Draft Recap

[NorthHawk]

I thought I would list this years draft picks and signed UFA's so we would have a single list.
Any comments on any of them? As usual, the first pick was a mild surprise to most, but
we got a pleasant surprise at the end of round 2. That's why trading down helps in some
cases.

Round 1 • Pick 29 (29) • DE L.J. Collier
Round 2 • Pick 15 (47) • SS Marquise Blair
Round 2 • Pick 32 (64) • WR D.K. Metcalf
Round 3 • Pick 25 (88) • LB Cody Barton
Round 4 • Pick 18 (120) • WR Gary Jennings
Round 4 • Pick 22 (124) • G Phil Haynes
Round 4 • Pick 30 (132) • FS Ugo Amadi
Round 5 • Pick 4 (142) • LB Ben Burr-Kirven
Round 6 • Pick 32 (204) • RB Travis Homer
Round 6 • Pick 37 (209) • DT Demarcus Christmas
Round 7 • Pick 22 (236) • WR John Ursua

Undrafted Free Agents
Ohio State OL Demetrius Knox
South Dakota State QB Taryn Christian
Utah C Lo Falemaka
Baylor CB Derrek Thomas
Citadel EDGE Noah Dawkins
Northwestern State WR Jazz Ferguson
Texas CB Davante Davis
Oklahoma RB Marcelias Sutton

[RiverDog]

I like the top 3, particularly Metcalf as he has the biggest potential upside, perhaps the biggest upside in the entire draft if he pans out. From there, as always it's a crap shoot.

I was surprised that we didn't take another DL higher than the 6th round as the draft was supposedly loaded with them and we had a need even before we traded Clark.

[NorthHawk]

I was surprised we didn't take another DL, too but I guess they just valued the other picks more when their selection came about.
I'm really liking the 4th round picks of Jennings and Haynes. Don't discount Demarcus Christmas. He might be a good fit.
Jennings has surprising speed and Haynes is a Fluker/Iupati physical match with a mean streak. Pete also said he expects him
to add some weight, so starting at around 322 as per NFL.com and adding 10 to 15 lbs, he should fit right in.

2nd round pick Marquise Blair was a surprise to me. He's the first DB to be selected above the 3rd round since ET and in doing
some research, he's a real physical guy. I hope he's not like Bob Sanders who was smaller but hit like a truck but didn't last
too long because of it. Selecting 2 Safety's might mean one of them could be challenging for the Nickel Back role, but don't
discount Devante Davis or Derrek Thomas, the 2 UFA CB's.

Selecting 2 LB's was unexpected. Both, it seems are very good tacklers and I think it says a lot about a couple of years down
the road when KJ Wright is gone along with some doubts about Kendricks availability for all this year.

The WR group might mean they don't think Baldwin will play again. They used next years 6th round pick to move back into
the 7th to get Ursua, and he's probably a natural slot WR, so the writing might be on the wall for Doug.

As expected, they got another RB in the Draft and I've heard good things about him, so we'll see.

I've read others comments about Jazz Ferguson, a WR from Northwestern State saying he might be the surprise of the draft
for us.

In all, I think we've shored up most of the positions, with the possible exception of the pass rush, but Pete sort of hinted
that they were still going to make some more moves. I suspect teams will start cutting players after the draft as well as
existing FA's and TC cuts, we will have added to the Pass Rush before the season starts.

[Hawk Sista]

Yeah, the Kiper Jr. types will say we failed. Passing up great players for lessor ones, or worse yet, trading up to get these players is a grading no-no. I gave up caring about that a long time ago. Maybe in 2012?? The last few times we’ve traded up to get someone, it’s worked out pretty’s well. Michael Dickson & Tyler Lockett both come to mind. I looked up draft grades and ran into an article that gave us a D last year which is complete BS. + I really think the Malik pick knocked the system back into both JS & PC.

I think they will nab another DE and another DT before too long (like Nick Reed & a June 1 cut or two). I say “well done” for now... and we watch football the next 3 years and we will see.

[Hawk Sista]

More specifics from me - I loved Baldinger’s Collier rant. If you haven’t heard/seen it; you have to. It’s reassuring and funny AF. Not sure if it was his jersey # or not, but he made me think of Clemons. I’m hearing Bennett comps, I see CC. I like this pick.

I was listening to Brock Huard last week who spoke of Blair and his speed and THUMP several times, so I was happy about that draft. DK was a happy surprise at the end of the 2nd. Loved that pick. I had to look up who Cody Barton is. I don’t know anything about him, but he looks great. Both Cody and BBK will be solid on ST. Our LBs were banged up last year. Bobby (a little) and KJ (most of last season), Mychal went on IR. We need LB depth and good teams players and we got them. I hope this doesn’t spell the end for Shaquem. Some scouts loved BBK, others think he’s too little. He led the FBS in tackles and played in Seattle. I really liked the pick.

I love the connection between Gary and Russ. RW and his Dad coached young Gary in basketball and know him. That can’t hurt. I hadn’t heard of him but like what I see. I LOVE the guard pick. Seems nasty and iupati/fluker aren’t 16 games a year kind of dudes.

I really don’t know much about Ugo, Christmas or Ursua. Trading up for the latter made the Speculation on Doug all the more real. I’m super bummed about that. Ursua was fun to watch in college. Hope it translates.

Don’t know much about the UDRFA’s, but have heard nice things about Jazz.

On Monday, we had 4 picks. We lost Frank and ended making 11 picks!!!!!! 11. Giving up Frank made these moves and this breadth possible, so it was worth it -IMHO. + we have a lot of picks in 2020. (BTW - giving up one late rounder next year when we have over 10 picks next year was a no brainer, if they really like Ursula & evidently, they do.)

[NorthHawk]

I heard some talk that BBK might end up being a LB/S hybrid to cover TE's or attack the motion of teams like the Rams a la the Pats in the SB.
That's a different role for our Defense, but Pete doesn't let his Defenses get stale even if his scheme is a bit of a throwback.

[c_hawkbob]

Pete's real good at adapting his scheme to suite his talent.

[obiken]

Actually, Kiper gave us a B, he doesn't give F's. There are no sure fails or successes.

[Aseahawkfan]

I really like the receivers we drafted. Metcalf and Jennings look very promising.

[obiken]

I really like the receivers we drafted. Metcalf and Jennings look very promising.

You and CB are probably right on this year. We had 4 picks, parleyed them into 11, in a draft that the 2-4th rounds were the strongest. JS gets a big gold star for all that. My question is, with all the talent, was it really necessary to get all these DBS and one OLineman? Going cheap from here on in is going to be our MO because of Wilson's contract.

[NorthHawk]

The draft choices aren't getting paid much relative to those on 2nd and 3rd contracts, so load up on them, I say.
Then when it's time for a contract renewal, if they are Pro Bowl candidates, re-sign them or if not, let them go
and get a comp pick. There will be constant churn, but it will keep the team fresh and nobody will get stale
from the message of the coaches.
We need the OL because Iupati and Fluker are constantly injured. Having someone who can competently fill
in and maybe start this year will allow us to let Iupati go if he's injured again (Cards released him with an
injury designation) for a large part of the year. It means drafting more OL every year to keep the costs down.

[obiken]

Right, this year we could have really upgraded our OL. Losing Davis may of hurt us more than I think, little own what you guys think, or actually will.

[NorthHawk]

Right, this year we could have really upgraded our OL. Losing Davis may of hurt us more than I think, little own what you guys think, or actually will.

I'm hoping our OL will be OK this year, but next might be an issue, so I expect another Lineman next year, too.
The RB, Travis Homer might surprise us all. He's said to be very good at pass protection and he can get the
tough yards, too.

[RiverDog]

Right, this year we could have really upgraded our OL. Losing Davis may of hurt us more than I think, little own what you guys think, or actually will.

The OL is in pretty good shape so long as Iupati pans out and everyone remains healthy. But we could always use some depth.

I liked having Davis around but we still have both Carson and Penny. Running back seems like a plug and play position for us. It didn't seem to matter who they put in, we still ran the ball very well, a testament to Solari and Schott's system.

Rather than the OL, I was surprised that we didn't draft another DL any earlier than the 6th. They must be pretty confident of the players already on the roster as well as their first pick.

The last time we had a big, strong WR (outside of TE Jimmy Graham) was when we had Chris Mathews. Remember how he did in the first half of SB 49? Metcalf is the same type of receiver except with more speed. For me, his performance will be the #1 thing I'll be watching this season.

[idhawkman]

The OL is in pretty good shape so long as Iupati pans out and everyone remains healthy. But we could always use some depth.

I liked having Davis around but we still have both Carson and Penny. Running back seems like a plug and play position for us. It didn't seem to matter who they put in, we still ran the ball very well, a testament to Solari and Schott's system.

Yep, and it doesn't hurt to have an extra OT on the field most of the time, too.

Rather than the OL, I was surprised that we didn't draft another DL any earlier than the 6th. They must be pretty confident of the players already on the roster as well as their first pick.

Exactly my thoughts. They must be pretty sure of Poona at this point. He could be the Bane replacement they've been looking for, for a while now.

The last time we had a big, strong WR (outside of TE Jimmy Graham) was when we had Chris Mathews. Remember how he did in the first half of SB 49? Metcalf is the same type of receiver except with more speed. For me, his performance will be the #1 thing I'll be watching this season.

I played defense all my life - never much interest in offense. That said, I am really looking forward to our offense this year. I think we have the right OL, the right scheme to run the crap out of the ball, the TEs and WR to blow the top off if you come down inside, etc. This team could be real exciting this year and hopefully, we can relax after half time instead of being on pins and needles through the entire 4th quarter hoping for miracles.

[NorthHawk]

I heard talk that they wanted to draft more DL, but when their time came, the value wasn't there at DL, but was good
in other spots, until the 6th round. Pete and John implied that they are and will be looking for players to add along the DLine.