Remydat Draft Thoughts

[Bearly]

A player with Velus Jones Jr.'s profile in the SEC is a top ten pick if he's not twenty-five years old. Don't believe me? Henry Ruggs III had almost identical production to Jones Jr. and near identical measureables. He went twelfth overall in a draft vastly stronger than this one.

I think the route running criticism is a vague and probably baseless concern too. I have no doubts that if he has what it takes to be a pro player he'll figure that part of his game out. The question with Jones Jr. really is whether he can just hack it in the league where things move much faster and pressure is much greater. No way of knowing that, but I love the profile.

Former Vols WR Velus Jones Jr just received some major praise from ESPN

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Apparently he didn't get taken that early and continued to rise up boards after the Senior bowl. If he was their favorite O playmaker at that pick, they did the right thing. It's a draft pick and none of us know how it will work out. Brant had him at 94. Other sites had him as the 27th WR so hard to quantify but 'draft experts' is why we see 1st rounders go in the 5th. I think Brant and his staff are still better connected than most.

Looking Back At Gil Brandt’s 2019 Top 100 Draft Prospect Rankings, 7-Year Success Rates - Steelers Depot

Monday was a very important day for me when it comes to the annual pre-draft process thanks to Gil Brandt of nfl.com releasing his Top 150 ranked players for the 2020 NFL Draft. Why do I get so excited about Brandt’s annual top 150 list? Mainly because I think he does a great job of […]

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[Warrior Spirit]

A player with Velus Jones Jr.'s profile in the SEC is a top ten pick if he's not twenty-five years old. Don't believe me? Henry Ruggs III had almost identical production to Jones Jr. and near identical measureables. He went twelfth overall in a draft vastly stronger than this one.

I think the route running criticism is a vague and probably baseless concern too. I have no doubts that if he has what it takes to be a pro player he'll figure that part of his game out. The question with Jones Jr. really is whether he can just hack it in the league where things move much faster and pressure is much greater. No way of knowing that, but I love the profile.

I find the concern over his age to be baseless. 25 is not a death sentence. Has plenty of football left in him if he pans out.

 

[msadows]

I find the concern over his age to be baseless. 25 is not a death sentence. Has plenty of football left in him if he pans out.

25 is old to not know a route tree tho

Luckily for him I don't think he will be running too many routes early in his career. Screens an slants should be his bread and butter....then the random slant and go

Ill be excited to finally see slants back in the playbook

 

[Chicago4Life]

25 is old to not know a route tree tho

Luckily for him I don't think he will be running too many routes early in his career. Screens an slants should be his bread and butter....then the random slant and go

Ill be excited to finally see slants back in the playbook

there is no age limit to knowing a full route tree
i doubt the bears drafted him because they want him running a full route tree...his job is to be a YAC guy and threaten deep, anything else is just gravy.

 

[Bearly]

.

25 is old to not know a route tree tho

Luckily for him I don't think he will be running too many routes early in his career. Screens an slants should be his bread and butter....then the random slant and go

Ill be excited to finally see slants back in the playbook

Wheels, skinnies.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

there is no age limit to knowing a full route tree
i doubt the bears drafted him because they want him running a full route tree...his job is to be a YAC guy and threaten deep, anything else is just gravy.

There’s not but there is peak athletics in men before sharply declining. That’s between 20-30 generally speaking. So we have this guy, essentially for one contract / 4 years?

Assuming he pans out.. and assuming he hasn’t peaked yet.

 

[playthrough2001]

I can think of several ways to utilize Jones Jr. on offense that he can do right now.

Slant routes

Crossers

9 routes

Deep seams

Jet sweeps

Wheel routes out of the backfield - good luck if he gets matched with a LB

Hand him the ball in the backfield

Swing routes out of the backfield

WR screens

Stop and go routes

Deep posts

None of these require expert route running skills. If you think they do, you’re mistaken

 

[Bearly]

Ok stop remy. You’re just talking yourself into it now.

Pickens is more of a complete because he’s just better, not because he’s lacking something VJJ.

It’ll take a mere two weeks of scouting for opposing teams to figure out that VJJ can only run short YAC routes. He’s a gadget player.

Very different players and VJJ will not be the needed X but I can fully understand a new regime that is all about team and effort not wanting to a player like Pickens until the locker room is better established. I had him on my board as well but understood why he fell to 2 and may not be our target. Without those issues, he's easily a 1st round pick so it was not just the Bear and understandably so. My hope was that Pickens would get taken before us and that Watson would fall.

If they passed on Watson, I'd be in your shoes right now.

 

[bearsfan1977]

On a general note, this off-season and draft really highlighted how poorly constructed the roster was under Pace, both as to players and contracts.

He had a few elite players, a few very good players, and the rest were below average players. And no depth. Well-built teams have those few elite players, but then have many solid players and good depth.

The first 2 picks were BPA, and Poles simply needing to assemble good ball players. The later round picks were guys with good traits who at worst can be quality depth on rookie contracts.

On a side note, I think Brisker will be a stud in the league and I am happy that there is a chance their secondary is sorted out.

 

[Chicagosports89]

25 is old to not know a route tree tho

Luckily for him I don't think he will be running too many routes early in his career. Screens an slants should be his bread and butter....then the random slant and go

Ill be excited to finally see slants back in the playbook

Yeah I expect him to be used on end arounds, screens, slants, go routes, and deep and shallow crossing routes a lot.

 

[Bearly]

Yeah I expect him to be used on end arounds, screens, slants, go routes, and deep and shallow crossing routes a lot.

BFD, they have coaches, don't they? I'd be a lot more concerned if he didn't have the ability to change direction quickly of get off a jam.
His not a #1 but he'll help both the O and ST games.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

BFD, they have coaches, don't they? I'd be a lot more concerned if he didn't have the ability to change direction quickly of get off a jam.
His not a #1 but he'll help both the O and ST games.

That’s one of his weaknesses btw, he wasn’t pressed alot either.

Obviously ways around that with motion etc

 

[Chicagosports89]

BFD, they have coaches, don't they? I'd be a lot more concerned if he didn't have the ability to change direction quickly of get off a jam.
His not a #1 but he'll help both the O and ST games.

I wasn't highlighting an issue. I was highlighting where I think he can be dangerous

 

[Bearly]

That’s one of his weaknesses btw, he wasn’t pressed alot either.

Obviously ways around that with motion etc

Or power through, makes sense for that body type. I suspect he took coaching well at the SB to move up boards like that.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Or power through, makes sense for that body type.

I think there were better options but I’m happy with the rest the draft in the grand scheme. Should have done more for JF but not gonna beat that horse to death.

 

[Les Grossman]

Also do those pining for VJJ to have a role as a YAC machine offense, just remember that Dazz Newsome was drafted last year as the same type of player (without the top end spend).

 

[Brit In Chicago]

So going into this draft, I was pretty gung ho about improving at WR and OL. So I can't say this is the draft I would have went with but perhaps it was the draft we needed. So let's get into each pick.

R2 (39) — CB Kyler Gordon, Washington - All the WRs I would have wanted here were gone and CB is a massive need so I was pretty content with this pick.

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R2 (48) — S Jaquan Brisker, Penn State - I was not happy with this pick as I fundamentally do not like drafting S that high given you can easily find them throughout the draft and they are one of the cheapest positions to fill in FA. Having said that, I really was not fond of Pickens given his injury and character concerns and while I probably would have leaned Moore here, he was not one of my favorite picks. So preferences aside, the fact is Poles most likely got an instant starter for the D so in the end, this is just a difference of opinion on draft strategy.

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R3 (71) — WR Velus Jones Jr., Tennessee - Boy I did not like the idea of a 25 year old rookie and VJJ was not on my radar in the 3rd. So really hated this pick at first. However doing some digging, he was the 2nd fastest WR at the combine and more importantly at the Senior Bowl when in pads. He also led CFB in YAC so he fits a clear need. Part of Fields development is going to be learning to get the short stuff and part of selling him on that is going to be having goes like VJJ who can take the short stuff and consistently bang out 4-5 yards of RAC. So I expect VJJ to catch his fair share of slants and underneath routes and to also be able to go over the top if defenses try to cheat on the short stuff.

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R5 (168) — T Braxton Jones, Southern Utah - I probably was looking at different OL prospects but thought this was a fine pick. He had ideal length and athleticism to play T and just needs to get stronger in his base as he is high cut. But perfect guy as a developmental T that can hopefully emerge as a starting caliber player that can compete if Jenkins or Borom

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R5 (174) — EDGE Dominique Robinson, Miami (OH) - Think he is one of the steals of the draft for me as I mocked him quite a bit to us. Again he has ideal measurables for Edge and just needs coaching and experience. If he develops he also makes a Quinn trade more feasible.

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R6 (186) — T Zachary Thomas, San Diego State- Again, I was probably leaning for another OL but this is another athletic tackle who I think fits as reliable back-up who can play both G and T but probably more of a guard at this level.

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R6 (203) — RB Trestan Ebner, Baylor - Again this pick is all about saying to Fields take the checkdown if it is there and let your guys make a play. Ebner is really a WR playing RB so will be interesting to see how he is used by the Bears. I expect a 3rd RB role and some gadget plays at WR essentially filling the Cohen role. In other words, a solid contributor that can beat LBs and S on WR type routes out of the backfield.

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R6 (207) — C Doug Kramer, Illinois - Not on my radar at all but this is Poles adding another athletic lottery ticket to the OL depth.

R7 (226) — T Ja'Tyre Carter, Southern University - Seems obvious that part of the strategy of acquiring more picks was to load up on OL in a draft that Poles indicated was deep at OL. And again Poles keeps going back to the athletic lineman well with the hopes that at least 2 of these 4 guys develops into a solid contributor in the NFL.

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R7 (254) — S Elijah Hicks, California - Depth piece but remember when I said S can be found throughout the draft. Hicks is a solid two way safety prospect as not afraid to drop down and hit. He also has enough coverage skills to play in the slot so he is a versatile S prospect who will provide depth to the S position.

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R7 (255) — P Trenton Gill, North Carolina State - Part of the beauty of adding all this picks was having the luxury of taking the punter with the 3rd best punt yardage in CFB last year. More importantly he gets better hang time on his punts than Punt God so less likely to out punt coverage teams.

So all in all certainly not how I would have approached the draft. In terms of players especially at the top of the draft I would give Poles a C+. However, in terms of how he went from having the first number of picks to tied for the most I would give him an A. He worked the draft to perfection in terms of accumulating picks and being able to then leverage all those picks to load up on OL and fix the P position cheaply. So I would say this draft averages out to about a B for me.

Love your approach to this. Think it definitely helps to take a step back and reflect when people aren’t all built up on emotions.

I agree with pretty much all of what you’ve said. Ultimately I think Poles has played this draft well. He’s filled out the secondary with day one starters, traded down to get competition and depth for the O-line with a specific vision in mind and added a little help along the defensive line.

B grade seems fair but a lot of pressure is being put on Velus Jones Jr. since he’s the only receiver we drafted. Personally I think he represents a true boom or bust rookie.

Yes there’s question marks due to his age but he has a lot of traits you want from a receiver. He’s explosive, he picks up yards after the catch and he has the elite speed that can cause problems on the deep too. If Flus and Getsy can develop his route running I think he could be a star for us.

If VJJ becomes a star I think Poles gets an A for this draft when you think how barren the roster was prior to the draft in both quality and depth. If VJJ busts then I think you’re looking at a C. If he turns out “just a guy” then it stays a B.

 

[FozzyBear]

I also laughed at Baltimore for taking safety in round one. I just don’t value the position like that.

Depends on the safety.. Lott, Reed, Polamalu... 1sts all day

 

[nc0gnet0]

I think they end up with 5 immediate starters out of this draft with one of them being the punter. They began the process with six picks.

Gordon, Brisker and Jones Jr. will start. I won’t be shocked if Thomas comes in and wins the RG job. Other guys like Robinson and Ebner will carve out roles.

Jones Jr. will most likely return kicks and punts and will start on O if they come out in 11 ( 3 receiver set) on offense.

Braxton Jones will come in and compete with Borom and Jenkins. Poles brought in a group of young, athletic o-lineman that fit the scheme and have the nasty mentality he’s looking for up front.

This is the start of building through the draft and creating a culture of winning. I believe this regime will weed out guys collecting a paycheck quickly. They’re bringing in fast, athletic players that play hard and love football.

I think next year Poles will get Fields the weapons he needs to excel. There was no way it was going to happen in one off-season. I’m encouraged.

5 immediate starters?

Dude, put down the bong.

 

[nc0gnet0]

So going into this draft, I was pretty gung ho about improving at WR and OL. So I can't say this is the draft I would have went with but perhaps it was the draft we needed. So let's get into each pick.



R3 (71) — WR Velus Jones Jr., Tennessee - Boy I did not like the idea of a 25 year old rookie and VJJ was not on my radar in the 3rd. So really hated this pick at first. However doing some digging, he was the 2nd fastest WR at the combine and more importantly at the Senior Bowl when in pads. He also led CFB in YAC so he fits a clear need. Part of Fields development is going to be learning to get the short stuff and part of selling him on that is going to be having goes like VJJ who can take the short stuff and consistently bang out 4-5 yards of RAC. So I expect VJJ to catch his fair share of slants and underneath routes and to also be able to go over the top if defenses try to cheat on the short stuff.

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So all in all certainly not how I would have approached the draft. In terms of players especially at the top of the draft I would give Poles a C+. However, in terms of how he went from having the first number of picks to tied for the most I would give him an A. He worked the draft to perfection in terms of accumulating picks and being able to then leverage all those picks to load up on OL and fix the P position cheaply. So I would say this draft averages out to about a B for me.

Darrius Heyward-Bey was fast, had better production in college, and was several years younger. This was a wasted pick.