Grade our position groups going into the draft

[CJD]

(03-31-2025, 10:12 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Curious to see how everyone grades our position groups heading into the draft. Just trying to get a read on the roster talent we have, nothing else.

QB: A+
WR: A+
OL: C-
TE: B

DL: D
LB: B
Safety: C
DB: C+

My general scale:
A range = a genuine strength of the roster.
B range = No immediate upgrades needed. If someone is too good to pass up, go for it.
C range = Ideally, you upgrade one of the starters or principle backups, but if the value isn't there, don't reach.
D range = You need at least 1 starter from the draft. If reaching is necessary, this is the position you've put yourself in based on your free agency decisions.
F range = The entire position group needs to be replaced/upgraded.

QB: A+
WR: A+
RB: C+
OT: C+
OG: D-
C: B
TE: C

EDGE: C- (If Trey plays), D- (If Trey is traded or sits out the season)
DT: C
LB: B+ (depending on what happens with Pratt, may go down).
Safety: C-
CB: B-

QB and WR speak for themselves. I'm thrilled with both of those positions and don't see any picks necessary there for at least another season or two.

I could see us taking a RB, but Brown and Perine are at least a suitable 2. If they don't draft a RB, I could see them re-signing Herbert after the draft just to give them that rotation behind Brown.

I broke the OL out into groups because I was really tempted to give OG an F, but I think the Patrick signing saved it from that. Still, a D- needs urgent addressing. At the moment, I am not comfortable with either "starter" currently on the roster. 

At OT, I think we're pretty good with Brown and Mims as starters. We need a 3rd OT, but that can be found relatively cheap and I kind of hope we find an OG in the draft that can kick out to OT if required.

Center I think we're good. Matt Lee didn't play much, but he had a good pre-season last year and I think serves as a back up center to Karras, who I think is a quality center.

TE gets dinged because, while I like Gesicki, we do not have a TE that can start in line and consistently give you that disguise of run vs pass. We did draft McLachlan last year, so maybe his role expands, but a lot of unknowns here behind Gesicki, who is mostly a large slot receiver.

On defense, if Trey stays, I think we need a second pass rushing threat, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a 1st round edge. We have Murphy, Ossai, Johnson and Sample. I would still prefer we add someone to this group on day 2, but if the value isn't there, it wouldn't be an abject disaster. But if Trey goes, this becomes priority #1 on defense.

For DT, I think we need a legitimate pass rushing threat, but I think we're good in terms of run stopping players. We got Slaton to be our true NT that we lacked last year and Kris Jenkins and BJ Hill specialize as run stopping 3Ts (I personally didn't like the Jenkins pick, as he was not a good pass rusher in college, but maybe he can develop that too). I don't know what to make of Jackson, as I felt he was a pretty large reach in the 3rd round last year, but he showed some flashes of potential at rushing the passer. That was what he did well in college, with a great first step, so I hope he builds on that in his 2nd year. But we need a true penetrating 3T like Derrick Harmon, imo, to aid the pass rush. If we get to the 2nd and 3rd round and all the dominant pass rushers are gone, I think this position group may be better left alone, as adding another projection DT will just clutter the position group. We have our 2 starters (Hill and Slaton) and 2 reserves (Jenkins and Jackson) already.  At a certain point, you need to just let your draft picks develop.

I'm actually quite comfortable at LB. Wilson is great and Pratt is fine. I think Burks is a great 3rd LB with high upside given what he did in the playoffs. Njongmeta seems like a good special teamer at LB as well. Maybe he can develop further as that LB4? If we trade or cut Pratt, we may need to add here, but as it is, I would only invest a pick if someone takes a big fall into day 3.

I'm not happy with our safety group and, if Trey stays, I think this is our biggest need on defense. I was tempted to give it a D, but Stone showed a little bit of improvement at the end of the year. Was it a dead cat bounce? Who's to say? But I would really like to see a safety with true range drafted in the first two days, if a prospect of such quality is available at our pick.

I am torn at CB because, while I believe we lack a true #1 CB, I think we have pretty good depth overall. Turner and Hill were showing real improvement as the season went on before their unfortunate injuries. CTB is an enigma, but when he's on, he's a high quality CB. And Josh Newton, Marco Wilson and DJ Ivey showed to be decent options in a pinch. If there's a player where the value is just too good to pass up, like Benjamin Morrison in the 3rd round, then I think we could add a pick here, but I don't think it will be a necessity going into the draft.