2017 NFL Draft

The Game Room
1

I didn’t see a draft thread yet. Who do you like? Who do you don’t? Who will screw up royally?

Chatter around the Charlotte area is that the Panthers are locked in on Mccaffrey at 8. However, there are also rumors going around that the Browns may be looking hard at Mitch Trubisky at #1 which would shake things up a bit and possibly make another player available they didn’t expect to have a shot at.

Mccaffrey is dynamic and the Panthers need to open the offense up but I’m not sure he’s a #8 guy in the draft. He has a little bit of that “great in college, but not in the pros” look to him.

2

I didn’t watch as much college football as usual this past season, so I only know what I hear. I hope the Browns do the smart thing and take Myles Garrett #1. I never even heard of Mitchel Trubisky until a few months ago and suddenly he might be the best QB in the class? I doubt it. I did see a decent amount of DeShone Kizer and he’s got potential, but he’s not a starting NFL QB right now. Too erratic at times.

3

If there’s a pass rusher that’s head and shoulders above the competition, and no quarterback to match, take the rusher. Every. Time.

Knowing Cleveland, they’re probably going to go with Gee Grenouille of the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs. I struggle to find a more incompetent front office.
I’m interested to see who Green Bay picks up. I really have no idea, given Ted Thompson’s proclivity to select some random guy nobody would have thought of, with seemingly random results.

4

Dallas’s main focus is CB, DE and safety, despite the many pundits who think they need a tight end. I just hope they take the most dominant CB or DE available, they don’t need 2 first round picks at safety, especially since their opening is at strong safety. So much easier to find a box guy over a cover guy.

I wouldn’t freak out if they dropped back to the early 2nd round if a sweet deal from a QB needy team showed up.

5

I heard on the radio this morning that there’s some running back (can’t remember who) who is apparently slipping to “well into the 20s” in the draft. Dunno who he is, but he can’t be worse than Christine Michael. Speaking of…has anyone picked up Blount yet? I’d take him in a heartbeat.

6

I haven’t watched much college football this year, not done much research on most of the players. That lack of information will not stop me one whit from offering my dumbass opinions, though. That’s what makes America great after all.

Almost every year, I offer up a list of guys I like, guys I don’t like, and guys whose name I love. Past hits include Kirk Cousins, Josh Norman, and Jordan Howard. Past misses include … well, would you look at the time … gotta run:

My guys:

1st round

Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan – not super early, but I think he’ll be a productive starter for a long time.

2nd round

Jourdan Lewis, CB, Michigan – there are questions about his size, but he’s a great cover corner and fun to watch.

Forrest Lamp, G, Western Kentucky – may actually go in the first round, but I think he’ll be another long time starter.

Mitch Trubinsky, QB, North Carolina – I like him as a developmental QB, but desperate teams continue to overdraft project QB’s.

3rd round

Gerald Everett, TE, South Alabama – smooth, fluid, ex basketball player turned TE ala Antonio Gates. He’s raw, but I love his upside.

Desmond King, CB, Iowa – Solid player. Not going to blow you away, but still pretty good.

4th Round

Nathan Peterman, QB, Pittsburgh – Draft a QB every year. I don’t see stardom in his future, but he could be an efficient NFL QB. Develop him, and then trade him to a QB desperate team.

5th Round

Grover Stewart, DI, Albany – Another small school project who is really raw, but has the potential to develop. Worth a shot here.

6th Round

Austin Carr, WR, Northwestern – a poor man’s Wes Welker. A really poor, almost dead, man. He could be a move the chains slot receiver in the NFL, but he’s small.

James Connor, RB, Pittsburgh – Had a great sophomore year, then got injured and they discovered lymphoma. Missed a year for treatment and had an OK year this year. He’s not as fast as I’d like, but he’s got a great story and some skills.

7th

Jerome Lane, WR, Akron – Huge project with no real chance of making it, but I like his upside. More of a TE/WR tweener, but could be a solid contributer in 3 or 4 years.

Your guys:

John Ross, WR, Washington
DeShon Kizer, QB, Notre Dame
Chad Kelly, QB, Mississippi
Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
Pat Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU

Favorite Names in the Draft:

Jake Butt
Cooper Kupp
Jeremy Sprinkle
Ishmael Zamora
Damore’ea Stringfellow
Fish Smithson
Mike Tyson
Bug Howard
Gage Steele

7

I desperately want to see Jake Butt and Alabama QB Jalen Hurts (who isn’t in the draft this year) wind up on the same NFL team, just so they can stand next to each other on the sideline for an all-time great picture. :smiley:

8

Joe Mixon has arguably the most upside of anyone in the draft, but there was a little incident of him breaking a woman’s face a few years back - it’s been discussed here and elsewhere. I fall on the “give the guy a chance, a single provoked punch shouldn’t ruin a career” side, but it’s quite possible it will drop him even in to the second round. Even then, this draft is incredibly deep with running back talent - there will be guys still available on Day 3 that can be passable players.

Nobody’s picked up Blount for the same reason Peterson is still unsigned. He’s a running back with a lot of miles, and only had notable success in a single system. I’d take a veteran’s minimum flyer on him - it would be nice to have a bruiser to go with Montgomery and Michael - but I tend towards not paying much for running backs, especially with our entire offense slanted towards Aaron “Bad Man” Rodgers. I want a pass rusher and a fast cover guy. Outside of that and linemen, I don’t see any real gaps in the team.

9

BTW, Peterson has signed with the Saints.

11

There is no way Trubisky doesn’t go in the 1st round. That said, I find his rocket to the top of the QB list a little funny, though. I never heard of the guy until after the season. He only played one season (13 games) in college. He had basically no big wins, record was 8-5, including a bowl game loss. It’s the weakest resume I’ve ever seen for a potential #1 QB.

I agree that Mixon’s mistake shouldn’t cost him a career, and it won’t. Someone will draft him. He’ll be on an NFL roster next season.

12

Mixon might get a chance, he was 18 and has kept his nose clean in the years following. Caleb Brantleyscrewed himself big time. How do you not keep yourself under control DURING the draft process?

13

Every projection I’ve found has Mixon going in the early-mid 2nd, and he’s been on a months-long apology tour. I hadn’t seen anything about Brantley until now - that could drop him from a possible 1st round pick (according to the article) to day 3 or not at all. Tunsil dropped from a possible #1 pick to 13th with a video of him smoking weed. I can only imagine Brantley’s punch is going to cost him much, much more.

14

Count me among the ones who have been really disengaged from the predraft build up this year.

Didn’t watch a ton of college and looked the least amount of the combine footage and scouting reports in my adult life. Particularly weird with the Bears having their highest pick in 45 years.

I’m obviously really interested in seeing what the Bears do at 3. They need a QB but anyone they draft there will be a reach and a gamble. That said, they need to come away with a QB in the first 2 rounds (maybe 3 if there’s no runs).

The dream scenario is where the Browns grab a QB and Myles Garrett somehow slips to 3. The Bears missed Leonard Williams and Aaron Donald by one spot, will probably happen again this year.

As always, a trade down is always a possibility and I’m not opposed to it so long as we’re not deferring the rebuild (and getting a QB) for a whole year. If the Browns want to come back up to get Trubisky at 3 and we land Mahomes in the late 1st or early 2nd I’d be pretty happy with that.

Otherwise, most Mocks have us taking one of the DBs, Lattimore, Adams or Hooker. We definitely need the love there, but drafting DBs this high has a spotty track record. Not sure if any of these guys after the next Patrick Peterson, Earl Thomas or Eric Berry.

Some guys I’m down on and don’t want at 3, Allen, Fournette, Howard, Foster, Watson or Kizer.

Probably going to blow off work tomorrow and spend at day reading up on these guys.

15

What are you even talking about? Is this just “HURR DURR CLEVELAND SUCKS” shit that doesn’t actually reflect any reality? What front office are you talking about? Sashi Brown? Paul Depodesta? All the rest of the Harvard guys? What morons they are because the Browns drafted badly years before they got there, right? The entirety of the Front Office has been there for one year, with one draft under their belt. But I guess they must be wildly incompetant because look at who Cleveland drafted 2+ years ago!

And even referring to those years that had nothing to do with the this front office, saying the Browns did something unexpected like drafting a guy no one has ever heard of doesn’t happen. Most years the Browns are listed as big winners in the draft by sports publicatons. People are usually impressed with their drafts. And then the players suck. Which reflects badly on the team - both scouting and coaching - but it’s not like it’s because they draft head scratchers that no one understands. In the years after Trent Richardson I’ve heard a lot of “hurr durr Trent Richardson, that’s a move only the Browns could’ve made, how stupid! In the top 5! Insane!” except that every draft publication listed Trent as a top 5 prospect and many called him the safest pick in the draft. Only in hindsight did it become an “only the Browns lololol!” thing.

The Browns have had some shitty drafts and failed to develop players, but it’s not because they drafted “Gee Grenouille of the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs” - they’re usually congratulated in the sports media for getting “good value” (meaning the prospects were highly rated by the general sports media consensus).

There’s plenty to bash the Browns on. At least use some of the stuff that makes sense.

16

Relax. Take a deep breath. It was a joke.

The new guys batted pretty damn well last year, but this is also the team that used the draft pick they got in the Richardson trade to take an undersized scrambling cokehead quarterback in the 1st just a few years ago. It takes more than a single good draft to erase the notion that the Browns have been a dumpster fire since their re-inception.

17

If the Browns take Trubisky at #1 overall, as some are speculating they may, there will be plenty of ammunition to hit them with. His accomplishments are meager and few. I don’t really get upset at the Browns anymore, but if that happens, I will be quite displeased.

18

As many legitimate reasons there are to shit on my team - and people do, constantly - it’s weird to throw inaccurate ones out there.

But you specifically said “incompetent front office”, holding the current front office, which is totally new and different, for the failures of past ones. So which is it, actual individuals making decisions, or some sort of magic juju where the concept of the entire team has innate properties and makes decisions?

19

SenorBeef - just curious - do you have any opinion on what the Browns should do? I’m not a huge CFB fan, so I don’t know a lot about Trubisky, but he seems like a massive overreach. But everyone else has questions as well…

As a Jets fan, I hope they get Jonathan Allen at 6. I know he has massive injuries concerns, but he was such a stud in college, and from what I can tell has no character issues. I’ve seen some mocks with him slipping to the mid teens, so maybe 6 is a reach, but not if he can stay healthy.

20

TBH the overload on mock drafts is taking me out of the mood for the draft. They are worthless considering they never take into account trades between teams. Now I only care about where UW grads are going, who the Seahawks pick.

21

I really don’t. I used to get very into the draft, watch players, read draft reports and all that, but I don’t anymore.

Garrett is the obvious pick. I watched a little bit of his stuff and nothing really jumped out at me as the clear #1 prospect like everyone agrees he is.

Trubisky has the perfect narrative. I grew up a few miles from where he did - some friends went to the school he was the QB at. He grew up under the shadow of the shitty Browns and understands what the team means to the city. He wants to be the guy who rescues the team - the local boy who wants to save the city, not unlike LeBron James. But… the narrative doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good quarterback, and he definitely doesn’t seem to have the sort of resume you’d normally expect out of a #1 overall pick, so it seems too risky, as tempting as rooting for the narrative might be.