I am thinking it won't be popular.
I have not thought much about him even being an option at 4.
As a prospect, he is intriguing as hell though. I am not sure any prospect has had as strong of a pre-draft season as Howard.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/inside...k-draft-30
(behind the ESPN pay wall)
It's definitely not ideal to me, but I could get behind Howard early:
1. Howard
2. Dawkins (or B.A. guard)
3. Webb or Kamara
4. Perine or Webb
(I know they probably won't take a QB in the third or fourth, but I'm going to keep hoping they do)
Quote:I am thinking it won't be popular.
I have not thought much about him even being an option at 4.
As a prospect, he is intriguing as hell though. I am not sure any prospect has had as strong of a pre-draft season as Howard.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/inside...k-draft-30
(behind the ESPN pay wall)
It's not popular because it would be a bad pick.
In that scenario, you take Allen. It's a no brainer. This draft is so deep at TE that taking one at 4 would be a huge reach. Just take Bucky in the 2nd round or something.
Quote:It's definitely not ideal to me, but I could get behind Howard early:
1. Howard
2. Dawkins (or B.A. guard)
3. Webb or Kamara
4. Perine or Webb
(I know they probably won't take a QB in the third or fourth, but I'm going to keep hoping they do)
I tend to think that as the draft gets closer, Howard will be considered a lock for the top 10 and won't be considered absurd that he goes in the top 5.
In terms of height, weight and athleticism. He is an elite prospect.
Quote:It's not popular because it would be a bad pick.
In that scenario, you take Allen. It's a no brainer. This draft is so deep at TE that taking one at 4 would be a huge reach. Just take Bucky in the 2nd round or something.
This statement ^ along with my unpopular confidence in Lewis/Koyack/Sterling is why I'd wait till the 4th or 5th round and target Jeremy Sprinkle or Jonnu Smith depending on if they are looking for a traditional TE or a "move" guy.
Quote:It's not popular because it would be a bad pick.
In that scenario, you take Allen. It's a no brainer. This draft is so deep at TE that taking one at 4 would be a huge reach. Just take Bucky in the 2nd round or something.
I don't really like that argument. RB and DB are deep too, but lots of people are advocating Fournette or Lattimore. If Howard is the highest graded guy here and he's far and away a better prospect than any other TE you would get later, then you can justify it. It's like someone saying, "Well I passed on a Rob Gronkowski because I could get a Kyle Rudolph later." Yeah, Rudolph is good enough, but he's not an elite game-changer like Gronk is. Howard isn't my top choice at all, just playing devil's advocate.
Quote:I don't really like that argument. RB and DB are deep too, but lots of people are advocating Fournette or Lattimore. If Howard is the highest graded guy here and he's far and away a better prospect than any other TE you would get later, then you can justify it. It's like someone saying, "Well I passed on a Rob Gronkowski because I could get a Kyle Rudolph later." Yeah, Rudolph is good enough, but he's not an elite game-changer like Gronk is. Howard isn't my top choice at all, just playing devil's advocate.
Is Howard some elite world beater at TE here? I don't see it.
This team needs elite talent with that #4 pick. It should be Allen or Thomas at #4 and then a TE or guard in round 2. Seems like the most logical scenario.
I can see CB though because the position is much more valuable to your teams success. TE and RB are not.
Absolutely not. We don't utilize the TE position enough to validate taking a TE at #4. This would make me furious. It would be like flushing the pick down the toilet.
What is McShay even thinking? If he doesn't have at least Gronkowski type production he's immediately a bust. Is he better than Gronkowski?
He accounted for about 600 yards and 2.5 TDs his last two seasons. Gronkowski at least had 10 TDs his last season, and he was drafted in the 2nd round.
Doesn't add up.
It's just way too early. I suspect McShay was either on crack when he wrote this, or he was talking to Gene Smith at the time.
Quote:In terms of height, weight and athleticism. He is an elite prospect.
But what type of impact is a tight end going to make on this team? I don't see top 5 pick impact or even close to that.
Quote:Absolutely not. We don't utilize the TE position enough to validate taking a TE at #4. This would make me furious. It would be like flushing the pick down the toilet.
Marrone and hackett have always featured tight ends in their offense.
Quote:Is Howard some elite world beater at TE here? I don't see it.
This team needs elite talent with that #4 pick. It should be Allen or Thomas at #4 and then a TE or guard in round 2. Seems like the most logical scenario.
I can see CB though because the position is much more valuable to your teams success. TE and RB are not.
Howard is really good. He wasn't properly utilized at bama. He's a matchup nightmare and plays even better than his combine performance would normally indicate.
I have said in other threads that popular reaction wouldn't be great but Howard at 4 wouldn't be out of the question and you could honestly argue the value, especially if the jaguars have given him that high of a grade.
Quote:Is Howard some elite world beater at TE here? I don't see it.
This team needs elite talent with that #4 pick. It should be Allen or Thomas at #4 and then a TE or guard in round 2. Seems like the most logical scenario.
I can see CB though because the position is much more valuable to your teams success. TE and RB are not.
He's got a high ceiling. If he was in an offense that actually utilized a TE (like what Marrone typically uses), he would have shined quite a bit more.
I agree that Thomas should be the pick though. I'm not taking a TE over a DE with a high-ceiling.
Quote:Howard is really good. He wasn't properly utilized at bama. He's a matchup nightmare and plays even better than his combine performance would normally indicate.
I have said in other threads that popular reaction wouldn't be great but Howard at 4 wouldn't be out of the question and you could honestly argue the value, especially if the jaguars have given him that high of a grade.
The problem becomes that if you select Howard, you are passing on an elite defensive prospect and the team can't afford that.
Quote:The problem becomes that if you select Howard, you are passing on an elite defensive prospect and the team can't afford that.
I'm not sure I agree. I think our defense has more depth than our offense at the majority of positions. TE is a major hole and Howard is definitely an elite tight end prospect.
Our DL has decent depth now as well. The only real argument I'd make in terms of need meeting value would be for Adams or Garrett if he was still there.
Quote:What is McShay even thinking? If he doesn't have at least Gronkowski type production he's immediately a bust. Is he better than Gronkowski?
He accounted for about 600 yards and 2.5 TDs his last two seasons. Gronkowski at least had 10 TDs his last season, and he was drafted in the 2nd round.
Doesn't add up.
Gronkowski fell to the second round because of injury.
He had a back injury and didn't play his final year at Arizona.
Quote:I'm not sure I agree. I think our defense has more depth than our offense at the majority of positions. TE is a major hole and Howard is definitely an elite tight end prospect.
Our DL has decent depth now as well. The only real argument I'd make in terms of need meeting value would be for Adams or Garrett if he was still there.
But your basing this on filling a need at TE right now. The draft is for the future. Campbell is an old veteran and you can't really rely on Yannick and Fowler.
Adding Thomas or Allen gives you more depth at getting to the QB which is always needed in the NFL. Which scenario do you like more:
1. Thomas/Allen
2. Njoku/Engram
or
1. Howard
2. Charles Harris or someone
Quote:The problem becomes that if you select Howard, you are passing on an elite defensive prospect and the team can't afford that.
At this point, this team can't pass up on a prospect that has "game-changing" capability, regardless if they play offense or defense.
Positional value aside, Howard has that ability. Why Alabama didn't utilize him more as a receiver is the question. But he looked great at the Senior Bowl and even better at the combine.
He's a 6'6 250 lb TE who ran as fast as Fournette, and has receiver-like ability.
I did a thread before talking about "fit" and how the Jaguars best asset on offense are its three WRs but seemingly our focus is on running the football. I talked about how the best way to get those three WRs on the field while still running the football is by having a TE/HBack who can do it all.
Howard is that.
And for the weird uses that Bama had for him, they did use him in that role, often running some wheel route and using his athleticism to gain big chunks of yardage.
When you factor that into Tom and Dave being HEAVY needs drafters, I think OJ makes sense.