tukafan21

Because he's not the best prospect in the draft, he's the best college player in the draft, and those are two entirely different things. Yes, if he focused on one side, his stats may have been better, but stats aren't what makes a player's prospects, it's their abilities and how they translate to the next level. I'm also not knocking him as a prospect, not like I'm saying he's a mid round pick, he's just probably the 2nd best CB and 3rd best WR, in what way is that throwing shade on him? It's literally saying he's a Top 10 pick, just not THE top prospect at his position(s). I really don't get why you think someone saying a player is the 2nd best player at one position and 2nd or 3rd best at another position is hating on them, it's crazy talk. Even in your defense of him here, you say a just asinine sentence, "he's the #1 rated prospect because he's actually elite at both positions" His ability at 2 positions has 0% bearing on his NFL prospects, as no team is going to use him full time both ways, he's either going to be a full time WR, or a mostly full time CB who gets 5 or so snaps a game on offense. So him playing both positions shouldn't factor into any team's draft evaluation of him, if a team is taking him over Johnson because of the few snaps he'd play on offense, they're choosing a player for the wrong reason. The only way I'm taking him over T-Mac is if it's a team that already has a true outside #1 and what they need is speed in the slot to compliment the outside guy (and btw, most teams don't have that, if anything, most would have the slot guy and need the true outside #1). Your need to constantly talk about stats is also just a red flag for your evaluations of players, as the college game is wild, stats don't mean near as much as you think. So many college offenses are built to put up monster stats, particularly against the weaker defenses in colleges, even if doing so exposes them to other issues, because in the end, the good can outweigh the bad in the college game in a way that doesn't happen in the NFL.

This is just a classic example of falling for the media hype and/or not seeing the difference between being a generational collegiate talent and actual translation to the NFL. Yes, Hunter is completely unique and there's never been anyone quite like him in college. But at the same time, he's literally not even the best WR or CB in the draft, that's T-Mac and Will Johnson. Just because someone is generational in college, it doesn't mean they are the best possible NFL prospect at any given position, they're two entirely different things. Yes, Hunter is a true elite CB prospect and a very very good WR prospect, but individually he's not even the best at either position and he's not going to be a full time 2 way player in the NFL either. Let someone else deal with the headache that will follow him, he's not even on my draft board, if it was him or trade the pick for someone else to get stuck with dealing with him, I'm trading that pick 100 times out of 100, even if it's just moving back 1 spot and adding a future 7th rounder to do so.

Tetairoa McMillan and then I couldn't care less about any other moves we make

best case outcome possible, that's what we want every game. Keep it competitive, show fight and improvement, but lose the game to help our draft position. Meaningless wins right now aren't going to help us win games in future seasons, but picking 5 spots higher in the draft 100% can. Go for the moral victories, not actual victories lol

Would love to see us sign him to say a 4 year extension structured in a way that pays him most of the money in the first two years with an out after the 2. It protects us to injuries or penalty issues, it gives him a lot of money, and it also gives him an ability to renegotiate in 2 years if he plays at a high level, and if he does, we'd be happy to pay it to him again.

But again, you can restock a defense through free agency much easier than offensive skill positions. Spend all our cap space on defense, take a true elite prospect who also happens to fit a position of need in T-Mac, and then use the rest of our picks on defense. Again, every season there’s a smattering of great DL, LB, and DB options in free agency, a Top 10 WR never hits free agency, ever. The only way you get one is through the draft or giving up 1st round picks in a trade for one. If he’s there when we’re on the clock, he has to be the pick, he’s just that good.

making my head spin at how much you're all over T-Mac now lol

If anything he’s being undervalued If he played for a big time program that was in the playoff hunt, he’d be viewed as a generational talent, but being on an awful Arizona team, he’s being g overlooked by most people. Best offensive player in the draft regardless of position

And great defensive players are ALWAYS available in free agency, because teams usually prioritize getting their QB and WRs locked up and never hit the open market Use our cap space 100% on defense, get a few impact players that way, and then you draft T-Mac, the best player in this draft. You will never find a player like him hit open free agency, it’s the only way to get a true stud outside #1 WR. Dont over think it Draft Tetairoa McMillan no matter what

I do kinda still feel he's destined to go to NE as well, but really only because two of the best Wildcats of all time are also Patriots legends in Gronkowski and Bruschi (plus he's a fit there). If they're picking ahead of us, I'm hoping they strike out on a LT in free agency, as if they do, they need to protect Maye, that's probably more important for them right now than getting him a WR. And I still think a defensive pick makes sense with their HC being a former defensive player and them using their 1st on a QB last year. Two straight Top 5 picks on offense for a defensive HC in his first 2 seasons just seems unlikely as well.

Been trying to speak this into existence since last November And while the other player I was talking about in that thread didn't become Tank Dell this year like I said, I also said it depended on him going to a team that needed to use him, which didn't happen. As he ended up getting drafted by the 49ers who have a deep WR room and took a WR in the 1st as well, but he still made the team and is their starting punt returner.

I've been saying it for a week or two, that all those teams picking ahead of us when we were sitting 9th in the draft all had games against each other still. As long as we don't have an unexpected upset, it all comes down to the Dallas game. Lose to Dallas and we're picking 4th at the very worst, real possibility of anywhere in the Top 4, even 1st. Beat Dallas but lose out besides that and I still think we end up picking Top 5 in the end as well.

And the Jags still play the Titans twice, Jets, and Raiders... they're winning at least one of those If we lose out, we're picking 4th at worst, which in reality, would be like picking the 2nd non QB if the Raiders and Giants are picking before us as they're both going QB. Draft Tetairoa McMillan no matter what!

Yep, quoting my own post, because like I said, the teams that were ahead of us in the draft when people were freaking out all had a lot of winnable games left. Already jumped to 5th in the draft right now, while the Jags still play the Titans twice, the Jets, and Raiders, so you gotta think they end up wining at least one more game themselves too. We need 6 more games like today, stay competitive, but lose. Work on our young players improving while getting some moral victories but give us that Top 5 pick to get my guy T-Mac LFG!!!!

Like I've said, regardless of Bryce, we still don't have a #1 WR, XL's upside is a very good #2 on a good team. Hunter and Burden are both slot WRs at the next level, not true outside #1's T-Mac is the pick no matter what, he is exactly what this team needs and would give us a potentially elite pass catching group in a few years with T-Mac, XL, Coker, and Sanders.

I'm still not touching Hunter He again said the other day that he plans on playing both sides of the ball in the NFL. If he is allowed to do that, he won't be as good on either side as his potential and he's going to have serious injury issues and have a short career. If he's not allowed to do it, I think he's going to become a problem when the team isn't winning as he's going to feel him not being used on both sides of the ball is why. He's being coddled in that environment with Deion and I think it's doing a disservice to him to prepare him for life in the NFL where your coach isn't a 2nd father to you, to where you can just walk into his locker room and steal his shoes like Hunter does to Deion.

oh PLEASE let him get hired as a HC somewhere I just won't those draft picks, we badly need them and getting an extra 3rd rounder two years in a row would be HUGE for our franchise. Also knowing we'd have them could allow us to trade other picks of our own this year to move up if needed. If he got hired somewhere, I'd have no issue giving up our 4ths the next couple years as kickers in trade ups as the comp 3rd picks would be before those picks anyways.

I put it out there earlier in this thread, the teams ahead of us in the draft had a lot of games against each other while our only realistic winnable game left (outside of an unexpected upset) is Dallas. The Titans and Jags still have to play each other twice for example too. Cleveland winning last night was huge, especially as they have a tougher schedule than us, so if we both now lose out, we'll get the higher pick due to the easier SOS.

I think push comes to shove, if they can't sign a top LT in free agency, that's the route they'll end up going Yes they need WRs, but they also need to protect their young franchise QB, and with a HC who was a defensive player, I think he'd want to build that OL for his QB before finding him a WR if it's one or the other. If they are able to sign a top OT at the start of free agency, that would certainly change things, but if not, I'd be shocked if they don't go that way with their first pick. For a team like that, going OL in the 1st and WR in the 2nd makes WAY more sense than the other way around. And again on them having a defensive player as a HC, if they don't go OL, I think defense would be next in line as a defensive minded HC probably doesn't want his first two 1st round picks to be offensive guys anyways.

ESPN's latest mock draft has the Panthers taking.............. T-Mac!!!! LFG!!!!! Speak this into existence, that's all I want to do between now and late April lol https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/insider/story/_/id/42455885/2025-nfl-mock-draft-first-round-predictions-32-picks-matt-miller

Short answer.... no Full explanation....... The Lions drafted Hooker as a project QB when they still weren't sure if Goff could be their QB of the future, Goff then went out and had an outstanding season and subsequently was signed to a 4 year, $212 Million contract. They didn't draft him with the expectation of him being their backup to Goff, he was drafted as a potential long term solution if Goff struggled last year and they decided not to sign him to an extension. They are in a SB window right now and for the next few years, if Goff were to go down, turning over a legitimate SB caliber roster to a QB who has thrown 9 career passes would be borderline criminal. In reality, they should be looking to bring in an experienced backup game manager type of QB who could step in and keep them as close to the same team as possible if they were to lose Goff. Or hell, if he didn't get a better opportunity, someone like Fields could be real dangerous with that offensive line and RB room they have, just run a modified option offense, good luck stopping that. The 49ers traded 3 First Round picks to take Trey Lance 3rd overall, then 2 seasons later traded him for a 4th round pick. And he wasn't even THAT bad in the games he played in, he showed some potential but was clearly still very raw and needed time to develop. Yes, Hooker is kinda the opposite of Lance in the sense that he had years of starting at a higher level in college and was more developed than Lance, while Lance had more untapped potential, but still, he went from 3rd overall to traded for a 4th rounder. In no world does a 3rd rounder who has thrown 9 career passes have his trade value increase from where he was drafted 2 years earlier. For a team that has been as good at drafting as the Lions have been in recent years, a 4th rounder for them could very well be a solid piece of their SB puzzle, likely a DB or pass rusher that they think can fit into their system and be a nice rotation piece. Again, unless Hooker is just perfectly content being a career long backup and never the chance to compete for a starting spot, there is a 0% chance he will re-sign with the Lions when his contract is up, so they should and likely will trade him before his contract expires. Because of that, their best chance at trading him is this offseason as teams would like to have the 2 years left on his deal to see what he could be, not just one season and then need to make a call on whether or not to re-sign him. Hooker's situation is more like Lance than he would be a Garoppolo who got a 2nd round pick in return for him, as he looked good in a couple starts when Brady was suspended, not to mention he was also drafted a round earlier than Hooker was too.

Hendon Hooker Lions took him last year in the 3rd, might have been taken in the 1st round by someone if he hadn’t torn his ACL during the bowl game, early 2nd round at worst. Think the Lions took him in case Goff struggled and they didn't want to re-sign him, now with Goff being their QB for the foreseeable future, having a 27 year old back up with only 10 career passes and only 2 years left on his contract and is likely to want to go somewhere he might have a chance to play, seems like something they could trade.

What’s your reasoning for us not to want to draft him if he’s available when we’re on the clock? The best WR in the draft at one of our top 3 biggest needs. As I was saying in a different thread last night, wanting someone else is fine, but in general, being against a player THAT good at one of our biggest positions of need, just doesn’t make any sense.