Its becoming clear we knocked this last draft out of the park

[Essex Johnson]

(12-05-2023, 07:34 PM)BurrowTheGoat Wrote: After last night we can really see how good of a draft Duke and co put together this year.

ROUND 1- Myles Murphy DE- Full disclosure I preferred Sam LaPorta on draft day and still would rather that have been the pick, BUT Myles is starting to really come on and show flashes of being a game changer. He is 21 and won't be 22 until next month so his best days are wayyy ahead of him. At this point his floor looks like a more athletic Sam Hubbard and his ceiling is sky high if he can hone his technique and reach it.

ROUND 2- DJ Turner CB- What a steal this kid was. Day 1 looked the part of a good corner and will only get better. The speed, the coverage, the tackling have all been awesome. I expect with CTB out he will have a few plays where he looks like a rookie but for a late 2nd round pick can't ask for a better performance thus far.

ROUND 3- Jordan Battle S- Another absolute steal. When we picked this kid I thought well ok special teamer and backup but boy was I wrong. In only a few starts he's already shown he's gonna be a player for us for many years. The instincts, the hitting both A from me. He just seems to always be in on the play in the same way Vonn Bell was. I can't really speak to his coverage skills yet but I don't notice him much which is probably a good sign.

ROUND 4- Charlie Jones WR- A couple injuries have set him back but when he's played he is already showing to be our best punt returner since Pacman. I expect next season we will really find out if hes got game if (when) we let Boyd walk and he steps in to a more prominent role in the offense. Keep in mind he is playing through a torn labrum that needs surgery in the off-season.

ROUND 5- Chase Brown RB- FINALLY THE COACHES LET THIS KID SHOW WHAT HE CAN BRING. Listen I love Joe Mixon hes been a great Bengal but after last night I think Chase might be the best RB on the roster. He has speed, juice, seems to read the hole well and oh did I mention SPEED (kinda important when you run out of the shotgun a lot). If I was the coach from here forward Chase would be the starting RB and Mixon would be the goalline/short yardage back. Still a lot we have to see to call him a steal but I think its looking like a steal.

ROUND 6-Andrei Iosivas WR- Steal. 6th round is not where you expect to find a WR who looks good as a rookie in a very talented WR room but Duke and co found one. Yoshi will be good for us for a while and truly the sky is the limit for him. Tall, long, fast, knows how to scramble and get open when plays get extended. Very excited for this kids future.

ROUND 6- Brad Robbins P- So far hasn't been good enough. Might be a miss here we will see if he can step it up.

ROUND 7- DJ Ivey CB- Can't say I know much about the kid but I heard he was really flashing in camp. He is on the active roster as a 7th rounder and that alone is quite impressive. Time will tell if he makes an impact for us.

Overall just a fantastic draft class and when its all said and done might boast 6-7 solid players/starters for us.

Solid draft so far but still need more playing time to decide how well later round picks will be. Turner has played well and bad at times, hopefully he limit the bad heading into next year as a starting CB. Murphy had a slow start but playing better. Robbins has been good at not giving up much return yards but needs to get better. Iconic we talk about such a good draft but it has no Oline drafted, hopefully next year we can talk about Oline draft picks performing well