MichiganCardinal

I think if three QBs go in the top five there is a 50/50 or better chance that one of Carter/Anderson is sitting for us. And IMO it would make it three straight years of the perfect prospect for us falling into our laps, so maybe too much to ask for.

My Mock Draft 2.1 1. Carolina Panthers (Trade w/ CHI): Will Levis, QB, Kentucky 2. Houston Texans: Bryce Young, QB, Alabama 3. Arizona Cardinals: Tyree Wilson, EDGE, Texas Tech 4. Indianapolis Colts: CJ Stroud, QB, Ohio State 5. Seattle Seahawks (from DEN): Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia 6. Detroit Lions (from LAR): Will Anderson, EDGE, Alabama 7. Las Vegas Raiders: Myles Murphy, EDGE, Clemson 8. Atlanta Falcons: Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon 9. Chicago Bears (Trade w/ CAR): Peter Skoronski, OL, Northwestern 10. Philadelphia Eagles: Isaiah Foskey, EDGE, Notre Dame 11. Tennessee Titans: Paris Johnson, OT, Ohio State 12. Houston Texans (from CLE): Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU 13. New York Jets: Tyler Steen, OT, Alabama 14. New England Patriots: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State 15. Green Bay Packers: Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame 16. Washington Commanders: Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State 17. Pittsburgh Steelers: Jaelyn Duncan, OT, Maryland 18. Detroit Lions: Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas 19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Brian Branch, DB, Alabama 20. Seattle Seahawks: Lukas Van Ness, EDGE, Iowa 21. Los Angeles Chargers: Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois 22. Baltimore Ravens: Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida 23. Minnesota Vikings: Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina 24. Jacksonville Jaguars: Jordan Addison, WR, USC 25. New York Giants: Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee 26. Dallas Cowboys: O’Cyrus Torrence, OG, Florida 27. Buffalo Bills: Josh Downs, WR, North Carolina 28. Cincinnati Bengals: Darnell Washington, TE, Georgia 29. New Orleans Saints (from DEN thru SF): Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson 30. Philadelphia Eagles: Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia 31. Kansas City Chiefs: Tuli Tuipuloto, EDGE, USC Lions 2.18 - Antonio Johnson, DB, Texas A&M 2.26 - Cody Mauch, OG, North Dakota State 3.18 - Daiyan Henley, LB, Washington State 5.18 - Dante Stills, DT, West Virginia 6.5 (from DEN) - Jake Moody, K, Michigan 6.18 - Garrett Williams, CB, Syracuse

I think if they’re taking a guard that high they’re expecting them to be a day one starter. Jonah Jackson is the last guard we took that early and he started his rookie season. If you can afford to keep Vaitai, I’m not opposed to the rookie being a backup interior offensive linemen. But I don’t want to keep paying Vaitai OT money if there is a perfectly capable guard sitting on the bench.

Vaitai probably won’t be decided until after the draft. If we take a guard in the first three rounds, Vaitai probably gets cut and we have that rookie start at RG… otherwise, he’s brought back.

Probably not a freshman starter but I see potential

But can he get the yard on 4th & 1?

Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like there is a tier of donors between the mega-donors who get buildings named after them and the people like me who laugh in the face of donation requests (as if the outrageous amount I pay/paid in tuition isn't enough). I think every major program, whether they have a booster program in place like USC and Ohio State, or don't, like Michigan and Michigan State, can find a base willing to give for this purpose. You might have to be creative about it, like the fellowship idea. If a donor is willing to give $40,000 yearly for the "Gehringer_2 Scholarship" that goes to Buster B. Brainiac, I'm sure a subset would be willing to allocate that money instead to the "Gehringer_2 NIL Fellowship" that goes to Alan A. Athlete. Like I said though, I'm the type that will never give my schools a dime after I'm out. Maybe I'm not in tune enough with those who would and do... Even if I ever was in a position to do so, I would probably give to the local community college where I went to start, where $40,000 can make a huge difference in 10-20 students lives, who are low-income, minorities, first-generation, have kids of their own, have a criminal record, etc., instead of making a small difference for one year for one student-athlete or one triple legacy.

Not to pile onto Michigan State, but if they can find two donors to pay Mel friggin Tucker $95MM, I have serious doubts that Michigan Athletics is just simply incapable of calling up some of their closest friends and saying "hey Mr. 5* needs your support!"... If anything, I would think the richy rich types that make up large donor bases would be more inclined to pony up NIL money, in a twisted sense of getting to see that 5* make plays for Michigan from their box suite at The Big House, as opposed to the money going into the big pot that helps pay for the receptionist at Schembechler Hall and the Track and Field team's bussing to road meets. It would require new institutional systems of administration and oversight, and a year or two of implementation, but isn't administration, oversight, and fanciful projects what every university does best?

Let’s not wait until we are 1-6 to fire him. /s

It costs a lot to get your franchise QB. When people know that's what you're doing, the price goes up very quickly. I don't think allowing the Jets to pass 2-4 QB-needy teams in the Raiders and Panthers, maybe the Falcons and Titans too, comes for a price less than a 2024 1st to start. For context, the Bears went from 20 to 11 (400-point jump) to get Fields and had to surrender a future 1st to do so (in addition to a 4th and 5th). 13 to 6 is more than that, a 450-point jump. If the Jets call with that offer you say, "we'll get back to you" and immediately have five people make five phone calls, bidding their offer against those four teams above, as well as the Commanders. If the Jets aren't willing to give a 1st, I would sooner take the Raiders 2nd round pick and drop a single spot, guaranteeing you don't miss your guy. If that's the only offer out there, you have to consider it, but seven spots is a lot. Even assuming Carter and Anderson are gone, you have to know you may miss out on instant difference makers like your pick of Gonzalez/Porter/Witherspoon, Bijan Robinson, Tyree Wilson, Myles Murphy, and even Peter Skoronski.

These two tweets put some more pieces together.

I'm not that bent out of shape about losing Staley. Sure I would have preferred keeping everyone, but he is probably #4 or #5 on my coaches priority list. 1 - MCDC (if you count him) 2 - Ben Johnson 3 - Aaron Glenn 4 - Hank Fraley 5 - Duce Staley

I didn’t think that Staley would leave unless he was joining an Aaron Glenn staff. This may mean Glenn is staying. This also may mean Tanner Engstrand may receive a promotion to Assistant Head Coach now.

I guess the question is who you consider the big boys to be. For me right now in the NFC it's the Eagles and maybe the Niners if they can find a QB. I don't think there is another team in the NFC who I look at and see a perennial power in the making. And if you're at the point where you can realistically be the 2nd or 3rd best team in the conference with the right moves, you should damn well try to make those right moves. At that point you're on the fast track to be hosting a playoff game - to be favored in a playoff game - to be one or two wins (one or two opponent's mistakes or injuries) from the Super Bowl.

I agree that there is probably a Jim Harbaugh element of needing to be wanted. Last year the Bucs were pleading with him to return, and 10 franchises would have been waiting at the door if he didn’t want to return to Tampa. This year, Tampa is lukewarm on a return, and while I’m sure a franchise would eventually take him, it’s much more of a “let’s explore all of our options first”. I could still see him returning later in the off-season when a team is striking out on the market; or even returning if a playoff team suffers an injury at QB midway through next season.

Where are these leaks coming from? I imagine Ryan’s might leak that Denver made a late push for him, but everything else has to be Denver intel. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the Coach you just shipped off two high draft picks to acquire.

I would choose Denver over Houston for ownership alone. Ryans was smart to secure a six-year deal though. Should hopefully give him at least three seasons to right the ship, and he can blame the GM and get a new one if Caserio isn’t getting the job done.

A 1st and a 2nd for Payton and a 3rd. That makes much more sense than two 1sts.

Two hires happening almost simultaneously. Schefter says they weren’t related but I have my doubts.

Worth remembering too is that Tommy Kraemer could be brought back as well. He was expected to be the backup OG, and the starting RG when Vaitai went down, but went down with a back injury within the same week that Vaitai did. Kraemer could be had on a minimum contract. Brown was the 3rd string guard and the backup center.

I think Vaitai is one of the more nuanced decisions for them to make. If he’s retained he will absolutely be restructured into a one-year prove-it style of incentive laced deal, but the question is whether they will want him back at all, or will seek to replace him in the draft or free agency. If you’re guaranteed to get what you got in 2021, it’s a no brainer. Vaitai had a career year at RG, despite being a tackle by trade, and he’s only going to be 30. He was arguably our best offensive lineman in 2021... He’s coming off of a back injury though that can really mess with a lineman’s performance. The last thing you want is to sign him to a one-year deal to be your starting RG and have him come out, aggregate it in training camp, and go out again (i.e., Levi). Now you’re digging into depth again before you’ve even gotten a snap out of your starting five (yet again). Hank Fraley is one of the best in the business, but it’s not fair to be expecting him to turn Jonah Jackson into a starting caliber NFL guard.

“We exist too!” -NCAA

Tyree Wilson has the opportunity to have a Travon Walker-esque climb through the process. I wouldn't be surprised to see him overtake one of the two unanimous top defenders right now... He doesn't have the production of Anderson or the flash of Carter, but (like Walker) his athleticism and analytics are off the charts. Of the three names you mentioned, they could cut R.Okwara and Harris on June 1st and it wouldn't surprise me at all... That would be $17MM in combined freed cap space ($11MM in Okwara and $6MM in Harris). I would actually be more surprised if they didn't cut R.Okwara. I think Paschal is a little more versatile than you give him credit for. He could put on a little weight and slide to 3-tech in just one offseason. All three of Hutch, Paschal, and Wilson (or Anderson, or Murphy) could definitely both be on the field at the same time, with Paschal on the inside of either edge. Wilson (and Murphy) are more of a hand-in-the-dirt style of physical edge than Hutch (or Anderson), but it doesn't exclude them from lining up next to Paschal.

We need at least six more ex-players on this coaching staff for it to be successful. Reading around, it's unclear if Tanner Engstrand is getting a promotion or getting the boot.