2020 NFL Draft

[RiverDog]

Although we're still a ways out ahead of the draft, I thought I'd start a discussion about the draft so as not to get it mixed up with our free agency conversations.

First of all, there seems to be some confusion, at least in my mind, as to how many picks we have. I have us pegged with 11. We had 8 picks plus an expected 4 comp picks coming into the regular season but we traded away a 5th rounder for Diggs. Does that jive with you folk's understanding?

Secondly, we're going to have to qualify any discussion with the disclaimer that our needs will be highly dependent on what happens during free agency. We have a number of key pieces unsigned (Clowney, Reed, Ifedi, Kendricks, Fant, Jefferson, et al) and with a good amount of money available to spend. Who we sign, who we let walk, and who, if anyone, we bring in from another team will factor into how we approach the draft.

Having said that, our two biggest needs are on the line of scrimmage. Our starting center, Justin Britt, will be coming off a major injury and his backup, Joey Hunt, is a free agent and got manhandled a lot, albeit it against some pretty fair competition, but he's definitely not the long term answer if Britt can't fully recover from his injury. It was no coincidence that once Britt went down, so did our run production from our backs. Additionally, there aren't a lot of quality centers on the free agent market. IMO we let Hunt walk and draft a center within the first two days of the draft.

Beyond that, I don't really have any guesses as to which way we we'll turn come April. Comments?

[NorthHawk]

According to Tankathon, we have the following picks this year:
Comp picks haven't been officially announced
R1 #27
R2 #59 and #63/64 depending on if KC wins or not
R3 Traded for Clowney Expected Comp pick - Earl Thomas
R4 #123 and Possible Comp pick
R5 #137 (Jax trade) Original pick traded for Diggs (Possible Comp pick)
R6 No selection Possible Comp pick
R7 #219 Possible Comp pick

The Comp picks are not Tankathon's.
Lance Zierlein is projecting we get Comp picks in rounds 3,4,6, and 7

So that means we have 6 selections for sure and a possible 4 more in compensation.
As well, as the comp picks are awarded, the numbers after the 3rd round will change downward.
I think there are 32 awarded each year.

[RiverDog]

According to Tankathon, we have the following picks this year:
Comp picks haven't been officially announced
R1 #27
R2 #59 and #63/64 depending on if KC wins or not
R3 Traded for Clowney Expected Comp pick - Earl Thomas
R4 #123 and Possible Comp pick
R5 #137 (Jax trade) Original pick traded for Diggs (Possible Comp pick)
R6 No selection Possible Comp pick
R7 #219 Possible Comp pick

The Comp picks are not Tankathon's.
Lance Zierlein is projecting we get Comp picks in rounds 3,4,6, and 7

So that means we have 6 selections for sure and a possible 4 more in compensation.
As well, as the comp picks are awarded, the numbers after the 3rd round will change downward.
I think there are 32 awarded each year.

Thanks, North Hawk. I didn't realize that we lost that 3rd round pick when we traded for Clowney.

[NorthHawk]

Yup, we gave up a 3rd for Clowney's services this year and the chance to sell him on Seattle for a place to play.

There is discussion about Iupati and if signing him means we lose a late pick.
But it's pretty close to what to expect, and we don't know when in the rounds the extra
picks will be given (after the 32 original picks are done).

[trents]

Haven't looked at the stats but I'm not so sure the running fame suffered when Hunt replaced Britt. How many games did Brit start before Carson and Penny were lost? Seems to me the running game was succeeding until the injuries to our two starting backs - and Duane Brown.

[RiverDog]

Haven't looked at the stats but I'm not so sure the running fame suffered when Hunt replaced Britt. How many games did Brit start before Carson and Penny were lost? Seems to me the running game was succeeding until the injuries to our two starting backs - and Duane Brown.

I think you may be right. The wheels started to come off the wagon in the Rams game with Carson gaining just 75 yards. Britt went down quite a bit earlier than I thought in the Falcons game in late October.

But it doesn't change my point. Hunt was severely outmanned in a number of games. He's not the long term answer if Britt doesn't come back strong.

[Rambo2014]

Ha ha ha..is your PC and JS going to trade in 6-7 higher picks for 30 7th rounders?

Just seems like a Sea move, if ya know what I mean

New season after tommorrow and Rams will be on top

[NorthHawk]

Hunt is a good backup for spot duty, but he’s too small to play an entire year
or for a long stretch of games. It looks like there are going to be at least 3 solid
if not very good Centers in this draft if they want to cut Britt.

[RiverDog]

Hunt is a good backup for spot duty, but he’s too small to play an entire year
or for a long stretch of games. It looks like there are going to be at least 3 solid
if not very good Centers in this draft if they want to cut Britt.

I would expect that we'll keep Britt if he's willing to re-work his contract. But I think Hunt is a goner.

I've heard that the draft is very deep in interior offensive linemen, which is one of the reasons why I'm guessing that we'll draft a center with one of our top 3 picks.

[NorthHawk]

Now that the SB is over, teams can resume cutting, signing and claiming Free Agents according to PFT.
One player that will be available is Vic Beasley from Atlanta. He was a top pick 5 years ago, but has had
a falloff in production the last 2 years. I've read some talk about us maybe getting him on a 1 year prove
it deal and see if he can restart his career. He was a good pass rusher a couple of years ago. If so, it might
be the start of the DL rebuild, and Pete seems to like reclamation projects of once good players.

[RiverDog]

Now that the SB is over, teams can resume cutting, signing and claiming Free Agents according to PFT.
One player that will be available is Vic Beasley from Atlanta. He was a top pick 5 years ago, but has had
a falloff in production the last 2 years. I've read some talk about us maybe getting him on a 1 year prove
it deal and see if he can restart his career. He was a good pass rusher a couple of years ago. If so, it might
be the start of the DL rebuild, and Pete seems to like reclamation projects of once good players.

If he didn't work out for former Seahawk DC Dan Quinn in Atlanta, I'm not sure how much luck Pete would have with him here, but he's worth a shot. For one reason or another, whether it be a personality clash with a coach, a player, or a bad experience with a girlfriend, there are times that the chemistry for a player in one venue just doesn't provide the right atmosphere for them to succeed.

[NorthHawk]

Sometimes it's just a change in scenery, meaning a different voice sending what is a similar message but in a
different way. As well, some coaches run similar schemes, but the tweeks within that scheme may not work
well for some, but will with others.

They may not give him a 2nd look and move on, but he had some success earlier in his career (First Team All Pro in 2016).
It remains to be seen if he can recapture that magic.

[c_hawkbob]

So far my early favorite for our first pick is Yetur Gross-Matos, DE from Penn State: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz4RSqjW1OQ