Incidentally, I am anti-Dart-early, in case that post sounded otherwise. I think I'd be interested if I were the Jets/Browns/whomever in round two, or thereabouts. I think he's pick ~90 in this draft, but since it's at QB top 50 seems ok.

I also understand that teams are judged by whether the guy works out. If Pennix turns into a top-10 QB, no one is going to care that the Falcons could have drafted him later.

I just think that, in my uneducated view of things, Dart looks like one of those QBs who gets GMs and coaches fired. Call it a gut feeling.

Agreed.

I'm so old I remember when this was the worst QB class in forever and we were wondering if two would even go in the top 10.

The problem, as I see it, is that ownership & front office is mediocre. If I was a Bengals fan I'm glad I don't have a tire fire like NYJ or CLE, but finding a way to make this situation work will take an upper-level GM and a supportive owner with nerves of steel, and I don't think this is that group.


100% When I did my Tiers again this year the conclusion to me, again, is that there's maybe 10 starting QBs who are going to help you, maybe 10 that aren't really going to help or hurt (which is arguably bad because you won't really be good enough to go deep into the playoffs but you won't really be bad enough to get a top draft pick) and the rest are actively detrimental to your team's chances of winning.


See above, IMO. You're not going to get anywhere without a good QB. If you think a particular QB in the draft has that potential, there's no reason not to take a shot.

I don’t disagree. It’s just funny every single year to hear talking heads and casual fans in January and February bemoaning how poor the QB class is and having one or two in their mock drafts, and then seeing the narrative change. It’s happened for years now.

On the flip side you have people trying to tell you Kyle McCord is in the 95th percentile of NFL QB's Is Kyle McCord an NFL Draft sleeper? QB guru Jordan Palmer thinks so —Â*and he can prove it - The Athletic

The article's actually pretty interesting, though I'm not buying Kyle McCord as a round 1 QB.

Has anyone given this board its last rites?

Dart will be going, most assuredly in Round 1 on Thursday.

Oh definitely. 100%.

Cam Robinson to the Texans for 1/$14m, I definitely prefer that deal over Dan Moore's, Jaylen Moore's, or locking in to drafting a Left Tackle at 4 :/ Sources -- OT Cam Robinson agrees to one-year deal with Texans - ESPN

I'm fascinated to see what happens with Hunter. Didn't think he could pull off playing both ways in college but did. Can't imagine he can do it in the NFL but who knows.

Do you play him at corner and sprinkle him in at WR? Or the reverse? I've seen some coaches mention that if they played against him and he was playing both ways, they'd just run go routes with his man constantly at the start of the game to tire him out.

I would keep him at the corner and just have an occasional offensive package for him as the season progresses. I wouldn't try to use him both ways out of the box.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

The Falcons just brought back Feleipe Franks after his short stint with the Panthers. The rest of the League beware!

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Not sure I totally agree. What about 2022? People were saying historically bad QB draft class but that teams were still going to take quarterbacks anyway. Sam Howell and Matt Corral were being mocked in the first round in February. Desmond Ridder was being mocked in the first very late in the process and Malik Willis was being mocked in the first all the way up until draft night.

Ultimately, the fact that it was a poor QB class meant fewer quarterbacks went in the first than any mock projected.

Random draft speculation: Sanders either goes 2 or 3 to the Giants or out of the first round

Sanders will go somewhere in the 1st round. If Anthony Richardson got drafted at #4 in '23 some QB-needy team will take Sanders. Dart will probably go in the 1st, too. Not saying that they should be drafted in the first, but NFL teams love QBs.

Pulled this one over here from the Bears thread, but circling back to this I don't think Rodgers would even agree to be in the Kirk Cousins role where it's always a question of when they turn to the next guy, but you know who's perfect for that role? Jayboo! Guess I found my NFC team for the season :cool:

FWIW my read on the top is the all 3 teams like Cam Ward a lot but Tennessee doesn't love him, so they're doing what they can to get Cleveland or NYG to trade next year's 1st and get them Abdul Carter at a lower pick. Tyler Shough is the other name getting weird helium now, I liked him as a mid round QB but there's way too much Shough to the Browns at 2 smoke, idk if it's one of those where one person speculated about it and AI amplifiers just put it out everywhere immediately - I'd call complete BS on it but there are several teams dumb enough to do something like that and the Browns are definitely on that list.

Kinda of a little shocked to think about Shough turning 26 by the time the season starts.

Not an age you see much at the position as a rookie anymore (not in my mind anyway)

Not unless they played pro baseball and then came back to football.

Brandon Weeden would also have been an acceptable reference ;) so yeah... maybe don't draft guys that old 1st round?

I am enjoying the Titans telling every reporter within 500 miles that they just *love* Cam Ward and it would take a lot to get them to trade that pick.

When you love a guy at #1 (Luck, Lawrence, etc.) you just draft him.

When you don't really love him, you hold a press conference every day saying that you do.

The guys on the Athletic pod today are buying it, now, that they're in on Ward. Dang. I really wanted it to be the sneaky play to pilfer the Giants of their 2026 1st.

Russ to the NYG


Rodgers fn around in dark caves shoulda signed with someone almost a month ago around the Darnold hire. Gonna be a dumpster fire with divas Pickens /DK in Pittsburgh.

Diggs to the Pats, not sure how healthy/explosive he'll be this season but looks like a 2 year deal and the $$$ is not bad at all, I like it.

I don't mind the Russ-Jameis platoon with the Giants and kind of want to be a fly on the wall when these two chat. This also assumes they draft Travis Hunter and the QB just spends all game throwing up balls to the two of them.

I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out who "Jayboo" is.

Russ is cooked but I don't hate the signing. Better than reaching for a QB if they don't think he is the answer. The kid from PSU likely is #1 but if he falls to them you take him. Otherwise you have the flexibility to trade down if someone really wants Ward or Sanders or you take Hunter, pair him with Nabors, and hopefully you have your WR tandem for the next 5-7 years. If Dart falls take him in round 2 and sit him for the year. He can learn what to do from Russ and what not to do from Winston

Jaboo is Jameis Winston's nickname.

I agree, I think it's the most sensible thing the Giants have done in years. This isn't a one year rebuild that was ever going to be fixed by any of the QB's on the FA market, and certainly wasn't going to be helped by the Rodgers circus.

The problem for the Giants is the staff. They are certainly gone if they don't win more, but winning more without taking a young QB this year is just a guarantee of more losing over the next 3-5 years. They either need to pick a QB this year or commit to not winning so that they can pick a QB next year.

There's a reporter in Cleveland claiming the Browns are working on a trade for Dak Prescott.

Yeah, sorry Pass I knew Albion is a Saints fan so he knows our favorite backup QB's nickname. Giants ruined it by adding Mr Unlimited right after though - not a fan of drafting any of these college QB's that high past Cam Ward so I get that part but I don't think Wilson will help them win enough games to matter in 2025, I'm not sure why they'd be shooting for 7 wins instead of 4 if they're not drafting a QB highly this year, and he'll be a whole lot less fun than the pick-6 maestro.

Dabol is a good coach, he's just been given shit to work with. I hope they stick with him.

Kirk Cousins is such a weird dude. His people released he wouldn't green light a trade till after the draft (just to make sure the team he goes to doesn't take a quarterback too high), but then he poses for pictures in restaurants in two different neighborhoods outside of Cleveland where he could only be house shopping. I guess he is trying to build up hype in the Browns fan-base before he can officially announce. It's like he can't keep anything a secret.

Draft season got me looking back at past years.

I think that I just PTSD'd the 2007 QB draft out of my mind.

Holy crap

I mean, just for entertainment value, let this be the start of a process where Deion Sanders ends up coaching the Cowboys. Right?

Jordan Palmer's work as a QB coach is the most impressive achievement out of that group, by far.

Coastal Carolina and KC Chief Tyler Thigpen-the greatest ever QB KC has ever had-even better than that what's his name who leads the team now. :D


Tyler was on campus this season during football season and he is still wildly loved around here.

I'm not sure that outshines Jamarcus Russell's eating habits.

In an upset rivaling Jets over Colts in Super Bowl III, the NFL announced their draft hats and they are . . . actually good

Here are the official 2025 New Era NFL Draft caps that players will wear once selected.

This year, each design features a franchise-specific pin on every cap. pic.twitter.com/3GRBWpisS5

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 28, 2025

That's a terrific read. :)

The Dan Campbell one had me laughing out loud.

Genuinely the funniest thing I've read in forever, thanks for posting

In all seriousness, Andy Reid and his blood-purple "cankles" suggest a man about to keel over from a heart attack or something.

That's why Mahomes wasn't giving him those nuggies.

Almost thought this was an April Fools joke yesterday but no Calais Campbell is coming back to my beloved Cards on a 1 year deal. He's 38, so not sure he can still put up the numbers he had as a Card, but will be nice to see him in the red and white again

he was remarkably effective last season with the Dolphins, they wanted him back but were waiting until after the comp pick deadline

Sgning your own free agents doesnt effect the comp pick formula as far as Im aware (other than the indirect effect from another team signing them and potentially gaining a comp pick.)

ok, perhaps they were merely lowballing him... he went to college at the U and seemed to be inclined to put down roots there, maybe they just thought he'd settle for 1/3m or whatever they offered

I'm not a fan of the move and IMO this is a failure in ownership. IIRC, Mara is on record from 2024 saying a) he wasn't planning to fire Daboll and Schoen and felt he had fired people too quickly in the past and b) his teams won't tank.

Look, the latter is dumb. I get trying to set up an organization that's always competitive, but sometimes you just have to look at the state of things objectively and realize that tanking is the best path forward. And that's exactly where the Giants are now.

Neither Russ not Jameis are going to make this more than a 7-8 win team, which means another year of failure but also probably not a particulary high pick in a draft with, as I understand it, some blue-chip QB prospects (or at least better than the prospects this year).

If Mara feels that Daboll and Schoen can be/are good at their jobs, then why muddle through a 7-8 win year which will only make the fanbase more unruly and potentially end up in a not particularly better place at the start of the following season?

I realize it's not easy to tacitly tell and organization and a fanbase that you're going to throw away a season, but the objectively smart move here is to tell Daboll & Shoen that results won't matter this year, just try to get the pieces around the QB position in a better place, tank the fuck out of the season and draft Manning or (if you're unlucky) another blue chip QB with #2 or #3. The NFL has no penalties for tanking.

But that's a hard decision to make and live with, and a lot of these owners, especially those who inherited the teams, haven't had to make a hard decision in their lives.

Things not looking great for the Saints.

Pick #9 in a draft where everyone seems to agree that there's a talent cliff after pick 4 or 5 and that the guys from 6-25 are all kind of the same/eye-of-the-beholder types.

Just found out that their starting QB is likely gone for the season in a draft that everyone agrees is a weak QB draft. Do they nonetheless reach and overdraft a Dart or Milroe out of desperation even though that's never a good idea?

Actually under the cap this season, but still have a lot of old dudes (Taysom, Jordan, Mathieu, Davis, Kamara) who are going to eat up a ton of dead cap in 2026.

Can't even grab Jameis!

I have to assume Cousins is on the radar for both the Saints and Steelers. I can't imagine going into the season with what they have, plus 1 or 2 rookie QBs (regardless of where they are picked).

Ooof didn't hear Carr may need shoulder surgery, wow. Given the QB quality in this draft unless they get a trade offer to move up to get one of the better QB's, I think they may have to just suck it up this season and go with whatever they have/get off the scrap heap/Aaron Rodgers.

Rightly or wrongly, this is the current view of Saints' fans on Carr announcing a shoulder injury right after a $30 million restructuring.

We Raiders fans already knew, now hes worn out his welxome two places.

I completely forgot about Rodgers. It sounds like he's holding out hope the Vikings want him instead of choosing Pittsburgh. Should go well either way.

On the other hand, they're now well set up to tank the fuck out of the season and draft local boy Arch Manning.

Nope, loomis is lord of ripping off a bandaid slowly

Appears that Miami is listening to offers for CB Jalen Ramsey.

They dug themselves a serious cap problem, trying to do the sensible thing and "push all in" on a good-enough-to-win rookie QB contract. Now, the QB is about to make real money, their best weapon offensively is either asking to leave the team, running our of gas, or heading for a league suspension... and now they are floating a cheap offloading of another of their "go for it" pieces.

As a fan, it's frustrating. We all would probably endorse the "go for it" approach if you have that young QB, right? Like if I'm a Washington fan, that's what I'd want from that team for right now -- load up and aim high.

But it's tough when it just flat out misses. And it looks like this Miami window may have closed, or perhaps never really opened, due to a combination of fickle injury issues and maybe miscalculations in the components of the go-for-it mentality. The last two offseasons have seen Miami as a major loser, watching guys leave their roster and go get paid top dollar elsewhere (G Robert Hunt, DT Christian Wilkins were near the top of last year's list, S Javon Holland this year).

2025 looks like a doldrums year. Independent of whether they can offload Hill, they likely end up as an offense that shows flashes of brilliance, but remain completely unable to control (or even manage) the line of scrimmage and are outmatched by the better-constructed top teams (Miami winning a playoff game against any of the top AFC handful seems like a major longshot, even if they somehow were to make it to the postseason).

Tough spot as a fan.

What are the Dolphins?

You went all-in on aging pieces, leaving you with no financial flexibility and fewer rookie contracts than any team in the league. And now...we're pivoting from that? And this regime gets to oversee that pivot?

I dunno, man! https://t.co/go7L356izP

— Robert Mays (@robertmays) April 15, 2025

The Washington-based team being good again feels right.

Now we need the Dolphins to follow suit. They've been bad for too long.

The Dolphins should be good. The league is better when they are.

I'd absolutely want my team to go for it if they had the pieces to win it all. Alas, I'm a Colts fan. They won't ever go for it.

https://x.com/Nader723/status/191214...5Es1_&ref_url=

Most fragile talented qb ever. Softer than charmin

That's interesting, considering this was Dianna's input on The Athletic's Scoop City (their daily NFL email) just yesterday...


 

Can someone explain the Carr situation? Why would he lie about an injury?

I don't understand why they refuse to just reset. Dump your good vets for picks and take a year to reset the cap. Going deeper and deeper into cap hell for the off chance at a 9-8 season just seems silly.

I think the issue is it getting leaked. The saints pretty clearly wanted to keep it under wraps until after the draft. Its most likely Carrs camp who leaked it. He likely wants to be released so he can try and fool a new team into giving him a multiyear contract or just not play for the saints in general. Carr has no interest in actually competing for anything, he wants to be the guy or be out.

Travis Hunter says he will retire if a NFL team says he can't play both ways. While I doubt he's being 100% truthful here, this is exactly the type of statement that would make me reconsider drafting him if I was in position to take him.

What's the rule on that? Does he simply sit and re-enter the draft next year, or does the team hold his rights for X number of years?

I don't see Jalen Milroe being a successful NFL quarterback.

Reenters the draft.


edit: And if they don't sign the second time they become a free agent.

Some speculation as a fan (not saying, I agree with all of these reasons, but I do think they are all part of the motivation)

For a long time, this team had Drew Brees and Sean Payton. So they really were always in a position to grab the brass ring. I think it is taken them some time to unlearn that mindset.

The 2017 draft was amazing. Probably the best ever top to bottom in the history of the NFL. I think it got them a little high on their own supply and gave them unrealistic views as to their ability to find game changing pieces.

New Orleans is a small market without a large corporate base. Some teams can be horrible for a long time and it does not affect their bottom line. (looking at you, Dan Snyder). A New Orleans based team cannot really afford to do that. If the fans stop showing up, that will affect the bottom line. I don’t think this is a team that can afford to throw a few lost seasons in there while chasing the number one pick.

The last couple of years, the NFC south has looked like the weakest division in the league going into the season. I think all four teams had a sense of “even if we are not great, we can maybe win this division and sneak into the playoffs.”

Isn't this what Bo Jackson did after refusing to play for the team that drafted him first time around?

I wonder if this was said to purposely lower his draft stock and get him on a better team.

If he did I imagine he’s not thrilled to see the Browns say “yep, no problem with that”

The Browns will probably let him play QB too, and it might not be a bad decision to do so.

Whaaaaaat? But they just re-signed Joe Flacco!

Sorta. He did refuse to play for Tampa Bay who drafted him in the first round, mainly because they purposely sabotaged his college baseball eligibility. He was playing minor league baseball when the Raiders drafted him in the 7th round, and he decided to play for them when Al Davis told him he could make baseball his main priority and only play after the MLB season was over.

Draft one week away.

Here are some of my predictions with various levels of hot take:

Sanders is not the second QB off the board

The first round will set a record (or close to a record) for fewest trades while picks are on the clock

Nick Emmanwori is a surprise top 10 pick

Tet McMillian falls below 20

McMillan is going to end up Amon-Ra’ing a bunch of teams if that happens. Kid is an absolute baller no matter the metrics.

Apparently Tyler Slough is moving up pretty rapidly. According to The Athletic, at least one coach said he's the best QB prospect of this class. Since I've sworn off CFB and have never seen the guy play, I have no idea whether this is true or Slough is this year's player whose pre-draft stock is inflated and then is considered a disappointment when he drops closer to where he initially was projected. Given that he's a QB, I'm guessing he'll get picked pretty high.

"Don't call me Tet"

They do this constantly. Herbstreet was on McAfee’s show yesterday saying he’d take Kyle McCord in the 2nd round if he needed a QB and said he has Josh Allen’s skill set. These guys just can’t help themselves and they are wrong way more often about these guys then they are right.

This is kind of wild. That's Juwan Johnson lined up at receiver for Oregon. That's Tyler Shough at QB. Juwan Johnson just signed his third NFL contract. Tyler Shough is in this draft. pic.twitter.com/JM7blup2XA

— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) April 17, 2025

The track record for guys like him is pretty abysmal, just from an age standpoint. From what I've seen, he has a good arm but without a clean pocket or when things go off script he's terrible.

This QB class if just bad. I think Sanders is the safest pick, but needs a good situation. Milroe is going to get drafted too high because of the Hurts comp, but he's not Hurts. Ward is probably going to go 1st overall but is way too boom or bust to take with that pick.

It's offensive?

Kudos

Yes?

Kudos as well.

I feel like every year there is a really good agent who builds buzz to get his 6th/7th/UDFA QB drafted in the first few rounds.

Anonymous team personnel giving draft opinions is always dicey, but it seems that the general consensus is this QB class sucks. One GM was quoted as saying Cam Ward would be his 7th rated QB if he had been in last year's class - although you always wonder how much seeing last year's class play a year in the NFL factors into that opinion.

I've seen a rumor in a couple of places (though they were probably all just copying from each other) that Denver's been calling about moving into the 8-11 range for Jeanty or Warren if they are still on the board.

I can't imagine either one of them is available at 8-11.

Warren does not go in the top 10.

Also you can nap thru the first half hour as the draft begins at 830 EST


Pregame goodell trash
1. Cam Ward
2. Hunter
3. A. Carter.

This draft BEGINS with the Pats pick at #4. You are all witnesses.

My slight edits

My guys for the 2025 draft - players I really like, relative to their expected draft position...
(ranking are NMDB / PFF / DJ )

G Tyler Booker, Alabama
(31/48/17)
Just watch this guy fall into the Ravens' laps, and then we bellyache for ten years about it. Non-premium position notwithstanding, in the right scheme, gold.

DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon
(23/41/24)
Another guy I expect to slide into "value" territory in the late 1st or early 2nd, and be a quick and long term major contributor. Not a nose, but I think as a 3-tech he's a star.

CB Trey Amos, Mississippi
(37/28/42)
Also a guy for the 30s or 40s, and I think a value pick there, I think he's my guy among a whole tier of corners in that range where several should go.

DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
(43/41/67)
In the early 2nd I think he's fine, but NT/DT without a lot of pass rushing juice might slide, and if he ends up closer to Jeremiah's range in the late 2nd or early 3rd, I think that's a bingo for a team just needing the DL equivalent of an innings eater.

WR Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
(69/35/121)
Okay, I think the chances of him being the #1 receiver in this class are rather small. But the chances of him being a guy his team loves and wants to have around and use is really high. If he's, eventually, a solid shadow of a hardworking, effective, but not flashy guy like Hines Ward... that's worth a 2nd, right?

WR Kyle Williams, Washington State
(87/63/57)
So, this is the more conventional swipe in round two at a high-end WR, and I think he does have a legit chance to become a high-end NFL player. I don't think he's just a slot, I think he's got Stephon Diggs vibes to his game, and a solid shot at that kind of impact feels great in the 60s or 70s.

RB R.J. Harvey, UCF
(100/71/99)
Right in the range to go off the board at RB7-8-9-10 or so, and I like him for value as a do-it-all guy. Forcing missed tackles is a great indicator of good things forward, he's got stack of them.

TE Terrance Ferguson, Oregon
(91/85/58)
Okay, maybe it's me, but nobody is talking about this guy. TE is reputed as deep and I feel like there's a tout for everyone in the top 15 of this class, but nobody on Ferguson. Maybe no real forecast to be useful in-line, which I get, but so many teams use a TE as a big slot, I see him as value especially around pick 90-ish.

EDGE David Walker, Central Arkansas
(130/121/140)
General agreement that he's a 4th/5th round talent... you don't need to squint to see he can play. Competition is the trick, but I'd bet on him a bit earlier than that, especially if you missed the big edge rush in the top 50.

EDGE Que Robinson, Alabama
(180/142/112)
Not a lot of tape, but oh my. Flashes of pure speed rusher traits, high end is maybe Hasson Reddick, not joking. Probably can't pus his hand in the dirt, but outside in a 3-4 that'll hunt.

S Craig Woodson, Cal
(194/167/90)
I'm finding this guy in round 6 or 7 of mocks and he makes every team then, but the lists look more on target to me. I guess I still like him in the 5th, but I see a guy with NFL play here at a discount. The corners from Cal also can play, I'd take any of them getting on in day three.

CB Mac McWilliams, UCF
(277,256,91)
Meant for this to be a fairly deep sleeper, but see DJ likes him for round three. I'm a sucker for corners who will drop the helmet and pop someone.

LB Kain Medrano, UCLA
(late rounds)
Late round flier to step in, be kinda fast, and play special teams, and then let's see if he can learn how to tackle.

WR Ja'Corey Brooks, Louisville
(late rounds)
Legit return skills not only bumps the value of marginal skill position players, but also portends well for carrying skills forward to the pros. This guy is fairly unimpressive as a receiver, but when he's Ray Ray McCloud and still getting WR4/KR contracts when he's 30, he'll be a 20x millionaire and I'll still be working for a paycheck.

Booker's athletic scores really scare me.

I really like Harmon as a DT.

Damien Martinez and Tuten are both great value at RB. There's value all over the place at RB this year though. Could be an all time great RB class and as many as 6-7 starters come out of this draft.

This receiver class is really bad, but I really like Emeka. His floor is probably a solid starter in the slot with a pro bowl ceiling.

Harold Fannin is one of the most interesting guys in the draft IMO. He doesn't jump out in any way athletically but catches everything. He doesn't fit every team but in the right system could be a productive guy.

I think Jihaad Campbell is a star.

There's some potential value at safety as well. It's not a value position but there's going to be potential starters out there going into day 3.