What’s a Catch? The NFL 2018 Offseason Thread

With this and Richard Sherman seeming increasingly certain to leave this offseason, it appears to be the end of the Legion of Boom (or at least its classic iteration). It’s been in decline for the past couple of seasons, but still a big shame - for those couple of consecutive Super Bowl runs they were probably the most exciting unit in football.

Who would have thought Seattle and Arizona would be the two most likely scrapping over the wooden spoon for the NFC West in 2018. Wonder whether the Seattle rebuild will be slanted towards defence again, taking advantage of Wilson’s ability to thrive in breakdowns, or if they actually try to equip him with a (at least decent) line and running game. He’s already 29.

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FFS as if the Eagles need another half-decent pass rusher.

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Funny isn’t it - lots of talk this time last year about how 2018 was going to be so much better for QBs (draft and free agency), but again the rookie QBs haven’t lived up to the promise they were showing a year out. Want a QB now, and you either pay through the nose for Cousins, probably overpay (whether money or draft stock) for Keenum or Foles based on last year’s trend bucking performances, or take a plunge on one QB out of 4 or 5 that no-one can agree on. Chances of the Browns and Jets messing this up? 15% I reckon.

49ers is interesting to me. The second rounder is a great bit of business, even if it did fall into their laps a bit (still love Jimmy G being locked out of the medical facility morning after morning), but they have paid for him after just 7 starts. 74M guaranteed! 49ers have the cap tbf, it’ll take a while to build up their roster to the point where Jimmy G’s salary has any big effect, by which point most of the guarantee will be up and they can evaluate better.

Vinny Curry is going to get paiiiidddd

I think there’s some talent in this QB class. Jackson could be really fun, like RG3 fun, if he gets in the right situation. Rosen can play. Allen will probably be the next Brock Osweiler but you never know. I don’t really get the Darnold love though, he seems like a Goff type to me.

Oh yeah, I’m not saying it’s a bad class necessarily, just that a year ago the buzz was how amazing it was going to be, and now (as is common on the eve of the draft) it’s apparent that there’s no Luck type (as Darnold was being hyped about), and concerns with a bunch of them. The only one I don’t like at all is Allen (reminds me of Paxton Lynch and the Lord Our Saviour Smokin Jay Cutler), but none of them seem to project to be nailed on.

Recent hype is that there’ll be no QB in the first two picks, which is kind of damning, although that’s partially situation with Cleveland being able to have at worst 3rd best QB, and if they’re so close, might as well get best other player first up, and more importantly I don’t believe it - I’d be amazed if 4 QBs aren’t taken in the top 7, whether that’s via trade ups or straight picks. If the giants believe in Eli for another 2-3 years, they’ll trade the pick away, surely?

At a total guess atm:
Cleveland - QB
Giants - QB
Colts - trade with broncos, QB
Cleveland - Barkley/Chubb
Broncos - (now colts) Chubb/Barkley
Jets - QB
Bucs - if someone hasn’t gone for a QB above, this will be traded for a QB team

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This scenario seems pretty likely to me. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Barkley first, then QB fourth for the Browns, but same difference. Then if 4 QBs go in the first 7, someone’s bound to shit themselves and move up to get the last of the Unproven 5 at 8.

I think there’ll definitely be a QB in the top two. I still think the Browns will take a QB at one and the Giants will take Barkley - he’s too good to miss, though I can understand a trade.

Will be interesting to see how Baker Mayfield does as well as all the other QBs mentioned, he might be the most NFL ready of all of them.

I would love it if that happened. I find the game of when and where to trade up fascinating, like last year. I think the Bears trade up from 3 to 2 made sense (although that second 4th rounder vexes me), because I’m pretty sure someone (possible cleveland) was trying to get there too, but it’s easier to drop from 2 to 3 for SF.

The other ones were great. Imagine being KC and wanting Mahomes badly, but having to wait until he’s still there at 10 to trade with Buffalo, presumably due to draft capital? Surely the bengals didn’t believe in Ross that much that they wouldn’t have done the deal for the same? Texans is a bit easier - Browns have already shown they aren’t sold on any of the QBs, so if Watson’s still there, Browns is probably best value.

Giants PR stinks of misdirection for me. I know Barkley looks amazing, but it’s a really good spot to get a QB who can sit until he’s ready, then you offload (or hopefully trade, a la Alex Smith) Eli.

But if they really think Eli can do it for another couple of years, why not give him a game-changing RB, along with Beckham - that could be enough.

Is it too early for a poll? No, it’s the draft that is wrong. Who will the Browns pick number 1?

  • Barkley
  • Some QB or other
  • Someone else! Someone else!
  • Trade down

0 voters

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I can’t imagine a team being blase about which QB it gets. If they want one (and they definitely do), they need it to be their guy.

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Because the QB is everything. They probably won’t be picking at 2 again for a long time, so take advantage of that, and then the time to develop is a big factor imo.

If 2 of these QBs turn out to be decent, and the giants have crap at the position for a few years, an elite RB can only do so much, it’ll have been a big mistake. I realise you have to get the right QB, but that’s the game. Gives them a bit longer to sort that O-line out as well (I read they’re pretty much nailed on to get Norwell, which helps)

John Schneider’s last 5 years as GM have been disastrous. Considering how young the team that won the Superbowl was he could have laid the foundations for a dynasty in Seattle, but instead he’s created the House of Usher situation they find themselves in now, where they’re having to sell off the heirlooms to stop the whole thing falling down. Ineffective trades (Jimmy Graham, Percy Harvin, Sheldon Richardson) have lead to a dearth of high draft picks and a lack of young talent which they’ve tried to paper over with other teams failed projects (Luke Joeckel, Eddie Lacy, Sheldon Richardson again). They now have the 7th highest cap liability in the league and an utterly threadbare offense to show for it. If Wilson gets injured this is a 2-14 team.

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That max unger trade looks so bad. Wasn’t sure of it at the time, but considering what happened to that line and the run game in particular… eesh

Can’t remember who he was describing but Mike Tanier likened a team’s decision making to a Madden AI recently, in that none of the individual moves were bad in themselves but they don’t ever come together as a cohesive whole. That’s the Seahawks in a nutshell; Jimmy Graham was an excellent player when they traded for him, but tight end wasn’t a position of need for them and their only other centers were reasonably experienced backup Patrick Lewis and converted defensive tackle Drew Nowak. Naturally they didn’t draft any more and Nowak was named the starter (and was terrible).

Fell into a bit of a wiki wormhole at work today looking the Seahawks draft classes of the past few years. There’s a school of thought that Scot McCloughan was the true brains behind their Superbowl victory, and while I don’t think that’s entirely true (mostly because its most vocal proponent is Scot McCloughan) it’s worth comparing their draft classes before and after he left the team in 2013. The 2013 draft itself is quite something; Luke Willson is the only player who could reasonably considered to be a success. Half of them didn’t ever play any meaningful snaps for the team (their fourth rounder didn’t even make the roster).

Think the Cleveland roster is so bad that they can’t justify going for anyone but the best player available, so Barkley first overall is my guess. I don’t see any of the first four teams going for a QB; think the Giants will go for Quenton Nelson regardless of whether or not they get Andrew Norwell in free agency because they’re going to be priced out of keeping Justin Pugh and their only other contracted guards are an UDFA and the old and broken John Greco. Bradley Chubb to the Colts is a no-brainer, their pass rush is terrible and he’s the best rusher on the board, then Fitzpatrick to the Browns where him and Jabrill Peppers can form the union of versatile high quality players that their co-ordinators can’t figure out how to use effectively.

Can see any of the teams below them trading down to a QB-needy team. Reckon the Dolphins might do something daft, they’re usually a solid bet to attempt the draft day trade they believe will show those pesky Patriots they’re not fooling around this year.

Have a soft spot for Aqib from my (and his) Patriots days. Seems like a colossal bellend, but then so are most NFL players. At his best he’s a top-tier cornerback.

Plus we’ll always have this