I disagree with you regarding Woods. Woods can still move for his size and age. There was play either in the Buffalo game or in the preseason, where a run went wide, and he chased the RB down and tackled him downfield.
This kid playd on a stacked DL. Slow down and let him develop. Q Williams was underwhelming his rookie campaign
Yeah, sorry. When I responded, I didn't notice at first that your post was from back in September. Once I saw that, I deleted my post. Huff is definitely playing more and is being used in various ways. Late in the Philly game he was acting as a spy on Hurts preventing him from running. I think it was also the Philly game where they showed that he had dropped into coverage and had blanketed the intended receiver and caused an incompletion. I always that this was possible with Huff since he played LB in college and is so fast. I agree that he needs more snaps and Clemons, Lawson, and JFM fewer snaps. JJ and Huff should be starting.
If you draft a guy THAT HIGH, he should make an immediate impact. I dont know of he ever will. LT should've been the pick, end of story. LT
Pass rushers very rarely make an impact in year 1. Look at Jermaine. Look at Alex Highsmith on Pittsburgh as another recent example. It’s just how it goes.
Eh Idunno about that. I’d agree it’s a mixed bag, but they’re usually day one starters even if the sack numbers aren’t very good. Jaelan Phillips and Rousseau come to mind. Just looking through some previous drafts, I feel like the ones that barely play usually suck. Jags drafted Chaisson a couple years ago and he’s a career backup. Payton Turner for the Saints. Obviously Cherry-picked but still.
Good point. I don't really have the desire to do it, but I'm curious who Phillips and Rousseau were replacing or competing with at the start of camp their rookie years vs Highsmith and obviously WMD we know off the top of our head. I just think it's so premature to throw the towel in on someone like WMD when it's pretty obvious we are going to need a pass rusher next year with Lawson 100% walking and the big contract questions around Huff.
I think for fans it’s less about the player than it is the asset allocation and roster building. To be fair to JD he has spread it pretty evenly across offense and defense even if some of his offensive moves haven’t panned out as the defensive moves have. But I just thought the resource could’ve been better spent given how thin we are on offense at receiver and along the line and how deep we are at defensive end.
Jermaine looked decent to start with. So did Clemons, even though he was a later round pick, he was 24 when he was drafted, older and more pro ready than a typical draftee. McD is also 24, and was brought in as a pass rush specialist. So far at least he didn't show much even in his area of competency, not to mention he cannot be used to defend the run. I agree the jury is still out though. I think the point some are trying to make is that we already have a core of 3 starting caliber young DEs: JFM (27), Huff (25), JJ (24). Plus a solid young sub in Clemons (26). There are only 2 starting spots. You add a top half 1st round pick there who is already 24 ignoring the biggest needs we had on offense, you expect this guy to show something special. So far we haven't seen it. It's not McD's fault he got drafted so high to the team that already has 3 starters and good subs at his position, and he can still develop into a good player, it just makes little sense from team building perspective. Say you got a guy at a crowded with young players position group that slid to you and you just cannot pass up on him it's one thing - see Jalen Carter. But in this case, it just seems even a poorer decision now than it did then with Huff continuing to play like a star and McD behind where JJ and Clemons were at this point as rookies.
Both of you guys make great points. I don't disagree with anything either of you are saying either. It really sucks Rodgers got hurt because I'm assuming we would be playing with the lead in some of these games and WMD could really be used to help shut out some of these games. Look at the Denver game for example. WMD spin move off the RT and then Quincy came in for the strip sack unblocked -> https://x.com/MusikFan4Life/status/1711185193065697503?s=20 This defense was built to play with the lead. Get pressure with a fresh 4 and have good secondary play to compliment it when teams are in catchup mode. I hope we see of it coming out of the bye week since there are some real teams we can get a lead on and use Huff and WMD to finish the games out.
That's understood, but these are very few and far in between. Small sample size, but according to advanced analytics 25 pass rushing snaps - 1 pressure. 2% rate and of course we know of lack of running game D. Also it does make a difference if you are doing this as a 21 year old vs 24 year old rookie. Again, not saying the guy is bust, I feel he is still decent end of 1st/early to mid 2nd round talent, who has a chance of eventually developing. But certainly not some instant impact difference maker you run to the podium to with 15th overall given the numerous needs on offense and similarly talented offensive players available.
The only thing I’ll say is that we all saw Huff flash in obvious passing downs but I don’t think we all thought he’d blossom into potentially our 3-down starting end that needs to be on the field. Even still, we have JJ and JFM under contract and certainly could’ve found a supplemental edge rusher to add in free agency to get time with Clemons if Huff didn’t blossom and we inevitably moved on from Lawson. For whatever it’s worth I also thought McDonald was a pretty big reach. I watch a ton of CFB and he wasn’t even on my radar as a first round pick let alone a top 15 pick. I’m obviously not a scout or anything but just my two cents.
I disagree. When you get a chance to draft a player with elite traits, especially at a key position, you don't pass him by because he may need a year to get stronger, put on some weight, and/or learn the scheme. You take players with elite traits whenever you can get them. Drafting purely for need or immediate contribution is a sure-fire way to wind up with a mediocre team. Some rookies can start day one because they have already maxed out their talent/ceiling. They can make an impact their first year, and then within a few years they're replaced by more talented players and are backups or off the team. It's also not an exact science of whom can start day one and make an immediate impact. There are surprises and disappointments in the NFL every season in that regard.
This is a great debate with excellent thought put into it guys. I'm torn. I agree you do not draft for a player's first year (here comes the "but") BUT, if there ever was a time to do it this was the year. I've felt this way more since AVT and Tippmann went down, but even without hindsight we've been through many years with a patchwork O-Line due to injury. We just had a rousing victory that puts us back in the hunt, but we're already very thin up front and the big man has not missed time yet. When that happens we will have a BIG problem.
Another perspective on this is that if we had drafted someone on offense, we'd be playing with bigger leads. The McDonald pick was just a complete head scratcher to me no matter how I try to slice it or talk myself into it. It made absolutely no sense, almost regardless of the type of player he turns out to be.
