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NFL Draft Grades: Detroit Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs

NFL draft expert grades the Detroit Lions’ selection of Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall

The 2023 NFL draft was filled with all sorts of drama, especially in the first 15 picks due to multiple trades that were made. One of the most active trade makers was the Detroit Lions, which moved back from the No. 6 spot initially. The Lions were in on Jahmyr Gibbs and they were ultimately able to secure him at No. 12 overall.

Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire recently graded the entire first round of the 2023 draft and gave the Lions a ‘C-’ for their selection of Gibbs.

“Since I gave the Falcons’ pick of Bijan Robinson a B- as well, you may assume that I’m anti-running back. I am not, but I think the Lions probably could have picked Gibbs up with their second first-round pick if they wanted him. Gibbs is a great back with the ability to win in multiple ways, but I’m just questioning the placement of the pick.”

Entering the draft, the Lions had two really good running back options on the roster, but they were ultimately so blown away by Gibbs that they were eventually willing to trade D’Andre Swift to the Eagles for draft compensation.

Gibbs was the Tide’s leading receiver in terms of receptions in 2023, so expect him to be heavily involved in the passing game and a massive contributor early on.

I understand the logic of not wanting to take an RB with such a high pick, however, when a player is as versatile as Gibbs, I think it should affect that to some degree. The Lions won eight of their last 10 games, and in a division that no longer has Aaron Rodgers, it’s anyones for the taking. Gibbs is a win-now move and I like it.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

NFL Draft Grades: Houston Texans’ Will Anderson Jr.

NFL draft expert grades the Houston Texans’ selection of Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3 overall

Saturday marked the conclusion of the 2023 NFL draft and with the dust settled it is time to sit back and make our opinions on each team’s draft. After taking C.J. Stroud at No. 2 overall, the Houston Texans traded back up for the third pick to land the best non-QB in the draft, Will Anderson Jr.

Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire recently graded the entire first round of the 2023 draft and gave the Texans a ‘B+’ for their selection of Anderson.

“Anderson has proven all he needed to prove with the Crimson Tide, and he’ll be a Day 1 tone-setter in DeMeco Ryans’ defense. The trade with the Cardinals to move up from 12 to 3 is a rich one, and my only hesitation with an A grade is that the Texans might have gone with a player with more upside, such as Jalen Carter or Tyree Wilson. Still, you can’t argue with the back-to-back picks of C.J. Stroud and Anderson. This is a team looking to define its character with two knockout blows.”

Anderson and Stroud will be the offensive and defensive pieces that the Texans begin to build around for the next few years under first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans. Despite being in his first year, Ryans is highly regarded for the success he had with the 49ers’ defense the past few seasons. However, the team needs a massive revamp and it was crucial to get his core pieces in the first draft.

Anderson and Ryans will have a strong connection from day one, because like Anderson, Ryans also played for the Crimson Tide back in his playing days.

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A former Badger one of ‘the NFL’s top 11 running backs’ according to TouchdownWire

Agree with their ranking?

The Wisconsin football program, otherwise known as ‘Running Back U,’ sends star running backs to the NFL seemingly every other year.

Right now there are six former Badger running backs on NFL rosters—Melvin Gordon on the Broncos, Jonathan Taylor on the Colts, Dare Ogunbowale on the Jaguars, Garrett Groshek on the Raiders, James White on the Patriots and Corey Clement on the Giants.

Yesterday, TouchdownWire’s Doug Farrar put together the top 11 running backs in the NFL.

At No. 1 is Titans RB Derrick Henry…But at No. 9? Wisconsin and college football legend Jonathan Taylor.

New on @TheNFLWire: Do running backs still matter? Yes.

Is high-level survival more important than relevance at the position? Also, yes.

Here are the NFL's 11 best running backs… at least, for now. https://t.co/lyCEwWFs8t

— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 8, 2021

Taylor is coming off a productive rookie season, especially considering it took a few weeks until he received the bulk of the Colts’ carries.

Here’s what Farrar had to say about his rookie campaign:

Colts head coach Frank Reich loves his two- and three-tight end sets, and Taylor benefited from those personnel packages, gaining 348 yards and scoring five touchdowns out of 12 personnel, and gaining 129 yards with two touchdowns on 32 carries out of 13 personnel…

Overall, only Derrick Henry and Dalvin Cook gained more rushing yards than Taylor’s 1,247, and Taylor added 12 rushing touchdowns on 253 carries in an offense that was pretty seriously limited with Philip Rivers at quarterback in Rivers’ swan song season. Not that we’re sure about what the Colts are getting in Carson Wentz, but we’re pretty sure that Taylor will continue to be the team’s bastion of consistency.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera is cancer-free

Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma located in a lymph node in August.
At that time, Rivera said the cancer was in the early stages and considered “very treatable and curable.”

Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera is cancer-free

Two more Badgers appear on TouchdownWire’s ‘The NFL’s 11 best’ lists

A few days ago we shared the results of TouchdownWire’s “The NFL’s 11 best offensive guards,” a list that included former Badger and…

A few days ago we shared the results of TouchdownWire’s “The NFL’s 11 best offensive guards,” a list that included former Badger and current New York Giant Kevin Zeitler.

Today I went through their entire “NFL’s 11 best” library and found two more former Badgers mentioned: T.J. Watt as the league’s No. 6 edge defender and Ryan Ramczyk as the No. 2 offensive tackle.

Here’s what they had to say about the former Badgers’ places amongst the league’s best players:

T.J. Watt

The Steelers took J.J. Watt’s younger brother in the first round of the 2017 draft, and Watt made the Pro Bowl in his second season with 13 sacks, 52 total pressures, and 47 stops. But Watt ratcheted things up even higher as a pass-rusher in 2019, with 14.5 sacks and 81 total pressures. Pittsburgh led the league with 180 total pressures and a pressure rate of 30.5%, and Watt was the force multiplier in that equation.

Not only is Watt one of the best around-the-edge rushers in the league, he also has a great feel on stunts and games — you’ll often see him jumping two gaps to get to the quarterback on plays when he’s asked to switch places after the snap with other defensive stalwarts like Cameron Heyward. His excellent season would have received more national focus had the Steelers not finished 8-8 due to an absolutely horrific quarterback situation, but that could easily change in 2020.

T.J. Watt looking like old-school DeMarcus Ware here. Run the edge with authority, get low at the turn, and explode into the pocket. Watt is an absolute force on the edge, and a big reason the Steelers led the NFL in pressure rate in 2019. pic.twitter.com/2DAXDJusnf

— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 16, 2020

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A former Badger is one of ‘the NFL’s best 11 offensive guards’ according to a recent ranking

Doug Farrar of USA Today’s TouchdownWire put together a list of the NFL’s 11 best offensive guards yesterday and No. 11 on the list?…

Doug Farrar of USA Today’s TouchdownWire put together a list of the NFL’s 11 best offensive guards yesterday and No. 11 on the list? Former Badger and current New York Giant Kevin Zeitler.

The NFL's 11 best offensive guards https://t.co/MgfeSrJSjo

— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 21, 2020

Here’s what the piece had to say about the former Badger:

Cincinnati’s first-round pick in the 2012 draft out of Wisconsin, Zeitler was a stalwart force on the inside for the Bengals through the 2016 season, and was then the same for the Browns until he was traded to the Giants as part of the Olivier Vernon trade in March of 2019. While Zeitler can still get it done in nasty fashion as a run-blocker, he’s given away a bit of agility over time — not that agility was his primary attribute before, and he’s still got enough to make this list. Zeitler allowed three sacks in the 2019 season on 686 pass-blocking reps, as well as three quarterback hits and 16 quarterback hurries. That total of 22 pressures is the second-most the veteran has allowed in a season, behind the 29 he gave up in 2017. Zeitler did lower his penalty total from seven in 2018 to just two in 2019, though there were times when he seemed to get a bit of veteran love from the officials. Regardless, Zeitler is one of the most consistent guards of his era, and he’s still got a lot left to offer at age 30.

ProFootballFocus gave the veteran guard a grade of 76.4 for his 2019 season–one during which he played 93 percent of the Giants’ offensive snaps and only committed one holding penalty.

Sometimes, blocking is about survival. Kevin Zeitler gets bulldozed by Fletcher Cox here, but keeps the big man off his quarterback with a little veteran sauce at the end. pic.twitter.com/9kRR2R2QbY

— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 18, 2020

Zeitler will be 30 this season and is set to be the Giants’ starting right guard as they look to keep their young quarterback Daniel Jones clean in the pocket and healthy throughout the season.

The former Badger is getting up there in years–now with eight NFL seasons under his belt–so this ranking may not stand for much longer, but if history tells us anything it’s that Wisconsin products on the offensive line stay around for a long time and are annually ranked as some of the best linemen in the league.

Studies show that the NFL is not as diverse as it wants you to think

In 2016, the NFL stated it would use virtual reality training to confront racism and sexism. .
We wondered if anything had really changed in the NFL since then so we analyzed research from NFL’s Diversity and Inclusion Reports and The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.
According to the NFL’s 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Report, released March 21, 2020, it seems not much has changed in terms of opportunities for people of color in general manager and coaching positions.
In the 2016-2017 season, only 23.3% of positions were filled by people of color versus 22.58% of positions being filled by people of color in 2019-2020 season. .
In terms of ownership, it seems that only two people of color hold a majority stake in NFL teams with only seven women holding a majority interest.
The percentage of people of color on NFL player rosters has decreased since 2016 from 72.6 percent in 2016 to 70.1 percent in 2019