Tag: local

Wisconsin offers in-state offensive lineman last minute

The Badgers offered Garrett Sexton, a three-star class of 2024 offensive lineman from Hartland, Wisconsin on Friday.

The Badgers offered Garrett Sexton, a three-star offensive lineman from Hartland, Wisconsin on Friday. The 6-foot-7, 245 pound athlete still has one more season of football at Arrowhead High School before he’d join a collegiate program as a member of their class of 2024.

With Sexton set to announce his commitment on May 1, Wisconsin has made a last minute attempt at reeling him in, becoming the 19th Division 1 program to offer him.

As of right now, Penn State is the favorite to land Sexton according to 247Sports, but Luke Fickell and his staff could certainly make a last second pitch to keep him in his home state and have him come to Madison.

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5 of the top 50 draft prospects draw comparisons to former Dolphins

It would be interesting to see Miami grab one of them.

In just days, the Miami Dolphins, along with the other 31 teams, will look to add collegiate prospects to their rosters at the NFL draft in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Dolphins have just four draft picks throughout the three-day event with their first pick coming at No. 51.

While Miami doesn’t pick until the middle of the second round, it’s important to get familiar with the top prospects in this year’s draft. Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar recently put together a list of the top players in the draft and compared them to current and former players in the NFL.

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Farrar compared five of the top 50 to former Dolphins.

No trade for Cardinals in new mock draft

In the latest projections from Touchdown Wire, the Cardinals are unable to trade the No. 3 overall pick.

The NFL draft is Thursday and the big question for the Arizona Cardinals is whether they trade the No. 3 overall pick or more.

The general belief is that they want to make a trade to acquire more player selection this year and beyond.

However, in the latest mock draft from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, they don’t make one.

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They end up taking Alabama edge defender Will Anderson with the pick.

Nothing changes for the Cardinals, except for their new uniforms. They don’t need a quarterback, but they need reinforcements on defense all over the place, and new head coach Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles’ former defensive coordinator, has to be looking at his current front seven with varying degrees of horror. So, let’s give them Anderson, one of the most prolific creators of pressure in this class and in Alabama history (only Derrick Thomas has more sacks for the Crimson Tide). Anderson has every attribute you want in an edge-rusher except for bend around the edge, and I think he could have a T.J. Watt-level impact on his new defense. The Cardinals would settle for a Derek Watt-level impact at this point, and he’s a fullback.

Anderson is a slam dunk of a selection if they keep the pick. He is a great player at a premium position, which is also one of the team’s biggest needs.

Because of the effort he gives, his smarts and his physical traits, you know he is going to produce in the pros.

It might be a little disappointing to not acquire more picks but it would not be disappointing to get Anderson.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Colts address big needs in 7-round mock draft

Breaking down Chad Reuter’s 7-round mock draft for the Colts.

Less than a week of mock drafts remain until the Indianapolis Colts will make their selections in the 2023 NFL draft.

The fatigue with mock drafts is real, and at this point, we just want to event to arrive. But we’re still going to break down the mock drafts that come out so we can get a better feel for these prospects and potential scenarios.

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Here’s a look at Chad Reuter’s seven-round mock draft from the Colts’ perspective with our analysis at the end:

Chris Ballard impressed with these positions in 2023 draft

The Colts GM was impressed with the depth at these positions in the draft.

With every draft class, there are certain positions that seemingly boast more depth and better prospects than others. Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard shared his thoughts on the positions he feels are the strongest in 2023.

While the Colts have several needs on both sides of the ball, they won’t be afraid to add to a position of strength if it means getting a talent player later in the draft.

“It’s a good o-line draft. I’ll tell you, tight ends is about as good as I’ve seen. Like, it is an excellent tight end draft,” Ballard told reporters this week.

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The consensus has been that the tight end group is one of the best to come out in recent seasons even drawing comparisons to the 2017 class that saw five tight ends drafted within the first 50 picks.

The Colts don’t have a major need to add a tight end, but they certainly could do so on Day 3 if a talented prospect fell to them.

Offensive line is another position the Colts desperately need to add depth to in the draft. Both at the guard positions and at offensive tackle, the Colts are lacking depth.

But arguably their biggest need—outside of quarterback—is another position group that boasts talent across the entire board.

“Secondary, cornerback in particular, really good depth,” Ballard said. “Defensive line, defensive end especially I thought really good depth in the draft. Players that are going to go in spots, fourth, fifth round that are going to play and be really productive, good players.”

The Colts will likely add to the defensive line at some point simply because that’s Ballard’s M.O., but the cornerback position is one to watch. They could walk away with two selections at the position.

We’ll see how the draft turns out in less than a week, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Colts added some prospects from these positions.

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Colts’ 2023 NFL draft big board: Offensive Tackles

There are plenty of OT prospects for the Colts in this draft.

The Indianapolis Colts may have an idea of what their starting offensive tackle duo will look like entering the 2023 NFL draft, but depth and competition are needed in the worst way.

With only Bernhard Raimann and Braden Smith as players with experience on the roster, the Colts also have Jordan Murray and Carter O’Donnell rounding out the room. That’s it. We should expect the Colts to add a free agent after the draft, but depth is needed.

It’s a pretty solid draft class for offensive tackles. A lot of them have starting experience and versatility on both sides of the line. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Colts added two offensive tackle prospects with their nine selections.

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As we break down the prospects by round, think of the “rounds” as tiers and when I believe the team should begin to consider drafting them.

We also created big boards at the following positions:

Here’s a look at my big board for the offensive tackles as it relates to the Colts in the 2023 NFL draft:

Badgers offer class of 2024 defensive lineman from Kansas

Wisconsin offered Kian Payne, a class of 2024 defensive lineman from Overland Park, Kansas on Sunday.

Wisconsin offered Kian Payne, a class of 2024 defensive lineman from Overland Park, Kansas on Sunday. He still has one more season of high school football at St. Thomas Aquinas before he’d make the leap to the collegiate level.

Although he doesn’t carry an official rating, Payne has now received eight Division 1 offers, with the Badgers being the first Power Five school to offer him. With it being late in the recruiting cycle, Wisconsin as high of a chance as any to reel him in for 2024.

So far for the class of 2024, head coach Luke Fickell and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel have already brought in three-star linebackers Thomas Heiberger (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and Landon Gauthier (Green Bay, Wisconsin).

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Perfect prospect fits for Colts at positions of need

These prospects are perfect fits for the Colts in the NFL draft.

The 2023 NFL Draft finally begins this week. On April 27,  the Indianapolis Colts will look to add exceptional talent and critical depth to their roster. At the top of the list of objectives is addressing positions of need.

General manager Chris Ballard has often stressed the “need to get it right” this offseason. In terms of the draft, what does that look like?

Currently holding nine selections in the draft, the Colts will have their chances to address positions of need.

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Here are the perfect prospect fits for the Colts at critical positions of need in the draft:

Seven, 7-round mock drafts: So you’ve grabbed Bijan, Cowboys… now what?

RBs still matter, just nowhere near as much. An explanation why taking one at 26 isn’t a bad idea and a look at how the rest of the draft could unfold. | From @KDDrummondNFL

It was an ambitious endeavor, but we all know what they say about the best-laid plans. Back like it never left, the 777 Project spins forward to the thought exercise of what happens if the Dallas Cowboys were to select a RB in the first round. The last of the offensive positions being examined, running back is another non-Money 5 position that is the cause of plenty of debate.

Money 5 roles are quarterback, wide receiver, left tackle, edge rusher and cornerback. These are the spots that command top dollar in the NFL. Positions such as tight end, running back, offensive guard and safety are on the opposite end of the spectrum. The thinking goes that selecting one of these spots with a first-round pick wastes the surplus value of having a top player on a rookie contract.

Rookie contracts are based on draft slot; market value is based on positional importance and skill level. If you have a player at a high-value position on a rookie deal, that’s more of a positive than if they played a position that normally uses a smaller percentage of the salary cap.

But that’s just one argument. A counter is that good players are good players and several teams have been able to be contenders based on having elite talent at those afterthought positions. But can running back be one of them?

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777 Mocks

Dolphins’ history of making picks at No. 51

It’s the first time in 45 years.

This year, due to multiple trades and the loss of a draft pick due to tampering with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the Miami Dolphins aren’t scheduled to make their first selection until pick No. 51.

We’ve gone through the recent history of that specific pick, seeing that there’s been some talented players brought into the league with it. However, how have the Dolphins fared when using this pick in the past?

Miami has had pick No. 51 twice before in their history. The first time was in 1966. At that time, the Dolphins were in the AFL. There were 20 rounds in the draft and only eight teams, so while pick No. 51 today is in the second round, it was the first pick of the seventh back then.

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The Dolphins used that selection on linebacker Don Hansen. Hansen was also selected in the third round of the NFL draft that year and opted to play with the Minnesota Vikings in that league. He played 11 years in the NFL with the Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.

By the second time that Miami had pick No. 51, they were in the NFL. In 1978, the league had expanded to 28 teams and had cut the draft down to just 12 rounds. The Dolphins used their selection on quarterback Guy Benjamin.

Benjamin played in six seasons in the NFL, two with Miami, one with the New Orleans Saints and three with the San Francisco 49ers.

He never started a game, but he appeared in 19 contests, completing 57.4% of his passes for 439 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

The Dolphins should be hoping to get a player that impacts that game much more than Benjamin did. An 11-year career for a second-round pick, as Hansen had, should be a good goal for Miami with the selection. At least it’s unlikely that the XFL or USFL are going to be stealing any of these players away.

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