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Your Favorite and Least Favorite Ballard Draft Picks (At time of draft)


Defjamz26

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Now that we’ve all had time to digest Ballard’s 5th draft, which is a good sample size, I thought we could discuss what have been everyone’s favorite and least favorite picks. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 so we’re talking about your feelings after the pick was made and before they ever stepped foot on an NFL. Based on what you thought of the player at the time, who was on the board, scheme fit, any character or medical issues that scared you. List a guy even if you were wrong about him. I’ll start off:

 

Favorites in Order:

 

1. Kwity Paye- I was high on Paye back in September of last year. I saw him wreck the draft stock of the Minnesota OT who was highly rated at the time. I just thought this was a slam dunk pick and easy one to make.

 

2. Darius Leonard- I’ll admit I was high on Tremaine Edmunds from VT that year, and I like Roquan Smith. Call me a liar, but I was one of the few people high on Leonard. I sour a lot of draft sites for prospect rankings and Walter Football had him as a top 5 LB in his class, so he was already on my radar.

 

3. Michael Pittman Jr.- Paye is up there but Idk if there was ever a more Ballard player than Pittman. Senior Bowl, team captain, student athlete, etc... Plus I loved that he was the type of receiver we hadn’t had. The big X type but he was an underrated route runner in college.

 

4. Jonathan Taylor- I freaked out over this pick, but in the opposite way everyone else did. Mack was coming off his best year, but his health has always been a dice roll and he was going into a contract year. Taylor was literally the best RB in CFB and in that draft. The fact that he was available was crazy. Chiefs really drafted CEH over him lol.

 

 

Least Favorite:

 

1. Ben Banogu- I just never got this pick. AJ Brown and several other notable players were on the board. He was just a HWS guy and the definition of a project. Had no business going that high. Nothing from his tape or from what analysts said indicated he had a potential ceiling that made him worth the gamble.

 

2. Rock Ya-Sin- While he had some hype coming out of the Senior Bowl, I didn’t get this pick at all. Almost every analyst said that he was a press man corner. Drafting him to play in our zone made no sense to me. And again, there were better players available. 
 

3. Sam Ehlinger- Sure he was only a 6th round pick but I just don’t get the point in bringing in a project QB to push/compete  with a project QB in Jacob Eason. He also doesn’t have the elite arm strength that Eason has or his size, so it’s a real head scratcher for me. I get how important character is but there a good chance he ends up on the PS so I’m not sure what he adds.

 

 

 

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Favorite- I jumped up and down, he was the one I had my sights on and it rarely happens  who i want the club picks but I told my gf at the time (Now my wife) Colts just fixed their leaky O line and I was dead on.

 

Least favorite- Quincy Wilson, never felt he was a true shut down corner, had several red flags on his draft profile such as too antsy, not instinctive, grabs rec a lot which could lead to many P.I. calls....

 

 

 

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Favourite - Quenton Nelson.
Posted to a facebook group on 3rd November 2017: 'Please lord baby jesus, let the Colts tank and get Nelson.' Dreams do come true.

Least Favourite - Sam Ehlinger

I don't hate the player I just don't get the pick.

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3 Bests:

 

1. Quenton Nelson (OG) - this should be a run away and a no brainer. He redefined our O.Line and gave it attitude. The guy is an all-pro and will go down as one of the best OG's of all-time if he plays 10 years or so.

 

2. Darius Leonard (LB) - same draft, the guy has way overachieved already, some were saying he would be a bust and was one of the worst picks in the draft. The guy is flat out awesome, with a capital A!

 

3. Jonathan Taylor (RB) - Ballard flat out nailed this one! Some in here were saying the guy reminds him of Trent Richardson during the 1st half of the season, you know who you are lmao . This guy has the potential to be an all-time great. He reminds me of Henry in a lot of ways, his power and speed are unreal.

 

3 Worsts - a lot of this is where they were drafted as well:

 

1. Ben Banogu (LB) - in his 2 year career he has produced only 2.5 sacks, only 9 solo tackles, and only 1 fumble recovery in 25 games. For a 2nd Round pick at 49 that is bad.

 

2. Tarell Basham (DE) - he only played 16 games in a Colts uniform before being traded to the Jets. It was a wasted 3rd Round pick at #80  . He had 2 sacks and only 6 solo tackles in his brief Colts career.

 

3. Quincy Wilson (CB) - in 29 games with the Colts, he just looked lost. His play was bad. He did have 2 INT's and 48 solo tackles so I have him 3rd worst. For a 2nd Round pick at #46, he was very disappointing.

 

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3 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

3 Bests:

 

1. Quenton Nelson (OG) - this should be a run away and a no brainer. He redefined our O.Line and gave it attitude. The guy is an all-pro and will go down as one of the best OG's of all-time if he plays 10 years or so.

 

2. Darius Leonard (LB) - same draft, the guy has way overachieved already, some were saying he would be a bust and was one of the worst picks in the draft. The guy is flat out awesome, with a capital A!

 

3. Jonathan Taylor (RB) - Ballard flat out nailed this one! Some in here were saying the guy reminds him of Trent Richardson during the 1st half of the season, you know who you are lmao . This guy has the potential to be an all-time great. He reminds me of Henry in a lot of ways, his power and speed are unreal.

 

3 Worsts - a lot of this is where they were drafted as well:

 

1. Ben Banogu (LB) - in his 2 year career he has produced only 2.5 sacks, only 9 solo tackles, and only 1 fumble recovery in 25 games. For a 2nd Round pick at 49 that is bad.

 

2. Tarell Basham (DE) - he only played 16 games in a Colts uniform before being traded to the Jets. It was a wasted 3rd Round pick at #80  . He had 2 sacks and only 6 solo tackles in his brief Colts career.

 

3. Quincy Wilson (CB) - in 29 games with the Colts, he just looked lost. His play was bad. He did have 2 INT's and 48 solo tackles so I have him 3rd worst. For a 2nd Round pick at #46, he was very disappointing.

 

We actually waived Basham which even makes that pick worse. I was thinking we traded him for a 3rd or 4th round pick but yeah he is at #2 IMO.

 

I never criticize a draft pick until they play at least 2 seasons. A lot of players struggle as a rookie, if they are still bad in season 2 then the red flags start coming out.

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I'll be completely honest here:

 

Favorite - Malik Hooker

I bought in to the hype about him being the next coming of Ed Reed.

 

Least favorite - Darius Leonard and Braden Smith

There were players still in the board that I wanted.  I've never been more happy to be wrong than my knee-jerk reaction to these picks. 

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3 minutes ago, That Guy said:

I'll be completely honest here:

 

Favorite - Malik Hooker

I bought in to the hype about him being the next coming of Ed Reed.

 

Least favorite - Darius Leonard and Braden Smith

There were players still in the board that I wanted.  I've never been more happy to be wrong than my knee-jerk reaction to these picks. 

Yeah looking at it I think I misread what the OP meant. My list was based on how the player has played after being drafted.

 

Quenton Nelson is still my favorite even by the OP's criteria. We needed O.Line badly and I was praying Denver would select Chubb. That would leave us Nelson. I was pretty sure Nelson would be great. I wanted Nelson bigtime. Least favorite before playing a down would be the QB we selected this year - Sam, I don't understand that pick at all. We have Eason on the roster who was a 4th round pick and is young. He is our backup. We could've took another D.Lineman with that pick or even an O.Lineman for depth.

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Hard to say who had me most excited at the moment. I was pretty excited for RYS because I was hoping he could come in and be a Vontae Davis type rock solid (no pun intended) corner for us. 
 

Banogu has been my least favorite. 
 

“project player” usually translates to “diminishing returns right out of the gate”. 
 

Definitely checked that box in that case. 

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Favourite was Q. I was sick of the sacks against and wanted a good line. Changed the culture of the team.

 

Least was Eason. Felt they drafted a QB just to take one even though his skill set was clearly not gonna translate to an NFL starter. 

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Favorite: 

Malik Hooker thought he’d be  a stud here and his injuries were behind him sucks what happened the following years. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. :(

 

Quinton Nelson: No brainer was dominate at Notre Dame, is dominate in the NFL

 

Michael Pittman Jr: I really liked this pick he’s not elite at one area but he could potentially be good at most. Nice hands, and size. Could really excel in the intermediate passes and red zone. I also like the truck play’s Reich gave him and hope to see more. Like Reggie Wayne he doesn’t have to rely on his speed if he greatly improves his route running. I feel like a QB like Wentz is a perfect fit for him to develop.

 

Least Favorite:

Julian Blackmon At the time I scratched my head. So we already have a injury prone Safety and then you draft one that tore his Achilles late in his season. So far he’s proved me wrong let’s hope e improves.


Rock-YA-Sin: Look at the tape the looked raw, handsy, and overly Aggressive at times. He does have have some nice traits fast, long arms, keeps pace with most WRs. So far it’s been a wash at best he has his good and bad moments. This is a huge year for him it’s make it or break it for him.

 

Sam Ehlinger:  I still don’t like the pick at the time. I feel like this would’ve been a perfect opportunity to tackle CB depth. I also feel like the could’ve gotten Sam later anyways so it it seems like a bit of a reach pick.

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Favorites:  Nelson, Smith.....we needed help on that o-line

 

Least Favorite:  RYS (never heard of him) and Lewis because of previous injuries in College.  I'm hoping RYS turns in a solid year at the worst this year, and I hope Lewis continues his upwards trend.

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The most favorite AT THE TIME of the pick: 

 

Darius Leonard.  Reading all of the predraft write-ups, he was easily the second best rangy ILB after Roquan Smith.  I didn't know where he would be drafted due to being from a small school, but when Ballard called his name I was very happy.

 

Michael Pittman. We needed a replacement for Reggie's role and he hit the the mark.  Faster than a typical X also.

 

I liked the Q Wilson and RYS picks at the time.

 

Least favorite at the time of the pick: 

 

Easily Malik Hooker.  Read the predraft writeups and never understood the logic of why a guy who only does one thing, read the QBs eyes and breaks on the ball, was worthy of such a high predraft ranking.  Very disappointed when he was picked. Chalk it up to Pagano's incompetent scouts.  We'll see what the Day kid can do, who was drafted in the fifth round.

 

Second place was the trade up and selection of Lewis, and the Banogu pick was a let down. Turay also was disappointing.  At the time, all three of them seemed to me like they were destined to be situational role players and I didn't understand why that required second round investments.

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On 5/13/2021 at 11:42 AM, JediXMan said:

 

Least Favorite:

Julian Blackmon At the time I scratched my head. So we already have a injury prone Safety and then you draft one that tore his Achilles late in his season. So far he’s proved me wrong let’s hope e improves.


Whats funny is this reaction is basically how I reacted when we picked Dayo. Lewis has had injury issues going back to college and the same for Turray. Actually, now that you mention it, this is the 2nd year in a row he’s drafted a player coming of an Achilles tear. They must have a team doctor who really knows his stuff on that type of injury, because that’s a risky injury to gamble on twice (in back to back drafts nonetheless) with high picks.

 

It makes you wonder what type of data they had on Metcalf to pass on him but be comfortable to take players with injuries that some don’t come back the same from.

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54 minutes ago, Defjamz26 said:


Whats funny is this reaction is basically how I reacted when we picked Dayo. Lewis has had injury issues going back to college and the same for Turray. Actually, now that you mention it, this is the 2nd year in a row he’s drafted a player coming of an Achilles tear. They must have a team doctor who really knows his stuff on that type of injury, because that’s a risky injury to gamble on twice (in back to back drafts nonetheless) with high picks.

 

It makes you wonder what type of data they had on Metcalf to pass on him but be comfortable to take players with injuries that some don’t come back the same from.

Blackmon didn’t tear his Achilles...    he tore a knee ligament.    Also, regarding Metcalf...   not sure why you think we passed due to injury.   He had other issues.   Hands and routes.   Remember, we weren’t the only team to pass on Metcalf.   Most of the NFL did too — twice.   He went toward the bottom of the 2nd round. 

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Favorite

Nelson - because 1) he was from ND, 2) he was an incredibly "safe" pick we knew would be a stud early, and for a long time, and 3) his attitude. Even though I love Nelson, I still didn't like picking an OG that early.

 

Least Favorite

Banogu - always seemed like a reach, and hated the talk about him being a hybrid SAM/Edge given how raw he was to begin with....., and the funky scheme he came from was a flag as well. Ehlinger is a close second, but at least he was taken later. I just don't get the pick.

 

Nelson will always be my fav as long as he's wearing blue, but Paye is a close 2nd. If Nelson weren't from ND, and Paye wasn't from Meatchicken, it might be different. But I absolutely love Kwity as a prospect and person and was thrilled he fell to us. I also loved Leonard's personality from the start, but wasn't sure he'd translate. 

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On 5/12/2021 at 4:16 PM, Defjamz26 said:

Now that we’ve all had time to digest Ballard’s 5th draft, which is a good sample size, I thought we could discuss what have been everyone’s favorite and least favorite picks. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 so we’re talking about your feelings after the pick was made and before they ever stepped foot on an NFL. Based on what you thought of the player at the time, who was on the board, scheme fit, any character or medical issues that scared you. List a guy even if you were wrong about him. I’ll start off:

 

Favorites in Order:

 

1. Kwity Paye- I was high on Paye back in September of last year. I saw him wreck the draft stock of the Minnesota OT who was highly rated at the time. I just thought this was a slam dunk pick and easy one to make.

 

2. Darius Leonard- I’ll admit I was high on Tremaine Edmunds from VT that year, and I like Roquan Smith. Call me a liar, but I was one of the few people high on Leonard. I sour a lot of draft sites for prospect rankings and Walter Football had him as a top 5 LB in his class, so he was already on my radar.

 

3. Michael Pittman Jr.- Paye is up there but Idk if there was ever a more Ballard player than Pittman. Senior Bowl, team captain, student athlete, etc... Plus I loved that he was the type of receiver we hadn’t had. The big X type but he was an underrated route runner in college.

 

4. Jonathan Taylor- I freaked out over this pick, but in the opposite way everyone else did. Mack was coming off his best year, but his health has always been a dice roll and he was going into a contract year. Taylor was literally the best RB in CFB and in that draft. The fact that he was available was crazy. Chiefs really drafted CEH over him lol.

 

 

Least Favorite:

 

1. Ben Banogu- I just never got this pick. AJ Brown and several other notable players were on the board. He was just a HWS guy and the definition of a project. Had no business going that high. Nothing from his tape or from what analysts said indicated he had a potential ceiling that made him worth the gamble.

 

2. Rock Ya-Sin- While he had some hype coming out of the Senior Bowl, I didn’t get this pick at all. Almost every analyst said that he was a press man corner. Drafting him to play in our zone made no sense to me. And again, there were better players available. 
 

3. Sam Ehlinger- Sure he was only a 6th round pick but I just don’t get the point in bringing in a project QB to push/compete  with a project QB in Jacob Eason. He also doesn’t have the elite arm strength that Eason has or his size, so it’s a real head scratcher for me. I get how important character is but there a good chance he ends up on the PS so I’m not sure what he adds.

 

 

 

Yeah, mine are the same but I'm giving Rock and Banogu this coming season to show something or I'm completely done with them as will Ballard despite the fact he's been defending Rock all along.  

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On 5/12/2021 at 5:17 PM, holeymoley99 said:

Favorite- I jumped up and down, he was the one I had my sights on and it rarely happens  who i want the club picks but I told my gf at the time (Now my wife) Colts just fixed their leaky O line and I was dead on.

 

Least favorite- Quincy Wilson, never felt he was a true shut down corner, had several red flags on his draft profile such as too antsy, not instinctive, grabs rec a lot which could lead to many P.I. calls....

 

 

 

Your Quincy profile sounds like rock lol 

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9 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

Blackmon didn’t tear his Achilles...    he tore a knee ligament.    Also, regarding Metcalf...   not sure why you think we passed due to injury.   He had other issues.   Hands and routes.   Remember, we weren’t the only team to pass on Metcalf.   Most of the NFL did too — twice.   He went toward the bottom of the 2nd round. 

My mistake about Blackmon. I was quoting another poster, but I could’ve swore it was an Achilles injury as well.

 

In regards to Metcalf, I heard that his drop was because teams had issue with his medical. Even though he had been cleared the severity of the injury (broke a cervical bone in his neck) was supposed to have scared teams off. Remember people had him projected as a top 15 pick and that was before his insane combine. I know other teams passed too but I thought maybe it was the medical that scared Ballard. Espeysincr it was rumored that was also why he passed on Sweat the same draft.

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On 5/13/2021 at 8:43 AM, That Guy said:

I'll be completely honest here:

 

Favorite - Malik Hooker

I bought in to the hype about him being the next coming of Ed Reed.

 

Least favorite - Darius Leonard and Braden Smith

There were players still in the board that I wanted.  I've never been more happy to be wrong than my knee-jerk reaction to these picks. 

Same with Hooker. As a buckeye, I saw every play and he was an interception machine. Thought we were getting that here...

 

Least: Tyquan Lewis. Inverse of the above, he just never seemed as dominant at the college level to warrant that high of a selection.

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Favorite: Jacob Eason.  I followed that kid since he was coming out of high school.  Thought he had all the skills to be a good starting QB and even tho highly unlikely, if we would catch lightning in a bottle he would be the one. 
 

Least: Quincy Wilson. Thought he was over rated and a total reach.  Plus I’m a huge Tennessee Vols fan(yeah...I know they suck) and he came from the Florida Gators. So that just made it impossible to root for the guy bc I already thought he was going to bust. 

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worst:

Malik Hooker- 2nd worst colt pick in the last decade. Definitely a Chuck influenced pick but you don’t take a guy with those injury concerns that high.


best: Big Q. Hands down I was excited for this and we netted a trade back at the same time. Probably Ballard’s best draft move yet.

 

Paye is a close second and depending on his performance May over time, tie big Q

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3 hours ago, csmopar said:

worst:

Malik Hooker- 2nd worst colt pick in the last decade. Definitely a Chuck influenced pick but you don’t take a guy with those injury concerns that high.


best: Big Q. Hands down I was excited for this and we netted a trade back at the same time. Probably Ballard’s best draft move yet.

 

Paye is a close second and depending on his performance May over time, tie big Q


Hooker didn’t have to many injury concerns coming out IIRC. Going into the process he had some type of hip injury that he had surgery on at the end of his last season. It caused him to not be able to work out at the combine or his pro day. 

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1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:


Hooker didn’t have to many injury concerns coming out IIRC. Going into the process he had some type of hip injury that he had surgery on at the end of his last season. It caused him to not be able to work out at the combine or his pro day. 

Yeah he did. It’s why he fell. He had a shoulder injury, I think it was either his labrum or rotator cuff and then a hip injury.

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1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:


Hooker didn’t have to many injury concerns coming out IIRC. Going into the process he had some type of hip injury that he had surgery on at the end of his last season. It caused him to not be able to work out at the combine or his pro day. 

Yep labrum and hernia

”WalterFootball.com was first to report that Hooker would be out 4-6 months after surgeries to repair a hernia and labrum injury. That could cause Hooker to slide some in the first round and maybe not be the first safety selected. The injury kept Hooker from working out at the combine. ”

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10 hours ago, csmopar said:

Yep labrum and hernia

”WalterFootball.com was first to report that Hooker would be out 4-6 months after surgeries to repair a hernia and labrum injury. That could cause Hooker to slide some in the first round and maybe not be the first safety selected. The injury kept Hooker from working out at the combine. ”

Okay. Well a hernia is a pretty normal thing to get. You can get it from lifting a heavy box lol. The labrum injury (torn hip labrum) is serious. He recovered fine from it though. But the injury history with him is extensive going back to college

 

-Hernia

-Torn hip labrum

-Groin injury during training camp his rookie year

-ACL tear

-Missed 1 game his sophomore year with foot injury

-Tore his Achilles this past season

 

 But I don’t think his injuries coming out of college were anything to put a red flag on him for. If anything it was the rawness and lack of football experience that probably should have scared us off. 

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Favorite:

1) Quentin Nelson, especially after you factor in the the trade back that yielded Smith, Ya Sin, Turay and Wilkins.

2)Leonard, All Pro Rookie in the sencond round.

3) Braden Smith, College Guard stepped in at RT and never looked back.

 

Least:

1)Basham 

2)Wilson

3)That massive OG that got cut before training camp. Can't remember his name ended up in Pittsburgh i think.

 

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1 hour ago, Tsarquise said:

Kwity Paye has been my favorite at the time.of the draft, and it is not close. 

Mine too...and that’s not necessarily a good thing.  But nonetheless, I love the pick.  When you need a LT like we do, and Darrisaw is available, it tells you how much this staff must love Paye...I like that a lot.

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For reference, here are Ballard's 45 draft picks so far:

 

2017 | Round 1 | No. 15 overall | S Malik Hooker

2017 | Round 2 | No. 46 overall | CB Quincy Wilson

2017 | Round 3 | No. 80 overall | EDGE Tarrell Basham

2017 | Round 4 | No. 137 overall | OT Zach Banner

2017 | Round 4 | No. 143 overall | RB Marlon Mack

2017 | Round 4 | No. 144 overall | DT Grover Stewart

2017 | Round 5 | No. 158 overall | CB Nate Hairston

2017 | Round 5 | No. 161 overall | LB Anthony Walker Jr.

2018 | Round 1 | No. 6 overall | G Quenton Nelson

2018 | Round 2 | No. 36 overall | LB Darius Leonard

2018 | Round 2 | No. 37 overall | RT Braden Smith

2018 | Round 2 | No. 52 overall | DE Kemoko Turay

2018 | Round 2 | No. 64 overall | DL Tyquan Lewis

2018 | Round 4 | No. 104 overall | RB Nyheim Hines

2018 | Round 5 | No. 159 overall | WR Daurice Fountain

2018 | Round 5 | No. 169 overall | RB Jordan Wilkins

2018 | Round 6 | No. 185 overall | WR Deon Cain

2018 | Round 7 | No. 221 overall | LB Matthew Adams

2018 | Round 7 | No. 235 overall | LB Zaire Franklin

2019 | Round 2 | No. 34 overall | CB Rock Ya-Sin

2019 | Round 2 | No. 49 overall | DE Ben Banogu

2019 | Round 2 | No. 59 overall | WR Parris Campbell

2019 | Round 3 | No. 89 overall | LB Bobby Okereke

2019 | Round 4 | No. 109 overall | S Khari Willis

2019 | Round 5 | No. 144 overall | CB Marvell Tell

2019 | Round 5 | No. 164 overall | LB E.J. Speed

2019 | Round 6 | No. 199 overall | DE Gerri Green

2019 | Round 7 | No. 240 overall | OT Jackson Barton

2019 | Round 7 | No. 246 overall | C/G Javon Patterson

2020 | Round 2 | No. 34 overall | WR Michael Pittman Jr.

2020 | Round 2 | No. 41 overall | RB Jonathan Taylor

2020 | Round 3 | No. 85 overall | S Julian Blackmon

2020 | Round 4 | No. 122 overall | QB Jacob Eason

2020 | Round 5 | No. 149 overall | G Danny Pinter

2020 | Round 6 | No. 193 overall | DE Rob Windsor

2020 | Round 6 | No. 211 overall | CB Isaiah Rodgers

2020 | Round 6 | No. 212 overall | WR Dezmon Patmon

2020 | Round 6 | No. 213 overall | LB Jordan Glasgow

2021 | Round 1 | No. 21 overall | DE Kwity Paye

2021 | Round 2 | No. 54 overall | DE Dayo Odeyingbo

2021 | Round 4 | No. 127 overall | TE Kylen Granson

2021 | Round 5 | No. 165 overall | S Shawn Davis

2021 | Round 6 | No. 218 overall | QB Sam Ehlinger

2021 | Round 7 | No. 229 overall | WR Michael Strachan

2021 | Round 7 | No. 248 overall | OT Will Fries

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16 hours ago, JediXMan said:

 

 

GIF by Almost Christmas Movie

The amount of people saying Leonard (at that time)?

We had to get away from Old Q and Morrison.  Leonard was the second best rangy...not heavy thumper... ILB after Roquan Smith.  If people simply did a little reading about the kind of players we needed, it would be easy to see his value.

 

I failed to see why the pre draft pundits loved Hooker, but yet that they were surprised by Leonard.

 

https://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2018dleonard.php

 

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    • yeah this concept of not being the year to draft an edge rusher is strange. We shouldn’t be drafting for need at #15. We should be drafting for the best player that we can put on this roster, positional value factored in. I would dispute that this isn’t the year. I think it could very well be. What a better d-line to be on the depth chart on than one with uncertainty at the edge moving forward in contract years. Let a rookie stud go out occasionally and get experience/see what he’s about. We might find a true pass rusher at 15.    what I would argue is it’s not the year to draft one of our “needs” at receiver or corner considering how deep these classes are. Day 2 should be just fine there. 
    • I don't understand this way of thinking.   When you draft a player in the first round, they sign a four year contract, with an option for a fifth year. If the player is as good as you hope, then the intention is likely to sign them to a second contract for another 4-5 years. So if you hope that this player is a foundational piece of your roster for the next decade, then why would you be so absorbed in the player's playing time in Year 1?   Specific to the Colts at DE, we do not have a game changing pass rusher right now. I like Kwity and Dayo, but so far, they aren't foundational pieces. They're both going into contract years, depending on whether the team picks up Kwity's option. And we have Ebukam, who is also good, but not a game changer. There's no reason any of these players can't be challenged for playing time, especially in pass rush situations. Dayo and Lewis play DE, but also rotate at 3T, so that can be worked out. And there are injuries, which will open up playing time.   DE historically has a learning curve, even for good players. Kayvon Thibodeaux was the 5th pick in 2022, he played 14 games as a rookie, 444 pass rush snaps, and had 4 sacks. He played 17 games in 2023, 498 pass rush snaps, 13 sacks.    Ultimately, passing on a high level edge rush prospect because you're not sure he can start in Year 1 seems incredibly shortsighted. 
    • I'll take the Buccaneers as my second team. That is, if I don't win the COLTS lottery!   Where do you keep your Buccaneers? Under my buckin' hat!
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