2023 NFL Draft Thread

[dbair1967]

 

[Scot]

Sounds like you don't exactly know shit about the player we drafted Scot.

He's really short, but he is not small and he has pretty powerful thighs. Massive production even against the best teams Kansas State played. The kid has mad cutting and vision and is a tremendous receiver. He's even good in pass protection despite his limited height.

His dad works for the team as a scout, but had removed himself completely from the draft process in regards to his son. He had no idea the Cowboys would end up taking him.

Vaughn rushed for nearly 3000 yards the past two seasons alone, caught another 91 passes those two seasons and scored 34 touchdowns. This past season he had nearly 300 carries for the season.

I'm not saying he is going to emerge as a #1 RB or anything, but the kid is a damn good football player and a very similar type player from the same school made a great career for himself in the NFL (Darren Sproles)

You are correct

I don’t know shit about this player.

But I do know that I want my RB to be bigger than Cole Beasley

 

[dbair1967]

You are correct

I don’t know shit about this player.

But I do know that I want my RB to be bigger than Cole Beasley

He's not going to be the starting RB and be expected to carry the ball 15-20 times a game.

He'd be part of a rotation.

Go watch his video dude.

 

[dbair1967]

This guy is a great football player.

He's not just some little gadget guy. Dude has superior vision and cutting ability, and he does break a lot of tackles.

 

[dbair1967]

 

[Aggiepride]

For any of you yahoos that don’t believe nepotism is rear with the Jones….

We needed a short yardage goal line bruiser.

What did we get instead?

a dwarf 5’5 185lb RB just because he is a coaches kid tells you all you need to know.

Just wait till Jeruh’s demon spawn of a grandchild enters the draft

31 other teams will have him listed as an UDFA

But Jeruh will trade his entire draft to move up and make sure he goes #1 overall to the Cowboys!

Yet darn tootin he will

They signed Luepke in FA. He apparently might have a shoulder problem per Broaddus, but he seems like a decent short yardage option if he can make special teams.

Maybe I'm higher on the Ronald Jones signing that most. I'm not saying that I would not have loved Bijan, Gibbs or Zach Charbonnet. But after that, it became too much of a guessing game for me to say I will move away from my board to reach for a RB or trade a mid round pick to get one.

Deuce might be tiny, but they didn't reach to take him where they took him.

Just go to YT and watch the kid run. He probably won't last past his first contract, but RB is a churn and burn position anyway.

And when I saw his highlights, I saw a funny thing. He is so short that it really is, as his father says, "his superpower" Defenders sort of can't tackle him because it's hard for them to get their body in the right position, and he is quick more than fast.

He uses his shortness to get under the defender and he drives his legs. If you believe in the idea that low man wins, then Deuce is naturally low. I saw one highlight where he also showed good jumping ability and jumped over the top.

He can catch the ball well too. So he could even be worked in the slot and be a Cole Beasley type, although I was never a Cole Beasley fan. He was too one-dimensional for a receiver. And if the shitty K State QB can throw the ball to Deuce, then surely our high-priced QB can do it.

Deuce is really not a bad pick for where they took him.

 

[Aggiepride]

Speaking of Luepke. I hope that McCarthy has an old-school vision for what a FB should do in the NFL and not the vision that Bryan Broaddus has.

Broaddus thinks a FB is a lead blocker. I totally disagree. I think a FB is a weapon. Some call such a position an H-back, whatever.

A FB should be part RB, part blocker (not just a lead blocker), and part receiver, whereas a true TE is part blocker and part receiver.

Robert Newhouse comes to mind. Newhouse was a genuine weapon. He didn't need to be a devastating blocker because teams also had to worry about him running the ball. That made fakes effective.

When I think back, I remember watching the greats, such as Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka. Mike Alstott. Franco Harris and John Riggins were technically fullbacks.

I would go so far as to say that if Zeke and Pollard played under Tom Landry, then Zeke would have been the FB and Pollard the halfback. Defenses would have had to make sure they made their proper check to be sure which one was carrying the ball.

 

[Aggiepride]

Forget that Deuce is tiny! He has a real chance to make it in the NFL! Now, with such a tiny body, I don't know how long he'll last in the NFL, but his tiny size also allows him to avoid some hits.

Dare I say the kid has a little Barry Sanders in him?

 

[dbair1967]

Dare I say the kid has a little Barry Sanders in him?

The vision and cutting ability certainly are similar. He may not have the pure long speed Sanders had but the pure RB skill is there.

He's also a really good receiver, which was not something Sanders was all that great at.

 

[dbair1967]

His highlight clips are unreal.

Enormous production. If he were 5'9 or 5'10 he'd have been a sure fire 1st rd pick I suspect. Definitely no worse than 2nd.

 

[Dodger12]

His highlight clips are unreal.

Enormous production. If he were 5'9 or 5'10 he'd have been a sure fire 1st rd pick I suspect. Definitely no worse than 2nd.

David, you're trying rrreeeaaallllll hard to either convince us or convince yourself. I like the underdog but Vaughn doesn't have the speed to succeed in the NFL; he's small and slow by NFL standards.

Sadly, I'm more interested in the UFA's than I am with most of the draft picks. This just wasn't a very good draft and we'll be re-signing Zeke before the season starts.

 

[dbair1967]

David, you're trying rrreeeaaallllll hard to either convince us or convince yourself. I like the underdog but Vaughn doesn't have the speed to succeed in the NFL; he's small and slow by NFL standards.

Sadly, I'm more interested in the UFA's than I am with most of the draft picks. This just wasn't a very good draft and we'll be re-signing Zeke before the season starts.

We'll see amigo.

I'm not saying the kid will be a superstar, but he has some very outstanding RB and receiving traits to go along with reportedly sensational work ethic.

I will admit, he was not someone I had targeted for us. I had seen him play a few times but needed to spend time really watching him before I came to the conclusion that he was a nice late rd addition with some upside.

I don't know what his exact "speed" is, it was reported he ran mid 4.5's or even close to 4.6 before his proday, where he reportedly ran somewhere in the 4.4's. It doesn't matter to me, he's clearly fast enough and what separates him is the vision and cutting ability. He may not have track speed but he doesn't need it if he's breaking people's ankles with some of those cuts. He cuts without losing any speed and he appears to get to his top speed very quickly.

He also doesn't need gaping holes to make yards. He fits through small areas and once he gets into that 2nd level he is a nightmare. One of the things that has really stood out to me is how many tackles he breaks or runs through, he has power in his thighs. He has sensational hands as a receiver.

Kiper said pound for pound he was probably the best player in college football. After watching all the stuff out there on him, it's easy to see why.

 

[Aggiepride]

David, you're trying rrreeeaaallllll hard to either convince us or convince yourself. I like the underdog but Vaughn doesn't have the speed to succeed in the NFL; he's small and slow by NFL standards.

Sadly, I'm more interested in the UFA's than I am with most of the draft picks. This just wasn't a very good draft and we'll be re-signing Zeke before the season starts.

I understand that Turpin made the pro-bowl, but I'm rooting for Deuce to beat him out as a returner.

If we have to start Deuce at RB, I feel he can help move the ball, assuming the OL is blocking well.

I feel that if we have to play Turpin, he won't do much at all. I don't he can even get off of press coverage.

At this point, (subject to change during preseason), I don't see Deuce as competition for Jones or Davis. I see him as competition for Turpin. And that is okay for a 6th round pick.

He makes the roster as a returner, and maybe a gadget player on offense who I think can do more than Turpin.

 

[Aggiepride]

We'll see amigo.

I'm not saying the kid will be a superstar, but he has some very outstanding RB and receiving traits to go along with reportedly sensational work ethic.

I will admit, he was not someone I had targeted for us. I had seen him play a few times but needed to spend time really watching him before I came to the conclusion that he was a nice late rd addition with some upside.

I don't know what his exact "speed" is, it was reported he ran mid 4.5's or even close to 4.6 before his proday, where he reportedly ran somewhere in the 4.4's. It doesn't matter to me, he's clearly fast enough and what separates him is the vision and cutting ability. He may not have track speed but he doesn't need it if he's breaking people's ankles with some of those cuts. He cuts without losing any speed and he appears to get to his top speed very quickly.

He also doesn't need gaping holes to make yards. He fits through small areas and once he gets into that 2nd level he is a nightmare. One of the things that has really stood out to me is how many tackles he breaks or runs through, he has power in his thighs. He has sensational hands as a receiver.

Kiper said pound for pound he was probably the best player in college football. After watching all the stuff out there on him, it's easy to see why.

Don't pay attention to any 40 time that might be published. Deuce ran the 40 only once because he was sick on that day. There is an interview on YT in which he states so. Because he was sick, he didn't want to tire himself for the other events.

I checked NFL.com, and I did not see an official 40 time. I don't know the rules, but my guess is that they did not post an official time because Deuce ran it only once. But that is a guess only.

I understand that the players I saw him running away from, on the highlight reel, are not all NFL caliber players, but he seems to have enough speed to do the job. Keep the chains moving. Emmitt was also slow by NFL standards.

The reports are that he is a patient runner who knows how to use his blocking.

 

[Scot]

He's not going to be the starting RB and be expected to carry the ball 15-20 times a game.

He'd be part of a rotation.

Go watch his video dude.

So I watched his video

He’s shifty

We already have Pollard. We don’t need a smaller less durable version of him on the team.

I don’t see him bringing anything that we don’t already have with Pollard.

 

[yimyammer]

This guy is a great football player.

He's not just some little gadget guy. Dude has superior vision and cutting ability, and he does break a lot of tackles.

Sorry to take a deuce on your Deuce but this guy ain’t shit

 

[Mustang1]

I was getting excited as Torrance was still on the board as we approached our second round pick only to be disappointed. Starting Tyler Smith at left guard will work until Tyron gets hurt. That’s not if, that when! Then what? I pray that I am wrong. Maybe Farniok will be okay. I predicted correctly that they would take either OL or DL in the first round. I think we blew an opportunity to get a quality left guard in round 2. Hopefully Schoonmaker will be so good that I forget about our miss in the second round. Overall my initial impression of our draft is average at best. Like the Smith pick in round one. This feels like a draft where JJ had too much input. Should have put him on his mega yacht and taken away his cell phone. All of the will be a moot point if Dak does not quit throwing interceptions. I wish I was more optimistic but 27 years without so much as sniffing a Super Bowl has left me more of a realist.

 

[icup]

the whole draft felt pretty blah and the best moment was definitely the deuce pick w/ his dad in the war room. cool thing to see. i love a compact RB.. hard to see him behind the OL, super shifty, good hands, overall decent traits and a day 3 pick...

on defense, DAL was very deliberate in wanting to stop the run, and made the picks to support that

 

[icup]

you look around long enough, you'll find a grade you like

 

[icup]