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2026 NFL Draft General Discussion

i cant get that high on kayden mcdonald - awesome player but i cant take a guy at 14 that doesnt affect 3rd downs (and isnt likely to in the future)

I've got KC top 10 on my board so he would likely be BPA or close for me at 14
i just dont know if anyone in the league is that high on him

i will say that he's been on a 30 visit to the ravens though... so fingers crossed

it would be a pick that im sure would send the fanbase into meltdown, but i'd be hyped

Of the guys who have a chance to make it, this is how i stack them:

Bain
McCoy (if the knee gets the medical ok)
Concepcion
Tyson (if the medicals come up clean)
Ioane

this is assuming that Love, Delane, Styles, Reese, Tate, Downs and Mauigoa are all off the board (and Mendoza and Bailey go top 13)

Fallback options would be Lemon or Fano
Proctor > lemon all day

He’s the highest ceiling G in the class and I think the only reason anyone of us would doubt his floor is because of faalele PTSD
 
With McCoy's potential medical red flag with the degenerative knee issue, the outcomes at 14 are really a lot harder than they were with a healthy mccoy in the mix

we're now relying on a few teams in front of us to do some slightly weird shit - only main candidates for that are the dolphins

i don't see Tyson falling anymore - it looks like his floor might be the Giants at 10
i think it's possible that Ioane goes 10/11, although he might slip through if he gets past the Dolphins
Rams at 13 feel like they could hoover up the last talents we want with their pick
it would be really helpful if Fano (or another OT) comes off the board early

i'm hoping that KC Concepcion is high on the ravens board, but looking at consensus rankings i dont know if any teams are as high as i am on him

which leaves you hoping for Bain to fall which feels really unlikely

so if McCoy's knee really is an issue, then we might be in trouble now at 14, especially now that i've soured a bit on Fano at 14
I may have missed it - what’s got you down on Fano?
 
I think KC just because he doesn't get spoken about with Tate, Tyson and Lemon people just discard him without actually watching him and he is a fit for Lamar which is a plus.

Would Proctor interest you at 14 ?

i think that's too high for me but i dont think it's wildly out of range
 
I may have missed it - what’s got you down on Fano?

not down on fano, but the more i've watched, the less of an instant impact player i see, and especially don't trust the play-strength for an assumed conversion to G

i don't dislike him, but for me he's more the top of the next tier vs the bottom of the tier i'm hoping we're picking in

i guess my concerns are mostly due to that lack of confidence in him being a ready-made player inside - if we're projecting him at G then i worry about the play-strength, if we're projecting him at C then i really worry about drafting a C top 14 who's never played the position before

for me he's a tackle, and at tackle his ceiling is not as high as i'd want from a guy i'm picking at 14 - we've got the spencer fano lite on this roster at RT already tbh
 
Proctor > lemon all day

He’s the highest ceiling G in the class and I think the only reason anyone of us would doubt his floor is because of faalele PTSD

i think i'd prefer to have proctor over lemon - but that's partly because i think there's a fair amount of skillset crossover and projected usage for zay and lemon

but in terms of grading and stacking them, i easily have lemon in the tier above - he's a much surer prospect to me even if the fit isn't perfect
 
I really think it’s gonna be Sadiq lol
 
not down on fano, but the more i've watched, the less of an instant impact player i see, and especially don't trust the play-strength for an assumed conversion to G

i don't dislike him, but for me he's more the top of the next tier vs the bottom of the tier i'm hoping we're picking in

i guess my concerns are mostly due to that lack of confidence in him being a ready-made player inside - if we're projecting him at G then i worry about the play-strength, if we're projecting him at C then i really worry about drafting a C top 14 who's never played the position before

for me he's a tackle, and at tackle his ceiling is not as high as i'd want from a guy i'm picking at 14 - we've got the spencer fano lite on this roster at RT already tbh
Cool I only asked because... same. I like the player but I don't love the player if that makes sense. Feels like he's going to be functional at a minimum but maybe there's not really a level for greatness I guess? Feels like you're hitting a nice solid double on that one if you take him. And hey who knows, maybe the double is the best we can do.
 
Honestly, there's no one who excites me at pick 14. I don't like any of the guards or tackles projected there; I don't like Tyson, and I don't like Sadiq either.

I'd be happy with Downs, Delane, Bain, Bailey, McDonald, Woods, or Lemon, but that's it. As I've always said, I think it's a better draft for depth than for elite players.
 
Obviously does not mean it’s the direction they’re going, but can confirm they’ve done a lot of work on the 1st round WRs
 
And who do they like? Cause I don't like anyone other than Tate at 14
Not sure yet to be honest. Just know they’ve done a lot of homework and prefer adding to the offense if the board shakes out that way.

I know Lemon blew his combine meeting so I’d be surprised if there’s interest there, but maybe they gave him another shot at some point.
 
Obviously does not mean it’s the direction they’re going, but can confirm they’ve done a lot of work on the 1st round WRs

just looking at their visits, they've met with 5 of the consensus top 6 WRs at least - only cooper they havent met as far as im aware

visits dont generally mean everything in terms of players being drafted to spots - but they often do indicate positions of interest
 
just looking at their visits, they've met with 5 of the consensus top 6 WRs at least - only cooper they havent met as far as im aware

visits dont generally mean everything in terms of players being drafted to spots - but they often do indicate positions of interest
I get the sense they're over the Bateman ebbs and flows. Probably sticking around this year, but I also think they're making a concerted effort to have something in place that makes that more tenable next year.
 
My takeaways as I finalize my board...

We already know but it's an extremely weak class at the top. I ended with 15 pure 1st round grades.

I think the player you get at the end of the 1st is virtually the same you get at the beginning of the 3rd. Of course there are tiers within that bucket but I don't see too many stark differences.

The same as above - I think the players you get at the midpoint of the 3rd are similar to what you get around the midpoint of the 5th. The drop off starts there in my opinion.


Strong positions: WR, TE, iOL, Edge, DT (depending on your flavor)
Weak positions: QB, RB, S
Normal-ish: OT, C, LB, CB
 
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