2026 Draft Week Chatter Thread...

Genghis Khan said:
Yeah I really believe Lawrence wasn't going to last much longer. A few picks max.

And that's fine if you like a bunch of players about the same.

But if you don't, if you think he's head and shoulders above the rest, just take your guy.

They already traded down once and picked up a couple more picks. Don't get greedy.
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If TJ Parker was my next best I'm glad we didn't risk it.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
If TJ Parker was my next best I'm glad we didn't risk it.
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Parker’s a good comparison, or maybe R Mason Thomas, Cashius Howell, Derrick Moore, or Zion Young, 3, 8, 9, 12, and 13 picks into the second round. Or Gabe Jacas exactly one round later than we chose Lawrence in the 1st at 23rd in the 2nd.

Is Lawrence so much better than these guys that we could only drop three picks to get our EDGE? He was solidly in the midst of that group pre-draft, and it was a surprise to see him jump to the first round.

We could have dropped a bit more and received even more draft capital. Is Lawrence worth Jacas and another 2nd/future 1st plus another 4th because that’s the point differential (360 points) between 23rd in the first and 23rd in the 2nd.

We’ve convinced ourselves that Lawrence is worth all that, but I’m not sure.
 
You come up with all these fantastic trade down scenarios like they're as easy to obtain as getting out of bed. Yet, I don't remember anybody trading their first round pick for a 2027 1st. Maybe they did and I don't remember. Enlighten me.

We all can conjure up these fantasy trades. Doesn't mean they'll come to fruition tho.

And as for it being a surprise seeing Lawrence go in the first, maybe it was to you. But to most that were paying attention, it wasn't a surprise at all. Hell, it's been mentioned by multiple people that both Buffalo and San Francisco were targeting him in the first. And they both bailed out of their picks after he was taken by us.
 
ravidubey said:
Each finding fantasy trades to do so.
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Oh, is that so? They dropped a few spots, just like we did. But I sure didn't see them gathering up all these next year 1sts and 2nds like you were bloviating about. The niners dropped a couple spots and the Bills traded down a few times, picking up a 2nd and 3rd after dropping out of the first completely. Also swapped pick places a time or two. Certainly nothing earth shattering like you mentioned above.

Notice you just dismissed their interest in Lawrence, tho. But then again, that wouldn't have supported your "surprise at being taken in the first" theory.
 
NoDak said:
Oh, is that so? They dropped a few spots, just like we did. But I sure didn't see them gathering up all these next year 1sts and 2nds like you were bloviating about. The niners dropped a couple spots and the Bills traded down a few times, picking up a 2nd and 3rd after dropping out of the first completely. Also swapped pick places a time or two. Certainly nothing earth shattering like you mentioned above.

Notice you just dismissed their interest in Lawrence, tho. But then again, that wouldn't have supported your "surprise at being taken in the first" theory.
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I don’t think there’s a person here who was expecting Lawrence to go in the first. Show us those posts, if you would. It was a total surprise.

And I’m not saying teams had to trade down so far, but was describing the difference between Lawrence and Jacas in draft trade value as an illustration. It’s 410 points to drop from 1-23 to 2-23, are we saying Lawrence and a chance at an option year are that much better than Jacas?

I don’t think so because it’s a deep class. Parker is a good rusher despite Clemson’s underachieving as a whole. So are Howell, R, and a bunch of these guys.

The Cowboys were saying Lawrence was not only better than all of them, but he was worth the extra draft capital that a trade down would have bought.

I think they wanted to show off a second 1st round pick as much as anything else, but Lawrence was a reach at 23. I think they could have had any of those guys I was bloviating about, taken the extra picks and done better overall.

Seriously. Show me the mocks where any of us had Dallas taking Lawrence in the 1st round.
 
ravidubey said:
Seriously. Show me the mocks where any of us had Dallas taking Lawrence in the 1st round.
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Ravi, my man... Several of us had him going to us, and hoping for it.

Here's an article with all the pundits predicting it:


Where is UCF football's Malachi Lawrence projected in NFL mock drafts?

Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com (April 22): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports (April 23): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY (April 23): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Dan Parr, NFL.com (April 23): Tampa Bay Buccaneers via trade with Pittsburgh, Round 1, No. 21 overall

Trevor Sikkema, NFL Stock Exchange (April 22): Los Angeles Chargers, Round 1, No. 22 overall

Dane Brugler, The Athletic (April 15): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports (April 23): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Field Yates, ESPN (April 23): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Jordan Reid, ESPN (April 20): San Francisco 49ers, Round 1, No. 27 overall

Connor Rogers, NBC Sports (April 22): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Jacob Infante, PFSN (April 20): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Lance Zierlein, NFL.com (April 22): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Peter Schrager, ESPN (April 22): Dallas Cowboys via trade with Kansas City, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Eric Edholm, NFL.com (April 20): New England Patriots, Round 1, No. 31 overall

Nathan Jahnke, Pro Football Focus (April 20): New England Patriots, Round 1, No. 31 overall

Matt Miller, ESPN (April 23): Seattle Seahawks, Round 1, No. 32 overall
 
Chocolate Lab said:
Ravi, my man... Several of us had him going to us, and hoping for it.

Here's an article with all the pundits predicting it:


Where is UCF football's Malachi Lawrence projected in NFL mock drafts?

Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com (April 22): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports (April 23): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY (April 23): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Dan Parr, NFL.com (April 23): Tampa Bay Buccaneers via trade with Pittsburgh, Round 1, No. 21 overall

Trevor Sikkema, NFL Stock Exchange (April 22): Los Angeles Chargers, Round 1, No. 22 overall

Dane Brugler, The Athletic (April 15): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports (April 23): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Field Yates, ESPN (April 23): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Jordan Reid, ESPN (April 20): San Francisco 49ers, Round 1, No. 27 overall

Connor Rogers, NBC Sports (April 22): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Jacob Infante, PFSN (April 20): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Lance Zierlein, NFL.com (April 22): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Peter Schrager, ESPN (April 22): Dallas Cowboys via trade with Kansas City, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Eric Edholm, NFL.com (April 20): New England Patriots, Round 1, No. 31 overall

Nathan Jahnke, Pro Football Focus (April 20): New England Patriots, Round 1, No. 31 overall

Matt Miller, ESPN (April 23): Seattle Seahawks, Round 1, No. 32 overall
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Daaaaaaaaamn. :lol
 
Chocolate Lab said:
Ravi, my man... Several of us had him going to us, and hoping for it.

Here's an article with all the pundits predicting it:


Where is UCF football's Malachi Lawrence projected in NFL mock drafts?

Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com (April 22): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports (April 23): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY (April 23): Dallas Cowboys, Round 1, No. 20 overall

Dan Parr, NFL.com (April 23): Tampa Bay Buccaneers via trade with Pittsburgh, Round 1, No. 21 overall

Trevor Sikkema, NFL Stock Exchange (April 22): Los Angeles Chargers, Round 1, No. 22 overall

Dane Brugler, The Athletic (April 15): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports (April 23): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Field Yates, ESPN (April 23): Buffalo Bills, Round 1, No. 26 overall

Jordan Reid, ESPN (April 20): San Francisco 49ers, Round 1, No. 27 overall

Connor Rogers, NBC Sports (April 22): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Jacob Infante, PFSN (April 20): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Lance Zierlein, NFL.com (April 22): Kansas City Chiefs, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Peter Schrager, ESPN (April 22): Dallas Cowboys via trade with Kansas City, Round 1, No. 29 overall

Eric Edholm, NFL.com (April 20): New England Patriots, Round 1, No. 31 overall

Nathan Jahnke, Pro Football Focus (April 20): New England Patriots, Round 1, No. 31 overall

Matt Miller, ESPN (April 23): Seattle Seahawks, Round 1, No. 32 overall
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Props for the effort on this one. It was pretty obvious the guy was going in the first round.

Lawrence is a different kind of athlete/player/talent than the TJ Parks of this world in my opinion. We got the best one. These guys aren't just all automatically the same where it's better to trade down and get more picks. I doubt the Cowboys had another pass rusher with touching tags to Lawrence.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Lawrence is a different kind of athlete/player/talent than the TJ Parks of this world in my opinion. We got the best one. These guys aren't just all automatically the same where it's better to trade down and get more picks. I doubt the Cowboys had another pass rusher with touching tags to Lawrence.
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Same. Could those guys be better than him, of course it's possible. But teams, including us, wanted that extra bit of burst and speed that can separate an average rusher at the NFL level from an upper tier guy.
 
ravidubey said:
I don’t think there’s a person here who was expecting Lawrence to go in the first. Show us those posts, if you would. It was a total surprise.

And I’m not saying teams had to trade down so far, but was describing the difference between Lawrence and Jacas in draft trade value as an illustration. It’s 410 points to drop from 1-23 to 2-23, are we saying Lawrence and a chance at an option year are that much better than Jacas?

I don’t think so because it’s a deep class. Parker is a good rusher despite Clemson’s underachieving as a whole. So are Howell, R, and a bunch of these guys.

The Cowboys were saying Lawrence was not only better than all of them, but he was worth the extra draft capital that a trade down would have bought.

I think they wanted to show off a second 1st round pick as much as anything else, but Lawrence was a reach at 23. I think they could have had any of those guys I was bloviating about, taken the extra picks and done better overall.

Seriously. Show me the mocks where any of us had Dallas taking Lawrence in the 1st round.
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If someone was offering a 2nd and a 2027 first, that was clearly the right move.

But actually, reports were that no one was interested in moving a 2027 first, this year.

So unless you have info that such a trade was being offered, I have to assume in this instance that it wasn't available. I think sometimes you can read between the lines and infer offers being available, but not this specific one at this specific time.

I think it's safe to say you could have moved down from 23 again, maybe to 26 or so. And that would have brought back what, a fourth and fifth? Two fifths?

So now the question becomes, is Malachi Lawrence worth TJ Parker and two fifths? Or Jacob Rodriguez and two fifths?

Eh. Now I become not so sure.
 
Cotton said:
I think some of us were quite clear we would take him at 20.
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I mean, "some of us," can be illusory, though, cause fans often follow the team's lead. You hear the team is thinking about him, you research, you fall in love, you mimic.

Same with some of the journos, really. They hear Dallas is thinking of a player, they want to get the call right, they mock him to Dallas. That doesn't really prove that Lawrence was "being considered," in that range by other teams.

But.... the fact that there's a bunch of projections there to other teams like Buffalo and KC, yeah, that pretty well establishes that a bunch of people had him at the end of the first round.
 
Smitty said:
I mean, "some of us," can be illusory, though, cause fans often follow the team's lead. You hear the team is thinking about him, you research, you fall in love, you mimic.
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Maybe sometimes, but in this case people were on him early, well before anything from the team or the media who follow it. I know I noticed him in February with his combine testing, and others like NoDak and IIRC C-Rock, probably Simp, were noticing him before that.
 
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