Okay, so it’s a little over two weeks to go, but you get my point and I’m not going to make this headline any longer than it already is. Here is my updated big board if you want to take a look at it…with my sincerest apologies for forgetting to update it with every little big board update post I make here on Patreon. At this point, my brain is turning to mush, and while there’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, I still have a ton of work to do (draft stuff and beyond), so I admit that I’m starting to crack a little bit.
Nonetheless, I wanted to stop and take a little bit of time today to step back and look at the big picture for a moment. Hey, a little self-awareness never hurt anyone! A few notes:
*At this point, I’m starting to whittle down my list of guys I really want to dive into – I have 55 more guys to get through, but just 18 of those are “must watch” guys. So, I’m feeling pretty good about where I’m at. With a good two weeks, I’m hoping I can knock that out, and then free up some time to get around to my ‘just guys’ list – there are a few names on it that I see popping up on Draft Twitter (Tuli Tuipulotu, Ricky Stromberg, John Ojukwu) that I want to slow down and take a closer look at because the opinions floating around make me think my instincts may be off about each of those guys.
*Some guys I’m continually flip-flopping – Peter Skoronski, Dawand Jones, Josh Downs, Anton Harrison, Hendon Hooker. With Skoronski, it’s the old “what’s he really going to be?” debate, and if we’re having that debate, does it mean he’s not going to be anything? Am I overthinking it here or does Skoronski have some bust potential in him? With Jones, I just don’t know what kind of shape the dude’s in. With Downs, it’s all about the size – he is as explosive as they come, but I can’t get over what an outlier he’d be if he were to succeed in the NFL at his size. At times, I think back to Harrison’s tape and think I’ve got him way too low because of his ability as a pure pass protector. And, I really want to like Hooker for the technique aspect of his game, but there are just so many dice rolls with him that I end up paralyzed trying to place him on this board.
*Guys I need to update – Clayton Tune, Trey Palmer, Jaren Hall, Jarrett Patterson, Keion White. I did a deep dive into Tune’s tape beyond the couple of games I watched after the Senior Bowl and came away more impressed by him, but I just haven’t updated my blurb on him. I didn’t like Palmer or Hall at all after the Senior Bowl – honestly, they ended up near the bottom of my board when I first constructed it, and as I added guys ranked ahead of them, I noticed they were probably much lower than they should be. I want to get a few more opinions on Patterson – I like him a lot, and at one point, he was considered a fringe first rounder, but he seems to be sliding a bit in mocks and I haven’t done my homework as to why that is. Similar sort of thing with White, though I don’t think it’s been as dramatic a fall as Patterson’s.
*Late risers: Grant DuBose, Sydney Brown, BJ OJulari, Cedric Tillman – Okay, it’s dumb for me to put Ojulari and Tillman here because they aren’t actually late risers…I’m just late in getting around to them. But, I do want to mention both because I liked them both way more than I thought I would have before diving into them. I watched a couple more Illinois games as I was evaluating Big Ten offensive players, and ended up moving Brown up the board because of it. Specifically, his coverage on Sam LaPorta was pretty damn good for the bulk of that game. With DuBose, you have a prospect that has some really intriguing tools – a smooth release, natural hands, and YAC potential. But, he doesn’t have a lot of experience, and he didn’t play the most daunting level of competition. But, I’m happy to see that draft nerds are starting to catch on to him a bit and his name is starting to get out there more.
*I’m working on a piece for this week about the deepest position groups in the draft, but spoiler alert – this running back class is stupid deep with guys that have potential to turn into RB1s. I also like the corners, EDGE guys, and the interior offensive linemen quite a bit too.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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