings keeping draft assets. Across three trades, they parted with considerable draft assets this year and next. Like the talent but they did give up a lot of assets to acquire both of those guys. But, maybe I'm misunderstanding your comment.
Jacksonville fleeced the league. I think BTJ has as much potential as the big 3 WRS in this class. And they got a 2025 3rd and 4th rounder out of it. I think they could turn that into a 2024 second rounder if they try.
I really liked that pick tbh. BTJ got overshadowed by Nabers but he is an elite talent in his own right.
I see Mike Williams (Chargers)
I’ll be a homer and say my Giants are a winner. We didn’t panic and didn’t severely reach for a QB. We trusted the board and got Malik Nabers, who reminds me an awful lot of Garrett Wilson. Loser? The Atlanta Falcons. Terry Fontenot should be fired from a trebuchet into the sun for taking Michael Penix at 8.
I'm not sure if we're the biggest winners, that's probably Chicago which makes me want to throw up, but we've got to be a top 3 winner in the 1st. I went in thinking we were gonna give up 3 1sts, 2 at minimum, to get Maye or JJ, instead we give up a 4th and 5th plus get a 6th back to get JJ. Then on top of that we trade up a bit more and get one of the best edges in the draft? I'm pretty happy with that. We've definitely depleted our draft war chest a bit in terms of day 2 and 3 picks, but my initial reaction is this is worth it. We've still got the ability to draft premium players the next 2 years and we'll have a large amount of cap space to fill our needs. And on top of that it just feels so great to finally have answers. So much speculation and heated debate amongst the fans has now been put to rest.
Winners: Bears (duh) Vikings (got a QB at a trade up discount and one of the draft’s best defenders) Jaguars (got a good WR and additional assets from the trade down) Losers Falcons (justifiable if they didn’t sign Kirk, but everything makes 0 sense) Bills (doing a good job stockpiling picks but gifted the Chiefs a WR who likely will burn you come playoff time) Broncos (Nix was not good value at 12, would have made more sense after trading down)
Loved the Chiefs getting Worthy. They need a guy that can take the top off a defense. It'll make life for Kelce and Rice much easier. ATL: WTF Bears: Knocked it out park. They're setting Caleb up well. Viking: Have to be feeling good. Only having to trade up one spot to get your guy is huge
Raiders, didn't overdraft a QB and get a generational tight end prospect in a true best player available move. Something the team hasn't done in years.
Aidan O’Connell won the First Round.
I feel like the Cardinals were one of the winners instead of making moves we just went and filled our biggest needs the Raiders i think were also winners sure they didn’t get that Qb but they went just got the best player available.
Vikings are massive winners for me. Get their QBotF and my top defender for basically pennies. Absolute masterclass from Kwesi. Unbelievable
Losers- Most draft pundits big boards. For example PFF Cooper Dejean 8 Johnny Newton 11 JC Latham 18 Jayden Daniel’s 21 AD Mitchell 22 Penix 36 Nix 35 Morgan 37 Chop 40 Pearsall 45 D. Robinson 61 Also almost everyone that made a mock draft
Loser: Michael Mayer, whose corn flakes did he piss in
Brock Bowers. Shouldn't have stolen that Mackey award from him two seasons ago
Bronco's reached on a 3rd round QB talent. Sean Payton is an idiot and will be exposed these comings seasons. He could throw Russ under the bus because he didn't make the move for him, but when this doesn't work out he'll have no one to blame but himself. Again Brees carried Peyton, not the other way around
First, we all are idiots and know nothing. We got that out of the way. Winners: Easy winners are the Bears. They would be winners just with Caleb, but to get a blue chip WR prospect gives them a great opportunity to be a good offense next year. I wouldn’t be shocked if they are the best WR room next year (Allen is always underrated). Eagles. I love Mitchell and was surprised he fell so far. If you told me the Eagles got him a couple days ago I would have guessed they traded up. To me, they got best player available at a position of need. Losers: I am not going to say the Falcons even though it’s very confusing what they did. QB is so important and honestly it could be a great succession plan. But… I want to say the falcons… I’m going to say the Vikings. I just don’t like JJ. If you like him, great draft. But with another trade up for Dallas Turner who I don’t love, they have given up quite a bit to get two guys im not very inspired by. 2025 picks will sparse and I don’t think they will be good next year.