2025 College Football Chatter

[Cujo]

That is weird.

OU did look good Saturday, though. Looks more and more like they just laid a huge egg against Texas, for whatever reason.

Looked at their schedule and it's their 2nd game in a row, on the road, against a ranked opponent. That may account for it. Especially after the way they lost on Saturday.

 

[Simpleton]

Yeah I need to watch some Ohio State. Arvell Reese is going to be one of these LBers that appears worthy of a high draft pick. Sonny Styles is pretty highly ranked as well. And both guys are tall full sized LBers. And then there is CJ Allen at Georgia. And again I always start skeptical of Georgia defenders but I need to study him a little to see if he is legit or another overrated Georgia defender.

Georgia does weird shit with their interior DL and edge rushers, they have a track record of quality "off-ball" LB's, namely Roquan Smith, and I think Allen is in a similar mold. I'm curious to see how he times at the Combine though.

Reese is a pure stud, he's probably a top 10 lock so I don't think he's even on the table for us. Styles is good but I'm not sure I'm totally sold on him in the top 20, I'd be down with him with the Packers pick which will probably be around 25.

 

[bbgun]

 

[1bigfan13]

@1bigfan13 @Chocolate Lab

The line for OU/Ole Miss opened at OU -3.5. Seems like a fishy line to me. Ole Miss is better than Texas, imo.

Ole Miss is definitely better than Texas.

I guess Vegas is factoring in that Mateer wasn't healthy vs Texas.

It also helps that Ole Miss' defense isn't that great. I saw where they're ranked something like 99th in the nation in run defense.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Georgia does weird shit with their interior DL and edge rushers, they have a track record of quality "off-ball" LB's, namely Roquan Smith, and I think Allen is in a similar mold. I'm curious to see how he times at the Combine though.

Reese is a pure stud, he's probably a top 10 lock so I don't think he's even on the table for us. Styles is good but I'm not sure I'm totally sold on him in the top 20, I'd be down with him with the Packers pick which will probably be around 25.

Where does the Texas LBer fall in there for you? Anthony Hill seems to fit in the second grouping as well. Like I said, pretty good LBer class.

 

[Rev]

Where does the Texas LBer fall in there for you?

Im pretty sure he is the top pick of the draft.

 

[Simpleton]

Where does the Texas LBer fall in there for you? Anthony Hill seems to fit in the second grouping as well. Like I said, pretty good LBer class.

In the mix with Styles, I think after Allen.

Reese is the clear top guy and that's not changing unless he murders a hooker.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

In the mix with Styles, I think after Allen.

Reese is the clear top guy and that's not changing unless he murders a hooker.

Most of these guys I'd be looking at with the Packers pick. Reese is the one guy I'd be willing to use a top 10 pick on. Unfortunately right now the Dallas pick doesn't look to be that high.

 

[Simpleton]

Random thought on QB's, but if Ty Simpson is there when we pick I'd strongly consider it.

I suspect that it's probably going to end up moot one way or the other, either he'll end up continuing his strong play and be a top 5ish lock, or he'll drop off a bit and either go back to school, but he looks like possibly the best QB who could come out next year.

It's between him, Moore and Mendoza, but I think I might like Simpson the most.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Random thought on QB's, but if Ty Simpson is there when we pick I'd strongly consider it.

I suspect that it's probably going to end up moot one way or the other, either he'll end up continuing his strong play and be a top 5ish lock, or he'll drop off a bit and either go back to school, but he looks like possibly the best QB who could come out next year.

It's between him, Moore and Mendoza, but I think I might like Simpson the most.

One year college QBs are always really hard for me. Nothing against the way the kid is playing but there is no replacement for playing live action football for multiple seasons in college. Like you said, he is probably either a top 5 lock or he stays an extra year to try to develop more. Which is becoming easier for college kids to do because they make millions in college.

My preference is for a front 7 guy with our top pick unless someone at QB just blows our scouts away. Or a safety like Downs falling. Dak is playing so well I just doubt we will have a pick in the top 10. So that means guys who would be a perfect fit like Rueben Bain Jr., Peter Woods and Arvell Reese are probably off the table. I actually wonder a little if Reese doesn't have some Parson's to him in terms of ability (The Parsons we drafted not the freak pass rusher he became). He is a hell of a pass rusher as a LBer and his 6'4" 243 pound body type is just rare these days. But much like Parsons the furthest he is probably going to fall is in the 10-12 range.

The WR class is starting to look pretty damn good. But unless we blow it with Pickens it's not a need at all. So then you're really looking more at the Keldric Faulk big edge vs David Bailey/Cashius Howell small edge or maybe a big DT.

And nothing against David Bailey/Cashius Howell I think I'm leaning more towards a big edge. Maybe it's just a little burnout from Ezuraku coming along slowly but he was an absolute freak pass rusher in college. And I fully think he will get there in the NFL but we have that guy already. In my opinion an end like Faulk or Bain (Out of our reach) makes far more sense.

 

[Simpleton]

I generally agree about avoiding smaller edges but Bailey looks so special off the edge that I think I'd do it and just preserve him and Ezeiruaku by not playing them too much on neutral downs.

Definitely out on guys like Howell though, not special enough for me to take someone that undersized.

 

[Rev]

I generally agree about avoiding smaller edges but Bailey looks so special off the edge that I think I'd do it and just preserve him and Ezeiruaku by not playing them too much on neutral downs.

Definitely out on guys like Howell though, not special enough for me to take someone that undersized.

We will make you a Red Raider fan yet.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I generally agree about avoiding smaller edges but Bailey looks so special off the edge that I think I'd do it and just preserve him and Ezeiruaku by not playing them too much on neutral downs.

Definitely out on guys like Howell though, not special enough for me to take someone that undersized.

Yeah I'm not as sure about Bailey as you are. I was really sure about EZ though. And I still think I'll be right about EZ, I just think everyone is in a rush to make a judgment on a guy who is 7 games into his NFL career. But on the same token it makes me hesitant on Bailey. Of course if Bailey goes and runs a 4.4 forty or something I'll probably change my opinion. Right now he looks really good but I also acknowledge that the Raiders use him out of a two point stance on every play. I'm not really sure he is a real DE at this point.

 

[Simpleton]

We will make you a Red Raider fan yet.

My MiL knows your coach's wife somehow, so maybe!

 

[Simpleton]

Yeah I'm not as sure about Bailey as you are. I was really sure about EZ though. And I still think I'll be right about EZ, I just think everyone is in a rush to make a judgment on a guy who is 7 games into his NFL career. But on the same token it makes me hesitant on Bailey. Of course if Bailey goes and runs a 4.4 forty or something I'll probably change my opinion. Right now he looks really good but I also acknowledge that the Raiders use him out of a two point stance on every play. I'm not really sure he is a real DE at this point.

What I'm saying is that I don't care if he's a pure/true DE or not, he's such a special edge rusher I think you take it (presumably in the 15-20ish range) and then work around how to preserve him on run downs.

It's what we should've done with Parsons and it requires a mindset shift, you have to be ok with the fact that pass rush is so important that it's ok to spend a 1st and a potentially big contract on a guy who only plays 60% of the snaps if they're undersized.

We can fill in around them with a rotation of JAG types who can absorb some of the punishment on run downs, and then when it's 2nd and 7 and 3rd and 5, you throw Bailey and Ezeiruaku out there.

 

[Simpleton]

At this point when I'm looking at the draft I'm basically just looking at defensive players and then outliers.

To the point above, a potential franchise QB is an outlier, but I also think Jeremiyah Love might also be an outlier that you have to consider if available at 15-20 or where ever we end up.

Like Lamb/Pickens he'd be a perfect complement to Williams, a home run hitter and elite receiver out of the backfield paired with Williams being the physical grinder between the tackles.

He's not as good of a prospect as Robinson or Jeanty but I think he's definitely in the conversation with a guy like Gibbs as a prospect.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

What I'm saying is that I don't care if he's a pure/true DE or not, he's such a special edge rusher I think you take it (presumably in the 15-20ish range) and then work around how to preserve him on run downs.

Yeah and I agree that he is a very talented pass rusher. So was Mike Green and so was Donovan Ezeiruaku. Both of which have combine for I think 1 sack so far this season.

With that being said he is a different pass rusher than Ez. He isn't using a bunch of pass rush moves to beat OT's. He basically beats people with burst and bend. And for being only 250 pounds he sort of has a compact and powerful looking frame. I'll be curious to see how he runs because I think that speed and quickness is such a massive part of his game. And it's not just how he is playing at Tech this year, which has been an exceptional season. But he was really good at Stanford as well. And he played a similar role at Stanford where his hand was literally just never in the ground.

And ultimately I'm with you in that I'm hunting just the most impactful players we can get. Preferably I'd like the most impactful defender we can get. Because we are desperate on that side of the ball for anyone that can really make splash plays.