Wellness

[teganslaw]

SPURT, the Colts are #29 in the draft pick. Speculation is that they will be looking at mostly defensive players, with the safety position being top priority. The others are DT and maybe an OT also.

There might be a running back, but not sure. The status of Ahmad Bradshaw is uncertain, so that could be a consideration. The only thing to go on is a mock draft, which I don't follow. I'd rather wait until the actual draft then to guess. No one knows exactly what the Colts are going to do, but the biggest need right now is defense.

[gardenman]

Picking 29th really limits a team's options. You don't really expect any of the top guys to be there. This year with the Shane Ray and Randy Gregory issues you could find a top five or top ten type talent there, but with big question marks attached to them. I wouldn't be shocked to find one of those two guys there at 29, but if you're the Colts do you take a chance on them? I don't think I would, but it gets tempting when there's a player of that caliber there.

I have no idea what the Eagles will do. It doesn't sound like Tennessee is looking to trade out of the second spot. Will they take Mariota, or will he fall? If he starts to fall, where does he stop falling? Everyone now seems to think the Titans will take Mariota, but he's not a good system fit for them. It's going to be a very interesting night.

[Hoovermom]

Woo-hoo, Jameis Winston #1 draft pick. I was hoping to read more of what you are saying about tonight.

[gardenman]

I think Winston was a good pick for the Bucs. He'd scare the heck out of me if I was the coach/GM with his off the field issues, but he's a very good, pro-ready QB.

I was more than a little surprised to hear that Tennessee is planning to start Mariota day one. I'm not sure how good an idea that is. I really think he needs some time to grow into being an NFL player and a year or so on the bench would be wiser. Had he come to Philly, he'd have been surrounded with coaches/players who knew him/trusted him and had experience with him. He doesn't have that in Tennessee. I've got a feeling this won't be a fun year for Marcus Mariota. The Eagles reportedly offered two first round picks, a third round pick, Sam Bradford, Fletcher Cox and one other player (likely Mychal Kendricks) for Mariota, but Tennessee passed on that. I have a strong suspicion that Sam Bradford will vastly outplay Mariota this year.

[Hoovermom]

On 4/30/2015 gardenman said:

I think Winston was a good pick for the Bucs. He'd scare the heck out of me if I was the coach/GM with his off the field issues, but he's a very good, pro-ready QB.

I was more than a little surprised to hear that Tennessee is planning to start Mariota day one. I'm not sure how good an idea that is. I really think he needs some time to grow into being an NFL player and a year or so on the bench would be wiser. Had he come to Philly, he'd have been surrounded with coaches/players who knew him/trusted him and had experience with him. He doesn't have that in Tennessee. I've got a feeling this won't be a fun year for Marcus Mariota. The Eagles reportedly offered two first round picks, a third round pick, Sam Bradford, Fletcher Cox and one other player (likely Mychal Kendricks) for Mariota, but Tennessee passed on that. I have a strong suspicion that Sam Bradford will vastly outplay Mariota this year.

Did you listen to the NFL channel? They said the Bucs organization interviewed 75+ people and spent hundreds of hours vetting him. They said that they had heard all of the "media news" but made their own conclusions. It was approved all the way up the line to the owner. Pretty impressive if you ask me. I have been a Bucs fan since their first opening game (1976) Houston Oilers with Steve Spurrier at QB (was at that game). I have been with them through the good (Super Bowl champs with Jon Gruden) and bad (mostly bad LOL). Looking forward to great things with Winston. Good luck to Mariota.

[gardenman]

The Bucs did a lot of research on Winston and hopefully they'll be right, but a guy with his history would still scare me to death. False rape allegations are not uncommon, so I wouldn't be overly worried about that, but there's a lot besides that allegation in his background that would keep me sleepless for a while. I think he'll be fine on the field, but his off the field behavior is a bit scary to me.

[Hoovermom]

On 4/30/2015 gardenman said:

The Bucs did a lot of research on Winston and hopefully they'll be right, but a guy with his history would still scare me to death. False rape allegations are not uncommon, so I wouldn't be overly worried about that, but there's a lot besides that allegation in his background that would keep me sleepless for a while. I think he'll be fine on the field, but his off the field behavior is a bit scary to me.

We have lived in the Florida area and haven't heard anything else about him. I guess we should worry about all of the other players that have abuse cases against them? I am sure his gets the spotlight but no charges have been brought against him. Anyway.....

[gardenman]

And the first round of the draft is now behind us. I think the Redskins did pretty well in picking up the best offensive lineman in the draft. Stealing him from the Giants was also a nice touch. I'm sure the Giants groaned when he went off the board. I'm surprised the Cowboys took a high character defensive back in Byron Jones instead of a defensive lineman. It's not like the Cowboys to take a high character guy when there are sketchy guys available. The Eagles got a Jeremy Maclin clone in Nelson Agholor who's younger, faster, and healthier.

I'm not impressed with Tennessee and how they're handling Marcus Mariota.
Within minutes of drafting him they announced he'd be their starting quarterback in week one. Sure, let's not put any pressure on the kid. Not surprisingly this announcement didn't go over very well with Zach ("the poor man's Tom Brady") Mettenberger who's not even getting a chance to compete for the job and is now wanting to be traded. I don't think being named the immediate starter is ideal for Mariota. He's essentially a square peg and the Titans offense is a round hole. Eventually he'll adapt to it, but it's going to take some time and they aren't giving him any. I have a strong suspicion Mariota will be looked upon by the Titans as a bust in a few years time and discarded. There's a reason the Titans had the second overall pick in the draft and it wasn't because they didn't have a good quarterback. That's a talent deficient team and barring a miraculous upgrade in talent through the rest of the draft, they'll likely be at the top of the draft again next year. Then they'll likely be faced with the question of do they keep Mariota and hope he grows into their system, or ditch him and grab whoever the new hot young quarterback is?

[teganslaw]

I wasn't surprised to see Tampa pick Winston. He should be a good fit for them. Apparently, after checking him out, the Bucs didn't think his off the field issues would overcome his talent.

The Colts might face Mariota this season. I can handle that: Mariota vs Luck. I don't see the Titans going very far in the division.

The Colts needs are defense and they choose Phillip Dorsett, a wide receiver. I didn't expect that. Nothing against Dorsett, as he seems talented, but the team doesn't need another WR. No faith in Duron Carter? I was reading that Pagano was looking for the highest graded player available at the moment rather than the position needed. According to the Colts' board, Dorsett was rated higher than some of the defensive players, so they went with the rating. Maybe the Colts know what they're doing. The second round is tonight, so I'll have to see what happens.

[gardenman]

Well, the Colts pick of Dorsett now makes a bit more sense. They've cut Josh Cribbs, so apparently Dorsett is his replacement.

Luck vs. Mariota won't be a fair fight. The Colts should dominate those games for a few years. I've got a bad feeling that Marcus Mariota is a bit doomed in Tennessee. There's not that much of a team around him and as good as he can become, he's got a long ways to go. I have a feeling they'll be up at the top of the draft again next year and trying to decide whether to draft another franchise QB (likely from Ohio State) or not. I'm guessing they'll pick another QB and Mariota will be dismissed as a system quarterback who can't play unless in the perfect system.

Round two has now started with the Giants moving up to take the first pick in round two. The Giants gave up two extra picks (and their second round pick) to move up eight spots. I'm not sure I'd spend that much in picks to get a guy in round two and especially a guy like Landon Collins the safety from Alabama. He's a good box safety, but lacks a bit in coverage. I'm pretty sure the Eagles and Cowboys are already sketching plays to get him singled up on their tight ends. Getting him lined up man to man with a Zach Ertz or Jason Witten will bring a smile to every quarterback.