Let’s highlight another 4 teams and see how their Draft Picks and other Rookies stack up as values compared to my final prospect rankings. BALTIMORE RAVENS 11 Picks, 4 RFA Pick 14 KYLE HAMILTON S PP#9 Pick 25 TYLER LINDERBAUM OC PP#23 Pick 45 … Read More »
Instead of an article featuring prospects from the USFL, I am headed back to the 2022 NFL Draft. I am going to rate, not grade, some team Drafts based on who they picked and signed relative to my pre-Draft player rankings. So below you will see columns for Picks, player/position, my rank. Since my last ranked player was… Read More »
Every year at this time I get inquiries from readers/football fans about who their favorite team might sign as a Free Agent based on what they failed to acquire through early VFA and/or the Draft process. And my answer is pretty much always that the pickings are slim and most players are only band-aids. This year may be… Read More »
My grandfather ran a creamery in Northern Vermont before the Great Depression wiped it out. He was a fond user of the phrase, ‘the cream will rise to the top’. In that case it referred to the non-homogenized milk which you had to shake up to mix with the mostly water in the bottom and the fresh thick… Read More »
The hay is in the barn as far as the 2022 Draft is concerned. And most team rosters have been filled to the 90-man limit. There will be a few more personnel moves between now and the opening of Training Camps. Just yesterday the GIANTS finally put CB/James Bradberry out of his misery and waived him and his… Read More »
Attention please… I will try not to sound like a tattle-tale but, all of you NFL General Managers, who are the primary molder of Draft Pick trades, you need to beware of a rascal who’ll fleece you at the blink of an eye. His name is ” Trader Howie” Roseman and he works for the Philadelphia Eagles. He… Read More »
If there is a high end to team drafts then there must be a Low End. And to my eyes the following teams fit in that category for 2022. First let’s get the DOLPHINS out of the way, because they gave up so much to get TYREEK HILL that they almost didn’t have a Draft. Let’s start by… Read More »
The seeming marathon side show that the NFL Draft has become is one day behind us and in the books, so to speak. Just a warning, or a promise perhaps, that it may be in my back seat, but it is NOT fading away in my rear view mirror. I will writing about it for the next couple… Read More »
My first thought of the day, about the evening that preceded it was that too many NFL General Managers don’t know what the phrase “deferred gratification” means, or have never heard of it at all. My tally sheet from NFL.com says 9 trades took place during Round One of the 2022 Draft. And based on his work last… Read More »
Just a few things to think about less than 12 hours from the start of Round 1 tonight… Might be important for Patriots fans to know that the current Picking order for them is now, R1, Pick 21. R2, Pick 54 R3, Pick 85 R4, Pick 127 R5, Pick 158 R6, Pick 183, Pick 200, Pick 210 R7,… Read More »
Because of extra Compensatory Picks I have included 105 players to complete 3 Rounds of Picks. 1 HUTCHINSON, AIDAN DE/ER 6’7/260 Michigan 2 WALKER, TRAVON DE 6’5/272 Georgia 3 EKWONU, IKEM OG 6’4/310 N.C. State 4 GARDNER, AHMAD CB 6’3/190 Cincinnati 5 THIBODEAUX, KAYVON DE/ER 6’4/254 Oregon 6 NEAL, EVAN OT 6’8/337 Alabama 7 WILSON, GARRETT WR 6’/183… Read More »
With the retirement of TOM BRADY, 2022 looked to be a serious rebuild year for the BUCS and GM JASON LICHT. And then BRADY un-retired. Almost miraculously, a bunch of BUCS VFA’s who looked to be going elsewhere changed their minds and signed on for one more pleasure cruise with Captain Brady at the helm. Not all of… Read More »
Everything is looking pretty rosy, especially from a football standpoint, in upstate New York. A new stadium is on the horizon, financed at about 50% by the taxpayers of New York State. They now have one of the Top 6 NFL QB’s running their Offense, in JOSH ALLEN. And they have quite obviously emerged as the new Beast… Read More »
The end of the 2021 season was an absolute debacle for the COLTS , especially the play of their QB CARSON WENTZ in the last two games. Exit Mr. Wentz after the season, at the specific request of Owner Jim Irsay. Then several weeks ago enter MATT RYAN, seasoned vet from the FALCONS, who are in full rebuild… Read More »
AARON RODGERS is back under a ball busting new contract. The contract is for 3 years, but RODGERS himself… who knows? The second biggest news is that DAVANTE ADAMS is actually the guy who really wanted out of Green Bay, no matter what. So ADAMS is a RAIDER with his old buddy DEREK CARR, his college QB. It… Read More »
This is the year. Yes, JETS fans I am talking to you. This is the year to move from ‘wanna be’ to legit Play-Off contender. And the reason is that with 9 total Picks, and more importantly 5 of them in the Top 69, it is time for JOE DOUGLAS to top off enough talent to make the… Read More »
So the Saints got out the credit card (again) and traded some Picks from 2023 to flip around with the Eagles, who were more than happy to settle for 2 Round One Picks instead of 3 for this year. The end result for now is that the Saints & Eagles pretty much own the middle of Round One…… Read More »
The Cowboys have been aggressive in trimming their roster stockpile of vets and getting under the Cap. The biggest move so far was the subtraction of AMARI COOPER, with his bloated salary. WR JAMES WASHINGTON is being counted on to bolster the receivers corps sans COOPER. ER DANTE FOWLER is their most noteworthy VFA addition on D to… Read More »
By and large the Steelers have been a pay as you go franchise, and in keeping with that philosophy they currently hold 7 Picks, 1 in each of the first 4 Rounds. And as usual they have some holes to fill, and look to do so with Rookies. I currently count 10 new veteran additions to their depth… Read More »
This morning we will explore the other side of rooting for a team that makes a bold move or two leading up to the annual Draft, thus leaving themselves with very few markers to use when the Draft actually arrives. But I will try to conjure up some Rookie help for two such rosters. I am going to… Read More »
After the bold trade of TYREEK HILL, Mr. Mahomes Go-To Guy, the CHIEFS find themselves with 12 Picks in this Draft. The sad news is that 4 of them are in Round 7. Conversely though, 8 of them are in the top 135 Picks, with 2 Picks per round from 1-4. Last year, the team rebuilt their OL… Read More »
Yes it is indeed time to present some Team Mocks in which I attempt to align needy NFL teams with some useful help for now and for the future. So, remember my rules here; No trades of Picks by teams, on my part. Players will be taken based on my player rankings. I cannot make Picks of players… Read More »
The final week of official Pro Days, for this Draft cycle, is almost done. There will be some private, individual workouts scheduled but most of those are unlikely to provide specific workout numbers of any kind. During the process of the Combine and Pro Days some serious numbers have been generated to either confirm or question said numbers… Read More »
This is the post-Combine list of my Top 105 players, to fill all the Picks in the first 3 Rounds of the 2022 Draft. The list will change a bit as Pro Days continue. Then a couple of weeks before the actual NFL Draft, I will put them in numerical order based on my talent evaluations, position emphasis… Read More »
One of the marvelous things about the NFL Combine for this Draftnik is uncovering previously under-appreciated Prospects. As I have expressed previously, but will detail once more, I head into the Combine with a prospect list that numbers just under 300 players. They are divided into groups of 100 but not ranked numerically yet. And one of the… Read More »
