The AFC North Draft Class

[Born2Steel]

Just a list of division rival's draft picks. Looking for discussion on possible values on their specific teams. There are names we all know and some wanted the steelers to draft.

Cleveland Browns:
1. T Jedrick Wills - Good pick for the Browns. Upgrades Hubbard.
2. S Grant Delpit - Steelers have no place for a Safety that won't tackle. Conner will run this guy into the mud.
3. DL Jordan Elliot
3. LB Jacob Phillips
4. TE Harrison Bryant
5. C Nick Harris
6. WR Donovan Peoples-Jones - I like DPJ. I think he would be better off with the Steelers or Bengals though.

Amazing how much this draft order looks like many SU posters' mock drafts.

Baltimore Ravens:
1. LB Patrick Queen - How does this guy slip past the Saints? Sean Payton being a disciplined Parcell's disciple that's how.
2. RB JK Dobbins - Outside the Tackle RB. The Steelers got better in Rd4.
3. DL Justin Madubuike - OK this one hurt a little.
3. WR Devin Duvernay
3. LB Malik Harrison
3. T Tyre Phillips
4. G Ben Bredesen - I thought for sure this guy was going to be a Steeler.
5. DL Broderick Washington
6. WR James Proche - Be watching the waiver wire for this guy after final cuts. Would make a very nice addition to the Steelers WR room.
7. S Geno Stone - This guy is a turn over machine.

10 picks. Of course it looks impressive.

Cincinnati Bengals:
1. QB Joe Burrow
2. WR Tee Higgins - Nice WR in the Martavis Bryant build with speed and athleticism. Would have made a great Steeler.
3. LB Logan Wilson
4. LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
5. DE Khalid Kareem
6. T Hakeem Adeniji - Intriguing guy. Don't know if I'm jealous of this pick in the 6th yet or not.
7. LB Markus Bailey - You think maybe the Bungles needed some LB help?

1 pick in each round and they selected 3 LBs. Outside of Burrow and Higgins this draft makes very little sense.

[BlackAndGold]

Having a lot of picks in the top 100 will sure make your class look great.

I think both Baltimore and Cincy found two potential starting inside linebackers in their draft class, similar to the Steelers last year when they selected Bush and UG3.

[Mojouw]

I think the entire league is having a pretty clear response to the proliferation of fancy passing in prioritizing fast agile linebackers.

We should see some team win a SB behind massive offensive line and Ron Earhart I formation football by 2023.

[Six Rings]

Just a list of division rival's draft picks. Looking for discussion on possible values on their specific teams. There are names we all know and some wanted the steelers to draft.

Cleveland Browns:
1. T Jedrick Wills - Good pick for the Browns. Upgrades Hubbard.
2. S Grant Delpit - Steelers have no place for a Safety that won't tackle. Conner will run this guy into the mud.
3. DL Jordan Elliot
3. LB Jacob Phillips
4. TE Harrison Bryant
5. C Nick Harris
6. WR Donovan Peoples-Jones - I like DPJ. I think he would be better off with the Steelers or Bengals though.

Amazing how much this draft order looks like many SU posters' mock drafts.

Baltimore Ravens:
1. LB Patrick Queen - How does this guy slip past the Saints? Sean Payton being a disciplined Parcell's disciple that's how.
2. RB JK Dobbins - Outside the Tackle RB. The Steelers got better in Rd4.
3. DL Justin Madubuike - OK this one hurt a little.
3. WR Devin Duvernay
3. LB Malik Harrison
3. T Tyre Phillips
4. G Ben Bredesen - I thought for sure this guy was going to be a Steeler.
5. DL Broderick Washington
6. WR James Proche - Be watching the waiver wire for this guy after final cuts. Would make a very nice addition to the Steelers WR room.
7. S Geno Stone - This guy is a turn over machine.

10 picks. Of course it looks impressive.

Cincinnati Bengals:
1. QB Joe Burrow
2. WR Tee Higgins - Nice WR in the Martavis Bryant build with speed and athleticism. Would have made a great Steeler.
3. LB Logan Wilson
4. LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
5. DE Khalid Kareem
6. T Hakeem Adeniji - Intriguing guy. Don't know if I'm jealous of this pick in the 6th yet or not.
7. LB Markus Bailey - You think maybe the Bungles needed some LB help?

1 pick in each round and they selected 3 LBs. Outside of Burrow and Higgins this draft makes very little sense.

Two of our Divisional rivals had good draft.

The Bengals got best QB prospect I've ever seen, and gave him a new weapon
The Ravens, with their 10 picks got help across the board
The Browns might as well threw darts at a board.

[polamalubeast]

I think the entire league is having a pretty clear response to the proliferation of fancy passing in prioritizing fast agile linebackers.

We should see some team win a SB behind massive offensive line and Ron Earhart I formation football by 2023.

The 49ers almost won the super bowl this way too!

They only had 8 pass attempts against the packers and they scored 37 points in this game and 27 points in the first half!

[Born2Steel]

The 49ers almost won the super bowl this way too!

They only had 8 pass attempts against the packers and they scored 37 points in this game and 27 points in the first half!

So naturally the Packers run right out and draft a backup QB. I liked Jordan Love as a player and would like to see what he can do so not knocking the player, just the pick. The Packers made the NFCCG and needed obvious help in obvious places, Rodgers still has 4 years, and Love's rookie contract will run out in 4 years....Maybe they try to trade Rodgers if Love shows ability to lead the Packers early on??? Either a stupid draft pick or a huge gamble on Love to unseat Rodgers.

[Mojouw]

The 49ers almost won the super bowl this way too!

They only had 8 pass attempts against the packers and they scored 37 points in this game and 27 points in the first half!

Yeah, but their run game isn't all that "old school". They use misdirection and similar formations to sow confusion and get the defense leaning the wrong way. Don't get me wrong it is very effective.

But what I am talking about is a total pendulum swing back to the late 80's early 1990's. Some team (the Titans?) are going to look across the NFL landscape and see defense after defense that has 220-230 pound linebackers, safeties the size of cornerbacks, and everything built to stop sideline to sideline movement with fast, agile, and frankly "small" defenders. They are going to respond by loading up on massive offensive lineman and other blockers and just run 2 TE I formation sets and see if another team has enough "oomph" in those smaller defenders to stop it. It will be ugly and you will absolutely need a defense to keep the other team off the scoreboard...but someone might try it.

However, we just saw the problem in this past draft. The entire AFC West decided to punt on drafting defenders to stop the Chiefs. They just loaded up on speedy playmakers on offense in an attempt to beat the Chiefs 54-48. So, it is gonna take a pretty big "zig when everyone else zags" kinda movement. Looks like the Packers are considering it....

[st33lersguy]

Baltimore had a great draft. They had 10 picks but they got the most out of those picks, they maximized value out of them.

Joe Burrow was the obvious choice for the Bengals, I would just like to know why they didn't do more to help his pass protection. They don't want to get them killed do they

For the Browns Wills is a good pick. One of the few things Cleveland had done well is draft good o-linemen in the 1st round (Joe Thomas, Alex Mack). Delpit is a gamble and not sure his tape last year adds up well

[Craic]

Yeah, but their run game isn't all that "old school". They use misdirection and similar formations to sow confusion and get the defense leaning the wrong way. Don't get me wrong it is very effective.

But what I am talking about is a total pendulum swing back to the late 80's early 1990's. Some team (the Titans?) are going to look across the NFL landscape and see defense after defense that has 220-230 pound linebackers, safeties the size of cornerbacks, and everything built to stop sideline to sideline movement with fast, agile, and frankly "small" defenders. They are going to respond by loading up on massive offensive lineman and other blockers and just run 2 TE I formation sets and see if another team has enough "oomph" in those smaller defenders to stop it. It will be ugly and you will absolutely need a defense to keep the other team off the scoreboard...but someone might try it.

However, we just saw the problem in this past draft. The entire AFC West decided to punt on drafting defenders to stop the Chiefs. They just loaded up on speedy playmakers on offense in an attempt to beat the Chiefs 54-48. So, it is gonna take a pretty big "zig when everyone else zags" kinda movement. Looks like the Packers are considering it....

The funny thing is, every once in a while when I dream about winning the lottery when it gets to 1.5 billion and I'm able to buy into an expansion NFL team, that's pretty much the exact scenario I think about. Build a stout defense. Get road-grader blockers and a guy to hand off the ball to a stable of big running backs. Trade down picks the first year or two until you're able to protect a QB and have a couple of good weapons already in place for him when he comes out of college.

[Mojouw]

The funny thing is, every once in a while when I dream about winning the lottery when it gets to 1.5 billion and I'm able to buy into an expansion NFL team, that's pretty much the exact scenario I think about. Build a stout defense. Get road-grader blockers and a guy to hand off the ball to a stable of big running backs. Trade down picks the first year or two until you're able to protect a QB and have a couple of good weapons already in place for him when he comes out of college.

Kinda similar to what I'm thinking. I just can't figure out how to stop the teams like the Chiefs enough to win 17-14.

[polamalubeast]

Kinda similar to what I'm thinking. I just can't figure out how to stop the teams like the Chiefs enough to win 17-14.

A team can't build a team(or a offense) with scoring only 17 points...It don't work no matter the era!

You can have a run first team and scoring a lot of point too if your passing game make some big play with that….Like the titans after they bench Mariota last year.

[86WARD]

Yeah, but their run game isn't all that "old school". They use misdirection and similar formations to sow confusion and get the defense leaning the wrong way. Don't get me wrong it is very effective.

But what I am talking about is a total pendulum swing back to the late 80's early 1990's. Some team (the Titans?) are going to look across the NFL landscape and see defense after defense that has 220-230 pound linebackers, safeties the size of cornerbacks, and everything built to stop sideline to sideline movement with fast, agile, and frankly "small" defenders. They are going to respond by loading up on massive offensive lineman and other blockers and just run 2 TE I formation sets and see if another team has enough "oomph" in those smaller defenders to stop it. It will be ugly and you will absolutely need a defense to keep the other team off the scoreboard...but someone might try it.

However, we just saw the problem in this past draft. The entire AFC West decided to punt on drafting defenders to stop the Chiefs. They just loaded up on speedy playmakers on offense in an attempt to beat the Chiefs 54-48. So, it is gonna take a pretty big "zig when everyone else zags" kinda movement. Looks like the Packers are considering it....

Didn’t the Patriots win that way a few seasons ago?

[teegre]

As I posted elsewhere (who knows which thread LOL), I keep hearing how the Ravens are so great for drafting Queen. Okay. :noidea: Both the Saints and the Seahawks should have taken him. The Ravens didn’t do something spectacular to acquire Queen; they simply lucked into that pick. AND, it’ll take a lot for Queen to be a better defender than Fitzpatrick (who was our “R1” pick).

One last thing, I hear Steelers fans saying that:

“Queen was my guy for the Steelers”
“I wanted Queen at 49”
“The Ravens stole Queen from us”

:huh: There was zero chance Queen was lasting until pick 49. Thinking that Queen is a good player is one thing, but thinking that somehow the Ravens “stole” him away is laughable.

[polamalubeast]

As I posted elsewhere (who knows which thread LOL), I keep hearing how the Ravens are so great for drafting Queen. Okay. :noidea: Both the Saints and the Seahawks should have taken him. The Ravens didn’t do something spectacular to acquire Queen; they simply lucked into that pick. AND, it’ll take a lot for Queen to be a better defender than Fitzpatrick (who was our “R1” pick).

One last thing, I hear Steelers fans saying that:

“Queen was my guy for the Steelers”
“I wanted Queen at 49”
“The Ravens stole Queen from us”

:huh: There was zero chance Queen was lasting until pick 49. Thinking that Queen is a good player is one thing, but thinking that somehow the Ravens “stole” him away is laughable.

It might have been true if the ravens would have trade up before us to drafted him but it was far from being the case!

[Mojouw]

Didn’t the Patriots win that way a few seasons ago?

Not for a whole year and not as a fundamental principle of how their entire roster was constructed. What I am thinking of is a team that doesn't feature a high round QB but does feature high round RBs and OL. Doesn't look for the next Gronkowski at TE but the next OT that they can call a TE.

Basically the exact opposite of what everyone is doing now. Like I said earlier, I just don't know how you would stop the other offenses enough on defense to "keep up".

[tom444]

Not for a whole year and not as a fundamental principle of how their entire roster was constructed. What I am thinking of is a team that doesn't feature a high round QB but does feature high round RBs and OL. Doesn't look for the next Gronkowski at TE but the next OT that they can call a TE.

Basically the exact opposite of what everyone is doing now. Like I said earlier, I just don't know how you would stop the other offenses enough on defense to "keep up".

No, not for a whole year, but they did have a lot of what you need to do that. They had Brown at left tackle, Gronkowski who was probably the best blocking TE in football, and they had an outstanding blocking FB in James Develin. All of whom are gone now.

[86WARD]

As I posted elsewhere (who knows which thread LOL), I keep hearing how the Ravens are so great for drafting Queen. Okay. :noidea: Both the Saints and the Seahawks should have taken him. The Ravens didn’t do something spectacular to acquire Queen; they simply lucked into that pick. AND, it’ll take a lot for Queen to be a better defender than Fitzpatrick (who was our “R1” pick).

One last thing, I hear Steelers fans saying that:

“Queen was my guy for the Steelers”
“I wanted Queen at 49”
“The Ravens stole Queen from us”

:huh: There was zero chance Queen was lasting until pick 49. Thinking that Queen is a good player is one thing, but thinking that somehow the Ravens “stole” him away is laughable.

Packers, also, should’ve taken Queen over Love.

[Dwinsgames]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWu-7G6XkAA-4ID?format=jpg&name=medium