Draft, 2024 Summation

[Fletch59]

 We get a moment of hindsight with the draft fully done, seeing that though Carolina's primaries said things weren't about surrounding Bryce Young, three of the first four picks - 32 through 101 - support Young directly. Now, picks don't equal needs, certainly considering that they have more insight to said needs than we do (C, for instance, they have since clarified includes Brady Christensen).   They didn't go down the list of needs that the external audience expected - which included C, CB - in that order.   They can easily find their way out of that, of course, by going Best Player, but at times it's hard to say if they did. *32 - The longer time goes, the Xavier Legette pick grows on me.   The trade from 33 to 32, still seems unnecessary to me.  But some valued opinions like it enough, and of course I didn't know Bill Belichick also suggested it was a likely reason.   Turns out to add color, the Pats at 34 were also trying to go for 32 and got out-bid by Carolina, supposedly.   In that range, if Carolina thought there was going to be a run on WR, they were right.  It didn't cost that much, but there was a lot of stress put on draft picks in the 5th, and a lot of it squandered. *Trade down from 39 - this was a masterstroke, stealing tons of draft capital from the Rams. Getting a future 2, going down to 52.So that's where I gotta admit, I'll never know if Jonathan Brooks was going to be at 52, but I worry he could've been.  After Kool-Aid McKinstry, Kamari Lassiter, and Cooper DeJean all went, and same for Jackson Powers-Johnson, did they worry about getting the last guy on their board, or did they have so much love for Brooks and knew he was going to be high for 39? Either way, the trade back up from 52 to 46 was very expensive, dumping 142 and 155 to get him.  Feel like that's just way too high to snag a back, and the next one didn't go until 66.  But I really like the player, and absolutely, he fits very very well. 
But, having McKinstry and others there, and trading down, hope the back is worth it.*65 - Getting 157 was nice after losing the earlier 5ths (they at one point had 136, 141, 142, 155, and 157).  Trevin Wallace, much like Brooks above, represented one of the high picks at their position but at lower value positions.  It might've been early for Wallace, but I really like him and the fit here.  I wasn't personally a Payton Wilson guy. But if this is a need pick, instead of BPA, I would have preferred later. *So 101, with time to think about it, this might've been one of my favorite picks - Ja'Tavion Sanders.   I really liked Sanders, but felt like the guys behind him were more athletic.  At 101, if your tape is great, that's all that matters. Do I think I'd have loved Troy Franklin too?   Absolutely.  Franklin didn't need to fall that far and neither did Sanders. Sanders fits very well and I can't complain right there. Now, Sanders and Legette both add a lot of OG confidence and 50/50 ball ability, but that's the thing I think is funky.  Yes, you had the need for someone who could do that last year but I figured the MO was, go get guys who run great routes.   Sanders and Legette both do OK there but I figured the want would be, to continue to get route running. Now after that, a guy who can push outside corner, or C, might be a lot to ask.  An edge that can be your third best, probably not. So from here on, you're just taking fliers. And having already taken a WR, TE, RB, you probably won't push those guys from behind. *They ended up with only one of the five choices they held at different times in 5.  They ended up with Chau Smith-Wade, who I didn't know at all.  So comparison to what I would have done, means choosing between guys I know and a guy I didn't.  Not that fair.  I think he can be a good special teamer, and anything else is good fluff. *Jaden Crumedy is interesting - he's not the NT you might need but they like what they have, I suppose.  They were persnickety with their DL last year. *Michael Barrett, much like Smith-Wade, I see hopefully making it.  He's a good special teamer and that's all you have to be as a 7.   If you get more, great. If you get nothing, I think that's OK too. I don't think they did a lot of flash - you don't take a top RB and a top LB and end up flashy.  But I'm hopeful. 
Now the UDFAs - in a few days.  Now, rest. 

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