2021 Dantés Draft Thread

[Dantés]

I'm just making a thread where I can stick thoughts and information on the draft. Making my own thread makes it seem like I'm some sort of expert, which I'm not. But without a thread, I'm often at a loss to know where to put stuff.

 

[Dantés]

So the first thing I like to do is winnow the field a little bit.

Picking 29th, it's just unrealistic to expect a number of players to be available to them.

There are no locks in the NFL draft, but unless things change drastically, I view the following as almost certainly gone before the Packers pick:

1. T. Lawrence, QB, CLEM
2. T. Lance, QB, NDSU
3. J. Fields, QB, OSU
4. Z. Wilson, QB, BYU
5. K. Pitts, TE, FLA
6. J. Chase, WR, CLEM
7. D. Smith, WR, UA
8. J. Waddle, WR, UA
9. P. Sewell, OT, OR
10. R. Slater, OT, NW
11. C. Barmore, iDL, UA
12. A. Ojulari, ED, UGA
13. G. Rousseau, ED, MIA
14. K. Paye, ED, UM
15. M. Parsons, LB, PSU
16. J. Owusu-Koramoah, LB, ND
17. P. Surtain, CB, UA
18. C. Farley, CB, VTU

Now obviously there will be other players to go before 29, by necessity. And some of them are much more likely than others. But ruling the above out as highly unlikely simplifies things. So who would be next in consideration? Here are 20 names, ordered by position (not preference or value):

1. T. Etienne, RB, CLEM
2. E. Moore, WR, MISS
3. R. Bateman, WR, MIN
4. K. Toney, WR, FLA
5. C. Darrisaw, OT, VTU
6. T. Jenkins, OT, OKST
7. A. Vera-Tucker, OL, USC
8. J. Mayfield, OL, UM
9. L. ****erson, iOL, UA
10. L. Onwuzurike, iDL, UW
11. J. Phillips, ED, MIA
12. Z. Collins, LB, TUL
13. N. Bolton, LB, MIZZ
14. J. Horn, CB, SC
15. G. Newsome, CB, NW
16. T. Campbell, CB, UGA
17. A. Samuel, CB, FSU
18. A. Robinson, CB, UCF
19. T. Moehrig, S, TCU
20. J. Johnson, S, UI

This is where I'll start.

 

[tynimiller]

I need to compare whom you predict at 29 as options and what I said, looks VERY similar. Although I limited it to OL, DT, CB and WR and believe I had about 16-23 guys

 

[Dantés]

Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame is a pretty interesting prospect.

The two guys who cover the draft who I think are most knowledgeable about OL play are relatively far apart on him.

Brandon Thorn, who did the OL for the B/R big board, has him landing at #24 overall with an 8.0 grade (1st/2nd rd bubble on their scale).

Lance Zierlein, who does all of the NFL.com stuff, currently gives him his 52nd highest grade, and it's a 6.27 (~3rd round grade).

Zierlein's biggest gripe with him is that he's too predictable and punch-reliant in pass protection. You see what he's talking about when you watch him. Rather than latching and riding guys around the pocket, he's more inclined to pop them and then separate, pop and separate.

I'm sure Thorn saw the same thing. Maybe he just feels it's easily correctable.

Eichenberg would certainly fit from a run blocking perspective, that's for sure.

 

[Dantés]

I need to compare whom you predict at 29 as options and what I said, looks VERY similar. Although I limited it to OL, DT, CB and WR and believe I had about 16-23 guys

DB, OL, and WR is where I'll give most of my attention.

As we've mentioned elsewhere, Etienne interests me as a talent, but not the RB position as a whole.

I would look at iDL, depending on what they do in FA, but my sense is that there isn't much talent in this class for the position.

Safety could be interesting depending on what the individual player is capable of doing and what they feel like they can do with Savage.

Some argue that Savage's best position is playing in the slot. They certainly need help there. So moving him closer to the LOS could open the door to draft a player at safety. And then there are some safeties (Jamar Johnson being one) who are looked at as slot/safety hybrid players.

So it could be an avenue for improving the secondary even if the top flight corners are all off the board.

But as we've learned with this FO-- never rule out edge!

 

[Dantés]

I'm reading about Landon ****erson's lengthy injury history.

2016-- torn ACL
2017-- "ankle injury"
2018-- "ankle injury"
2020-- "knee injury"

All of those were season ending. That's four seasons in five that were ended by injury. That's a pretty tough sell for a strictly interior OL in the first round, even if he is really, really good.

 

[Dantés]

Another interesting OL to figure out in this class is Alijah Vera-Tucker.

He would be a stellar run blocker at any position in this offense.

And I have no doubts he would be a fantastic guard.

But the key to where to value him is whether he can stick at tackle. If he could pass pro at RT for the Packers, he'd be a slam dunk option.

 

[GleefulGary]

Another interesting OL to figure out in this class is Alijah Vera-Tucker.

He would be a stellar run blocker at any position in this offense.

And I have no doubts he would be a fantastic guard.

But the key to where to value him is whether he can stick at tackle. If he could pass pro at RT for the Packers, he'd be a slam dunk option.

I definitely think he can. He’s only 21, soon to be 22. Pretty young.

 

[tynimiller]

AVT is one we'd have to trade up for, and is one id be perfectly fine with doing so depending where and cost. He is that good. I have him as 3rd best OL prospect

 

[GleefulGary]

I think if you disregard injuries and positional value, and yes, I know that you can’t but bear with me, Landon ****erson is the best OL in the draft.

 

[Dantés]

I think if you disregard injuries and positional value, and yes, I know that you can’t but bear with me, Landon ****erson is the best OL in the draft.

I haven’t studied him. And frankly don’t trust myself with the nuances of OL play. But based on what I’ve read, I think that could be right.

 

[tynimiller]

I think if you disregard injuries and positional value, and yes, I know that you can’t but bear with me, Landon ****erson is the best OL in the draft.

****erson is a guy that if a team has the luxury of say 3 picks inside the top two rounds, I'd be fine with taking that coin flip...but the dude is a walking time bomb it seems based on an intense amount of examples.

Yes, healthy he is IMO undeniably a top 5 OL and some would argue best in the class.

 

[Dantés]

Samuel Cosmi, OT out of Texas, tested with a perfect RAS score of 10.0

He's 6'5.7" 314 lbs

He had a 30" vert, a 9'9" broad, a 4.87 forty, a 1.68 10 yd split, a 4.39 short shuttle, and a 7.35 three cone.

Both Zierlein and Thorn, who I trust on OL, view him as a day 1/2 bubble player.

 

[tynimiller]

Samuel Cosmi, OT out of Texas, tested with a perfect RAS score of 10.0

He's 6'5.7" 314 lbs

He had a 30" vert, a 9'9" broad, a 4.87 forty, a 1.68 10 yd split, a 4.39 short shuttle, and a 7.35 three cone.

Both Zierlein and Thorn, who I trust on OL, view him as a day 1/2 bubble player.

Yikes I knew he would test through the roof due to his multi-faceted athleticism for a big guy but dang. Nice.

 

[thequick12]

Samuel Cosmi, OT out of Texas, tested with a perfect RAS score of 10.0

He's 6'5.7" 314 lbs

He had a 30" vert, a 9'9" broad, a 4.87 forty, a 1.68 10 yd split, a 4.39 short shuttle, and a 7.35 three cone.

Both Zierlein and Thorn, who I trust on OL, view him as a day 1/2 bubble player.

Can he actually play too? It seems he can as he's given up only 6 sacks and 4 hits over 1529 pass blocking snaps. And 3 of the sacks and 3 of the hits were during his freshman year...

I've been seeing him on the board a lot during mock drafts in which I trade down to the early 2nd round. Which I've been doing a lot because there's a lot of players I like in that area so can add a 3rd/4th rounder and still grab a guy that should be a day 1 starter. Then using the extra pick to trade up from 62 to get a wr, usually Terrance Marshall Jr but sometimes kadarius toney or rondale moore

I'd be real happy if the Packers got cosmi a day 1 starter at right tackle for the next 10 years. And then a weapon like moore, toney, or marshall jr

 

[Dantés]

Can he actually play too? It seems he can as he's given up only 6 sacks and 4 hits over 1529 pass blocking snaps. And 3 of the sacks and 3 of the hits were during his freshman year...

I've been seeing him on the board a lot during mock drafts in which I trade down to the early 2nd round. Which I've been doing a lot because there's a lot of players I like in that area so can add a 3rd/4th rounder and still grab a guy that should be a day 1 starter. Then using the extra pick to trade up from 62 to get a wr, usually Terrance Marshall Jr but sometimes kadarius toney or rondale moore

I'd be real happy if the Packers got cosmi a day 1 starter at right tackle for the next 10 years. And then a weapon like moore, toney, or marshall jr

Seems like he has some redeeming qualities on tape, and isn't just a workout warrior.

The assessment, that he was a top 40 player, happened before he worked out.

I haven't watched him yet.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

My only critique is on Eichenberg. That punch thing he does, I doubt it works as well in the outside zone scheme that MLF runs. Is it correctable? Absolutely, but he's gotta ride his defender out of the play, if he does that punch crap a crafty guy with more twitch will just go around him or redirect him with a swim move.

 

[Dantés]

My only critique is on Eichenberg. That punch thing he does, I doubt it works as well in the outside zone scheme that MLF runs. Is it correctable? Absolutely, but he's gotta ride his defender out of the play, if he does that punch crap a crafty guy with more twitch will just go around him or redirect him with a swim move.

The punch is something he does in pass pro. How are you relating that to blocking the OZ?

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

My mistake, I was going to add more to that in regards to outside zone and how I think he's more of a mauler type that may be out of his element, but I zeroed in on the punch technique you mentioned without finishing my post.

 

[GleefulGary]

My mistake, I was going to add more to that in regards to outside zone and how I think he's more of a mauler type that may be out of his element, but I zeroed in on the punch technique you mentioned without finishing my post.

My man, you backpedal like an All-Pro CB.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

Honestly it's just really bad ADHD. When I write for college I commonly find gaps where I don't finish thoughts before I move on to the next sentence.

But my critique still stands. I'm not saying he CAN'T do outside zone(an argument I've made for countless players....just because they didn't do it in college/very often doesn't mean they can't do it well). But I think he's more a power gap guy, that suits him the best. He can still be pretty good at outside zone as well. But the punch thing he does is meh to me.

As far as backpedaling, I'm more of a Saban Shuffle kinda guy.

 

[Dantés]

Rondale Moore came in a 5'7" flat and 180 lbs.

He blazed a 4.29 forty and had a 42.5" vertical jump. So he backed up the speed and explosion that we saw on tape.

Historically, wide receivers under 5'8" do not get drafted often or highly.

Dri Archer went 97th
Isaiah McKenzie went 172nd
Jakeem Grant went 186th
Trindon Holliday went 197th

Those are the examples I can think of.

I would guess that at 5'7" 180 lbs, teams will view Moore as a gadget/ST weapon and less as a WR fixture in the offense.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

I don't want to speculate that his measureables ABSOLUTELY takes him off the Packers Big Board, but I believe I can say with confidence he will undoubtedly fall off of SOME teams boards....which COULD include the Packers.

I actually applaud you for doing your homework on this, because other than Steve Smith and Wes Welker, I can't think of any other WR who've even topped 500 yds rec at 5'9 or less. Smith went 74th Overall in the 2001 Draft while Welker went undrafted in 2004.

I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out Julian Edleman and Danny Amendola are 5'10 and 5'11 respectively.

 

[Dantés]

I don't want to speculate that his measureables ABSOLUTELY takes him off the Packers Big Board, but I believe I can say with confidence he will undoubtedly fall off of SOME teams boards....which COULD include the Packers.

I actually applaud you for doing your homework on this, because other than Steve Smith and Wes Welker, I can't think of any other WR who've even topped 500 yds rec at 5'9 or less. Smith went 74th Overall in the 2001 Draft while Welker went undrafted in 2004.

I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out Julian Edleman and Danny Amendola are 5'10 and 5'11 respectively.

And even Welker, at his pro day, was a full 1.75" taller than Moore. The measurement for Smith I can find is 5'9".

I would love Moore as a motion/gadget/ST weapon. I just don't know if you take that before the 3rd round, or maybe later.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

I'm just an "Armchair GM", but he was already off my board. However, if he was sitting there in the 6th Round, I MIGHT consider it.

But as I said earlier, he's definitely going to fall completely off some team's boards; and what I like to call the "Bo Callahan Effect" might possibly take place. As he slides, teams will get superstitious and pass on him, until some knucklehead FO like the Texans or Washington takes him Day 2.

Concurrently, this is going to make all the "Tier 2 WRs" move up. Chase, Smith, Waddle, Bateman, and Toney were all most likely going in the 1st Round anyway(and if Toney in particular people thought would be Day 2, this might be the "boost" he needs).

Marshall, Wallace, Moore, Powell, and Rodgers will be in high demand come Day 2, which should allow somebody else to slide to us, whether that be a skill position or a lineman.