2020 NFL Draft/Offseason thread

[OrangeAfroMan]

Injuries suck.
I wonder what % of guys that don't pan out just get soft.  I'm afraid that would happen to me - get paid millions of dollars to play a game?  Thanks!  I'd be so enchanted with the first $3 million that working hard would net me $50 million wouldn't take.

[MaximumSam]

I kind of wish the draft was on it's old format.  Start at noon, take a million years to get through.  They should just devote the whole week to the draft.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Listening to a Draft podcast, about Jonathan Taylor:
major fumbling issues
tread on the tire
shitty at pass pro
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Pure runner w/ the ball - great.  Other stuff - crap.

[ELA]

I kind of wish the draft was on it's old format.  Start at noon, take a million years to get through.  They should just devote the whole week to the draft.

It should start at noon Saturday, but with a better clock.  That was a goddamned drinking event.  I get the prime time thing, but if they are hell-bent on that, keep the Thursday first round, then skip ahead and start 2nd round Saturday morning.

[Cincydawg]

Can better pass pro be taught?  If he's a better pure runner than Swift (and most think he is), might someone take a shot at him for that reason on Day One?

We're getting some thunder right now pretty close.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Fumbling can be fixed - Tiki Barber.  
Pass pro has 2 components - knowing where/who to block and actually doing it.  You can try to motivate, but the willingness needs to be from the individual.  Knowing where/who to block should be teachable, unless the guy is an idiot.  
Must easier to get the ball and run with it than to think on the fly and study.

[Riffraft]

It should start at noon Saturday, but with a better clock.  That was a goddamned drinking event.  I get the prime time thing, but if they are hell-bent on that, keep the Thursday first round, then skip ahead and start 2nd round Saturday morning.

Back when I was in Cincinnati, a group of guys (around 15 to 20 of us) that were fans of a number of different teams use to get together for the draft at a local drinking establishment and spend a long time spending a fair amount of money when the first round of the draft was on a Saturday. It was a great time very similar to the variety of views and thought we get here because there is so many different perspectives. Once it went to Thursday, not so much too many of us has to work the next day. 

I am sure that the NFL makes more money by having it in primetime, but I guarantee that a lot of Sports bars lost a lot of business because of it. 

[Cincydawg]

I find it interesting how a top level CFB player might get drafted fairly late, second or third round anyway.  I'm also surprised somewhat that even Cleveland would draft Manziel, that one had mistake written all over it from the start, but it was Cleveland.

In this day of "analytics" and whatnot, you'd perhaps think they would be more, um, efficient.  

I've noted many times my idea would be to focus on the OL and DL and build from there if I had a bad team.  The idea that Joe Burrow can go to the Bungles and turn that franchise around strikes me as unlikely to pay off.

[OrangeAfroMan]

Maybe the thinking is you can get those linemen later in the draft, but you just HAVE to get this special QB.
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Meanwhile, 3-4 of those QBs get drafted early every year, and those linemen you get later aren't as good as the linemen you'd get early.  
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Basically most of the NFL front offices are still fumbling, bumbling, stumbling each year around draft time.
The same few teams seem to safely win 10+ games each year (NE, GB, SEA, PIT) despite always drafting late and the same few suck balls over and over, no matter how many high picks they get (CIN, CLE, NYJ, WAS, OAK/LV, JAX).

[Cincydawg]

I guess in some cases owning a team like this is a kind of status symbol, and the owner wants to dabble and ends up hamstringing his "experts" (if he hired any in the first place).  So, those teams basically have no chance other than somehow hitting several jackpots in a row.

Ownership may be more important than whoever is head coach.

I think Burrow is a special talent, but he won't be without cast members.  Tu'a could probably manage better.  It would be kinda funny/ironic if Fromm goes to some established team second round and turns out of be a decent pro QB because he has the cast with which to emphasize his strengths.

[847badgerfan]

Is 18 fumbles (8 FR, 4 SO, 6 JR) in 968 touches a lot?

[Mdot21]

Maybe the thinking is you can get those linemen later in the draft, but you just HAVE to get this special QB.

The same few teams seem to safely win 10+ games each year (NE, GB, SEA, PIT) despite always drafting late and the same few suck balls over and over, no matter how many high picks they get (CIN, CLE, NYJ, WAS, OAK/LV, JAX).

The thinking is: you can’t win in the NFL without a QB. Those teams you listed that always won around 10+ games a year- had- Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Ben Roethlisberger. 

The Seahawks were picking early every year before they got Russell Wilson. The Belichik Patriots were 5-13 with Bledsoe before Brady fell from heaven into the starting line-up. 

It is impossible to win in the NFL without a QB. The teams that don’t have an elite QB never win anything.

[Mdot21]

Jaguars are shopping RB Leonard Fournette, all while Fournette is publicly calling for the team to sign Cam Newton. 

I’m surprised that Cam hasn’t been signed by anyone yet and I am surprised that Jacksonville is willing to trade its only good player on its entire offense. 

Fournette is one of the most talented backs in football. A change of scenery might do him very well.

[Cincydawg]

Are those QBs winners because they are exceptional QBs or because they have an exceptional supporting cast?

I GUESS the worst starting QB in the NFL is an exceptional QB by other metrics.  Maybe he simply looks bad because he needs an extra 0.2 seconds to pass, or a better offensive scheme, or something, maybe a better defense.  I wouldn't say top QBs are "dime a dozen", but then look how many are available this year who looked to be pretty good.  

I think Joe Burrow on a crappy team will be a crappy QB, while Jake Fromm on a very good team might well be a winning QB.  I pick on Jake because his raw talent is not the sames as it is with the others.