TD alt

Crystal balls are overrated.

The only reason---which is a significant reason---that Penny is not miles (no pun intended) ahead of Sanders is due to health. Availability is the best ability in this case. When Penny is able to play, he has been the better back. His career averages in both running and receiving are markedly better, and Miles has arguably been playing behind a better line.

Oh, I don't know. He's not exactly the poster child of health. Could be just insurance. If he wows out in camp, could make it interesting before cuts.

I'll know it when I see it.

David Tepper approves.

Struggles versus press? Needs to be schemed open? Where did you get that bit of information? Legette gets to his spot and detaches from the defender, albeit not as gracefully as some. He's a bull in a china shop with defenders in different coverages. With footwork development and more nuanced movement, he may not be a bull, but a monster against the press. He plays bigger than his size, as is evidenced by his jump balls, which is huge (not some afterthought as you framed it). Where he doesn't play "big" thus far is on screens, but perhaps a better O-line will help that. As for being schemed open, that's not really true either, at least at USC (East). But I'd say that it's a good thing to get your weapons open in space and let them do what they do. You just find things that work, and that's what successful coaches do.

Yeah I don't know who will be the best, and I can assure anyone that hype will not make them the best. Legette will play with a decent QB (not saying that it's going to be Young) and will be playing amid decent weapons---NFL-caliber receivers and what looks to be a decent O-line. Circumstances do make a difference. Honestly, you had so many guys this year who could turn out being the best of the class. You don't earn that honor during the draft.

Not because he's scared to play.

This was a good one.

If nothing else, X is muscular and dense. LOL @ getting drilled by an NFL caliber player. You think that playing in the SEC that he wasn't hit by an "NFL caliber player?" X is in the pros now. He'll likely get denser and stronger. When those NFL caliber players are out there making business decisions, you remember this response.

Size probably. To be fair, that O-line was terrible. He's a better receiver for sure.

Much smaller? What 10-15 pounds and two to three inches shorter? He'd be a heavyweight in boxing, just like D.K. He's maybe much shorter, and some might consider that a stretch. His speed alone may make him much more dangerous than Deebo. It appears to me that Legette is very much a threat to take it to the house if you hit him in stride, especially on those slants.

I was going to say something similar. But I think we'd be remiss not to acknowledge that the O-line leaves a lot to be desired...to say the least. Yeah, Rattler looked very shaky at times.

I did a lot of research on Xavier Legette for the past few weeks, and as some of you know, I was in favor of making him our first pick. I must say that I got tired of going back and forth seemingly every other day about X, and was so ready for the draft to come in order for the team to "put up or shut up" where X was concerned, and enable discussions on X to move forward. X was (is) the most polarizing player discussed on the Huddle in terms pick 33, and that brought a lot of contentious discussion as well as information. See, you never know what to believe during the draft season, and ever since the Senior Bowl, hints and outright stories of the Panthers' and X's mutual attraction appeared and ramped up so easily, that it was almost unbelievable. So, even though I liked X, and really figured that he should be the pick, the ease of which everything fell into place and the outside noise of different analysts made me lose a little conviction. But one ex-scout developed unshakable conviction all the way through. Dan Kelly, who used to scout for the Jets back in the day, chose Xavier Legette as the top receiver in the 2024 draft class. I came across his thoughts weeks ago, but I'm sharing them now just to give you some positive food for thought since X is indeed a Panther. There is no boom-or-bust aspect to X in Kelly's estimation, as X is reminiscent of a damned good one. "This Gamecocks receiver conjures memories of how Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Art Monk — the former Washington star — ran his routes." "Legette's sudden and spontaneous moves win initial route leverage against corners and then he wins again at route breakpoints." For as critical as some have been of X's release off the line, when I look at X work, I can't say that Kelly is wrong here. X certainly seems to get open (though admittedly sometimes he just out-physicals the DBs ). "Legette is the best in this draft class at "Mossin'" defenders — that is acrobatically outjumping corners for passes and coming down with circus catches. Legette isn't the next Moss, but he is darn good. He can go deep or sell the deep route well before settling back underneath and making those vitally important chain-moving intermediate-level receptions (11-19 yards)." https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/scouts_view_the_top_receiver_in_the_nfl_draft_isnt_who_you_think/s1_13132_39987216 On Kelly's own site, First Round Mock, he was a little more specific: "Legette has this spontaneous and impulsive ability to put little moves on corners, whether releasing from the line of scrimmage...or...when going deep. Either way, it’s enough to earn Legette route leverage (position advantage against the cornerback he’s matched up against)." There's that term again: route leverage. Say what you want about X, but he knows how to get it. Lastly, within the scouting report, Kelly really mentions the term again without saying it. "Strong target who showed high-level receiving skills beyond his years...Runs routes to get open rather than well-defined routes which makes him tough to cover. Gets to the spot..." That's ironic, no? X in his roughness makes it ugly for defensive backs to cover him. For me, this was an epiphany when I was looking at some of his clips. Yeah, he may not be the technician that a Diontae Johnson or (dare I say) a Ladd McConkey is, but he always seemed to get where he needed to be. He just simply is not built to be bullied or redirected from the task at hand, and I don't think that's a characteristic or talent (if you will) that can be taught. Sure, he'll be polished up as best that the coaches can, and perhaps that will allow him a smoother release. And I'm sure that the coaches will devise ways to scheme him open, but he's built---physically and mentally to get to where he's going. You saw it last season, and you're going to see it in the pros. Watch what I'm saying. https://firstroundmock.com/2024/02/xavier-legette-reminds-former-nfl-scout-of-these-legends/

We made our choices. WR was needed. RB was needed. LB was needed. TE was needed. After the fourth round, it becomes more of a crapshoot than it already is. It looks like we went BPA at positions of priority. Sorry, OL didn't make the cut this time. We can probably get similar talent in free agency to late round picks if need be. Moreover there will be final cuts that we can shop from as well if necessary. I'm just not gonna worry and second guess picks. The decisions were made and we have to move on. If any adjustments need to be made, I'm sure they'll address it.

It was kind of a sexy draft, and you really didn't even have to get drunk to realize it.

Sometimes you get very valuable information from fantasy football sites. I found an analysis that you may want to read from The Fantasy Footballers. Perhaps you'll gain an insight as to why we moved up and got him. As always, here are a few snippets: "As expected, he dominated in the 2023 season. He averaged an impressive 2.03 Scrimmage Yards per Team Play, which ranks in the 86th percentile among all junior seasons since 2013." "Naturally, after initially playing behind two NFL-caliber running backs, Brooks’ career numbers do not jump off the page. However, his 2023 campaign gave us a glimpse of just how massive his upside could be at the next level. In fact, Brooks is one of only TWO running backs in this class to exceed 2.00 Scrimmage Yards per Team Play within their first three seasons in college." "If you watch Jonathon Brooks’ film, you will find multiple plays in which he created yardage with his quick feet and lateral agility. He is elusive in open spaces and has an impressive ability to stack multiple cuts to avoid contact. Combined with his impressive burst and acceleration, Brooks can be a matchup nightmare in the second and third levels of the defense." "While Brooks is not the most physical running back, he does have a knack for absorbing contact and bouncing off defenders. You see this time and time again in his film." "He showcased a willingness to initiate contact with the pass rusher, the strength to maintain blocks, and the quickness to adjust to the defender’s moves. In addition, per PFF, Brooks was a top-three running back in the 2024 class in pass-blocking grade last season. He was also one of only two running backs in the class to average a 0% pass block pressure rate, highlighting just how effective he was as a blocker." "In short, Brooks has tremendous upside as a prospect. Even with his ACL injury, I would still be comfortable drafting him in the early second round of rookie drafts. In fact, I would not be shocked if he finished his career as the most productive running back in this class. However, we just need to temper our expectations for his rookie year as he slowly ramps up to full health." Marvin Elequin provides more here (including video clips): https://www.thefantasyfootballers.com/dynasty/2024-rookie-profile-rb-jonathon-brooks-fantasy-football/ Basically, Brooks has the potential to be a beast, and was well worth the 46th pick (and most mocks had him going mid second round anyway). He's not JAG. Someone had to make the move and take him, and we were the ones to do it. He's elusive, has good speed and acceleration, exceptional contact balance, and is an outstanding blocker. Just like any nice RB transitioning to the league, he will need to get used to taking what the defense gives him, while also showing discriminating patience, but he has demonstrated some ability on that front in college. Brooks' only real knock is the ACL. But ACLs aren't career ending anymore, or even skill ending as evidenced by Dalvin Cook, Todd Gurley and others. We'll just need to temper our expectations during his rookie campaign while he gets back to form. Once he does, we'll finally have the talented three-down back that has eluded us since Stew retired.

Sanders isn't worth a first round pick.

Yeah, they'll probably take 40 percent of that bonus, maybe even off the top, but that 25K will be taxes like everyone else (maybe around 20 percent.

It's possible, but 97 percent of his snaps were on the outside. But many receivers switch in the NFL. We'll see.

That's the guarantee. I was referring to his $25,000 salary, which most of the people that earn that have to work an entire year to make. For Coker, not so much.

Just think, they've guaranteed this kid $225,000, and a salary that is in line with millions of Americans making a lower income. They must expect him to be around.

Well, he has a very productive season at Holy Cross, and if he's the technician at route running that Smitty says that he is, Coker's got as good of a chance as Norwell and maybe better considering the real and imagined perceptions of our receiving corps.

If Young can't at least play average, then little QBs of the present and future might as well kiss dreams of being in the NFL "goodbye." Sure, there may be what people consider outliers, like Russ and Murray, but Wilson and Murray aren't exactly little guys. Young is the test case.

As constructed now, they'd probably have D. Jackson and Hill on the outside, and either Bootle or L. Jackson in the slot. If we can acquire Gilmore for this season, I'd feel a lot better, but we need depth. Other than possibly Gilmore, we may not acquire any more legit starters until teams cut down to their final rosters.