Official 2016 NFL Draft Thread

BTA (2) and BILBA

I only want players with good bubbles.

Hotel is booked. Will book flight soon.

Al's Italian Beef & Lou Malnati's pizza

real shame about Jaylon Smith. hope his rehab goes as smoothly as Gurley's. still unlikely he plays next season. absolutely incredible player.

Boris posted:

Hotel is booked. Will book flight soon.

Al's Italian Beef & Lou Malnati's pizza

Malnati's is good but I like Giordano's a little bit more.  I may be in the area that weekend how tough is it to get in to the actual draft?

Giordano's is the shizz.

Giordano's is trash.  I've named it the #2 express train.

Excerpt from day 1 at the Shrine Game practices, from draft watcher Tony Pauline:

– Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson spent a lot of time scouting the linebackers during the first Shrine practice today. And while he’s not in attendance at the Shrine Game, sources tell me the team really likes Mississippi State junior Beniquez Brown, whom I grade as a third round choice.

http://www.draftinsider.net/blog/?p=11203

If this mock came true...

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mo...bosa-titans-2-rounds

ZOMG.

Packerboi, I saw that TE Henry went at 61. How could Ted resist giving Arod such a weapon....

That's what makes this mock draft a nice pipe dream. He would pick Jaylon Smith in the 1st, then be able to grab Henry in the second since he would be available for the picking.

And the chances of this are right up there with me winning the Powerball.

I also like Scooby Wright from Arizona & Ragland from Alabama, who likely will not be there at 27

My draft from Fanspeak. 

I have an odd feeling the Packers may grab Shilique Calhoun to replace Perry and Peppers snaps in the first, depending on what they do with Datone. Matthews, Neal, Calhoun, Elliott, Datone would give them an interesting combo to work with, especially if Peppers is back for part-time duty. Neal, Datone, Peppers and Calhoun could all put their hand down in certain sets.   

Willie Beavers.

Perfect.  

Is his middle name Doug?  

Lix

Eat?

Do you know anyone with a middle name "Lix"

Gravedigger is ashamed of your effort.  

I don't know anyone named Chay-Kwon either, but I am betting somewhere, some place, there is a person named that.

If healthy, Scooby Wright is a hell of a player. Will be interesting to see where he ends up.

The other guy who I think would be a good fit for the Pack is Austin Hooper, a TE out of Stanford. He would upgrade the position for sure.

Blocking out the pipedreams.......I like Hunter Henry in the first.  That seems about where he is slotted to go.  TE's don't usually shoot up draft boards due to workouts, so hopefully stays late first.  

I would consider Jaylen Smith, knowing he'd sit out 2016.  He's that good that he'd be worth the wait.  

And not sure why so many boards have DL as such a priority.  They actually played very well this year and have Daniels, Pennel and Jones coming back.  Yes Guion and Raji are free agents but doesn't mean both are gone for sure - TT is actually really good at retaining his own free agents.  I'd expect at least 1 to come back. Not saying you ignore it, but I consider LB a way bigger priority than DL.  

Right now I'm liking Michigan St DE Shilique Calhoun in round 1. Great size, showed some real potential as an edge rusher, and showed a lot of discipline in the run game setting the edge. He's not really polished in any area though and Michigan St defenders haven't faired well in the NFL recently (I'm looking at you Jerel Worthy). He's a very interesting prospect though.

What do you think of Darron Lee, LBer from OSU?

Raw athlete, not a great LB right now. I like him as a WLB in a 43 or maybe as an OLB in a 34 if he improved taking on blockers. I don't think he has the bulk right to play consistently inside in any scheme and he doesn't seem to have that attacking ILB mentality. To me he's almost like a big Safety out there. 

how do you feel about Chay-Kwon as a late round flier?  

Here is my first using Fanspeak big board

This is my FanSpeak effort. I'm okay with it:

Yes, that draft would do just fine. And Ted agrees with your thinking at ILB. 

ChilliJon posted:

Eat?

that's a stretch but Eaton would be a ringer.

ROUND 1

Austin Johnson/NT/Penn St.

6’3”/325 lbs.

True NT…stout run defender…holds the LOS better than any player in the draft

ROUND 2

Joe Schobert/LB/Wisconsin

6’1”/235 lbs.

High energy, high effort…strong edge rush and blitz skills…versatility as ILB or OLB

ROUND 3

Nick Vannett/TE/Ohio St.

6’6”/260 lbs.

Great size with experience in-line or split out…tough, experienced blocker…wasn’t used enough at OSU

ROUND 4

Joe Haeg/OT/North Dakota St.

6’5”/300 lbs.

Good developmental LT…all around game is solid, needs to bulk up…real nasty streak

ROUND 5

Kelvin Taylor/RB/Florida

5’10”/205 lbs.

Quick, decisive runner…surprising power and toughness…good receiving skills…reminds of Jonathan Franklin

ROUND 6

Luther Maddy/DL/Virginia Tech

6’/295 lbs.

Short but stout and strong…really good interior pass rusher…high motor

ROUND 7

Thor Jozwiak/OG/South Florida

6’4”/321 lbs.

Good size…experienced and productive…good developmental prospect

Alabama LB Reggie Ragland: Has talked to #Ravens and #Chiefs already since arriving at #SeniorBowl and is about to meet w/ #Packers

— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) January 25, 2016

Penn State DL Austin Johnson has met w/ #Packers #Chiefs #49ers #Raiders already. #SeniorBowl

— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) January 25, 2016

Pack already showing interest in Austin Johnson

Is chase goodbread a new will farrel character?

FLPACKER posted:

What do you think of Darron Lee, LBer from OSU?

I live close to Columbus and I have the misfortune of seeing most O$U games.  Lee is an OL and probably is a little to light to play ILB in the NFL.  He is extremely fast and could be a nice compliment to Clay if he goes back outside.

I understand that teams play their defenses differently which dictates what they want from each position but Carolina's LBers, Kuechly & Davis are only listed at 235, Lee is listed at 228. Cards play Bucannon as essentially a LBer at 218 lbs. I think players like Lee & Cravens from USC would be coveted by Dom, since they have a varied skill set & can be moved around the field. 

He doesn't play like he's 230 though, he plays like he's 215. He's closer to Deone Buchanan than he is Luke Keuchly. Would you put Deone Buchanan at ILB full time? Arizona doesn't do that, he plays more of a Rover that doesn't fill gaps and take on OL. Lee's not aggressive like an ILB either, he reminds me of Julian Peterson really. Exceptional athlete, but not a thumper. More of an athlete than football player right now.

Why would Dom covet a small LB/big Safety? He has two Safeties that tackle REALLY well and support the run as well as any Safety tandem in the league.

To get more speed on the field, which appears to be a growing trend to combat speedier offenses. Would you rather have Joe Thomas in on passing downs or one of the two guys I mentioned?  

Didn't many think that Kendricks, Shazier, & Thompson were all too light to play LBer also? 

Sure tackling and speed at ILB is what they need. 

YATittle posted:

Packerboi, I saw that TE Henry went at 61. How could Ted resist giving Arod such a weapon....

 

Considering this is all mythical how do you know mythical Uncle Teddy doesn't take him?

I imagine mythical TT like this, toying with our emotions.

Hungry5 posted:

Sure tackling and speed at ILB is what they need. 

We can pretty much put this in bold type and lock this thread down. Would love an athletic TE. But ILB absolutely has to get resolved. 

With Nelson, Cobb, Adams, Montgomery, Abbradaris, and Janis! an athletic TE would be unfair.

They ought to have Janis! put on about 10-15 lbs and then spend the off-season with Brian Angelichio.

I think getting more speed on the field has been the goal for the last few years. That's why Brad Jones was moved to ILB and it's why Nate Palmer moved to ILB. Those guys are on the more athletic end of the ILB spectrum, what they lack are instincts and vision to put their athleticism to any good use. The great ILBs in this league are fast (most are 4.6/4.7 range), but above all they have to have the instincts and the vision. If you can shed OLinemen and locate the football in a split second then it doesn't matter if you run a 4.4 or a 4.8, you will get there on time. Luke Kuechly isn't great because of his 4.6 speed, he's a natural ILB who lives near the ball. Thinking you can bring in athletes and teach them to play ILB is why we don't have any legit ILBs right now although I have some hope for Ryan.

I agree that instincts to the ball are most important. However this is exactly why players should not be discounted as being "too small" to play ILBer if they are only in the 225 range. How much does 10 more pounds matter when you are being blocked by a 300+ olineman? If you are 230 or 240, you are still at a great disadvantage. The key is to not get blocked. You are correct, we don't know if Lee & Cravens have those great instincts(or maybe you do?) , but I think we've dismissed too many guys in the past because the concern was that they weren't big enough. Guys like Shaq Thompson, Ryan Shazier, & Eric Kendricks were feared to be too light to be LBers but have all played pretty well. 

I definitely agree with you, discounting guys because of their size is a big mistake in a lot of cases. Guys can bulk up to 230 or 240 and be effective, that's not an issue in my mind. It can be a problem when you're 220 and have to constantly battle 300 lb linemen and hit 220+ RBs. There's a reason many true ILBs or MLBs are in that 240/250 range, that 20 lbs of muscle can help you withstand the pounding. 

In the case of Lee and Cravens, although they are very different players, I don't see them posses those great ILB instincts. A better position for Cravens would be an "in the box" Safety or as a SLB in a 43. Lee belongs in the 43 as an OLB, again in the same vein as Julian Peterson. I think he could play ILB in a 34, but I don't think we would see him fare much better than Brad Jones (i.e. Very miscast and not as effective as he could be). I don't think he's the same as Shazier or Thompson, those guys are very natural LBs.