Official 2023 NFL Draft Thread

[Fritz]

run, are you talking about Will McDonald? I thought he was an - as everybody likes to call the position now - EDGE.

[RashanGary]

run, are you talking about Will McDonald? I thought he was an - as everybody likes to call the position now - EDGE.

I think he’s talking about mazi smith

[run pMc]

yes, sorry, Mazi Smith is a big dude and a DL
Will McDonald is about 90 pounds lighter and an EDGE. Not sure either are fits for GB, but I don't think Joe Barry is a good DC either.

[Fritz]

Got it.

You know, as I understand the defense as the Packers have constructed it, you do, as you said, rush two down linemen and then you have your edge guys as basically defensive linemen, too. I think the original idea was that you could mask who was coming - which edge guy? Both? A dude from the middle while edge guy drops into coverage? But the way the Packers play, it's predictable as hell: two down linemen and the edge rushers rush the passer most of the time. So there is no element of confusing the offense.

Is Wyatt a 3-tech guy for sure? Or are they kind of interchangeable? I'd like to see them get someone to play down lineman who can really, really complement Clark (and hopefully Wyatt). You get that guy, you've improved your entire defense, period.

[run pMc]

I think their defense is fairly predictable and that's part of the problem. They rush four, drop into zone, and either the other team dogwalks them down the field or screws up.
Sometimes they mix up their zones, maybe they blitz a 5th guy like Devondre or Quay, but if your QB can tell the difference between Cover-2, 3, 4 and 6 you're probably ok. Their pass rush suffered without Rashan Gary, adding more juice there could force QB mistakes.

They also need to stop Pettine-ing their corners and playing so far off. Even if you are bailing into a zone, don't give the WR an 8 yard cushion. It's maddening to see them do that on 3rd and 6.

Final criticism of the D: it also requires good tackling, and they were much better at that in 2021 than in 2022. Waayyy too many missed and broken tackles last year. If you're expecting your players to drop into zones, and close and tackle the ball carrier short of the sticks, fine.... but coach them to do it. The way NFL teams practice often don't seem to promote good tackling, even if they prevent injuries.

Wyatt is a 3-Tech. Clark has shown he can play all over: nose, 3T. Slaton is a 1T or Nose type. If they want someone to play the Lowry role, they need more of a 5-tech body type -- Lowry was 6'5 300. All their guys are squatter than that now. Maybe they don't need a 5T, but most 3-4 based teams used to have one, it's possible that role is evolving out of the game with all the passing. I'm not a OL/DL guru, there are others here who know tons more than I do, but that's just what I've seen.
I suspect if they deployed lighter EDGE players they'd want a 5-tech type who can help stop the run, and using big 265+ pound guys like Preston and Rashan are why they just go with NT and 3T.

[Fritz]

Can anyone well-versed in this stuff help run and me understand if the Packers could use a good 5-tech or if that position is being phased out?

And I wonder why they tackled so poorly after Barry's first year. Devondre Campbell especially fell off a cliff.

[run pMc]

I think it's more likely that the 5 tech DE is not really used much these days. With GB lining up two 265+ Edge defenders outside of Kenny or Slaton at NT and Wyatt (or Kenny again) at 3T they probably won't and perhaps don't need one.

For goal line or short yardage you could probably just line every big DL you have to clog things, but I wonder if not using a 5T will impact their run defense. I think Lowry somewhat filled this role in the past, but he wasn't great at run defense either, so maybe it's not a loss.
(No offense to Lowry, I think he's a backup player who was pushed into a starting role because they had nobody better.)

I've asked this before... do we know if Jerry Montgomery is a good DL coach? Maybe it's me, but it seems like they've drafted some dudes there and the success rate has not been super high.

[run pMc]

Speaking of DL, I hear Jalen Carter didn't exactly wow at his pro day.

I think it unlikely he drops out of the top 10, but if he's there at 15 and you're Gute would you take him?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Speaking of DL, I hear Jalen Carter didn't exactly wow at his pro day.

I think it unlikely he drops out of the top 10, but if he's there at 15 and you're Gute would you take him?

Yes

[Fritz]

That would be a hell yes in my book.

It'd be Warren Sapp 2.0.

[HarveyWallbangers]

More players to add to "my guys" list. I watched 2-4 games of all of the offensive players. I've watched about half of the DL and half of the EDGE players. I'm really hoping I can get through all of the defensive players.

QB Clayton Tune
TE Luke Schoonmaker
OL Peter Skoronski
OL Nick Saldiveri
OG Jon Gaines
DT Mazi Smith
DT Keeanu Benton

Previous:

RB Roschon Johnson
WR Jonathan Mingo
WR Grant DuBose
IOL Ricky Stromberg
LB Jack Campbell
CB D.J. Turner
S Jason Taylor

Also, here are some midround guys that I think are fits for what we do:

FB/RB/TE Hunter Luepke of North Dakota State is made for the MLF offense--possibly a better Deguara. He tested really well at his Pro Day (with a RAS of 9.7+).
WR Matt Landers
WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton
OT Earl Bostick
OG Braeden Daniels

[RashanGary]

Thanks Harv!! Over the years I thought you couldn’t possibly be any more on point than the rest of us, but I’ve seen your guys tear it up year after year and now I look forward to the HW draft content!

[run pMc]

Harv,

I'm a fan of Jon Gaines. Good feet, seems like a pretty good athlete. I think he'd be a good add, and feel like he's a little under the radar.
GB has a lot of OL players, but they need to sort out who is going to play where. They had problems being watertight on the IOL last year.
Bakhtiari's cap hit is $40M next year and they save 21M by cutting or trading him, so I think he's likely gone and they'll need a replacement there.

Was surprised by Matt Landers, I didn't think I'd like him. He reminds me of MVS... tall, lanky, fast. He'll be there on Day 3.
Luepke will also, he's like a Juszczyk clone to me and agree he'd be a good fit and possible upgrade from DeGuara.

I really like the OSU LT Paris Johnson, he's so smooth and looks like a franchise LT. He's gotta be going top 10 though.

I've seen some mocks where Myles Murphy winds up at 15 - Thoughts? If it comes down to Murphy, JSN, or Broderick Jones at 15, which do you prefer?

[Joemailman]

Harv,

I'm a fan of Jon Gaines. Good feet, seems like a pretty good athlete. I think he'd be a good add, and feel like he's a little under the radar.
GB has a lot of OL players, but they need to sort out who is going to play where. They had problems being watertight on the IOL last year.
Bakhtiari's cap hit is $40M next year and they save 21M by cutting or trading him, so I think he's likely gone and they'll need a replacement there.

Was surprised by Matt Landers, I didn't think I'd like him. He reminds me of MVS... tall, lanky, fast. He'll be there on Day 3.
Luepke will also, he's like a Juszczyk clone to me and agree he'd be a good fit and possible upgrade from DeGuara.

I really like the OSU LT Paris Johnson, he's so smooth and looks like a franchise LT. He's gotta be going top 10 though.

I've seen some mocks where Myles Murphy winds up at 15 - Thoughts? If it comes down to Murphy, JSN, or Broderick Jones at 15, which do you prefer?

There have been reports that the reason the Jets really don't want to trade the #13 pick is that they want to go OT in 1st round. Johnson might be their guy. Now that the Bears have traded back to #9 though, some people think he might be the Bears pick. https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com...ris-johnson-jr

[run pMc]

One person's take:

https://twitter.com/jrezash/status/1640803143788253188/photo/1

Not bad, I think a lot of these are players GB is interested in. I'll be watching the 30-visit list; if history repeats they will draft about 25% of them.