2018 NFL draft - first round and later discussion

[Phicinfan]

okay, first round is in, and here is just a few thoughts on what happened.

Things I loved in this draft:

1) Baker Mayfield - give Kudos to Cleveland, they wanted this guy and they took him, regardless of what the "experts" say. I find it funny that Mel Kiper was all over Cleveland for this pick ,but we find out now from multiple GM's that they have Mayfield rated higher. I will add that he is the best fit to what Tyrod Taylor also does...so the offense won't have to change when Mayfield takes over.

3) Jets get Darnold: I know everyone loves Darnold, but he has way too many turn overs for my liking. I hope this works out for them, they have been Qb starved forever.

4) Cleveland ignores Chubb to go Cb - and take the best Cb at least with Ward from Ohio State. They needed a Cb, no doubt. But I am a bit old school, if you have great pass rush, you can help out a secondary. Chubb on that line with Garrett would have been really solid. Still, get a great player at a great need.

5) By multiple reports Denver had a deal in place with Buffalo to trade down. With Chubb staring them in the face, they passed on the deal and took Chubb. Man is the Denver defense going to be scary next year.....yikes.

6) Colts do the right thing - and get OL to help protect Luck.

7) This was the best pick to me in the early 1st round. Kudos to Buffalo!!! First - they get the big, strong armed kid who has played in bad weather, cold and snow. Second - they only had to give up ONE of their 1st round picks - let me repeat that - ONE OF THEIR FIRST ROUND PICKS - so pick 7 and 2 2nd round picks to get their Qb of the future. Third - they got him for much, much better value than what Denver wanted. Things are changing in Buffalo folks.

Other Buffalo move - to trade up again and take one of the top LBs which was a dire need is another solid move by Buffalo. Again, for not a huge price either. I really like what this team is doing.

Baltimore - In his last draft as he is retiring, the GM of Baltimore made the most of his leaving. First he dealt down not once but twice, to gain extra value for team, and then hit some key needs. First got to me one of the best Te's in this draft with Hayden Hurst. 2nd Got their Qb of the future Lamar Jackson at bargain basement price of last pick in first round....AND get to get him for 5 years as he is a first round pick. Bravo Ozzie - way to school the rest of the NFL on your way out.

Green Bay - there is a new sheriff in town folks, and Gutekunst is making some waves. First they raped N.O. to get an extra first round pick in 2019, and then they make a pretty good deal to move back up to get a really good Cb in Jaire Alexander to fill a major need for his team. Net in the two deals, he traded down 4 or so spots got the Cb he wanted, and gained an extra first rounder next year. Bravo!

Things I did not like.

2) Giants - don't take Qb of the future(not sure rest are that good anyway....) and don't trade down, and instead take probably the best player in this draft in Barkley. I will say this - he sure looks like a stud, and they desperately needed the running game to help Eli. That being said I just don't agree with taking a RB this early, as they have at best a 5 year career length. But he will make it fun in NY for a while.

If you are a New Orleans Saints fan....I hope you called the Police for the rape you just witnessed. What Green Bay did was just that, a crime, and they raped N.O. How many here know how many trades were in the first round this year.....oh all are raising their hands cool - 6. Of those 6 how many trades cost TWO first round picks???? Anyone? Beuhler? Just ONE. Thats right N.O. had to deal this years 1st round pick AND their 2019 FIRST ROUND PICK to get one of the better pass rushers in this draft. That is just sad.

 

[mudloggerone]

It doesn't bother me all that much to give up the 27th this year and somewhere around the 32nd next year to fill the most glaring need we had and have had on defense. The Saint's are set barring injury on the outside. True Saint's fans expected them to make a move such as this and I was one of them. This is the coach that nailed it in the draft last year so we'll see how this pans out. See ya at the NFC Championship game.

 

[Phicinfan]

One other question is Rb in NE. I get it, they lost a really good Rb in Dion Lewis to FA. I also get that Michel of Georgia can do it all, catch, run and such.

But what does a guy like James White have to do?

Current rbs on roster for NE - Michel, Gillislee, Burkhead, White, Bolden, Jeremy Hill.

I have to assume, yeah I know what that means...., that Michel is the replacement for Lewis, Burkhead will maintain his specialty role. I also assume Hill will eventually replace Gillislee or vice versa, I doubt they keep both. Bolden and White sit there on the bench.

Must suck to be Bolden or White.

 

[KillerFins]

I thought the Safety talk for the Fins was a smoke screen, was hoping they'd go with Edmunds, but I'm liking the Minkah Fitzpatrick more and more. Think they can be creative in how they use him, TJ McDonald also can moe to Nickel/Dime LB, it gives them great flexibility and fixes a big issue they've had against TEs & RBs. Wouldn't be surprised if they look at TE next.

 

[mudloggerone]

I didn't think it was a bad pick at all for the Fish.

 

[efactor]

My 49er spin so far:

1) Mcglinchey wasn't an exciting pick, but he will allow Shanahan to roll out his entire playbook. Brown was an excellent pass blocker but a poor run blocker. Not quick enough to seal the edge that allows for the outside runs and screens that are a big part of the offense. Shanahan wants to run the ball and this will go a long way towards making that happen.

2) Like the pick of Pettis but thought they gave up too much to move up and get him. I thought he would have been there at 59 and no need to give up an early 3rd, but WTF do I know? The perception that he is a "slot" receiver is way off base. He will replace Garcon next year as the X receiver.
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3) Love the Warner pick. Good size and a lot of speed to cover the Gurleys and Johnsons in the division. If Foster gets cleared, they will make an awesome LB duo

4) Travarous Moore was an interesting pick. I thought they would go CB there, but was expecting Quinten Meeks. More ran a 4.34 at his pro day, is 6'2" with incredibly long arms. Played safety but SF will work him at CB. Having Sherman as a tutor will be a huge help.

So far, very happy with the exception of the cost of moving up for Pettis.

 

[efactor]

It doesn't bother me all that much to give up the 27th this year and somewhere around the 32nd next year to fill the most glaring need we had and have had on defense. The Saint's are set barring injury on the outside. True Saint's fans expected them to make a move such as this and I was one of them. This is the coach that nailed it in the draft last year so we'll see how this pans out. See ya at the NFC Championship game.

This was interesting to me from the standpoint of how little the so called "experts" know. Maylock was absolutely certain they made the move to pick Lamar Jackson. I was watching with my son and a friend and I started laughing when he said that. My exact words were "why the F would they move up and take Jackson at 14 when Brees will play for another three years and they are in win mode now? They are taking Davenport'.

Time will tell on if they overpaid, but similar to SF moving up to take Pettis, he was their guy and they didn't want to miss out on him.