rayzor

but at least double trouble and CMC were hella fun to watch. sanders? oof.

nah, they'll be ok. Wallace will be a stud. we'll pick up GiImore then the CB room will be set for the year. then next year we can go back and draft a CB then.

agreed. Bryce got some big time playmakers. we needed that. and considering we went in without a first rounder, we did well.

i know that Corbett can block and it makes sense him talking about being a guard on both sides he knows what guards need from their center. it's been a while, but he's done it before so it shouldn't be hard to get back into the motions and it won't take long for it to be second nature to him. calling protections might be an issue, but he's played the game long enough that it shouldn't be a problem. getting that chemistry with BY and gelling with the guys on either side of him will be the biggest thing to accomplish but i think they can get that through the offseason. the thing that is the most worrisome to me is the threat of injury to a guy who really struggled with them last year. it sucks that the best FA option out there at the moment is a guy who is coming off a big injury himself (Connor Williams - ACL in December).

i don't see it as an overt neglect of the OL. They had several priorities they felt they had a bigger need to address and available options to take care of them. i would have liked to see us draft an OC, but not sure i'd want that rookie starting, esp. day 1. of course it depends on who it was. agree with it or not, their biggest priority has been on getting BY playmakers, and they got those. those that have pointed out that FA period isn't over and cuts are likely coming are correct, the roster as is right now won't be what we see day 1. lots of time to pick one up...if they plan to. one thing to consider, they may actually like the idea of Corbett playing there. and, as hard as it might be to consider, that might actually be the right call. and having BC as the backup might just be enough. i don't know. i'm just going to sit back and watch it all unfold and be excited that we have those big OGs on either side of whoever we have starting at OC and we'll be a lot better for it. another thing to consider, BY might just be comfortable with Corbett already there. it's important that the QB feel confident in and have a bit of a connection with the OC. either way, despite my being all in on Corbett as center, wishing that we had drafted someone, and hoping that we get someone in FA...i'm not upset or bothered by it. the team is in a lot better shape overall than last year going into the season and i feel good about the moves they have made so far. looking forward to what they do the rest of this offseason and what they do going into next year.

Matty ice won't make it better

I've seen two complaints show up. 1) boom or bust in several picks... namely XL (only 1 year good production), Brooks (ACL), and Wallace (raw). 2) no first round pick...and yes, I've seen that as a complaint on a couple of grades

i know, but to a degree to can still apply, imo. yes, the guy is a unicorn. crazy circumstances and situations i think kept him away from opportunity to prove themselves for a longer period of time. and in that he and cam are similar. cam took a couple years before he was put in a situation to show what he could do given then opportunity. same wit XL. different circumstances, for sure, but really they were drafted based on one one year of production where they looked dominant. does that mean he's going to be the cam newton of WRS? probably not. one of the arguments against cam was that he had only one year of "real" production at a high level and those arguments were furthered by the lack of people who had transitioned into a legit starter after so little starting experience. they were/are both unicorns.

easy to be shaped into who we want them to be as players. i think even though XL is older, he's still just as moldable as the guys drafted after him because he hasn't really had that much time put in at the position.

if he's playing on the outside, that's an issue. straight line speed doesn't mean much when you play nickel, which he probably will. for that you just have to be quick and looks to be able to hang with anyone in the slot.

i remember a certain QB who only had one year of NCAA starting experience getting drafted early and he did alright.

you're about to see one.

unless he totally lights it up in the offseason, he'll end up being 3rd. Chuba has already shown his value. Brooks is about to.

Oof.

He can and does do both. It's not often, but he did it in almost every game I saw.

And he's not some random camp body hero everyone just pulls for because we want a success story. The guy was pretty highly regarded and the only knock against him was a small school guy. He legit should have been drafted. Any other year he probably would have been. He's got real talent and I hope we find a way to keep him around because he could be a long haul player.

True. I think people forget that he was almost viewed the way Chinn was around here aside from being an answer to Vick. Just didn't know where to put him. Too big for a safety and too small for an LB at that time, but we tried him and listed him at both. For a while we just didn't think he'd stick around. He was fast and he could hit and that was about the extent of it. It took a few years but we eventually got it figured out. Just need patience.

Brooks hits that hole just fine. The guys got some power. There was a few goal line battles that I saw him not be able to get it in, but honestly it was as much because the OL couldn't make any headway as anything and they all got through to him. I think it was games against Bama, Wyoming, and one other (green unis...Baylor?) that I saw it and he was covered by defensive players. I mean they had to have had 6-8 on him and they just swallowed him up. I saw a lot of between the tackle runs and hed just punch through. Rarely he got taken down by 1 or 2 players. You'd have to gang tackle him. He also rarely went down on first or second contact, either. Guy would just hit and get hit and he'd be pushing and dragging guys. The best was those moments where he just saw a crease and busted through and go for big yards and he did that a lot. I didn't look at the stats but the guy was just big play after big play. Also, you saw him dance from time to time, but it was always forward motion. He didn't run backwards or sideways to find openings. It was always forward motion.

I see all that and it makes sense. The thing I was hoping in getting as many pass catchers as possible was looking for that dream combo. But you got to have the targets to find out and it could take a couple seasons to get that groove going.

Same, but Coker has potential. Really thought he would get drafted.

He doesn't fumble the ball either. In fact when he gets into crowded territory you see him instinctually wrap the ball up with both arms. I watched every carry and target he had in college and I swear I only saw one fumble and I couldn't tell what happened on that one, looked like someone's helmet hit it. But people were constantly punching at the ball while he carried it and they were having no success.

It's not easy. But I have a choice and I have to decide whether or not it's worth it. I have to say it is. I don't stress over things i have no control over. I don't worry about them. Life has enough things to stress over. I want to have fun being a fan and I want to find things about it to make me feel good about it, so I do. If it's not fun, then why bother with it? There's got to be other stuff in life to get sucked into that brings more fun and enjoyment that that. Just my way of coping.

I'm trying to limit myself to "just a fan". Helps me enjoy it all more.

We got 3 guys I really wanted at positions we really needed help with that can help us out over the next chunk of years. We got a few more who could give us some positive production for a while in some areas. I loved it. I think it was a success. We weren't going to fix every area of need, but it all starts with a few and we got some. We got at least three starters in this group (maybe not immediate but it won't take long). And we got a few other who can be big time producers. What we did this weekend sets us up to be better this year and makes it easier to get the team where it needs to be next year. We made the draft next year easier to address remaining needs. I'm not going to micro-analyze this draft. I'm just looking at the big picture and we made the team significantly better in a few big areas. I give them an A.

Have you not been paying attention? That's all they've done this draft.