Jane Slater's Top 3 Draft Picks to watch

[Cowboyny]

I bet the Cowboys have Washington rated over Mayer on their board. Cavanaugh made a good point about the RAS score. Mayer is barely better than Shultz. Washington is one of type tight ends in the history of the RAS.

Mayer is the far better football player, that not even in discussion. You draft a Washington for his upside potential which he may or may not ever reach.

 

[Gaede]

I think people are down on him because he is slow. But he is an excellent player

That's precisely it. People are draped all over him because he's not explosive at all. That's concerning, regardless of how crummy his QB was.

 

[Gaede]

Mayer is the far better football player, that not even in discussion. You draft a Washington for his upside potential which he may or may not ever reach.

I don't love Washington either. Basically the flipside of Mayer as a prospect. Low production, high potential.

That said, if part of the appeal of Mayer is that he helps the run game, then Washington should absolutely be in the running.

 

[visionary]

Trade down to top of rd 2 for a top rd 3 pick and take Avila of Scmitz

Benton at 58

Schoonmaker TE 3a

Abanikanda 3b

 

[baltcowboy]

Mayer is the far better football player, that not even in discussion. You draft a Washington for his upside potential which he may or may not ever reach.

The question is what would the Cowboys do?

 

[Cowboyny]

I don't love Washington either. Basically the flipside of Mayer as a prospect. Low production, high potential.

That said, if part of the appeal of Mayer is that he helps the run game, then Washington should absolutely be in the running.

Yes, but you also have to be a threat in the passing game or teams will know when you are running the football. 12 personnel with Mayer/Ferguson allows them to either run or pass out of the formation

 

[Cowboyny]

The question is what would the Cowboys do?

When you see all the top insiders mocking him, they have inside knowledge

 

[baltcowboy]

When you see all the top insiders mocking him, they have inside knowledge

Top insiders had us picking two guards, two cornerbacks and a pass rusher the last three years. That was not the picks obviously. Mayer does not fit their player profile. He was not a 30 visit. I have heard insiders say they love Washington. I know the tight end coach is drooling over him and worked him and Mayer out at the combine.

 

[JBS]

LOL, let’s trade away prime picks to chase a TB.

Elliott was a top five player in his draft. How did his drafting change the trajectory or the franchise?

Hint. It didn’t.

Yes. The best season this team has had in the last 5+ years wasn’t with zeke. Good one

 

[cnuball21]

I loved Witten. Will cheer like crazy the day he makes the HOF (which is inevitable)

But he played smaller and slower than his stats showed.

Mayer is the opposite.

At the end of his career yes…at the beginning of his career no.

Young Witten was a freaking monster stretching the seam down the middle.

 

[cnuball21]

No, not on Witten’s level who will be a hall of gamer. Mayer is certainly more like an old schooled type of TE, compared to the modern ones we see in today’s game. If they truly want to become balanced and help kickstart their run game, Mayer is a good fit.

Absolutely…but that just doesn’t warrant a 1st rounder IMO.

All good - I respect your opinion more than most on here and we just disagree on this one.

 

[CCBoy]

Wouldn't surprise me.....at all (lol)

The Eagles are stupid if they don't draft Robinson...flat out.

 

[CCBoy]

If Robinson or Gibbs, either one, are there at 12, then I'm trading up to get that player.

Otherwise this is what I'm looking for: 1 of the top 3 wide receivers; offensive linemen - O'Cyrus Torrence or Steve Avila; DT Smith. That's my first round in a week.

 

[Sydla]

I don't love Washington either. Basically the flipside of Mayer as a prospect. Low production, high potential.

That said, if part of the appeal of Mayer is that he helps the run game, then Washington should absolutely be in the running.

The appeal for Mayer is that he’s likely going to help you in the passing game way more than Washington, at least early, while also being an asset as a run blocker.

It’s his combo that some people like compared to Kincaid who is all pass, no block and Washington who is a big blocker but a real unknown as a consistent pass catcher.

 

[Sydla]

The Eagles are stupid if they don't draft Robinson...flat out.

LOL

 

[Sydla]

from mcginns anonymous scout article:

1. MICHAEL MAYER, Notre Dame (6-4 ½, 252, no 40, 1-2): Third-year junior left South Bend with 180 receptions, third on the school’s all-time list. “He’s everything you want off the field,” said one scout. “Typical Notre Dame guy. Arm length (31 5/8) is a little shorter than you want. He’s strong and powerful in run and pass. Good hands. Uses his body well to separate. Smart with the ball in his hands to get good RAC. Consistent player. Can compete for a starting job right out of the gate. I’d take him in the back half of the first.” Comes from a family filled with outstanding athletes. “He’s probably the best,” said a second scout. “He’s the most complete. Good route runner. Functional blocker. Very good (catching) in contested situations. Has good enough speed. I don’t think he’s a vertical threat down the seam. I don’t know if he’ll be a Pro Bowler but solid across the board.” Several scouts said he was a better prospect than Cole Kmet, another ex-Irish TE who went to the Bears in the second round in 2020. “I go with him No. 1 just because of his background,” said a third scout. “He’s a very solid short receiver. What did guys like Travis Kelce (4.63) and George Kittle (4.55) run? One thing he has, he knows how to position his body. He gets open by doing that. Now vertically, he is not going to help you at all. He makes a block effort, but is inconsistent.” Finished with those 180 catches for 2,099 (11.7) and 18 TDs. Scored 23 on the Wonderlic. “I thought he would be a conventional type tight end but he’s not a very good blocker,” a fourth scout said. “If he was a better blocker you could live with that (4.77). He’s a tough kid but the blocking and block effort and the strength just aren’t there. His route-running skills are really marginal at this point. In fact, I think they’re poor for a kid coming out of Notre Dame and that level of a program.” From Independence, Ky.

These are great but also hilarious because in many of McGinn’s write ups you’ll have two scouts say complete opposite things.

 

[Sydla]

They went 13 and 3 with a rookie qb who was third string when camp opened. If they get Robinson, they very well could win the championship.

They got bounced from the playoffs early. Just like the 2014 team that won 12 games with a third round TB.

In all his time here, the Cowboys with Elliott never did any better than the Cowboys teams before him.

 

[Sydla]

Yes. The best season this team has had in the last 5+ years wasn’t with zeke. Good one

The 2014 team won 12 games with a third round TB and won a playoff game and then got bounced.

That high water mark was never eclipsed with Elliott as the TB. Fact is as good as Elliott was at times, TBs aren’t really needle movers or franchise altering players.

 

[Cowboyny]

Absolutely…but that just doesn’t warrant a 1st rounder IMO.

All good - I respect your opinion more than most on here and we just disagree on this one.

Due to the poor receiver class, these TE’s are definitely getting pushed up. In my opinion, outside of Pitts, he is as good as some other TE’s recently drafted in the 1st rd, think he is as good as Hock from the Vikings and Engram

 

[gtb1943]

These are great but also hilarious because in many of McGinn’s write ups you’ll have two scouts say complete opposite things.

You do not know who is writing this; what is his track record; does he have any skins on the wall?

That is why I am always leery of any 'anonymous NFL source'