tiamat63

Sadly haven't been able to do the work I would usually do in years past, and what little I have done has gone elsewhere. Busy busy. So some condensed thoughts. - LB class fails to impress me top to bottom. Payton Wilson reminds me a bit of Zaven Collins mixed with Blake Martinez. Not sure how I feel about that other than lukewarm at best. - QB class isn't far behind the list in my lack of excitement. Which is funny given that every 20 years you get a monster group - 84, 04....24? I wasn't alive for the first class and I was a teenager for the 2004 group. But I don't see this two decade trend holding up. Caleb Williams is a great improviser, but his work when the SC line wasn't at it's best looked....selfish and panicked, to say the least. All the physical tools in the world, but does he have the brain to play and handle the most intense and difficult position in all of sports? Not so sure. I still have yet to see a logical argument for JJ McCarthy being as hyped as he is. - Draft is trench heavy and I like that. Means a small trade down from #54 likely won't harm this team. I'd gladly take two solid players over one pretty good player. And both lines need a bit of future proofing before long. - DB I haven't had time with, but I've loved the New England method of late rounder plus athletes that get coached up. - Not really seeing a need for receiver unless the BPA is just THAT good. Looking forward to another good draft with some shocks memories. I might be watching from my phone the first couple days. But I'll do my best to log in and be active day 3. I'll post TBB discord link later because that's a great online meet up to do live draft discussion.

I have a little time before dinner, so I'll be in the machine shop doing some film work on him. There's several cutups of him on YT, the first one against UConn. I'll start there.

Has anyone actually watched Payton Wilson, out of curiosity? Highlight videos don't count... I've yet to, so I'm asking an honest question.

Mediocre players should be more concerned about being better and more consistent than they should about a couple months of colder weather.

@Dutch Oven 3 full games in of All-22 re: Colson. I'm hot and cold, which best describes his game. Solid size, good enough athlete, surprisingly better in coverage than I expected. Really understood where to leverage himself in his assignments and zones vis a vis the coverage call and how he read things. Good feel for helping to minimize those 'grey' areas. Downside? His inconsistency in the running game. When you talk about wanting a compliment to JOK, you mean that guy in the middle who takes on leads, or sheds and gets hands on ball carriers where young JOK can clean things up (fill/force) That's where he lacks. Despite my praise of his coverage, I saw UM take him off the field in nickel and dime situations pretty frequently in favor of #23... whomever that is, pretty often. Which was sort of a shocker if that's your defensive heartbeat along the front 7. I digress, I don't see the compliment I believe you're looking for. His processing hot and cold was against QB centric running games and also not against them. Sideline to sideline he moves well, decent enough tackling form but can lose that when pressing a clear gap, breaking down and attacking a QB or RB. You don't see much of that 'enforcer', and he has a ton of assist tackles on his resume'. Overall, I just go full 'meh' with this LB class so far. Rankings have Colson anywhere between the 4th and 8th best at his position, which makes him a *late* day 2 pick. More comfortably for my tastes an early day 3 pick. RE: JJ McCarthy. Holy fuck, I really never sat down to watch the passing structure of the UM air game, but it was pretty simple and straight forward. A handful of concepts they used ranging from Y-pop RPO's, classic mesh, then misdirection setups to attack the perimeter. But nothing complex. Have to credit the Oline and the running game for being the engine behind that car. The Bama game was rather standout to me, because the overwhelming majority of what I saw was a QB being setup for 1a and 1b being his legs. Simple motions against Saban's well understood coverage designs, the biggest being against the single high, were what they found the most success with. Not a volume shooter, and when a couple of the downfield developing shots that you would consider the NFL throws were there, they weren't taken. Questionable ball placement and timing at the numbers and odd breaking routes. When he throws errant, he tends to miss high... which is about the worst you can do when throwing. His footwork in comparison to his follow through needs to be cleaned up SO much, which is the cause of a lot of his inaccuracies. You hear about the work ethic, and that's great. Hard work and leadership are appreciated. But there have been hundreds of QB in the last decade that have come and gone, most for a cup of coffee, that are hardworking and have "leadership". If those are the first two traits and the one's you talk about most when discussing a signal caller, then you're going backwards in your eval and leaning on the cliche's for your foundation. JJ is physically capable and has decent size for the QB spot. But at his current floor, he needs a ton of development. A floor that, in no way, justifies a 1st round pick at this moment. If the market values him as such, then like a stock, I'm going to put money on shorting it because this particular stock *should* drop, if it isn't being artificially inflated. edit: There is a kid from Bama, Justin Eboigbe, IDL... that has caught a bit of my eye. Plays primarily a 4/4i tech in Bama's odd fronts and some 5tech. Looks really out of place doing it for what they ask of him. Does some two gapping and such at times. Gives the feel of a kid who could thrive in Schwartz' systems.

https://discord.gg/6gSKcVUc The link to the discord server itself. - Install the app - setup your account - click the link If you don't have the app installed, it will try to run it from a webpage off of that link. Which I've never done before, but you're welcomed to try. I'm on now and we'll be on throughout today as I relax and do some emails, paperwork and listen to music. I'm cruising the entirety of the all-22 from Michigan v Bama watching JJ McCarthy on offense and Junior Coulson on defense.

A ton more straight forward than what I thought when I first started. - Download and install discord. Preferably on a computer, laptop, tablet. Phone will work. -Setup your name and password on it like you would a forum. - I'll list a link here that takes you to TBB server. You can copy and paste it in the discord program, or the link itself *should* open it and take you right where you need to go. - At that point, all you do is click on the discord voice channel and click "view stream" - It'll take you to my desktop screen, you'll see and watch exactly what I'm watching and I'll handle it from there.

Tomorrow night? I'll be back at home and settled in with the rest of the week off. Looking at another group TBB film session. Would be a great way for us to establish some better understanding of Payton's game.

Cross off Sweat entirely, or at best drop him a couple rounds to high day 3. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39895470/ex-texas-longhorns-dl-tvondre-sweat-arrested-dwi

Weekend vacation in Nashville with the GF. Ended up at the Ryman to see this group. Good show, classic venue. Highly recommend for anyone who has an ear for soul, funk, gospel, blues, etc etc.

When I think of the anger behind the Hip drop, I think of hip-hop and the words of Mos Def - "Why did one straw break the camels back, here's the secret, the million other straws beneath it" (that's mathematics, by the way. For anyone who appreciates great lyrical talent) It isn't *just* this in a vacuum. It's all the stuff that has punished defenses for bad offensive play the last 15 years. That is what has some of us miffed.

2 of the 4 years with playoff appearances, and a 3rd year that would have been a wildcard shot if not for having one of the most commical defensive fronts in the entire NFL. I'm fine with the extension.

You're right, I had forgotten about that. Appreciate it.

Short answer? No Long answer. Hicks and JoK are a good nickel duo of backers. You still need to identify a consistent third for those sub packages young JoK becomes a pressure or green dog. Is that person currently on roster? Probably not. I'd expect a developmental piece, 3rd maybe 4th round, to be brought in.

All good, buddy. I like generating my own knowledge and doing those watches, learned quite a bit. Not only about Jaylan but the Texas defense as a whole. 4th-5th feels right. But it's a weak LB class, he might be bumped up just based on that alone.

I'll be on tonight, for Flugs and whomever else might want to join. Around 8:15pm EST. Again, doesn't require anything special on the end of anyone else. I host, share my screen, we all watch along and give our critique and thoughts. Jaylan Ford is on deck tonight and we'll all be going in with a fresh template. Or, at least, I will. I've never really watched him before. Link to the discord channel. https://discord.gg/RKCSxEAV

As expected - trench heavy.

You're not wrong, but the best athlete being your QB in high school has been a thing since I was a kid. It's only the last 20 years (well, I was still a kid then too) that its sort of 'trickled up'... in a manner of speak. Putting greater emphasis on athletic ability at the QB position.

And while you're certainly right, there's a reason that injury is so well known. Next to Alex Smith, that sort of thing just doesn't happen. I think the whole "safer scrambling vs in the pocket" is a bit overblown. The biggest issue between elite passers and pocket presence vs not is the ability to more efficiently move the ball in the air and avoid shots they had no business taking in the first place. Indy with their young QB in AR15 is a prime example. That kid lead himself into contact he had no business being involved in, and wouldn't have been had he been ready to be starting NFL QB. But he wasn't, the Colts overdrafted him then rushed his play in risk of long term development and long term health.

Flacco is more statue-esque, yes. But don't let a couple designed runs and some work when play structure breaks down trick you into believing that either Flacco or Watson aren't drop back passers who work their eyes and arms first. Passers with mobility have been across the NFL for a long time. Steve Young, McNair, Mcnabb, Ben, Luck, Burrow, Mahomes, etc etc. It isn't just that they are safer, you're limiting potential non-contact injuries. People forget that RG3 knees were aggravated by his lateral cutting ability as much as they were some of the shots they took. In fairness to Orion, your examples above don't work because two of them played behind the worst Olines in the NFL the last 25 years.

Explains that massive comeback against Houston.

Not to bogard the thread, obviously I'm proud of the work you guys are putting in here. Good discussion and sharing of mutual knowledge and passion. It's an extra busy time for me, which sucks because you boys know this is my element. That said, looking at setting up a community film review. Straight forward, I host, you join, I share my screen(s) and we eval a particular player. I'm looking at LB names and this Jaylon Ford kid from Texas has been mentioned several times. We'll take a clean look, find a couple game cutups and breakdown plays. How does that work for you guys? Friday night - probably 6:45p-ish?

He seems a decent kid, despite the corny ass goalpost "meditation" and he was the QB on a national championship squad. So that will also get you looks. It isn't so much his throws, as it was his decision making. 50/50. And the UM coaching staff was very intent on taking the ball out of his hands at times. On one side, I understand and JJ did what was asked of him. On the other side, there were quite a lot of times the offense failed to function when it ran through the QB. Not so much what I *am* seeing, as what I *am not* seeing. The problem is overvaluing the prospect. JJ is no better a prospect than Will Levis and he fell out of the first round entirely. I often wonder how much of these stories are cooked up by GMs and front offices that "lesser" GMs eat up and end with making a reality out of said hype.

The nice thing about watching Colson, which I still need to get back to Dutch on, is that there's all-22 available from a couple UM games this season. So out of curiosity I'm wondering why the media hype for JJ McCarthy because, uhh, the first round abilities just aren't self evident.

Watching Beebe from KState. His footwork is like going against your old man playing basketball. Nothing quick or fancy, but not a lot of wasted motion so very 'fluid'. He's a bit top heavy, but he gets a great punch in his short sets. Had a great trap on Sweat to start things off, and walled the big man really well. Does a good job not tipping his pulls and gets lateral then down the line to his target reasonably well and in tight movements. Doesn't arrive with the worst of intentions, but when he's singled up in straight drop pass pro, where he shines is his hand work and upper body strength. Wonder if home boy has spent time at tackle? Because his patient footwork and pass pro strike really scream like he's been coached there. Either way, I like what I see so far and I've only gotten through his full game against Texas and their Dline.