2023 NFL Draft Thread

[MrNubbz]

Trent Richardson

Now that NFL has gone RPO/college offense, Harris and maybe Rice as well might have gotten a chance in 2023

TR was a bust but somehow the Browns starting his  2 yr got a no 1 pick in return for him in a swap with the Colts. I can't recall whose life the Browns destroyed with that pick how ever

[OrangeAfroMan]

There are so many variables WAY outside of a player's control that being a bust or being great is a sub-50% chance either way.  
Let's say Trent Richardson was a great RB.  Let's say there was nothing wrong with him or his play.
Why did he suck?  
Play-calling
OL play (including just 1 O-lineman being subpar
Life stress (money, relationship, agent, real estate agent, etc)
Injuries
Being a little too content being a millionaire
.
The more you consider that free will may not actually be a thing, the more this list of potential reasons/excuses seems valid.  
Maybe a position coach's communication style was ineffective for you, but not for the next RB in line.  Maybe the playbook was so far removed from anything you'd experienced before that it created a split-second delay in your play.  

There's a reason sometimes trades that are for a "change of scenery" actually work.

[OrangeAfroMan]

While Anthony Richardson is getting all of the attention, Florida will likely have another first-rounder in G Ocyrus Torrence. 
But I'm confused about DT Gervon Dexter.  I thought he'd be a surefire 1st-rounder and for some reason, he's not anything (as a prospect).
.
He's like 6'5", 315 and ACTIVE.  He didn't have big stats, but the unique thing about him (and this is from 3/4 thru the season and mentioned once during a game) is that he played a radically higher % of plays than any other DT. 

On the one hand, that extra volume could/should yield more stats, but on the other hand, it looks like they didn't and perhaps that extra volume caused a limited energy level.  Idk either way.  But he's a massive human that is active and can run.

The biggest knock on him is that he plays high, but that's an obvious, correctable thing.  He was a 5* recruit that still has that talent.  If someone picks him up in rounds 4-7, it's a definite potential steal.

"definite potential" haha

[Cincydawg]

A thing that would keep me motivated, were I drafted, is simply love for the game.  Give me the millions, I'd still work hard off season and during camp because I like playing.

I'm lacking one other important item of course.

[MrNubbz]

Youth & talent? Have they figured out your knuckle ball?

[Cincydawg]

My arm is shot now, really shot.  And instead of being paid to play, I pay to play.  But it's still fun.  I used to hit pretty well but the past two years have been real slumps, a handful of good hits and a lot of grounders.  I think I'm pulling off the ball.

[847badgerfan]

My arm is shot now, really shot.  And instead of being paid to play, I pay to play.  But it's still fun.  I used to hit pretty well but the past two years have been real slumps, a handful of good hits and a lot of grounders.  I think I'm pulling off the ball.

Move to Illinois?

[Cincydawg]

Nah, we like it here just fine.  

[Mdot21]

Lamar Jackson has officially asked to be traded.

Probably going to take a couple 1st rd picks and matching the contract the Browns gave Deshaun Watson to get him.

Ravens screwed up royally. They should’ve redid his deal in 2020 instead of let it run out after 2022. They had so much time to resign him and they dragged their feet. Should be a lesson to every team. If you have a stud player- redo his deal well before the rookie deal is up. If you don’t- it’ll just cost you more down the road to keep him or you’ll just lose him.

[OrangeAfroMan]

A thing that would keep me motivated, were I drafted, is simply love for the game.  Give me the millions, I'd still work hard off season and during camp because I like playing.

I'm lacking one other important item of course.

I bet a lot of these guys who wind up being busts is a lack of love and devotion for actually playing.
Up through college, they can coast by on talent and probably like the notoriety being a football player brings.  
Hershel Walker was ambivalent about football - it was basically a coin-flip between football or the military.  Same with Ricky Williams.  He won a Heisman and was a 1st-rounder without especially enjoying football and having a social anxiety disorder.  

[FearlessF]

unfortunately, Marcus Dupree was ambivalent about football

[Cincydawg]

I can appreciate if I viewed a pro career as a "job" that I might not be fully "invested" once I had made bank.  These days it's a lot of work, even for baseball pitchers.  They don't relax in the off season (much), they have personal trainers and go at it pretty much nonstop.  And football no doubt adds in the variable of being hurt, perhaps dinged up and still able to play, but playing hurt, which is painful.  Ha.

So, maybe you play three years hard and sign a biggee and basically slack off.  I can see it.

[Kris60]

I bet a lot of these guys who wind up being busts is a lack of love and devotion for actually playing.
Up through college, they can coast by on talent and probably like the notoriety being a football player brings. 
Hershel Walker was ambivalent about football - it was basically a coin-flip between football or the military.  Same with Ricky Williams.  He won a Heisman and was a 1st-rounder without especially enjoying football and having a social anxiety disorder. 

I totally agree.  I’m sure there are a lot of guys playing professional sports who don’t really love the game all that much.  They were blessed with freakish physical ability and there are few careers as lucrative as being a professional athlete, so it would be insane not to do it for a while just for the money.

But as far as just loving the game?  I bet there are more than we think who do it just to cash the checks.

[FearlessF]

Aaron Rogers