2017-18 CFB SEASON / '18 NFL DRAFT

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Josh Rosen - QB - Bruins

UCLA junior QB Josh Rosen completed 25-of-45 passes for 381 yards with a touchdown and interception in a 44-37 victory over Arizona State on Saturday.

Rosen missed last week's game and most of the previous one with a concussion, and while he didn't have his most accurate passing game against the Sun Devils, he was able to make big plays to keep the Bruins alive for a bowl game. He had great chemistry with wideout Jordan Lasley, and hooked up with him for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Bruins a 41-34 lead in the fourth quarter. He also had a one-yard keeper for a score in the second quarter. Rosen has a chance to send UCLA to a bowl next week against rival USC.

Nov 12 - 1:19 AM

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Josh Allen - QB - Cowboys

Wyoming junior QB Josh Allen completed 8-of-11 passes for 70 yards with a touchdown before leaving their 28-14 victory over Air Force on Saturday with an undisclosed injury.

Allen also added a rushing touchdown. Allen was playing relatively well in this one before leaving to the locker room with the aforementioned injury, and returned to the sidelines, but not in uniform. Nick Smith took over as the Cowboys quarterback. We'll have more information on the severity of the injury when Wyoming updates his status after the game.
Source: Robert Gagliardi on Twitter

Nov 12 - 1:45 AM

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Baker Mayfield - QB - Sooners

Oklahoma senior QB Baker Mayfield completed 18-of-27 passes for 333 yards and three scores in a 38-20 victory over TCU on Saturday.

Mayfield (6'1/209) also added 50 yards rushing on 11 carries. All of Oklahoma's scoring was done in the first half, which can be a bad thing. Not when you put up 38 points in that half, however. He found star running back Rodney Anderson for two of his scores, and he opened the scoring with a 13-yard strike to Grant Calcaterra. This wasn't his best effort, but it doesn't do anything to remove him from the Heisman discussion. On the contrary, in fact. He'll put up insane numbers barring something unexpected next week against Kansas.

Nov 11 - 11:57 PM

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Rodney Anderson - RB - Sooners

Oklahoma redshirt sophomore RB Rodney Anderson caught two touchdown passes on 139 yards receiving and rushed for two touchdown passes on 151 yards rushing in a 38-20 victory over TCU on Saturday.

Somewhat amazingly, all of this damage was done in the first half, as neither team was able to do much on offense over the final 30 minutes. Damage done, however. Anderson (6'2/223) has been a revelation for the Oklahoma offense, and he's not being usurped of his throne at the top of the depth chart anytime soon. His balance is incredible, and he has wide receiver hands out of the backfield. This could be a Heisman contender next year. It's scary to think what he and the Sooners will do to Kansas next week.

Nov 11 - 11:52 PM

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Drew Lock - QB - Tigers

Missouri junior QB Drew Lock completed 13-of-28 passes for 217 yards and four touchdowns with an interception in a 50-17 victory over Tennessee on Saturday.

Lock didn't have to do much in this one with the Tigers running for 433 yards against the lethargic Volunteer defense, but was still able to get his. Two of his touchdown passes went to Emmanuel Hall, and he found star J'Mon Moore and wideout Johnathon Johnson for another. The improvement of Missouri over the past week -- even if it has come against inferior competition -- is a nice story for the 2017 season. They'll look to keep it going next week against Vanderbilt.

Nov 11 - 11:14 PM

[NinerSickness]

My posts on Baker Mayfield on WZ's draft page from last July:

Baker Mayfield has one of the best releases I've seen in a while. Accurate too. A lot to like. Might drop in the draft because of his size. See a lot of Russell Wilson in him.

...As Jim Harbaugh says, throwing motions can all look different, and it's still fine as long as the ball is above the shoulder. Take a look at this play; it's pretty bad**s. His first read is left, and then he goes to his 2nd as he's being flushed out of the pocket & then slings a strike on the run with VERY little movement of his body (Even w/ a dude in his face):



31 yards off his back foot & momentum going backwards w/ a quick delivery (and a hand in his face):

[wco81]

Was he rated a first-round prospect before this season?

[Ray_Dogg]

Was he rated a first-round prospect before this season?

I don’t think so. Most were in the he needs another good season on and off the field. He’s exceeded that.
First Allbright and now Jeremiah have hit him with Drew Brees comps but better mobility. He’s a baller. No doubt about it. It just comes down to teams not caring about his height.

[wco81]

Also wondering how he'll do in the combine and pro day workouts. Probably not an arm talent.

Then again, I don't know if Brees was but his accuracy was incredible even before he broke out.

[Ray_Dogg]

Another dominant performance from Chubb. Multiple sacks, FF, TFL. Broke Mario Williams NC St. sack record. BALLER.

Nice call on Chubbs (Bingo too). Think I might've underestimated him.

He has 4 sacks in 2 games vs Notre Dame/McGlinchey/Nelson.

[NinerSickness]

Another dominant performance from Chubb. Multiple sacks, FF, TFL. Broke Mario Williams NC St. sack record. BALLER.

Nice call on Chubbs (Bingo too). Think I might've underestimated him.

He has 4 sacks in 2 games vs Notre Dame/McGlinchey/Nelson.

I didn't see those games; I'd be interested in watching.

[ChrisPozz]

Was he rated a first-round prospect before this season?

I don’t think so. Most were in the he needs another good season on and off the field. He’s exceeded that.
First Allbright and now Jeremiah have hit him with Drew Brees comps but better mobility. He’s a baller. No doubt about it. It just comes down to teams not caring about his height.

He doesn't come close mentally or to the emotional maturity that a 22-year old Drew Brees had either IMO. Not that anyone was saying that. I'm not sure you'll ever get that with Mayfield. Not all coaches are going to be the type who can get the best version of himself to show to others IMO and I would be very uneasy putting him in a place that doesn't have a lot of structure. Which, in a way, is kind of funny because he could also use a coach that isn't OVERLY structured offensively and that puts people into tight spaces to operate either. Who he winds up with is going to be far more important than a lot of other guys we've seen over the years IMO.

[NinerSickness]

Was he rated a first-round prospect before this season?

Mayfield? No he wasn't. He was rated around the 3rd.

But I saw something in his play that I really liked. However, Pozz is right; maturity is a big question mark. However, w/ the improvement we've seen in his play from 2015 to now, that speaks to a really strong work ethic.

Little-dog syndrome is a bit worrisome.

[Ray_Dogg]

Nice call on Chubbs (Bingo too). Think I might've underestimated him.

He has 4 sacks in 2 games vs Notre Dame/McGlinchey/Nelson.

I didn't see those games; I'd be interested in watching.

Draftbreakdown has his 2016 one, If you can ignore the ineptitude of Kizer in that game which is quite hard to be honest.

[Ray_Dogg]

http://draftbreakdown.com/2017/07/20/bradley-chubb-vs-notre-dame-2016/

[clyde21]

Was he rated a first-round prospect before this season?

Somewhere in the 2nd-4th round range on most draft boards.

He's such a hard prospect to evaluate because often times he's just ad libbing and playing outside the confines of the offense, and that stuff is just hard to translate/project to the next level. Spins the ball well though and can be deadly accurate, but can he pick up an NFL level offense and actually play well within it is the question.

[NinerSickness]

Was he rated a first-round prospect before this season?

Somewhere in the 2nd-4th round range on most draft boards.

He's such a hard prospect to evaluate because often times he's just ad libbing and playing outside the confines of the offense, and that stuff is just hard to translate/project to the next level. Spins the ball well though and can be deadly accurate, but can he pick up an NFL level offense and actually play well within it is the question.

What he has going for him is that he has a high floor IMO. That is, unless he has some kind of drug habit we don't know about or something (maturity has been in question).

If enough teams are dumb enough to pass on him, I'd want the Niners to trade up & take him just to make sure he doesn't go to the Cardinals. He could be trade bait in the future if Jimmy works out or a plan B if Jimmy doesn't.

[NinerSickness]

He has 4 sacks in 2 games vs Notre Dame/McGlinchey/Nelson.

I didn't see those games; I'd be interested in watching.

Draftbreakdown has his 2016 one, If you can ignore the ineptitude of Kizer in that game which is quite hard to be honest.

2017:

Watch on YouTube

[NinerSickness]

First Chubb sack: nice hustle, but it wasn't on the LT. In fact, the TE was blocking him. The QB held on to the ball & scrambled up the middle for a short loss.

Great play (wasn't technically a sack, but loss of yardage)... Chubb makes LT Mike Mcglinchey look absolutely stupid:

[ChrisPozz]

GOEDERT SELECTED TO PLAY IN SENIOR BOWL

http://gojacks.com/news/2017/11/13/football-goedert-selected-to-play-in-senior-bowl.aspx

Not getting off this. In my wish world, your 2018-19 starting TE for the San Francisco 49ers.

Let Paulsen find another home elsewhere (FA) at the end of the year, keep Celek for his remaining two years, and I'd monitor the activity around Derek Carrier (Rams) in the offseason and possibly explore him about a return to SF.

I'd probably also keep 1 eye on what the Bengals decide to do with Eifert. That'll be a tough one because I don't think the Bengals will be the only ones who'll be tempted to make a run despite the serious injury risk. Plus, you'd likely have to make the decision before you know if Goedert is in play for you.

Kittle can kick rocks in my world but that's not happening with him signed cheap through 2020. They're going to have to work around him if I end up being right about him. In their perfect world, and maybe even THEIR reasonable expectation, is that he's probably the guy for them.

Barring a surprise, and there's always surprises, I would roll into next season with Goedert, Celek, and quite possibly another draft pick. Realistically, the combo is likely going to have to include Kittle so that likely eliminates one of my other preferred bodies (Carrier, Eifert, etc.). Ben Watson is another FA that I always really liked, and liked even more as a person, but he's way up there in age and likely isn't going to come to a situation like this and that one would only fit to me just because I like him so much as a guy and how he plays rather than him being a great fit with the system and the age/winning stuff..

I know they may also really try and let Hikutini show them something as well.

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I've thought a lot about this, and it's a hair early to be developing too many cemented feelings, but I'm getting early feelings that Lynch will never have studly WR-acquiring instincts as far as getting a "THE GUY" type nor a big desire to build the outside around 1 absolute monster at the WR spot.

Now that Jimmy G. is in place, I've begun to shift my wishes to building up an offense with absolute size monsters at the skill positions, which is kind of what I've always wished for anyway (functional length/size), but now it's cemented in my head they've got to do that if they're going to build around Jimmy G..

If I'm right about Lynch and the WR position, and I have a little bit of confidence Shanahan can do SOME things with 2 size monsters at TE, I'd probably entertain that route over putting all my energy in wishing they can hit gold with a monster at WR. I also never got the sense Shanahan would be great throwing his 2 cents around and getting a monster at receiver either.

I'd also put more of an emphasis on Jus getting more work as a receiver. Honestly, for me he'd be a move TE option when they do go big with a big TE on the field, too.

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This offseason I'd also look again at Terrelle Pryor. Was always a big PROJECT fan of his if you felt like the attitude/mental stuff could be handled with him, and he could maybe come even cheaper than many expected this offseason. I'm no longer expecting him to definitely hit on the monster ceiling I thought he had but he fits right in with the monster size theme I'm going for and would potentially fit in as a rotating #2 WR option but not as your #2 passing option. We'll see, though. I'm going to love to see what types of offers he now gets.

What about Jeffery who I also really liked since college and have probably annoyed people about over the years? I don't know about him leaving Philadelphia anymore, and again, I don't know about Lynch and Shanahan going all out to spend big money on a 1st/2nd receiver and building it THAT way.

There's some other FAs out there I like the sound of but it's down the depth chart stuff.

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Again, barring surprises, and there always surprises, I'd start to build my size monsters for Jimmy G. with Garcon returning (not a size monster but a pro's pro who needs to and will be around), Goedert/Pryor/and/or way outside shot of Eifert/, Jus, who I start to get more work for and more creativity with, and Celek getting mixed in there a little bit when it's not Goedert/Jus.

Eventually I would be replacing Goodwin, who I love as a guy but I was never in love with the football stuff, Kittle, Taylor, Robinson, Murphy, Burbridge,

Bolden and Bourne could hang around a while because I haven't seen enough of them to be too firm one way or the other but I wasn't in like/love with them coming out ever either so that's probably where I'll wind up with them in the end. Right now I like, not love, having Bolden around this year. Smelter and Carter are the two practice squad guys I'd like to still hang onto as a miracle shot but their time is running out, too.

Obviously that's adding a few and getting rid of A LOT, and it's only a small percentage of getting to a complete answer, but for now that's the direction I go in at those spots and the risks I'd take. That still leaves a lot of uncertainty and there would be no guarantees those guys fall into those spots and definitely work, but it's realistic (outside of Eifert) options I'd start to go in and who I'd begin to try and replace.