2017 Draft podcast

So I've been listening to this new podcast on Spotify called "The Best Player Available" and I think it's a 10 part series where they interview scouts and former GMs about the 2017 draft. I'm only on episode 3 where they are interviewing former Bills GM Doug Whaley. Episode 2 was with a former 49er secondary scout who was let go by the new regime.

Some nuggets so far:

Most teams draft BPA as long as player fits their scheme. There are some instances they draft for need but the majority of the time its BPA. The first guy they interviewed was head of scouting for the Titans and he said in 2017 they drafted based on need. They had Corey Davis as the top WR but he wasn't their BPA but they took Davis bc WR was their biggest need.

Trade downs are harder than people think. Not too many teams are willing to trade up. Prior to the draft GMs are calling each other to get a feel if they maybe looking to trade up or down but no one discusses for who. When draft day comes teams have a feeling who may be willing to come up.

They asked Doug Whaley his top 10 and he didn't have any of the QBs on it. He did have Solomon Thomas at #10 on their board that year. He didn't say where they had Mahomes but did say Watson was a late 1st early 2nd round grade and Trubisky was somewhere after him.

Mahomes – the reason why Whaley said he wasn't ranked high with them was bc he came from the air raid offense and prior to him no QB had much success in the NFL. And not only that they felt he didn't really put the games on his back and pull out more wins. In another episode a former scout (old 49ers scout) said the same thing about Mahomes regarding the # of losses at Texas Tech. Whaley did say Mahomes checked all the boxes as far as everything else goes and he went to the perfect coach (Reid) for his skillset.

Watson – his primary concerns with Watson was not only his knee injuries but his 17 interceptions his senior year. What stuck out the most with him was a lot of the interceptions were in the red zone which were momentum killers. I guess I forgot he had 17 interceptions his senior year which is a lot for a college QB.

Trubisky – Whaley's primary concern was he just started 1 year and why couldn't he beat out the guy in front of him prior to that. They also said when they met with him he didn't really have the "command your attention" voice/presence they like QBs to have. He did say they felt Trubisky did check most of the boxes you want and he understood why some teams had him ranked high.

If you are a draft junkie like me i encourage you check out this podcast. I'll post some more tidbits later.

Thanks for the heads up, will check it out

Still on episode 3 with Doug Whaley. They were talking running backs and he had Joe Mixon ranked #3 behind Fornette and McCaffery but took him off the board bc of his arrest. Only reason they took him off bc they had a female owner. He did say they did some research on Mixon and felt his arrest was just an isolated incident.