04-22-2022, 08:57 PM
So, PFF was not a fan of my draft, but I loved basically every pick I got here. My only regret was I missed out on Curtis Brooks, who went to the Browns (yuck) at 202 when I intended to draft him at 209. It wasn't devastating to my draft strategy because I had already drafted Winfrey and Brooks is a bit of a lotto ticket, but it still hurt because he's a local guy who I think is underrated.
![[Image: SMpp9NN.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SMpp9NN.png)
Right off the bat, I love Kaiir Elam. He has the speed and the mobility to play man but also the awareness to play Zone. A lot of corners in the late 1st to 3rd rounds are either man only or zone only corners, but Elam is developed in both. He does have some penalty issues, but if he can clean those up, he has the highest upside of any corners that you typically see available at 31.
Perrion Winfrey in the 2nd may be a minor reach, but he fills a huge hole (we have yet to replace 500 snaps at 3T as I assume Hill takes over Ogunjobi's ~700 snaps, leaving Hill's ~500 snaps as a void, and we have absolutely no depth there behind Hill). He is a penetrator and a sack producer. He kind of gives me Ogunjobi vibes, to be honest, because he'll blow up plays single handedly, but then lets a RB fly right past him the next down. If he can figure that out, we have a quality 3T rotation with Hill and Winfrey for the next 3 years.
Bryan Cook is a safety who can definitely play SS and may be able to play FS. He didn't test, so there's a small risk there but this man does not miss tackles and, for a position named safety, I think he's a pretty sure bet that he'll at least be starter quality immediately. We also like to run 3 safety sets and I see Cook immediately filling that Ricardo Allen role in his rookie year. Whether he replaces Bell or Bates next year is to be determined, but I think he is capable of doing either.
As for Spencer Burford, I'll let Brett Kollman speak for me on this one. (Video starts a few seconds before the Burford segment, because Brett links Burford to the previous guy's entry). Summary: 4 year starter, played both guard and tackle, looked phenomenal during the field work at the combine, the athleticism shows up on tape, long arms.
Brett has something to say for Jake Ferguson too. He has him in tier 2 (the same tier as McBride and Cade Otton). Good blocker, reliable hands and enough speed to be a threat.
Brett, once again, likes Josh Johnson (for later round guys, I rely on guys like Brett :) ). He's a lotto ticket but is a polished route runner with great lateral agility out of the slot who has legitimate deep speed. He did not have a lot of tape against top talent, so he may fall down the board due to doubts about that.
Matt Araiza I take at 226 in every draft I do because he's got one of the best legs for a punter out there (18 punts of 60+ yards, 2 of which were 80+ yards). Net average of almost 50 yards on open field punts (situations where you aren't trying to pin the other team deep) and we happen to need a punter. He needs to get better with not outpunting his coverage and he isn't the best at downing balls inside the 20 (too many touchbacks), but those things can be taught. His leg strength is much harder to teach (or come by in general). I know Crisman is on the practice squad, but what else are you gonna do with a 7th round pick? May as well upgrade one of your 53 spots on the roster with it. He's also a kickoff specialist and I think he has some kicker experience, so he's a decent back up to McPherson in an emergency situation.
And Brock Purdy...I dunno. He was the top rated player on PFF's board and I recognize the name. I think he was considered a pretty good prospect at some point in his career, so taking a flier on him with the hope that he can become the back up QB doesn't seem like a bad use of a 7th rounder.
Overall, this draft gives us our replacement for Trae Waynes (not that he ever actually played at CB2), our replacement for Ogunjobi, our eventual replacement for either Bell or Bates, our eventual replacement for Boyd (who could, in theory, be a return specialist with his deep speed), our future starter at TE (whether that be TE1 or Sample), our replacement for Kevin Huber, a potential back up QB of the future and a quality swing tackle who can play some guard.
Right off the bat, I love Kaiir Elam. He has the speed and the mobility to play man but also the awareness to play Zone. A lot of corners in the late 1st to 3rd rounds are either man only or zone only corners, but Elam is developed in both. He does have some penalty issues, but if he can clean those up, he has the highest upside of any corners that you typically see available at 31.
Perrion Winfrey in the 2nd may be a minor reach, but he fills a huge hole (we have yet to replace 500 snaps at 3T as I assume Hill takes over Ogunjobi's ~700 snaps, leaving Hill's ~500 snaps as a void, and we have absolutely no depth there behind Hill). He is a penetrator and a sack producer. He kind of gives me Ogunjobi vibes, to be honest, because he'll blow up plays single handedly, but then lets a RB fly right past him the next down. If he can figure that out, we have a quality 3T rotation with Hill and Winfrey for the next 3 years.
Bryan Cook is a safety who can definitely play SS and may be able to play FS. He didn't test, so there's a small risk there but this man does not miss tackles and, for a position named safety, I think he's a pretty sure bet that he'll at least be starter quality immediately. We also like to run 3 safety sets and I see Cook immediately filling that Ricardo Allen role in his rookie year. Whether he replaces Bell or Bates next year is to be determined, but I think he is capable of doing either.
As for Spencer Burford, I'll let Brett Kollman speak for me on this one. (Video starts a few seconds before the Burford segment, because Brett links Burford to the previous guy's entry). Summary: 4 year starter, played both guard and tackle, looked phenomenal during the field work at the combine, the athleticism shows up on tape, long arms.
Brett has something to say for Jake Ferguson too. He has him in tier 2 (the same tier as McBride and Cade Otton). Good blocker, reliable hands and enough speed to be a threat.
Brett, once again, likes Josh Johnson (for later round guys, I rely on guys like Brett :) ). He's a lotto ticket but is a polished route runner with great lateral agility out of the slot who has legitimate deep speed. He did not have a lot of tape against top talent, so he may fall down the board due to doubts about that.
Matt Araiza I take at 226 in every draft I do because he's got one of the best legs for a punter out there (18 punts of 60+ yards, 2 of which were 80+ yards). Net average of almost 50 yards on open field punts (situations where you aren't trying to pin the other team deep) and we happen to need a punter. He needs to get better with not outpunting his coverage and he isn't the best at downing balls inside the 20 (too many touchbacks), but those things can be taught. His leg strength is much harder to teach (or come by in general). I know Crisman is on the practice squad, but what else are you gonna do with a 7th round pick? May as well upgrade one of your 53 spots on the roster with it. He's also a kickoff specialist and I think he has some kicker experience, so he's a decent back up to McPherson in an emergency situation.
And Brock Purdy...I dunno. He was the top rated player on PFF's board and I recognize the name. I think he was considered a pretty good prospect at some point in his career, so taking a flier on him with the hope that he can become the back up QB doesn't seem like a bad use of a 7th rounder.
Overall, this draft gives us our replacement for Trae Waynes (not that he ever actually played at CB2), our replacement for Ogunjobi, our eventual replacement for either Bell or Bates, our eventual replacement for Boyd (who could, in theory, be a return specialist with his deep speed), our future starter at TE (whether that be TE1 or Sample), our replacement for Kevin Huber, a potential back up QB of the future and a quality swing tackle who can play some guard.
![[Image: oN5QAdY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/oN5QAdY.png)
