The war room fell hard for Sam Hartman, and it showed at the Round 7 slot: 30 picks ahead of a board that had other ideas.
Everything downstream of Jayden Daniels depends on Jayden Daniels, and the building knows it. The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped interior defensive lineman, which is a strange place to end up.
Knight falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
There is no spinning it; the board won this weekend going away.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.6
· Pick 6
· Jayden Daniels
· QB
· rank 7
In slot 6 they get a franchise quarterback. A clean fit for the roster.
R1.8
· Pick 8
· Rome Odunze
· WR
· rank 9
In pick No. 8 they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
R2.7
· Pick 39
· Keon Coleman
· WR
· rank 36
They did well to land Keon Coleman in the 39th overall pick, just ahead of his grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
R3.6
· Pick 70
· Christian Haynes
· OG
· rank 62
A tidy bit of business in the 70th pick, where Christian Haynes graded well above the range. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
R3.15
· Pick 79
· Jaylen Wright
· RB
· rank 79
A market-rate running back, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jaylen Wright. It fills a real need, too.
R5.4
· Pick 140
· Sataoa Laumea
· OT
· rank 117
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Sataoa Laumea in the Round 5 slot, plain and simple. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
R6.12
· Pick 187
· Johnny Dixon
· CB
· rank 181
Good price on Johnny Dixon in pick No. 187, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
R7.33
· Pick 253
· Sam Hartman
· QB
· rank 283
They left a pile of value on the table to take Sam Hartman this early at No. 253. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R7.34
· Pick 254
· Tyrice Knight
· LB
· rank 216
You do not let a linebacker like Tyrice Knight reach the 254th overall pick and blink. They did not. A minor itch, scratched.
R7.35
· Pick 255
· Ryan Cooper Jr.
· CB
· rank 230
Ryan Cooper Jr. at Round 7, Pick 35 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
R7.39
· Pick 257
· Jordan Whittington
· WR
· rank 247
Jordan Whittington at pick 257 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.