If Warren is gone, who would you take?
 

Warren could be picked before he gets to the Colts. Who would you like to see them take instead? Or would you trade down?

I personally like

Jihaad Campbell - phenomenal athlete that can play multiple roles including rush on third downs.

Colston Loveland - a very good TE and might be a more fluid athlete than Warren. More traditional and would be a dangerous threat in the middle and down seams.

Grey Zabel - he’s been shooting up boards. Can play every position on the line. Would probably be an all pro center or guard. Maybe five guys in the nfl that can play every position.

Will Johnson - would be a great tandem with the new secondary. Was a bit hurt this year.

There are probably more guys as well.

This is a really weak draft at the very top end. One of the weakest i can remember regards the top 10-15 players. There are probably only 4 or 5 players who i consider to be elite players. After that there is talent, but not to the point where there is a generally a steep drop off in talent to the next man at that position (the big exception being LB). Overall I think there is a degree of depth to this draft.

The really top guys are Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, Mason Graham, Ashton Jeanty.

Do i like Tyler Warren? Yeah i do, but in other drafts he would be a 20-30 selection. Loveland is a mariginally lesser talent, who if he were to fall to the late 20's to early 30's, that's his sweet spot. Then you have Mason Taylor, who is probably a 40-60 talent. After that there is a drop off to the next TE.

Jihaad Campbell is a really good player, the best LBer in the draft, but he is again a player who would be in the 20's range if he were in last years draft. The next guy is either Schwesinger or Demetrius Knight who should be drafted a full rounder later at least.

I wouldn't be upset if we drafted any of Warren, Loveland or Campbell at 14, i expect Warren to go earlier, and i think Loveland is a bit early at 14, Campbell i would be happy with. But i think we should be trying to trade down to the mid to late 20's, or even into the top of the 2nd round. This is where the value starts to match the talent a little better.

In years past to get a Brock Bowers, i would be all for trading up, but that level of talent isn't there after the first 4 picks.

RB has incredible depth, the receiver position is also pretty deep, TE isn't too bad, the offensive line is deep down to the late 4th round. QB is really bad this year, i am not even sold on Cam Ward, certainly not at the top of the draft, to me he is more a mid 1st rounder, Sanders a late 1st, after that i am not sure there is anyone who will be a long term starter in the NFL.

That's about right. Interesting thing about this draft is there are several guys I would be happy to take.

-Campbell would be very exciting. I let the "off-ball LB" stigma keep me from considering him for a while, but fuck that. The dude flies around, can cover, and rush. I mean, they'd line him up at Edge some... That'd be a nice weapon for Anarumo keeping the offenses unsure.

-Loveland would be great... I just like Warren better, mainly in-line. But he's bigger than people realize and I think Steichen would utilize him well, too.

-Will Johnson is my favorite corner and would be a nice way to stack the secondary in one offseason. It just seems a little less "necessary" than other picks. That said, if they want go all-in and flood the DB room, I wouldn't complain.

-Jahdae Barron would be similar in that regard, but more of the slot role and heir to Moore. Which, in a way, would be another wildcard type player for Anarumo like Campbell.

-Zabel and Booker also don't seem as "necessary", but are interesting. Booker would be fun to watch on power runs and pass-pro... I don't know that Steichen could put him out in space like Nelson, though. He fucking buries guys.

Firstly, Colston Loveland, like Tyler Warren, is a "sprint up the card" kind of pick at 14. If neither Loveland nor Warren are there, my first thought would be to trade down. If that's not available, I would draft one of Derrick Harmon, Jihaad Campbell, or Nick Emmanwori. In hundreds of scenarios I've run, I've never seen a scenario in which one of those options was not available.

Warren yes run to the podium! Loveland is a guy I would trade down and target. I could also see us trading back far enough to take DT Kenneth Grant (We NEED DT), and then taking Mason Taylor in the 2nd.

The COVID eligibility rules gave extra years to older players, which impacted playing time of the younger players. Add in NIL deals that make it easier for talent to develop an additional year in college, and here we are. This draft has been impacted greatly by these two factors. That is why I am glad Tennessee chose this draft to get the top pick, because it will slow their return to being a competitive team. It is also why there was a run on QBs the past two years, because everyone knew this class would be weak. (By this, I mean the picks by MINN and ATL of a QB despite already having a guy at the starter position.

I said this to make another point, but left it out. This is not a draft where I would trade back, because the talent drop-off is huge. If Ballard were more secure in his status as GM, then maybe trade back, but he is on the hot seat, and has to get the best he can get instead of looking for value.

If Warren is gone and Loveland is there, then he has to be the pick right? We desperately need an upgrade if not upgrades at TE, and both Warren and Loveland appear to be difference makers. If both Warren and Loveland are gone and we can't trade up then it's BPA I suppose.

I'd be ok if we end up trading up for either of them, especially for Warren. I'd actually prefer we start trading up more than trade down. We need to add difference makers, not a bunch of high RAS score JAGs that we always seem to end up w/ when we trade down a bunch.

I don't entirely agree with what you have written/implied. The true top end talent isn't there this year, but i think from the 10th pick to the 90th picks are all what would have been 2nd or 3rd rounders in the last few years. So in my opinion the depth is still reasonably ok in relation to recent drafts.

This is true. There are only maybe 12 to 15 true first round talent players in this draft. After that are probably 40 2nd round guys and 60 3rd round guys. So it is a deep draft beyond the top 12-15, particularly at RB, TE, LB and DB.