theinstrumental

Hand-timed at a pro day. It doesn’t show up on the field. I think the point remains.

I have a heart, so I love him as much as everyone else. But: it would be really nice to find a backup with the speed to bring some volatility to the offense, and Skattebo doesn’t have it. Chuba and Skattebo have very similar games. Obviously that’s a good game, but Skattebo doesn’t bring anything to the offense that it doesn’t already have. And we need someone to return kicks/punts. Tuten, Brashard Smith, Etienne, Rocket Sanders…so many guys ran in or below the 4.4’s this year. Obviously if the GPS data says he plays as fast as those guys, throw the combine numbers out the window. But if it matches up, he’s not my favorite type of back for us.

He follows Rodgers. So not here.

Great write-up. To add to the murkiness, it’s confusing to me that EZ demolished the 3-come and short shuttle but refused to run the 40. It’s not a huge red flag but I’d really like him more if he weren’t a little small AND kind of slow. And that’s the only reason I can see him skipping the 40.

Eff it, we need a really talented player somewhere on this defense. We got rid of CMC, DJ Moore, and Burns. Gotta use all those cap savings somewhere. Might as well grab a playmaking defensive lineman, everyone always needs more of them.

This would be great. The offense needs speed that can actually get on the field. A late-round dart throw rookie won’t earn snaps. Hopefully Slayton can come in on a cheap short deal and we draft a guy to develop behind him.

It happens. Will McDonald was even smaller than Stewart, and Iowa State had him playing 4i for absolutely no reason. He got drafted 15th overall and just had 10.5 sacks for the Jets. Micah Parsons, obviously, got shifted from edge to linebacker so Penn State could get more big fasts onto the field. Nobody had any idea what they were doing with him, including the Cowboys until they had so many edge injuries that they had to put Parsons back at his high school position. Also, Stewart had a lot of pressures. 33. No idea how he managed to get 1.5 sacks off of 33 pressures--it's one of the weirdest things I can remember in a college player's career. And I get that "almost" doesn't count. But he was great in practice and the game at the Senior Bowl. He's got insane tools. He was genuinely good against the run all year, and if the coaches think they can get him over the hump and start turning those pressures into actual sacks, I won't hate it.

Is there any actual evidence that he played the season at his listed weight? Plenty of colleges over-list the heights and weights of their players. Isn't it much more likely that Texas A&M just...lied? Than that he lost 20-ish pounds and is a totally different athlete now? Also, he was listed at 281, not 290. I don't see where 290's coming from.

Corners ran fast as hell, too. Just a slow receiver group this year.

The combine athletic testing removes weird variables and offers an extra data point if you're trying to weigh conflicting indicators. Case in point: Shemar Stewart had 39 pressures. Good! He converted only 1.5 into sacks. Bad! Why might that have happened? Does he lack burst to close on the QB? Enter the combine, which answers: he does not. Now, everyone knew that he was a good athlete. But "he's definitely going to be the best athlete every time he steps on the field" is new info and I don't see why it wouldn't change your opinion of him at all.

The only benefit of a completely inept defense is that you really can go BPA and expect it to improve. Starks is a good player. This defense needs as many as it can get, this draft is fine.

Wait for the combine before making any plans based on measurements. Word is he’s going to come in way below 6’5”. If he changes positions it’s going to be to RB.

Exactly. There’s no magic in taking the highest-rated guy who falls because his position isn’t the most valuable. If you want the Hurney pick this year, just grab the LSU tackle and put him at center. Instant All-Pro!

I’m praying we use those picks on the less valuable defensive roles that fit a fast, two-high, odd-front scheme. We still haven’t really committed to building what Evero wants, and we need to fill in the gaps. Coverage linebackers and safeties who can tackle: Jay Higgins - LB - Iowa Jay Bassa - LB - Oregon Malachi Moore - S - Bama Kevin Winston Jr. - S - Penn State True nose tackles: Jamaree Caldwell - NT - Oregon Jordan Phillips - NT - Maryland

All I read was “ThunderWolves”.

Consensus is that he’s really smart and communicated reads even while playing LT. he could almost certainly convert to C for a year and the. Take over for Motion when his contract ends. It would be…bizarre…to not address the defense. But it’s not a bad outcome. To me it just re-enforces the idea that trading down is the best outcome. If we don’t grab an edge at 8, and trade down and miss them all, we can still grab Campbell and an extra day 2 defensive lineman in the deepest DL class in recent memory. That’s probably still better than reaching at 8.

Slayton would be nice. Thielen, Coker, and XL all seem good, they just need to be complemented with some speed. He’d be a good way to do it at an appropriate cost.

Agreed. I’m bothered by this FO’s historical trend to try to address every need in FA, leading them to go into the draft overconfident that every hole is filled. We need a bunch of guy, this draft is deep at what we need, and there aren’t great values at the top. It’s the perfect storm to try to move back.

You’re describing technique. Which, I agree, is obviously important. But what I’m reacting against is the pushback on the idea that football character is worth drafting for. Physical attributes, technique, and football character (“dawg”) all matter. If you’re short of any of them, you’re probably going to fail. I don’t understand the eagerness in this thread to throw one of them out the window.

He weighed in at 156 pounds.

That's fine--I think it helps to think about it on the team level and not the player level. In the same way that a slow team needs fast players, a soft team needs tough ones. Last year's defense lacked an edge. With this roster, it seems fine to look for guys who are going to create a competitive, physical culture.

No. The coach leaving must become the head coach of another team.

We don't have to talk in hypotheticals. Morgan's been here since 2021. The traditional linebackers that we've drafted since then have been Brandon Smith and Trevin Wallace, both great size/speed athletes. DJ Johnson is another great athlete. We haven't drafted many guys who have a chance at impacting the run game--that could be the entire problem--but I can't think of anyone who failed because they're not physically talented enough. Michael Barrett, maybe? But we're talking about picks that matter.

Interior defensive line, safety, (coverage) linebacker, and running back seem really deep this year. Which sucks for the rest of the league, because those positions aren't universally important, but is great for us. It's exactly what we need.

IDK, DJ Jones measured 6'0" 5/8 and 319lb pounds at his combine. No idea whether the more recent team measurements that are around 305 are more up-to-date. But it seems like he's used a traditional run-stuffer who plays with leverage and doesn't get moved out of gaps. Not a smaller, penetrating guy. Now, that doesn't mean that bigger guy = better. Everyone's salivating over Deone Walker, but being 6'7" means you're going to have a hard time in the leverage battles. But if a big guy is hard to move, then he's going to be Evero's type.