Wednesday, May 27, 2020

XFALpha Breaks Down the NFC East Draft

Another week and another division goes by as we go deep on the NFC East Draft. Also, we go over our top-10 two-sport athletes of all-time, and I make two controversial cases, although I stand by both of them. Finally, we end the episode with Jonah's 26-30th best states, and his list continues to be garbage, but at least I got to talk about a state that is near and dear to my heart.

DOWNLOAD HERE:


Reach out to us at the following places:
Email: xfalphapod@gmail.com 
Twitter:  @XFAlphaPod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xfalpha/

LeBron saying he would have liked to play for the Cowboys.
Two-sport athlete 
Must have gone pro or pro equivalent (Olympics, world championships, etc.). Just college doesn’t count - sorry, Jim Brown.
Two sports must be distinct
Michael Phelps doing freestyle and backstroke doesn’t count. And neither does Henry Cejudo winning a gold medal in wrestling and two UFC belts. Finally, sprinting does not count as a second sport.
More important to excel in two sports than just dominate in one and dabble in another so Walter Payton’s single Trans-Am race does not put him on this list for two-sport greatness.
Finally, and maybe most disappointingly, pro wrestling does not count as a second sport

  1. Deion Sanders - Maybe the greatest cornerback ever. Also, his baseball career was pretty damn impressive for a part-timer. In basically half a season worth of at bats, he led the league in triples with 14. He also nearly slugged .500 that season so it’s not like he was a total slap hitter.
  2. Stephen Neal - World Champion Heavyweight Wrestler in 1999 and nine years as an above average guard. Also had a 27 yard kickoff return.
  3. Herschel Walker - Three-sport athlete with MMA and olympic-level bobsled in 1992. He was so good for the Cowboys that the Vikings decided to build a dynasty for Dallas in order to get him.
  4. Bo Jackson - Baseball and football - not enough of a track record - Never had 1000 yards and his highest touchdown total was 5. He retired when he was 28, Barry Sanders was 30. People always wonder what Bo could have done if healthy, but it was more what Bo could have done had he had a normal path to the NFL and not held out so he didn’t have to play for the Bucs. Good baseball player but struggled with average due to high strikeouts.
  5. Brian Jordan - three years with the Falcons and a really good baseball player with a fifteen year career. 
  6. Carlton Haselrig - All-pro offesnive lineman, 3-time NCAA Champion and competed internationally but his only real success was at the junior level so he switched to football instead of trying to topple Bruce Baumgartner.
  7. Ed Too Tall Jones - Hall of Fame defensive lineman and 6-0 as a boxer.but only fought one legit opponent who may have knocked him out had he not gotten ammonia after being knocked to the mat. Beat up five cans.
  8. Danny Ainge - Three-year baseball career along with 15 years in basketball.
  9. Marquise Goodwin - Olympic long jumper / NFL Wide Receiver. 
  10. Tom Candiotti - Hall of Fame bowler (celebrity wing) and knuckleball pitcher
Jim Thorpe - anybody could play pro football back then, and his Olympics win, although impressive was against 28 nations, and like a quarter of the athletes were from Sweden. 
Babe Didrikson Zaharias - Again, lack of competition, also I’m not going to call golf a sport.


NFC East
Dallas - Damnit, it’s great
1st Round - CeeDee Lamb - Lamb gets a ton of DeAndre Hopkins comparisons, which I think is a tad lofty, but most had him as the best receiver in the class, and they not only were able to get him but prevent a division rival that badly needed receiving help from getting him. He averaged over 20 yards per catch and had 14 touchdowns so there’s a lot to like there.
2nd Round - Trevon Diggs - I like him, Jonah loves him. Big and fast at cornerback and good enough to play for Alabama.
3rd Round - Neville Gallimore - Big name defensive tackle from Oklahoma who didn’t really produce much and isn’t that great of an athlete. I don’t see him making a big impact. 
4th Round - Tyler Biadasz - Offensive lineman from Wisconsin, usually a pretty good decision.
5th Round - Bradlee Anai - 13 sacks for Utah last season, and even if he’s not a great athlete, I’ll take a chance in the fifth round. 
Undrafted - Azur Kamara - Kansas edge rusher - Good speed and explosiveness, can’t change directions, not related to Alvin. 


New York Giants - A whole lot of meh.
Round 1 (4): T Andrew Thomas, Georgia - Even though Thomas had fell to fourth on most people’s boards for offensive tackles, there wasn’t much separating any of them. Had Wirfs and Becton not gotten so much love, Thomas would have gotten a lot of credit for his numbers at hte combine which were very good, but not blow your mind amazing. You would have loved to see them trade back and pick up some draft capital, but that trade may not have been there. 
Round 2 (36): S Xavier McKinney, Alabama - Considred the best safety in the class, out of Alabama, which has done fairly well producing guys in the secondary. 
Round 3 (99): T Matt Peart, Connecticut
Round 4 (110): CB Darnay Holmes, UCLA
Round 5 (150): IOL Shane Lemieux, Oregon
Round 6 (183): LB Cam Brown, Penn State
Round 7 (218): Edge Carter Coughlin, Minnesota
Round 7 (238): LB TJ Brunson, South Carolina
Round 7 (247): CB Chris Williamson, Minnesota
Round 7 (255): LB Tae Crowder, Georgia
Undrafted - Case Cookus - A quarterback out of Northern Arizona. 


Philadelphia Eagles - Hurts so good?
Round 1 (21): WR Jalen Reagor, TCU - Reagor is an explosive athlete that played with poor quarterbacks at TCU so there could be some big time upside with this pick. 
Round 2 (53): QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma - Explosive athlete at quarterback, but he’s never been a great passer. Still, he scares defenses enough with his legs that things can open up with his arm. I never like win-now teams spending big time draft capital on backup quarterbacks, but this may work as he could provide different looks for defenses to worry about. 
Round 3 (103): LB Davion Taylor, Colorado
Round 4 (127): CB K’Von Wallace, Clemson - Safety for Clemson that can play in the slot immediately and with the addition of Darius Slay earlier in the offseason, the Eagles turned in an extreme weakness in the secondary into a strength. Could play in the slot or replace Malcolm Jenkins. 
Round 4 (145): OT Jack Driscoll, Auburn
Round 5 (168): WR John Hightower, Boise State
Round 6 (196): LB Shaun Bradley, Temple
Round 6 (200): WR Quez Watkins, Southern Mississippi
Round 6 (210): OT Prince Tega Wanogho, Auburn - Very cool name, not sure how good he is. 
Round 7 (233): Edge Casey Toohill, Stanford
Undrafted - Khalil Tate - How was this man not invited to the combine? How was this man not drafted? Khalil Tate was so amazing as a freshman for Arizona. Things got worse and worse, but when a guy shows that much at any point, you take the risk. He still made some incredible plays, and if he finds the right situation, he could provide a team a very fun offensive weapon. I’m more excited for him that Jalen Hurts. 


Washington Redskins - they got Chase young and not a whole lot else.
Round 1 (2): EDGE Chase Young, Ohio State - Chase Young is stupid good. He is a damn game changer.
Round 3 (66): RB Antonio Gibson, Memphis - He’s big and fast but not sure if he’ll actually be a good running back. 
Round 4 (108): OT Saahdiq Charles, LSU - Athletic lineman out of LSU. 
Round 4 (142): WR Antonio Gandy-Golden, Liberty - He’s an explosive athlete, but he can’t change directions so more of a big possession receiver as opposed to a big time game breaker even if he can do back flips. 
Round 5 (156): IOL Keith Ismael, San Diego State
Round 5 (162): LB Khaleke Hudson, Michigan
Round 7 (216): S Kamren Curl, Arkansas
Round 7 (229): Edge James Smith-Williams, NC State
Undrafted - Thaddeus Moss - Randy Moss’s kid - but he ain’t Randy Moss. 

No comments:

Post a Comment