NFL (since 2016)

[crystal falace]

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

[ironsofcanada]

"zebthecat 12:32 Fri Apr 24 I would have liked Love at the 23 pick and was expecting him to be there. Huge athletic upside, struggled a little (17 interceptions) with a new Offensive coordinator at a small school. Interesting pick but maybe amazing for the future. Do you need him now."

[Lee Trundle]

"He'll be back up in his rookie season, for sure."

[zebthecat]

As for surprises; the Packers drafting Jordan Love. The fact that he was their first round pick means that he is not there to be a backup and Aaron Rodgers is 37. No pressure Jordan...

[southbankbornnbred]

"A decent, very solid first round draft by almost every team. I don't think we'll see too many complete busts from that first round - most teams filled key needs with solid starters, which is exactly what you need from your first round picks. I'm open minded about Burrow at #1 - he had a very good year last year (hence the Heisman), but it's hard to know whether that was more about his system at LSU. He's clearly got a decent arm and he seems to read his receivers and check-downs quickly. His biggest issue will be the franchise culture in Cincinatti. Miami got themselves the guy who, 12 months ago, many expected would be #1 pick. Tua's knee is the issue, obviously. Will it hold up once big pass rushers start getting to him? He's a great talent, no doubt. Reckon the Skins got the best player in the draft in Chase Young. He's going to cause problems off the edge - and from day one, too. He could start in the NF; tomorrow. Very good, quick, strong pass rusher who makes good defensive reads. Really solid set of receivers in the first round this year, too. So good picks for the travelling roadshow that is the Raiders, Denver and (unfortunately) the Cowgirls. As for my Jets, we desperately needed to protect Darnold next season and Mekhi Becton will do just that. 6ft 7"" and 365lbs of pure beef at left tackle. He's got a proper nasty streak, too, which we need. Good luck trying to edge rush past that fella. Final point: this modern phenomenon of not valuing decent running backs is going a little too far now. Just the one RB in the first round, and that was with the very last pick of the round. The Chiefs got themselves a good runner with Edwards-Helaire and he has excellent hands coing out of the backfield, too. He should have been drafted sooner - but the pass-hungry league currently does not value RB's at all. With that in mind, there are still some good RBs on the board for the 2nd and 3rd rounds today - and some very good receivers. The receiver class was deep this year. Some sides are going to pick up some absolute steals today."

[ironsofcanada]

Mr Hock was right on Miami it seems Saints surprised me and apparently the experts: went centre/guard. Not sexy but should make a good line even better. Never heard of this Cesar Ruiz . Any surprises elsewhere?

[cup of tea]

"1am, so probably about 3.45am"

[Hani]

When is the Draft meant to start? I thought it was 12.

[cup of tea]

"May as well stay up for this, fuck all else to do"

[medwayhammer1]

Just been reading the rumours regarding the mighty 'Fins...be interesting to see what happens. There prob fuck it up as usual anyway :-)

[IsaacHock]

"I'm sure they will be drafting to strengthen the OL with later picks, but the stories of trading up for anyone other than Tua are a smokescreen IMO."

[zebthecat]

IsaacHock 9:32 Thu Apr 23 Read on the NFL site that we might be considering trading up for an OT. More protection that Ryan FItzpatrick ever had last season.

[RBshorty]

If the Fins trade up. They are going for a OT. Unless they offer the Bengals a king ransom and get Burrow.

[IsaacHock]

"Any predictions? I think my Phins will take Tua, and I think they will trade up to 3 or 4 to make sure."

[El Scorchio]

Will watch this. Day off work booked tomorrow

[ironsofcanada]

1am For the first sort of sports in a while.

[Joe C]

Surely he'll have to give up his WWE belt? Can he do it?

[Nutsin]

Gronkowski wants to come back and play with Tom in Tampa. NFC south will be interesting next year.

[bobbymoore]

Chargers uniforms looking slick! https://www.chargers.com/news/new-uniforms-2020

[Nutsin]

"Yep, Tak Mike is one of the good guys. Hope he's alright. Yeah, wonderlic test doesn't mean much, I agree. Not when you look at some of the other players who did bad yet had an accomplished career, surprised by Dan Marino""s score."

[ooooh Morley Morley]

"If the redskins don't take Young at #2 then there is no hope for the ""ònew' era."

[El Scorchio]

Good point. He's not posted for almost a month. Hope he's OK.

[ironsofcanada]

Sorry and not to be alarmist but this thread makes me wonder where Tak. Miike has been.

[El Scorchio]

"Wonderlic scores are interesting, and 13 is pretty low there is correlation, but to argue you definitely can't be a good quarterback because of it, see below: Dan Marino 16 Terry Bradshaw 15 Randall Cunningham 15 Jim Kelly 15 Donovan McNabb 15 So it's not a death knell for him, but combined with the injuries, you'd have to say it's a risky pick that high."

[zebthecat]

"Not sure about the wonderlic test (or indeed any of the intelligence test). All they do is measure how good you are at doing the test not anything practical. I was always good at them but I can be spectatculary dense when it come to stuff I don't get. Lamar Jackson got 13 too and he turned out well. I seem to remember that Ryan Fitzpatrick got a brilliant score, he has had a good career but never threatened the bother the MVP."

[Nutsin]

*Tua scored 13 on his wonderlic test.