New 3 Round Mock Draft

Click the AFCW picks for highlights

1 Cardinals – Kyler Murray, QB Oklahoma (McNutty)
2 49ers – Nick Bosa, EDGE Ohio State (Balls)
3 NYJ – Quinnen Williams, IDL Alabama (Dude)
4 Raiders – Josh Allen, EDGE Kentucky (McNutty)
5 Bucs – Devin White, LB LSU (Balls)
6 Giants – Ed Oliver, IDL Houston (Dude)
7 Jags – Jawaan Taylor, OT Florida (McNutty)
8 Lions – T.J. Hockenson, TE Iowa (Balls)
9 Bills – Montez Sweat, EDGE Mississippi State (Dude)
10 TRADE: Redskins – Drew Lock, QB Mizzou (Dude)
11 Bengals – Devin Bush Jr., LB Michigan (Balls)
12 Packers – Andre Dillard, OT Washington State (Dude)
13 Fins – Dwayne Haskins, QB Ohio State (McNutty)
14 Falcons – Rashan Gary, EDGE Michigan (Balls)
15 TRADE: 3X Superbowl Champion Broncos – Greedy Williams, CB LSU (McNutty)
16 Panthers – Jonah Williams, OT Alabama (McNutty)
17 Giants – Daniel Jones, QB Duke (Balls)
18 Vikings – Garrett Bradbury, IOL NC State (Dude)
19 Titans – Clelin Ferrell, EDGE Clemson (McNutty)
20 Steelers – DeAndre Baker, CB Georgia (Balls)
21 Seahawks – Brian Burns, EDGE Florida State (Dude)
22 Ravens – D.K. Metcalf, WR Mississippi (McNutty)
23 Texans – Cody Ford, OT Oklahoma (Balls)
24 Fags – Marquise Brown, WR Oklahoma (Dude)
25 Iggles – N’Keal Harry, WR Arizona State (McNutty)
26 Colts – Byron Murphy, CB Washington (Balls)
27 Raiders – Noah Fant, TE Iowa (Dude)
28 Clippers – Christian Wilkins, IDL Clemson (McNutty)
29 TRADE: Browns – Chase Winovich, EDGE Michigan (Balls)
30 Packers – Johnathan Abram, S Mississippi State (Dude)
31 Rams – Erik McCoy, IOL Texas A&M (McNutty)
32 Pats – Dexter Lawrence, IDL Clemson (Balls)

2^nd Round

33 Cards – Jerry Tillery, IDL Notre Dame (Dude)
34 Colts – Jeffery Simmons, IDL Mississippi State (McNutty)
35 Raiders – Rock Ya-Sin, CB Temple (Balls)
36 49ers – Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, S Florida (Dude)
37 Giants – Dalton Risner, OT Kansas State (McNutty)
38 Jags – A.J. Brown, WR Mississippi (Balls)
39 Bucs – Justin Layne, CB Michigan State (Dude)
40 Bills – Greg Little, OT Mississippi (McNutty)
41 Broncos – Chris Lindstrom, IOL Boston College (Balls)
42 Bengals – Kaleb McGary, OT Washington (Dude)
43 Lions – Mack Wilson, LB Alabama (McNutty)
44 Packers – Joshua Jacobs, RB Alabama (Balls)
45 Falcons- Amani Oruwariye, CB Penn State (Dude)
46 Broncos – Irv Smith Jr., TE Alabama (McNutty)
47 Panthers – Renell Wren, IDL Arizona State (Balls)
48 Fins – Ben Banogu, EDGE TCU (Dude)
49 Seahawks – Nasir Adderley, S Delaware (McNutty)
50 Vikings – Juan Thornhill, S Virginia (Balls)
51 Titans – Hakeem Butler, WR Iowa State (Dude)
52 Steelers – Parris Campbell, WR Ohio State (McNutty)
53 Iggles – Julian Love, CB Notre Dame (Balls)
54 Texans – Tytus Howard, OT Alabama State (Dude)
55 Texans – Taylor Rapp, S Washington (McNutty)
56 Pats – Jachai Polite, EDGE Florida (Balls)
57 Iggles – Darnell Savage, S Maryland (Dude)
58 Cowboys – Jace Sternberger, TE Texas A&M (McNutty)
59 Colts – Dre’Mont Jones, IDL Ohio State (Balls)
60 Clippers – David Edwards, OT Wisconsin (Dude)
61 Chiefs – Andy Isabella, WR UMass (McNutty)
62 Saints – Trysten Hill, IDL UCF (Balls)
63 Chiefs – Lonnie Johnson Jr, CB Kentucky (Dude)
64 Pats – Deionte Thompson, S Alabama (McNutty)

3^rd Round

65 Cards – Deebo Samuel, WR South Carolina (Balls)
66 Steelers – Josh Oliver, TE San Jose (Balls)
67 49ers – Riley Ridley, WR Georgia (Balls)
68 Jets – LJ Collier, Edge S TCU (Dude)
69 Jags – Jaylon Ferguson, Edge LA Tech (Dude)
70 Bucs – Christian Millers, Edge Bama (Dude)
71 Broncos – Blake Cashman, ILB Minnesota (McNutty)
72 Bengals – Elgton Jenkins, IOL Mississippi (McNutty)
73 Pats – Trayvon Mullen, CB Clemson (McNutty)
74 Bengals – Khalen Saunders, IDL Western Illinois (Balls)
75 Packers – Oshane Ximines, EDGE Old D (JMC’s nickname) (Balls)
76 Redskins – Joejuan Williams, CB Vandy (Balls)
77 Panthers – Amani Hooker, S Gay Ass College for Queers (Dude)
78 Fins – David Long, CB Michigan (Dude)
79 Falcons – Charles Omenihu, IDL Texas (Dude)
80 Browns – Michael Deiter, IOL Wisconsin (McNutty)
81 Vikings – Yodny Cajuste, OT West Virginia (McNutty)
82 Titans – Dawson Knox, TE Mississippi (McNutty)
83 Steelers – Germaine Pratt, LB NC State (Balls)
84 Chiefs – Sean Bunting, CB Central Michigan (Balls)
85 Ravens – Damien Harris, RB Bama (Balls)
86 Texans – Dru Samia, IOL Oklahoma (Dude)
87 Bears – Isaiah Johnson, CB Houston (Dude)
88 Lions – Zach Allen, EDGE BC (Dude)
89 Colts – Emanuel Hall, WR Mizzou (McNutty)
90 Cowboys – Jaquan Johnson, S Miami (McNutty)
91 Clippers – Tyree Jackson, QB Buffalo (McNutty)
92 Seahawks – Miles Sanders, RB Penn State (Balls)
93 Jets – Miles Boykin, WR Notre Dame (Balls)
94 Rams – Vosean Joseph, LB Florida (Balls)

Broncos Free Agency

With a new regime in Denver and with some current free agency issues we will take a short dive into players that could be targeted before the 2019 season.

Offense

The offensive side of the ball will surprisingly see the least amount of changes due to the addition of Rick “they call me Mello” Scangarello and Mike Munchak, and here’s why. First off Scangarello will be implementing his form of the Shanny Jr offense which relies greatly on the run game. Denver is already successful on this front with their current offensive line and their crop of running backs. While Munchak typically likes to have larger players on his OL, he still runs a ZBS that can be run with a Shanny sized OL. Food for thought: SF’s OL has multiple players under 300 lbs, including their LT who is built like current Broncos LT Garrett Bolles, who weighs 297 lbs. The heaviest player on their OL is their RT at 315 lbs and current Broncos RT Jared Veldheer weighs 322 lbs. The only question marks on the line will be retaining injury prone Ronald Leary and resigning Matt Paradis.

I believe they keep Leary, due to what I will refer to as the Flacco factor. I believe that trading for Flacco was in the plans way back when they were trying to add Kubiak without Dennison. While Kubiak was coaching Flacco at Baltimore the starting LG was Kelechi Osemele who is built exactly like Leary. Paradis is a maybe in my opinion, who could get top dollar elsewhere. Either way I think last year’s draft pick Sam Jones will see more action in the new zone based system.

Where I could see Denver making some moves in free agency on Offense would be at the TE position and possibly an insurance WR.

At WR I only really see them looking at a guy like Jamison Crowder from Washington, who while didn’t perform to a true #1 WR, has the same build and skill set as Sanders, for whom he would be insurance for. I would expect him to pick up the jet sweeps and quick route duties that aren’t part of Courland Sutton’s game.

At TE I only see 2 names that I would accept. One would be taking a flier on the injury prone Tyler Eiffert who if healthy can dominate in the passing game. The other name is Jared Cook who played well despite being 32. But the draft is deep at TE so Denver could address the issue (yet again) there.

Defense

This is the side of the ball that I expect most of the changes to happen. Between Vic Fangio and Ed “TMNT” Donatell, there will be some extremely different schemes in the passing game. First we need to look at which positions these guys covet which are LB and CB.

With the departure of Marshall into FA (the Denver community will miss him but the playing field may not) you can expect Denver to look there immediately.

The names to consider here are CJ Mosley, Corey Littleton and Jordan Hicks. Mosley is obviously the best of the three, but I don’t see him making it to the open market. But the other two could be great fits as well. Hicks is injury prone, but as a CO native he is extremely versatile as he is a tackling machine and has 7 career INTs. Littleton is coming off a career year which could make him a little more expensive but is also equally versatile. An outside name that could float around would be Kwon Alexander out of TB. Names to stay away from would be Preston Brown and Denzel Perryman.

At CB the pickings are slim in FA. But with the scheme shift away from man to man into an attacking zone, Isaac Yiadom will definitely flourish as he played well in the zone last year.

The name I see them perusing aggressively is Bryce Callahan who had a standout year for Chicago last year and who is obviously familiar with the schemes that Fangio will implement.

The other position I can see them looking into is Safety just because the market is so deep and it could be time to move on from Darian Stewart who is on the wrong side of 30 and is coming off his worst year as a professional.

The names here are Haha Clinton-Dix, Tyrann Matthieu, Landon Collins and Adrian Phillips. HCD and Matthieu are both coming off 1 year prove it deals and will get paid this offseason. Collins would be a sure resign for NYG but Gettleman has proven in the past he doesn’t like to spend top dollar in the secondary. Phillips would just piss off Clipper fans so I approve. (Actually I don’t really want him). But the good part of signing a Safety is that the versatility of Justin Simmons means we can sign either FS or SS and plug Simmons into the opposite role.

I honestly see Denver addressing CB in FA and then drafting Devin White in the first. Then trading back into the first for Lock. Especially if they can land Bryce Callahan.

Broncos free agents to be considered for re-signing:

Peko, Harris, Paradis, Veldheer, Turner, Krieter, Patrick.

Remaining Games

Kansas City (13-3)

Remaining Schedule:

@ Oakland

vs Baltimore

vs Los Angeles Clippers

@ Seattle

vs Oakland

Kansas City only loses one of these games and that’s in Seattle. The Chiefs won’t have much to play for and the Seahawks will have a lot to play for. Playing in Seattle is a tough thing to do as well. The rest of this schedule, which will still probably have Lamar Jackson starting for Baltimore, seems like a cakewalk.

Los Angeles (10-6)

Remaining Schedule:

@ Pittsburgh

vs Cincinnati

@ Kansas City

Vs Baltimore

@ Denver

This is going to be ugly. The Clippers will lose 3 of these games. Basically all of the road games. Pit comes out angry and stomps them. KC in Arrowhead is a definite loss and if you can’t beat Denver at home, you won’t beat them in Mile High. LA learns you need to beat teams with winning records to succeed.

Denver Broncos (10-6)

Remaining Schedule:

@ Cincinnati

@ San Francisco’s

vs Cleveland

@ Oakland

vs Los Angeles Clippers

Denver wins out. Surprisingly their toughest challenge remaining will be facing Cleveland. Both teams seem to be in similar situations with their teams coming on late in the season. While Baker will be a tough challenge for the Denver defense they will win at home. Btw with beating LAC twice they have the tie breaker over them.

Oakland (3-13)

Remaining Schedule:

vs Kansas City

vs Pittsburgh

@ Cincinnati

vs Denver

@ Kansas City

The only win I see here is Cincinnati. And that’s if Driskel is still starting. The rest of this schedule will be a rough stretch for Oakland. Although there is a chance they face a backup QB in KC week 17, I’m assuming Fat will be trying to get a #1 seed at that point. Will this be enough for the #1 pick?

TheDude’s Lines

We needed a new article. That last one was getting stale. Here’s my betting lines for the weeks games. Mind you I have no real knowledge of betting games and have not looked at any of the lines. But whatever.

KC vs DEN

Line: KC -14

O/U: 66

Tons of offense. KC wins huge in a high scoring game (for KC they may get 50 of the 66 points)

CLE vs OAK

Line: Even

O/U: 30

Baker struggles from nerves in his first real start that he has time to think about. Cleveland’s defense is enough to keep Carr and Co in check. I’d give the line -7 for Cleveland if they were at home but OAK has home dirt advantage.

SF vs LAC

Line: LAC -7

O/U: 52

Neither team really living up to preseason hype. SF will be with a backup QB in Beat Hard who is an INT machine. But both defenses give up points. I’d favor more for LAC but do they really have a home field advantage?

Broncos Projected 53

Offense

QBs

1. Case Keenum

2. $wag Kelly

3. Vet to be named later. (Maybe Derek Anderson?)

There is no chance Paxton makes this team. At this point in time there is no reason to keep him around and pretend he helps the roster. A veteran QB for this team will be needed, even if Kelly is the #2, to provide stability and also to help mold Kelly into a solid professional. Derek Anderson would be awesome for this.

RBs

1. Royce Freeman

2. Devontae Booker

3. Phillip Lindsay

4. Andy Janovich (FB)

Freeman obviously earned the starting job this preseason, and Lindsay has solidified his roster spot and his role with his play as a 3rd down back and as a returner. Janovich is a stud FB and it appears Musgrave has plans for utilizing the position. Booker makes the team just because he has experience and no one else has done anything to push for his job.

WRs

1. Emmanuel Sanders

2. Demaryius Thomas

3. Courtland Sutton

4. DaeSean Hamilton

5. Tim Patrick

6. River Cracraft/ John Diarse

The top 4 are obvious outside of the fact that Sanders seems to be the new #1 WR for Keenum. But Sanders Thomas Sutton and Hamilton could have been put down in ink on the depth chart AUG 1. Tim Patrick is the next guy who has made plays and closely resembles the style of WR Denver prefers being tall long and fast. The #6 WR could be cut altogether making room for another RB, but I think they keep 6. Diarse is the better WR but Cracraft has benefits in the return game and could be kept in case of injury to one of the returners.

TEs

1. Jeff Heuerman

2. Jake Butt

3. Austin Traylor

This also could be a spot where Denver only keeps 2 opposed to 3 but Musgrave likes playing from big sets and Traylor is a better blocking TE than Butt. Rookie Troy Fumagalli will be sent to IR to red shirt a season like Butt did last year.

1. Garrett Bolles

2. Ron Leary

3. Matt Paradis

4. Connor McGovern

5. Jared Veldheer

6. Max Garcia

7. Billy Turner

8. Sam Jones

9. Cyrus Kouandjio

Turner can play either OT or OG, and has consistently outplayed Kouandjio this preseason. Both Jones and Garcia can play either OG or C. Kouandjio provides depth.

Defense

1. Domata Peko

2. Derek Wolfe

3. Adam Gotsis

4. Shelby Harris

5. DeMarcus Walker

6. Zach Kerr

This unit is finally deep enough again to rotate players out the way Bill Kollar likes to run his lines. Harris has shown he could be pushing for a starting role and Walker and Gotsis have grown leaps and bounds. (Thanks to Walker being in his correct position).

ILBs

1. Todd Davis

2. Brandon Marshall

3. Josey Jewell

4. Zaire Anderson

5. Alexander Johnson

Jewell has been a beast against the run and should get plenty of playing time this year. He’s definitely not a man cover guy but can play zone and has a nose for the ball. Anderson has experience and has outplayed the other backups while Johnson just got paid in a bidding war for Denver to sign him. He won’t clear waivers so the raw monster of an ILB makes the 53.

OLBs

1. Von Miller

2. Bradley Chubb

3. Shane Ray

4. Shaquil Barrett

No surprises here either. This could have been inked in on the depth as soon as Shane Ray was cleared to participate.

CBs

1. Chris Harris Jr

2. Bradley Roby

3. Trumaine Brock

4. Adam Jones

5. Isaac Yiadom

Yiadom has been beaten regularly in preseason due to his poor mechanics. Who better to teach the youngster than Adam Jones who has a great relationship with head coach Vance Joseph.

FS/SS

1. Darian Stewart

2. Justin Simmons

3. Will Parks

4. Su’a Cravens

5. Dymonte Thomas

Both Stewart and Simmons can play either position so effectively Parks backs up both of them. He’ll play FS and the other will move to the SS position. Both Cravens and Thomas will cover TEs and RBs. Cravens makes this team without playing in preseason but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dymonte takes his job due to the fact that he is finally healthy and playing at a high level.

STs

PK Brandon McManus

P Marquette King

LS Casey Kreiter

PR Adam Jones

KR Phillip Lindsay

Practice Squad

Jeff Holland

JJ Dielman

John Diarse/ River Cracraft

Dave Williams

Keyshawn Bierria

CJ Smith

Mark Chapman

3 players from other teams

Notable Cuts

Brendan Langley – While he may be a PS candidate the guy just can’t hack.

Paxton Lynch- Lol.

DeAngelo Henderson – the shifty back is just underdeveloped and is lost in a cramped backfield. He will get picked up by another team.

Preseason Overreactions and Underreactions

The worst week of preseason games is in the books. We will be looking at some reactions from the blog and see what weight they carry. Homer and hater alike let’s dig into some theories.

Denver Broncos:

Overreaction: Chad Kelly Flashes Greatness

Did Kelly look good? I’ll say maybe. He looked better by contrast. At a position where confidence is as important as it is to a professional golder, Kelly flashed plenty of it. His arm has some pop in it and he showed decent mobility.

But his first TD pass was on a blown coverage. His second TD pass was better but he was helped by an athletic Lindsay finding the end zone. His stat line was 14/21 with 2 TDs and an INT (and almost threw a second INT), against 3rd stringers. By comparison Trevor Siemian was 11/17 with 2 TDs and an INT. Both are 7th rd draft picks and both threw their first TD on a badly blown coverage.

Underreaction: Paxton Lynch should be 3rd string

This guy needs to be off the team and out of the league. Rumors are swirling that Paxton thinks he’s already made this team and isn’t working to get better. He’s a detriment to WRs and RBs trying to make this team. As of right now he’s 3rd string, but he needs to be gone.

Oakland Raiders

Overreaction: PJ Hall will have great career with Oakland

Yes PJ Hall had a sack on his first play in the game. Hooray for PJ. But he also played in a third of all the defensive plays in this game. PJ Hall’s stat line at the end of the game? 1 sack.

I understand the position he plays and I understand the lack of stats. But let’s pump the breaks a little and see how things play out. We can also add Mo Hurst to this. He had a 0 stat line.

These guys could both turn out to be dynamic, but seeing all the articles about how great the start was to their careers has been, I’d expect more than one sack between two stat lines.

Underreaction: Chris Warren looked good

Yes the former Texas RB did look good. But there’s more to it. For a big man the guy can move, he flashes a punishing running style that not many backs can actually maintain at this level. He could make the muscle hamster irrelevant, and a one-two punch of Lynch and Warren could really wear down defenses, giving Carr a little more breathing room.

LA Chargers

Overreaction: Trade Cardale Jones and Geno Smith

While neither guy really played well and neither guy actually fits the scheme that the Chargers run, its a little early for this. Geno is set to be a career backup at this point in his career and will probably end up with the #2 job, Cardale Jones has only played in one game as a pro with a terrible Buffalo team. Give him some time to develop. Let him get some chemistry.

I’m not guaranteeing either guy is going to become “the guy” or become “the future” but with iron man Rivers still starting your backup QB won’t matter much. Let the chips fall and worst case scenario pick up a guy who becomes a camp casualty.

Underreaction: Four turnovers

The Chargers turned the ball over 4 times this week. Now I’m not saying the # of turnovers is a big deal. I’m saying the turnovers looked like they came because this team wasn’t ready to play. It looked sloppy. Hopefully with all the ones in the sloppiness ends.

Kansas City Chiefs

Overreaction: Mahomes is a checkdown Charlie

The Mahomes stat line wasn’t impressive. And yes it was full of check downs and dumps to the flat. But Mahomes flashed some pocket presence by feeling pressure and getting the ball somewhere safe for a positive play. At this point in time, showing he can be safe with the ball after his training camp INTs is not a bad thing.

I think we all know he will be able to air the ball out. It will be his decision making that is the real issue this year. As long as he continues to push down the field and scores some points this preseason they should be fine.

Underreaction: Depleted secondary played well

Outside of penalties from David Amerson, the Chiefs secondary without both starting safeties played well against Houston’s depth. While I understand it was Weeden and Webb, it should be encoraging to know that this unit can play.

Round One

Round 1 is in the books and there were quite a few surprises. Baker Mayfield going #1, the Colts passing on Chubb, the Bills trading up twice, both Edmunds brothers going in the first rd and 4 QBs taken in the first 10. But let’s get into the ACFW picks.

#5 Denver Broncos

Well Chubb was supposed to go at #2 or at #4. While the Browns were on the clock Denver actually had a deal in place to trade back with Buffalo (more on that later). When the Colts passed the deal fell apart because Denver couldn’t pass on Chubb. While in my opinion Chubb would thrive in a 4-3 as a DE with his hand on the ground, I have looked into his tests to see how far he is from Von Miller, an ideal 3-4 OLB.

Chubb doesn’t have Von’s flat out speed, nor should he being that he weighed 20+ lbs more than him at their respective combines, but he is quicker. Chubbs 3- cone drill and 20 yard shuttle times are both much better than Miller’s. So I also decided to look for another 3-4 OLB that matches his size and speed and I can only find Jadeveon Clowney. While Jadeveon is slightly more of a physical freak than Chubb is, he lacks the mental makeup you’d like in a star player. Injuries and other things have slowed Clowney’s progress, but he had 9.5 sacks in his first full season last year.

I don’t think Chubb needs the time to be coached up like Clowney did and expect him to produce this year, but I can’t help think he’d be better off like Joey Bosa and playing a 4-3 DE.

When it all comes down to it Denver took the best defensive talent in the draft, a player that everyone is assuming will be a multiple time pro bowler. At some point you just can’t fight it. The pass rush in Denver will be nasty.

Grade: A-

#15 Oakland Raiders

Well it seems like the Raiders came into this round OT or bust. With all the pass rush in the AFCW this isn’t a terrible idea. When the target they obviously had their eyes on went to the 9ers at #9, OAK was forced to trade back with ARI at #15. While according to the draft chart, they didn’t get fleeced like some previously thought, they did get a little less value than the #10 is worth. They then took their newly acquired 3rd rd pick and traded for Martavis Bryant.

What they get in Martavis is an extremely fast big play WR, who also happens to be on the NFL shit list. Now I don’t know if and what other teams were offering for Bryant, but a 3rd seems a little high for a guy on the substance abuse list who has attitude problems. It just seems like too much of a risk to me. Can Gruden be BB and straighten him out? Maybe.

But the pick was Kolton Miller a LT out of UCLA. Now there are a lot of ways to look at this pick. Was he overdrafted? Yes. Is he a true LT and not RT? Yes. Are the reviews pretty mixed on this guy? Yes. But I see a guy who can get better. With added strength he can add to his athleticism for the mammoth of a tackle that he is. Donald Penn is 35 and his contract is up soon, so Miller has a year to prepare himself to be the Raiders OT of the future.

There are many ways to look at this and think OAK should have gotten more. Or OAK should have taken so and so. But when the 9ers took McGlinchey they basically fucked OAK. They couldn’t take Miller at 10 and they took what they could get for it. They couldn’t risk trading back again in case another team decided they needed an OT in this thin class. At the end of the day, if you’re a results oriented person, you got an OT to possibly replace Newhouse and in the future Penn, and a deep threat for your QB.

Grade: B-

#17 LA Chargers

Well fuck. Not much to say about this one because it’s a hell of a steal. With Tre Boston not being resigned, Derwin James will come in and be an instant upgrade. This kid is nasty. He’s a big hitter who is fast and can make some huge plays. His coverage skills are not elite but they can be taught. His instinct is there just needs some polishing.

Yes the Chargers did take another player with a knee injury on their record but really when have injuries hurt them?

My only knock on this pick is the problem with their defense isn’t the secondary. They gave up a ton of yards on the ground last year. While Vea was gone I still would have addressed that need first. Derwin has the ability to help in the run game but it’s not in your best interest to have your safetys driving your run defense. But in the end they got a hell of a player that fills a need.

Grade: A

Final thoughts

Denver had a deal in place with Buffalo who really wanted Allen. They ended up moving up 5 spots instead of 7 and got absolutely fleeced by the Bucs. I can’t help but wonder how much more Denver could have gotten out of them if CLE did what they were supposed to do and drafted Chubb. Even if it was just the 2 #2s and an added 3 or 4 it would be intriguing to see what could have been.

There is still a ton of talent on the board. If you’re a Chiefs fan you better hope Mahomes was worth it for missing out on a deep draft. With the picks today there will be plenty of talent for OAK and DEN to choose from. And should be some goodies for the Chiefs and SD.

Good luck on Day 2.

Broncos vs Vikings

Because certain biased individuals fail to see the positive impact of having a quality QB on your team, and also cannot see the negative impact of having a terrible one, we will be looking at pff grades from both the Vikings (13 wins omg) and the Broncos (recently went from #3 pick to a playoff win).

QBs can tire defenses out if they have too many 3 and outs, pick 6s, 2 and INTs, or even my favorite, the 1 and fumble. They impact the OL because if you have no pocket awareness, and cannot move with the pocket, then pass blocking for them becomes impossible. They impact WRs, in the obvious way, by throwing catchable passes. Preferably further than 3 yards down field, and preferably at someone in the same colored jersey. They impact running backs because when they suck the defense can stack the box.

While keeping that in mind, let’s look at the grades. I will try to keep it to the players who Keenum played with and who he will play with this year. Also let it be known that I have resorted to using PFF grades because with the exception of maybe Balls and myself (I watched every Vikings game BTW) I honestly doubt anyone here has watched more than 2 Vikings games in the last year.

Quarterbacks

Case Keenum- 85.3 #9 QB

Trevor Siemian- 53.2 #36 QB

Clearly we have a major advantage in Keenum. While he was a top 10 QB in the league Trevor seemed to play worse than 2 backups that registered grades. 85.3 is a high quality grade while 53.2 is a poor grade. Lets see if the surrounding casts are much different from each other.

Running Backs

Latavius Murray- 77.1

CJ Anderson- 86.0

DeVontae Booker- 72.9

I added Anderson in here because he was the starting back and you would expect Bookers #s to improve as a starter. But even removing that fact this seems like a draw. Both sides earning average grades. Draw.

Offensive Line

LT Riley Rieff- 48.6

LT Garrett Bolles- 68.8

LG Jeremiah Sirles- 45.2

LG Ron Leary- 81.2

C Pat Eflein- 43.2

C Matt Paradis- 75.2

RG Joe Berger- 75.7

RG Connor McGovern- 40.2

RT Mike Remmers- 69.6

RT Jared Veldheer- 54.3

(Watson- 38.9)

Left side of the line obvious advantage to the Broncos. Right side Vikings. Difference maker comes down to Center where despite having an off year Paradis has the much better grade and was still the #9 center in the league. Velheer may hopefully bring some better play at RT improving his grade off his injury shortened season but I’m not holding my breath. Advantage Broncos.

Tight Ends

Kyle Rudolph- 73.1

Jeff Heuerman- 73.6

(Virgil Green- 43.1)

I know Rudolph had a down year. But that is the TE that Keenum played with. I added in Green here because he was the starter and to also show the Chargers how shitty of a TE he is. Heuerman played well in limited play actually earning a higher grade than Rudolph. With question marks around Butts and Heuerman’s lack of play I give a very slight edge to Minnesota.

Wide Receivers

Stefon Diggs- 85.4

Demaryius Thomas- 75.3

Adam Thielen- 84.6

Emmanuel Sanders- 70.7

Here it is the real “difference” between the 2 offenses. But lets look at it this way. Both Thielen and Diggs both just had the best years of their young careers. Both in their 3rd year playing had their best years ever by far (Diggs is when you look at the fact he missed games) when Keenum became their QB and conversely Thomas and Sanders have been suffering since Manning left. I’ll give the maybe edge to the Vikings but this is too close to call now. Its pretty hard to grade well as a WR if the QB can’t get you the ball further than 5 yards down the field.

Defensive Fronts

Edge Danielle Hunter- 82.6

Edge Shaqil Barrett- 82.1

DT Tom Johnson- 77.7

DE/DT Derek Wolfe- 78.0

NT Linval Joseph- 88.7

NT Domata Peko- 80.0

Everson Griffen- 89.2

Adam Gotsis- 77.1

Edge Anthony Barr- 71.4

Edge Von Miller- 95.0

Going position by position there is no major difference here except for Griffen is better than Gotsis and Miller is way better than Barr. There is a small difference between Peko and Joseph but the overwhelming difference between Miller and Barr evens this out. Draw.

Linebackers

Erik Kendricks- 75.1

Todd Davis- 77.1

Ben Gedeon- 76.2

Brandon Marshall- 54.6

Brandon Marshall’s score here surprises me. I knew he had an off year but I didn’t think it was this bad. But lets be honest. Both of these groups are average at best. I should say draw here but slight advantage Vikings.

Cornerbacks

Trae Waynes- 74.1

Bradley Roby- 84.0

Xavier Rhodes- 80.2

Chris Harris Jr.- 83.5

The obvious advantage is Denver here. Even though Waynes was often replaced with Terrance Newman, Newman only scored a 75. Denver hands down.

Safeties

SS Andrew Sendejo- 86.8

SS Justin Simmons- 80.2

FS Harrison Smith- 97.0

FS Darian Stewart- 70.3

Harrison Smith is the best S in the game. And yes the obvious swing is to the Vikings here. Stewart is coming off an off year without TJ Ward and maybe he will continue to struggle without him. Advantage Vikings.

So being that I believe the topic was that the Vikings are “top to bottom better than Denver, except Miller and Harris” and the fact that there is no real other way to judge this outside of “well imo” or “Obviously they’re better I don’t need to give proof”, PFF would strongly disagree. In fact in more ways than one these teams are remarkably similar in many ways. So I will give you this. The Vikings are better coached. On a talent base I don’t see how they’re that much better.

Draft Preview

Well now that the season is over and the Chiefs are preparing for their usual extremely brief stint in the playoffs it’s time to look to next year and the draft. We will start with QBs because Rivers is old, the Broncos 3 QBs together don’t make one decent high school player, Carr has let his eyeliner officially turn him into a lady, and the Chiefs are obviously getting 15 first round picks for Smith.

Sam Darnold USC

First of all, get a haircut bro. Dudes with weird orange hair shouldn’t be flaunting it around.

Anyway, Darnold had a stellar freshman season and capped it off with a solid performance in the Rose Bowl or some other bowl against Penn State. He’s relatively mobile and has a great pocket presence that allows him to navigate the pocket like Luke Skywalker flying an X-Wing to blow up the Death Star.

He has the capability of making all the throws and does so with touch allowing his receivers to make plays. He has had a lot of talent around him and it has helped him to look better in some situations but he is by far the most NFL ready QB in college right now.

In 2017 Darnold took a couple steps back in the turnover arena, seemingly giving the ball away like he was channeling his inner Philip Rivers, yet he played significantly better in the second half of games. He has not officially declared for the NFL draft but I do not think he will stay at USC. It will do nothing for his draft stock and teams will be looking to him to be a day one starter at the next level.