The Too Soon 2021 NFL Draft Thread

All this extracurricular activity because of a pot plant....Everyone always says alcohol is what starts fights but now I gotta wonder. [emoji848]

Feel free to disagree with me regarding the potted plant comment. I thought it was an insult to a guy who literally gave his right leg to the franchise. As to the “policing” nonsense, to each their own.



Honestly man. Did you think Smith was mobile last year? At all? His last couple games were probably as immobile as a quarterback I have ever seen. Does he have courage to go out there? Uh huh. Did anyone say he didn’t? Nope. I just for the life of me do not see what you thought was out of bounds. I think Alex would be the first to admit he wasn’t able to move in the pocket. Was it because of a marijuana reference or just because he said he couldn’t move? Thats a serious question.

People are so easily offended these days, it is absolutely amazing. We have to be becoming the softest society on the planet.

Honestly man. Did you think Smith was mobile last year? At all? His last couple games were probably as immobile as a quarterback I have ever seen. Does he have courage to go out there? Uh huh. Did anyone say he didn’t? Nope. I just for the life of me do not see what you thought was out of bounds. I think Alex would be the first to admit he wasn’t able to move in the pocket. Was it because of a marijuana reference or just because he said he couldn’t move? Thats a serious question.

It wasn't a reference to a pot plant (though maybe...), I meant potted plant. That's what we call them over here. :)

19: R1 P19 OT Christian Darrisaw - Virginia Tech
51: R2 P19 QB Mac Jones - Alabama
74: R3 P10 WR Amon-Ra St. Brown - USC
82: R3 P18 S Paris Ford - Pittsburgh
124: R4 P19 CB Robert Rochell - Central Arkansas
164: R5 P19 LB Charles Snowden - UVA
243: R7 P17 TE Quintin Morris - Bowling Green
245: R7 P19 G Brenden Jaimes - Nebraska

I do like this pick at #19, assuming they address the QB position and add a #2 WR prior to the draft.

LT - Christian Darrisaw
LG - Saahdiq Charles
C - Chase Roullier
RG - Brandon Scherff
RT - Morgan Moses

Honestly man. Did you think Smith was mobile last year? At all? His last couple games were probably as immobile as a quarterback I have ever seen. Does he have courage to go out there? Uh huh. Did anyone say he didn’t? Nope. I just for the life of me do not see what you thought was out of bounds. I think Alex would be the first to admit he wasn’t able to move in the pocket. Was it because of a marijuana reference or just because he said he couldn’t move? Thats a serious question.

He wasn't mobile five years ago in his prime.
He stated the truth without directly denigrating anyone. No problem with that.
But the truth is that no team can trust his durability moving forward, especially not in a starting role.

He wasn't mobile five years ago in his prime.
He stated the truth without directly denigrating anyone. No problem with that.
But the truth is that no team can trust his durability moving forward, especially not in a starting role.

bingo...that is truth

There is such a huge fallacy here with regards to "running quarterbacks"
QBs get injured on designed runs 1 out of every 236 plays. A QB that scrambles gets injured the same rate as a QB that gets sacked once out of every 92 plays. The worst is the knockdown when a QB is taken down while planting and throwing once every 67 plays. That was in 2018. John Varros compiled the data for Sports Info Solutions in 2018 and in 2019 compiled this data: https://twitter.com/VerrosJohn/status/1262483721602699271

Furthermore there are degrees of mobility. Brady looks like a rushing QB when compared to Manning. One is far more comfortable with moving the pocket both had significant injuries during their career. Everybody wants a pro ready QB but we shouldn't discount one that can move too.

I don't use Twitter, just on principle, I don't abet totalitarianism, so can't see that. It is not a fallacy. Show me one running QB who has won multiple SBs in salary cap era? There are many pocket passers with no pocket presence who take tons of bad hits, so the aggregate can be distortive, especially without quantification of specific injury. A sprained pinky is not the same as a blown ACL. The argument that running plays are safer for a QB is ridiculous. Extrapolating your argument, and I would agree getting hit while planted is the worst, it would be safer to just not have the QB ever throw and use him as a RB. This is clearly not the case.

I don't want a franchise QB getting paid $40M a year who is irreplaceable running bootlegs or playing RB and giving LBs and DL free shots at him. It only takes one outlier play to lose your franchise QB. It is needless risk.

Moreover, injury is only part of the picture. The QB that stays in the pocket and finds the open receiver usually moves the offense better long term than the QB that runs. We see time and time again running QBs stunted in development because they use their legs as a crutch and run rather than learn to optimize D reading. It takes 100K+ reps to get great at reading Ds so you can go through 3-5 progressions in under 3 secs.

This isn't brain surgery. Who are the best QBs in the NFL over last 20 years? The QBs that led their teams on deep playoff runs repeatedly. Brady, Rodgers, both Mannings, Brees, etc. Pocket passers. Moreover, longevity is key. You want to draft a franchise QB and have them play 15+ years. Show me a running QB still crushing it in their 30s? Is there an age breakdown on that injury data? Aging running QBs lose a step and get KILLED. I want a QB that from day one is focused on only one thing: becoming a dominant pocket passer. QB who runs through his progressions in 3 secs or less and throws the ball away if nothing there.

And you need a great LT, one who is best as pass blocking rather than run blocking. Williams. LOL. Thanks again Bruce.

I do like this pick at #19, assuming they address the QB position and add a #2 WR prior to the draft.

LT - Christian Darrisaw
LG - Saahdiq Charles
C - Chase Roullier
RG - Brandon Scherff
RT - Morgan Moses

I don't know the answer to this, but I wonder what RR and others think of Charles starting at LT? Worst case scenario, you have really solid depth at T if you take a LT in 1st 2 rounds, and could always move Charles to RT in time. Darrisaw, I'm no pro scout, but I don't love his foot speed. Seems very inconsistent in technique and often caught in bad leverage situations. Smells like a guy that might get stuck at G or RT rather than being cornerstone LT.
All I can say is, I hope we do something at LT with one of our first 4 picks and shore the position up, and it wouldn't break my heart to get another RT as well. I think Moses looks MUCH more mortal without Scherff to his left.

However, I could see FO thinking Charles will progress, and going WR, CB, and LB with many early picks, and also perhaps a true burner roving FS. I would not be surprised at all if we didn't draft any OL early. Obviously depends how board falls.

I don't use Twitter, just on principle, I don't abet totalitarianism, so can't see that. It is not a fallacy. Show me one running QB who has won multiple SBs in salary cap era? There are many pocket passers with no pocket presence who take tons of bad hits, so the aggregate can be distortive, especially without quantification of specific injury. A sprained pinky is not the same as a blown ACL. The argument that running plays are safer for a QB is ridiculous. Extrapolating your argument, and I would agree getting hit while planted is the worst, it would be safer to just not have the QB ever throw and use him as a RB. This is clearly not the case.

I don't want a franchise QB getting paid $40M a year who is irreplaceable running bootlegs or playing RB and giving LBs and DL free shots at him. It only takes one outlier play to lose your franchise QB. It is needless risk.

Moreover, injury is only part of the picture. The QB that stays in the pocket and finds the open receiver usually moves the offense better long term than the QB that runs. We see time and time again running QBs stunted in development because they use their legs as a crutch and run rather than learn to optimize D reading. It takes 100K+ reps to get great at reading Ds so you can go through 3-5 progressions in under 3 secs.

This isn't brain surgery. Who are the best QBs in the NFL over last 20 years? The QBs that led their teams on deep playoff runs repeatedly. Brady, Rodgers, both Mannings, Brees, etc. Pocket passers. Moreover, longevity is key. You want to draft a franchise QB and have them play 15+ years. Show me a running QB still crushing it in their 30s? Is there an age breakdown on that injury data? Aging running QBs lose a step and get KILLED. I want a QB that from day one is focused on only one thing: becoming a dominant pocket passer. QB who runs through his progressions in 3 secs or less and throws the ball away if nothing there.

And you need a great LT, one who is best as pass blocking rather than run blocking. Williams. LOL. Thanks again Bruce.

Give me your data and we can have a discussion about it. But once again I love how you lump everyone in as either a pocket passer or a running qb with out recognizing a continuum. How can you seriously lump in Rodgers and Manning in the same category? It is absurd.