I went B- since as I, like others, would have preferred more OL depth/competition.
But I like what they did.

The LSU DT early is a risk/reward situation of course, but it could end up being a steal.
Hopefully he doesn't take too long to get into NFL shape.
Would be amazing if he's ready to take some rotational snaps at some point this season to keep the pitch count lower for Armstead.

Would be great if the Kicker turns out to be the real deal.
Having a reliable guy on a rookie deal at that position is always nice.

Has anyone heard anything about Javon Foster potentially playing Guard or if they view him strictly as an OT?

The RB pick for the return game doesn't bother me a bit.

Foster is swing tackle based on Baalke's comments.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

Trent Baalke confirmed that Missouri OT Javon Foster will compete for the swing tackle role entering the season.

Put him at right, move Harrison to the left, and keep Little as the swing. They won't of course, but one can dream.

Harrison was the only bright spot on that line last season. I would like to see how he does on the left side. That would go a ways towards alleviating my anxiety about the ability to protect Trevor and allowing time for plays to develop. I think ETN met every opposing D lineman behind the line of scrimmage last year.

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It's hard to think of the draft by itself without looking at it in the broader context of the offseason in terms of where we finished last year, the guys we let walk, the new guys we signed, and what we should have been hoping to come away with from this draft. In that context I would say this draft was average so maybe a C. I just don't understand the lack of attention paid towards the offensive line this offseason. Easily the weakest part of our team and solely responsible for our ultimate collapse last year. Yet the only significant change was bringing in Morse who is a solid player but is he even a top 10 center? He should bring some significant upgrade over Fortner who was awful last year. But the rest of the line needs depth and needs talent to push the existing starters, none of whom are a top 10 player at their position and maybe not even top half. We also have another challenge with the new DC who requires a different skillset in the secondary necessitating an overhaul at the position. A better run franchise should know what their philosophy is and what kind of team they want to be so a change in assistant coaches should be fairly seamless. This draft also kind of fits the Baalke mode of taking players with raw talent with the hopes of developing into good football players. Mentioned this on one of the draft threads how a team like the Steelers always seems to come away with a draft that makes sense for them. They know who they are philosophically. They tend to draft guys who were good football players who played against good competition. Ours don't always feel that way. But thats why some teams tend to have more consistent success than others.

Thomas - Looks like a good player who fits a role we don't currently have. Lawrence hasnt really had a bigger WR since he's been here. Hopefully this will add a new wrinkle to the offense. WR not a huge need for this team.
Maason - hopefully this works out. would rather take a guy with a slightly lower ceiling but had been a really good college player as opposed to a guy that wasn't all that good in college but has a high ceiling
Jones - athletic guy that shot up boards after his workouts. sounds like he isnt much of a tackler. hopefully we can turn him into a better football player
Foster - feels like a solid pick. hopefully will be a good backup that could play in a pinch. Maybe we get lucky and can develop him into a starter one day. once you get to round 4 players though odds get slim
Jordan - similar Maason although a worse college player. Maybe we can develop.
Prince - intriguing developmental guy
Robinson - I know the team has talked about drafting him to be a 2nd kick returner. did we typically carry 4 RBs on the active roster last year? Would have thought we're already using Duvernay to take a ST role. would we use two spots on the active roster for just a ST returner?
Kicker - hopefully he can win the spot. kicking got spotty last year
Coles - intriguing developmental guy

lots of hoping we can develop them guys. Other than Thomas, I'm not expecting significant contribution from anyone. But I am hopeful that a couple of them develop and play a role for us.

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Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

One good thing is I think the Texans had one of the worst drafts imo.  The Colts had a great draft and the Titans had a decent draft getting Latham and Sweat.  The did improve in FA but I dont think their draft will help them much at all this year.  We impoved in FA, and then also improved in the draft

We're all entitled to our opinions, but I think adding CB Lassiter with S Bullock over the top is going to work out very well in Demeco's defense.  Lassiter has elite short to intermediate speed that makes him a perfect cover-2/zone cb, and Bullock is a ball-hawking S center fielder (He's also only 20 and has tons of upside.)  Always a fan of adding depth to the Oline **cough cough** and adding in swing tackle OT Blake Fisher behind Tunsil and Howard is a great move in case of injury.

The rest of the draft had players that were right in line with their value and need, Cade Stover TE that they traded up for might be a nice surprise and it's nice to reunite him with Stroud (I feel like Stroud gets his own pick in the 4th round, last year it was Tank Dell this year it was Stover.)  I was surprised that the Texans traded down with their 2nd 6th round when DT Wingo was taken, seemed like a position that they could have used.

The one position that the Texans missed on is DT starter/depth^, but sometimes that's how the board falls.  The Texans still have lots of cap space so I'm looking at post-draft FA, to fill that role.

For the Texans this was a draft to build depth behind the FA's that they brought in.  I'd give it a solid B because there wasn't an absolute star player (though I think draft grades are silly.)  You also have to add in Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon as some of the draft picks/trade downs were used to acquire those players.

A number of overdrafted players imo. Im just glad yall took Lassiter over JPJ.  Adding JPJ to yalls oline cold have made it elite.   It will be fun to see if the tackle yall drafed in the 2nd will be better than the one we drafted in the 4th, 1st Team All SEC along with Latham who the Titans wook with the 7th overall pick

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I went with the  b-

I gave it that good of a ranking because I hope the defensive players drafted surprise us in great ways. Time will tell.

Can't go wrong with drafting LSU defensive players.  After all, they were ranked #105 defensively in the country.  

To find LSU, you need to go to page 3 of the attached link.   https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/22

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There has never been any defenders from bad team defenses who become good in the NFL.

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We're all entitled to our opinions, but I think adding CB Lassiter with S Bullock over the top is going to work out very well in Demeco's defense.  Lassiter has elite short to intermediate speed that makes him a perfect cover-2/zone cb, and Bullock is a ball-hawking S center fielder (He's also only 20 and has tons of upside.)  Always a fan of adding depth to the Oline **cough cough** and adding in swing tackle OT Blake Fisher behind Tunsil and Howard is a great move in case of injury.

The rest of the draft had players that were right in line with their value and need, Cade Stover TE that they traded up for might be a nice surprise and it's nice to reunite him with Stroud (I feel like Stroud gets his own pick in the 4th round, last year it was Tank Dell this year it was Stover.)  I was surprised that the Texans traded down with their 2nd 6th round when DT Wingo was taken, seemed like a position that they could have used.

The one position that the Texans missed on is DT starter/depth^, but sometimes that's how the board falls.  The Texans still have lots of cap space so I'm looking at post-draft FA, to fill that role.

For the Texans this was a draft to build depth behind the FA's that they brought in.  I'd give it a solid B because there wasn't an absolute star player (though I think draft grades are silly.)  You also have to add in Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon as some of the draft picks/trade downs were used to acquire those players.

A number of overdrafted players imo. Im just glad yall took Lassiter over JPJ.  Adding JPJ to yalls oline cold have made it elite.   It will be fun to see if the tackle yall drafed in the 2nd will be better than the one we drafted in the 4th, 1st Team All SEC along with Latham who the Titans wook with the 7th overall pick

Yeah, well that's just like, your opinion. --The Dude

Hehe, well Blake Fisher was on the other side of the line with Joe Alt who was taken at 5th overall!  I haven't seen a prospect site that didn't have Fisher rated well ahead of Javon Foster, but time will tell.  For me the Texans needed a swing tackle, where the Jags already have one in Walker Little.  As others have mentioned, if the Jags took C Bortolini or G McCormick I would have been much happier for the Jags.

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A number of overdrafted players imo. Im just glad yall took Lassiter over JPJ.  Adding JPJ to yalls oline cold have made it elite.   It will be fun to see if the tackle yall drafed in the 2nd will be better than the one we drafted in the 4th, 1st Team All SEC along with Latham who the Titans wook with the 7th overall pick

Yeah, well that's just like, your opinion. --The Dude

Hehe, well Blake Fisher was on the other side of the line with Joe Alt who was taken at 5th overall!  I haven't seen a prospect site that didn't have Fisher rated well ahead of Javon Foster, but time will tell.  For me the Texans needed a swing tackle, where the Jags already have one in Walker Little.  As others have mentioned, if the Jags took C Bortolini or G McCormick I would have been much happier for the Jags.

I agree with the last part.  I would much rather Bortolini or McCormick over Jefferson.  If Hamilton doesn't come back to 100% though it could be the right pick being he's really the only NT on the roster.  Jefferson was another upside pick and with Nielsen's as our DC and a dline guru they are banking on him developing these lineman. 

If he does develop these guys to their potential we will have the best dline in the league, we arguable already do if Hamilton is 100% back from his injury.  Im just happy yall passed on the BPA and first round talent  in JPJ is all.

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I take big boards and media draft grades with a grain of salt. But I think my response to them is a little different than yours. Just to use three well known media members as examples: Mel Kiper, Daniel Jeremiah, and Bucky Brooks. Kiper is the quintessential superfan. He’s knowledgeable, for a fan, and he has watched lots of highlights. He gets a lot more right than he gets wrong. But at the end of the day, he has no real professional expertise. DJ has been a scout and was a college quarterback. He’s widely well regarded, with good reason. Same with Bucky. Both of them could still be working for teams if that is what they wanted. They make a better living and enjoy a better lifestyle than what scouts do, who are basically committed to a lot of grinding, long days, and travel.

If DJ, Bucky, or others like them (Lou Rididck, Brian Baldinger, etc.) evaluate a player or a team’s whole draft, I place a different value on that than a random online writer. Walter football is an an example of that. He’s at best a clickbait artist. More likely, he’s just a moron.

When we refer to consensus big board, we’re generally referring to the agreement of rankings from qualified media evaluators  I certainly don’t refer to people who are no more qualified than me. If you take the consensus of good evaluations, they are (generally) as valid as those by any average team’s staff. So if a team makes an evaluation that significantly deviates from the consensus, they better be VERY sure they have a good reason. Most of the time, they prove over time that they did not.


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I’m not doubting their knowledge but I’m just saying it’s probably not as great as most gms, or owners would be giving them gm jobs. Bucky has said on more than one occasion on huddle up podcast that his ambition is to become a gm. My guess is when he does a big board or evaluations if you actually go back 3 years later and look at his evaluations, like most gms he will miss as much as he hits. I’m not saying people should ignore their opinions because it’s no doubt better than majority of fans. But if you listen to them give draft analysis you’d think there’s going to be 150 all pro players out of every draft. 

All I’m saying is people shouldn’t lose sleep over tv analysts draft grade. Literally nobody knows who’s gonna work out and who will bust. So just let it play out

That is where you and I disagree. I don’t think most GMs know more. As you acknowledge, the GMs and professional analysts both have hits and misses. My contention is that more often than not, if a GM goes against the consensus, they are not right. And I think track record demonstrates that.


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Fix the O-Line!

Trent Baalke confirmed that Missouri OT Javon Foster will compete for the swing tackle role entering the season.

Put him at right, move Harrison to the left, and keep Little as the swing. They won't of course, but one can dream.

The frustrating thing is with what they have available as Oline talent we should be able to put a functional Oline out there. We have enough high draft, big FA players to pick a competent 5 from but it just isn't happening.

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I gave a B+, we adressed all our needs, it could be a A if we drafted at least one more OL.

I don't mind we taking a lot of projects, first because that's what Baalke does, and his projects from the 2022 and 2021 draft are mostly paying off:
Walker and Lloyd both made big jumps on their second year
Fortner is a miss
Muma is a ? because he didn't play a lot
Gregory Jr is a ? for me, he played very well on preseason but got injured in the season
Montaric Brown is a big hit, played well last year and I can see him being CB3 on the outside this year

And his 2021 Draft was also good:
Travis and Trevor both Hit
Little and Campbell hit, in their best they looked very good, both need more consistency this year
Cisco and Farrell also Hit, Cisco more than Farrell
The others 3 picks missed

And of the 2023 Draft judgment still out, but 11 of 13 picks still on the roster today, so we can expect a big jump from them this year

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I went B- since as I, like others, would have preferred more OL depth/competition.
But I like what they did.

The LSU DT early is a risk/reward situation of course, but it could end up being a steal.
Hopefully he doesn't take too long to get into NFL shape.
Would be amazing if he's ready to take some rotational snaps at some point this season to keep the pitch count lower for Armstead.

Would be great if the Kicker turns out to be the real deal.
Having a reliable guy on a rookie deal at that position is always nice.

Has anyone heard anything about Javon Foster potentially playing Guard or if they view him strictly as an OT?

The RB pick for the return game doesn't bother me a bit.

Foster is swing tackle based on Baalke's comments.

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I wonder if that makes Little or Robinson trade bait when the deadline nears (if Foster develops enough by then)? 

May be too much of an ask to depend on the rookie to be the primary backup at that point. 

I wish they'd have bolstered interior depth instead of tackle.

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B-

I agree with all the positions drafted...and I love the 1st round pick.

Not a fan of skipping over better players to stick with positions of need and players on your board.

Above average draft imo.

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Black Jaguar: Yeah, it's a thing.

It was always the Jags!!!!

Just listened to PFF draft recap. (These guys are not the be all, end all. But they’re usually not wildly off, either). They described the Jags draft as the typical Baalke draft: ultimate boom or bust. I’d say that’s fairly accurate. If we hit on all or most, it’s a great draft. If not, then what the heck were you thinking.

For what it’s worth, they said Titans draft was worse.


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Fix the O-Line!

Just listened to PFF draft recap. (These guys are not the be all, end all. But they’re usually not wildly off, either).  They described the Jags draft as the typical Baalke draft: ultimate boom or bust. I’d say that’s fairly accurate. If we hit on all or most, it’s a great draft. If not, then what the heck were you thinking.

For what it’s worth, they said Titans draft was worse.


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Its just a different version of Gene Smith's "smartest guy in the room" philosophy.  Trying to find better talent where others overlook whether it be smaller school guys, players coming off injuries, etc...  If it works out you're a genius but if it doesn't you're a fool.  At some point it'd be nice to find a guy who just drafts players that were really good college players that played against good competition and who fit the philosophy of the team we are trying to build.

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Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

Just listened to PFF draft recap. (These guys are not the be all, end all. But they’re usually not wildly off, either).  They described the Jags draft as the typical Baalke draft: ultimate boom or bust. I’d say that’s fairly accurate. If we hit on all or most, it’s a great draft. If not, then what the heck were you thinking.

For what it’s worth, they said Titans draft was worse.


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Its just a different version of Gene Smith's "smartest guy in the room" philosophy.  Trying to find better talent where others overlook whether it be smaller school guys, players coming off injuries, etc...  If it works out you're a genius but if it doesn't you're a fool.  At some point it'd be nice to find a guy who just drafts players that were really good college players that played against good competition and who fit the philosophy of the team we are trying to build.

That would be the Ravens you just described.

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Just listened to PFF draft recap. (These guys are not the be all, end all. But they’re usually not wildly off, either).  They described the Jags draft as the typical Baalke draft: ultimate boom or bust. I’d say that’s fairly accurate. If we hit on all or most, it’s a great draft. If not, then what the heck were you thinking.

For what it’s worth, they said Titans draft was worse.


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Its just a different version of Gene Smith's "smartest guy in the room" philosophy.  Trying to find better talent where others overlook whether it be smaller school guys, players coming off injuries, etc...  If it works out you're a genius but if it doesn't you're a fool.  At some point it'd be nice to find a guy who just drafts players that were really good college players that played against good competition and who fit the philosophy of the team we are trying to build.

BTJ, 1K plus yards 17 tds vs. SEC.  Has the length and speed the team covets.  

Jones was a top ten rated corner by pff and played on a team that should have been in the playoffs.  
Has the athleticism the team covets.  


Javon foster was a top ten rated tackle by pff 4 year starter in the SEC @ left tackle, projects as a future starter at RT.  Has the length and size the team covets.

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Its just a different version of Gene Smith's "smartest guy in the room" philosophy.  Trying to find better talent where others overlook whether it be smaller school guys, players coming off injuries, etc...  If it works out you're a genius but if it doesn't you're a fool.  At some point it'd be nice to find a guy who just drafts players that were really good college players that played against good competition and who fit the philosophy of the team we are trying to build.

That’s pretty much my take on it. Guys who are too in love with their own intellect need to step back. I try to do that in my life. (Don’t always succeed.) Even if I thought I was smarter than everyone else in the room, it would be dumb to assume that if everyone else doesn’t see it my way, I’m the one who’s right and they’re wrong.

How is that Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Philly, and now Chargers, seem to get it consistently right? Our next GM needs to be poached from one of them.


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Fix the O-Line!

Does Kansas City really get it right all that much? Which of their most recent draft classes really stands out?

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Honestly Eagles also. Mostly the reason we havent been seen as good is we've missed our first rounders for a lot of years. There is nothing special about these eagles draft classes when you look back several years.

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Does Kansas City really get it right all that much? Which of their most recent draft classes really stands out?

2024 Draft Class:
The Chiefs drafted seven players in the 2024 NFL Draft, including notable picks like Xavier Worthy and Kingsley Suamataia1.
The rookie class was highly praised for its talent, with the general manager Brett Veach receiving accolades for assembling a strong team2.
2023 Draft Class:
The Chiefs made several trades in 2023, acquiring picks and players such as S Chamarri Conner, DT Neil Farrell Jr., and CB Lonnie Johnson Jr.3.
2022 Draft Class:
Notable picks from the 2022 draft included Trent McDuffie (CB), George Karlaftis (DE), Skyy Moore (WR), Bryan Cook (S), Leo Chenal (LB), Joshua Williams (CB), Darian Kinnard (OT), Jaylen Watson (CB), Isaih Pachecho (RB), and Nazeeh Johnson (S)4.

Seems pretty solid to me.
And the previous two gave them a really solid secondary.


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Fix the O-Line!