Tag: cory trice jr

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Best scheme fits for 2023 NFL rookies

In this week’s “Xs and Os,” Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar investigate the best scheme fits for 2023’s class of NFL rookies.

We’ve been discussing scheme fits for 2023 NFL rookies on Touchdown Wire of late, and we will continue to do so. We will continue to do so for one reason: It’s important for NFL teams to put their new players in the best possible schematic situations to succeed! Doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it’s pretty nice.

So, in this week’s episode of “The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (editor of Touchdown Wire) get into their favorite scheme fits for rookies selected everywhere from the first to the seventh round. In each case, the opportunities are there for these young players to make the most of their attributes in ideal environments.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here…

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…and you can listen to the podcast on Spotify…

and Apple Podcasts.

2023 NFL Draft: The best draft steal for every NFL team

Every NFL draft has its selection of steals — those players who could surprise despite their low selections — and here’s one for every NFL team.

One of the many reasons the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII was the job that general manager Brett Veach did outside of the first round of the 2022 draft. Three defensive backs (Bryan Cook in the second round, Joshua Williams in the fourth, and Jaylen Watson in the seventh) were difference-makers all season, and seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco became the team’s bellcow back down the stretch. Also, second-round receiver Skyy Moore joined Pacheco with touchdowns in that Super Bowl victory over the Eagles.

First-round hits are nice, but it’s almost worse to miss in the first round than it is better to win there from an opportunity cost perspective. If you want to refresh your roster at a championship level, you had better get those picks right on the second and third day. Veach and his staff did that, and it was the difference that made all the difference in the end.

Moving to the 2023 NFL draft, we’ve selected one second- or third-day pick for every NFL team who could have a similar impact on their NFL roaters sooner than mater. Each of these players have reasons for their relatively low picks in line with their tape, stats, and talent, but these are the kinds of finds that can turn a team around over time.

6 underrated prospects to watch for the Saints in 2023 NFL draft

Penn State TE Brendon Strange and San Jose State DE Viliami Fehoko are among 6 underrated prospects to watch for the Saints in the 2023 NFL draft’s third day:

Everyone knows the big names in the 2023 NFL draft: the first-round prospects who get fans excited and who draw swarms of scouts and coaches to their pro day workouts. But the New Orleans Saints have done well in the later rounds of the draft, and it’s important to identify players they could be looking at in rounds four, five, six, and seven — as well as undrafted free agency. They always seem to find some diamonds in the rough.

So who qualifies as a sleeper? Draft coverage is so oversaturated these days that even casual fans can recognize dozens of names, and some dedicated draftniks even have their own top-100 rankings (with the real sickos among them ranking hundreds of prospects).

To help thin out the herd, we’re only considering prospects who were ranked outside the top 150 at both NFL Mock Draft Database and Pro Football Network’s industry consensus big board. That gives us an opportunity to highlight some undersung players who should be available on Day 3 of this year’s event. These aren’t going to be perfect prospects, or even players who can step into a big role right away. The goal is to find guys with enough traits that can give them a shot at making the roster as a backup or on special teams, buying them time to develop into better pros.

Here are six underrated prospects we could see the Saints targeting on the draft’s third day: