NFL News

[Mainevent]

This actually isn’t new with KT - some of the more reliable draft guys have been saying for awhile that NFL scouts weren’t as high on him as the mockers and analysts were. This was back when he was projected #1 or 2. Are these guys just catching up to that line of thinking, just riding the wave of general opinion or just bored and trying to churn content? Who knows. But he’s been far from a slam dunk guy from the start.

[froot loops]

He had the best deep ball stats in his two great years. It still might be there, but he needs a good line. When he can step into a pass he can throw a better deep ball. He also needs some receivers to stretch the field. When they got Decker back and Lynn stopped calling plays, his YPA went up considerably.

Tom Brady won his last two Superbowls in New England hardly threw deep balls. If you look at a spray chart it was all intermediate routes. NE fans thought it was because he couldn't throw those deep balls. It was mainly because his two weapons were Edelman and Gronk. Once he went to Tampa Bay his deep ball improved because he had good outside receivers.

[jaadam4]

He had the best deep ball stats in his two great years. It still might be there, but he needs a good line. When he can step into a pass he can throw a better deep ball. He also needs some receivers to stretch the field. When they got Decker back and Lynn stopped calling plays, his YPA went up considerably.

Tom Brady won his last two Superbowls in New England hardly threw deep balls. If you look at a spray chart it was all intermediate routes. NE fans thought it was because he couldn't throw those deep balls. It was mainly because his two weapons were Edelman and Gronk. Once he went to Tampa Bay his deep ball improved because he had good outside receivers.

He won when Gurley was the most dominant RB in football. Maybe even one of the best ever for that stretch. Goff to me was always lucky to be in that situation. Last year his deep passes were straight up terrible. Not even close. Horrible bad

but, I don’t disagree about Brady and those short West Coast type routes. Goff was really efficient and mistake free for a large chunk of the season. He was fantastic. He wasn’t a game manager but something a bit more and it was nice to see.

We’ll have one of the best centers in football back and an upgraded WR corps from jump street. I loved Holmes and MCDC moves last year BESIDES not giving him more talent at WR. They failed Goff with bargain bin additions.

Reynolds and St Brown will already be a major upgrade from the start of last season but they still need more. I like Chark as a lottery ticket but they need to draft a WR either at 32 or 34. It’s a solid class and he needs then weapons if he’s going to succeed

[froot loops]

Even if you think he was lucky to be in the situation he was in LA, his stats on long passes were the best in the league. It still might be there.

Plus long balls are nice, if they get another quarterback I want him to be a pocket passer that has great footwork and good mechanics. It's nice that Malik Willis can through open an uncovered receiver on a deep pass at pro day but what is his footwork like to buy a couple extra beats in the pocket?

[jaadam4]

Honestly I’ve never in my life watched a Liberty game. I go back and forth here. If they draft Willis he’ll be in a great position as we have one of the best OL and he doesn’t have the pressure of being the guy right now.

Id prefer to kick the can until next year. It’s a stronger class but i also thought MaHomes was from a gimmick offense and his pro day was just like Willis. He wowed with long throws to open uncovered WR.

I like Goff and could see the Lions keeping him for 2 more years but it has to be Goff at the end of the year. I actually hope this is the case but I’ll drink the koolaide either way

[jaadam4]

And you’re right about his stats. He still threw the rock nicely for a few seasons and no one can take that away from him

[jaadam4]

Miami signed Armstead. Now that’s the move JAX should have made with their money. Of course Jax is not South Beach so there’s that.

I still think Jax takes Neal

[chemiclord]

While I don’t disagree it’s the time of year where clubs roll with dirty business and talk shit about players that they want to drop them, that’s only skin deep shit. These are billion dollar businesses, they’ll put their due diligence in on the players not just want them or not because Becky hates someone.

And KT is dropping not just because people are calling him out on legit red flags like “it’s too long of a day to continue on” after he talk shit about separating himself at the combine from his peers.

Thibs wasn’t good last year. Hutch went out and put foot to
ass and played his ass off sending him to the Heisman ceremony. That’s the season Thib wanted but he didn’t get. He did not put up great numbers on the field. If he goes out and puts up a 10 sack season and balls out none of this is in question.

Instead he compares himself to Clowney who’s another supremely talented DE that hasn’t lived up to his talent. The red flags are there. Honestly I still draft him on talent alone but you can’t say there’s not question marks

Of course there's question marks. There's question marks for every player in every draft, especially this one where no one has particularly stood out. Hell, I remember just two months ago how some people here were wringing their hands about Hutchinson's "ceiling" and wondering if Neal was actually going to be the Jaguars's pick. We've got a clump of 4 or 5 players who all could present a meaningful case to be top guy in the draft. They all can't be the #1. Does that mean everyone slid?

The only reason Thibs is "sliding" in everyone's mind is because they jumped on the early narrative that he was the prospective #1. I do also find it interesting that the rationale all of you were using to justify his numbers when the narrative was in his favor (that he was facing double teams Hutchinson never had to face, he wasn't 100% for several of his games, etc...) are astonishingly no longer present now that a handful of wanna-be GMs in blazers sitting on ESPN or Fox Sports shows have decided the narrative needs to change in order to drive more draft day hype.

My clue for how the top of the draft will pan out is largely the same as 31 people leading NFL war rooms; waiting to see who the Jaguars start negotiating with - if they start negotiating with anyone. Listening to some of the ground level pundits in Florida would make you think the Jags are looking to... get this, you're gonna love it... trade down, for no particularly compelling reason other than they haven't really been talking with any of the prospective draftees at this moment.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

If they don't like KT i think you might be right.

While I don't want the Lions to draft a QB just to draft a QB, i hate the idea of drafting a S that high.

This is where I’m at….I’d rather the Thibs grade out and we take the DE. It’s the easiest and best thing for the team to do. And if the DE isn’t worth it…the QB might the only guy with the value at 2.

There’s a very real perception now that a KT’s value is falling…not sure if it’s about his attitude/personality or if there’s a MRI with a brown-spot on it somewhere. Now, If Thibs puts up a good performance at his pro day he might shoot back up…but if he decides to only do one drill or comes up lame early in the event, I think he’ll fall.

again….Thibs grading out is the best thing for everyone.

It’s a really fickle time of year. I’d also say (and this’ll chap Chemi’s ass) there might be a higher than average chance of a trade down this year.

[chemiclord]

It doesn't chap my ass more than no one ever really seems to have a compelling answer to the question, "Who do you think would be willing to trade UP?"

I'm sure every team in the Top 5 is entertaining a trade down at any point in any given year. But as general rule most of them fall apart because the teams that might entertain trading up for "that one guy" are usually so far down in the draft order that there's no real reasonable value for the team trading down. It happens, if rarely, but when it does it's almost always for that last higher tier QB before the perceived talent level drops.

Now if you want to argue that teams in the top five should be more willing to accept less "value" for the sake of more picks, I wouldn't disagree, but the 32 NFL GMs in this league seem to.

[Futureshock]

Even if you think he was lucky to be in the situation he was in LA, his stats on long passes were the best in the league. It still might be there.

Plus long balls are nice, if they get another quarterback I want him to be a pocket passer that has great footwork and good mechanics. It's nice that Malik Willis can through open an uncovered receiver on a deep pass at pro day but what is his footwork like to buy a couple extra beats in the pocket?

I'm more concerned with him reading, seeing and locating where to go with the ball. If it were just a mechanics issue, you can drill them until muscle memory kicks in. You can teach a guy where his progressions should be, but if he can't/don't do this in an efficient manner the pass rush will get to him before he can release it. This is the issue I saw from him during Senior bowl week and the game.

He looks absolutely lights out in 7 on 7 and against air. If his first read is open he can deliver it there. But if he has to go through his progressions he will give up on them and take off out of there and that makes him miss some opportunities.

His game is different than Lamar But whoever drafts him will have to let him improvise and use his legs more. At least until he can figure it out. SEA has had some experience there with Russ but this dude ain't Russ. Russ is a QB first and he uses his legs to gain advantage and buy time. Willis will probably just take off mostly.

[jaadam4]

This is where I’m at….I’d rather the Thibs grade out and we take the DE. It’s the easiest and best thing for the team to do. And if the DE isn’t worth it…the QB might the only guy with the value at 2.

There’s a very real perception now that a KT’s value is falling…not sure if it’s about his attitude/personality or if there’s a MRI with a brown-spot on it somewhere. Now, If Thibs puts up a good performance at his pro day he might shoot back up…but if he decides to only do one drill or comes up lame early in the event, I think he’ll fall.

again….Thibs grading out is the best thing for everyone.

It’s a really fickle time of year. I’d also say (and this’ll chap Chemi’s ass) there might be a higher than average chance of a trade down this year.

I’m not sold that Jax is taking Hutch but if they do I hope it’s Thibs too. He’s really talented and could be a star. I don’t think his pro day will make much difference as he already ran a really damned good 40 and his bench was good.

To me a pro day does nothing for him unless he’s going to talk about how much he wants to kill QBs in the NFL.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

The reason I say there's a higher than avg chance is because of the very nebulous and wide-ranging opinions about the top prospects (other than Hutch...who seems to continue to gain positive momentum).

I think it might be possible (more than avg)...that a given team (in the top 10) only likes one of the top options....aggressive trading strategies are also on the rise again in the NFL, and while so far this has been contained to trades for established players, it will soon leak over into prospect that teams are sure about (this is just how the cycle works).

And if I'm the Lions FO I'm putting out every smoke signal I can that Willis is the guy....to me Atlanta looks like a team ready to draft a QB high and they need to believe that the Lions want Willis @2.

[jaadam4]

His game is different than Lamar But whoever drafts him will have to let him improvise and use his legs more.

I still can’t believe how good of a passer LJax became after 1 year. He was so bad in college and his rookie season. All he could do is run but he’s crazy good now. Reminds me so much of Randall Cunningham (more athletic).

I can see the Russel Wilson comparisons but Willis and Liberty is my sticking point with him. We have no idea because of the shit talent level he played against.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

I’m not sold that Jax is taking Hutch but if they do I hope it’s Thibs too. He’s really talented and could be a star. I don’t think his pro day will make much difference as he already ran a really damned good 40 and his bench was good.

To me a pro day does nothing for him unless he’s going to talk about how much he wants to kill QBs in the NFL.

Honestly.....I'm more talking about his attitude and willingness to participate. I agree that he's got the athleticism for the draft slot...but his abrupt exit from the combine was a little odd. He could have given any excuse for not doing the drills or simply stated before the event what he was going to do.....but getting halfway through the combine and essentially saying "I don't feel like it" during the biggest job interview of your life, is a puzzling attitude that I can see a coach asking questions about.