Month: January 2025

Seahawks’ Senior Bowl week mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

The annual college all-star Senior Bowl game will be played six days from today, and practices for the game begin on Tuesday, so what better time to get in a last minute mock draft to sort of plant my flag for some of the guys high on my list that may soon be moving up higher on the consensus list.

In terms of the Seahawks, it’s really feeling like they need to have a big draft. I’m talking big in terms of volume of picks. I keep looking at it, and I think this might be best served as a 12-13 pick draft. I don’t think we’ve ever seen John Schneider draft more than 11 in a given draft, so they probably won’t go to 12, but they also probably won’t make the player trades I’d like to see them make to acquire draft capital AND to accelerate their dead money problem now so that they can have a cleaner slate for 2026. Unfortunately, Schneider never takes the full measure. It’s always half-measures, that keep us perpetually in the upper-middle class of the NFL.

Seattle has one of the league’s worst cap situations heading into the new league year. Moves will need to be made. It’s just gonna be a question of which players take the brunt of the cut(s). The biggest cap hits that will make for potential trade/cut include: Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Dre’mont Jones, Uchenna Nwosu.

The recent league-wide coaching search has potentially opened up some interesting possibilities for the Seahawks. Former head coach Pete Carroll’s hiring in Las Vegas, and former offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer’s hiring in Dallas could create a better trade market for Seahawk players that overlapped with their respective time in Seattle. The Raiders, in particular, could be a team to watch due to their #2 most cap space in the league. They have some big holes at QB and WR to fill, and they can afford to pay whoever they choose to fill them.

If just looking at teams with need at WR; I think both the Patriots and Chargers are top 5 in cap space and could use someone like DK. I tend to think there won’t be much of a trade market for Geno. He saw free agency a couple years ago, didn’t get much interest, and returned to Seattle on a pretty team-favorable deal. The Pats have 9 draft picks to trade with, the Raiders have 10 picks, and the Chargers have 11. All three teams tick a number of boxes that would point towards a good trade match.

I’m currently most interested in a Patriots deal. I like it for the possibility of swapping DK for a mid-round pick AND getting New England QB Joe Milton as part of the return. The Pats hold two picks at the top half of the third round at #3.69 and #3.77. If we were just to trade DK with no Milton add-on; I would want a 2nd-round plus draftpick. Let’s do the deal for 3.69 and Milton.

The next factor to consider is how the first round of this draft class is stacking up. How many true 1st round players are in there? How many players with similar grade will plausibly be available from, say #18 to #50 overall? I like trading back. And it’s gonna be many trades to get from 8 picks up to 12. I’m not giving analysis on who and why the trade partners are…this is just trying to line up positioning for better points in the draft.

The first move I’ve got #1.18 traded to Detroit for #1.28 + #2.60.

Immediately I flip #60 to Jacksonville for #3.70 + #4.105.

We keep moving it down with #70 to Carolina for #3.74 + #4.112.

And finally #74 goes to Pittsburgh for #3.83 + #4.121.

So the final board becomes:

#1.28, #2.50, #3.69, #3.82, #3.83, #4.105, #4.112, #4.121, #4.136, #5.172, #6.186, #6.211, #7.235

Before we get to the actual picks. I already know some of these are gonna get blown up by rising tides. This is just for now.

#1.28 – OL, Ohio State, Donovan Jackson

There are a number of spots throughout this mock where I’ve got symbolic duos. At this one, we’ve got two guys that should be day one starters at left guard. If we get either Jackson or Tyler Booker, I think we’re off to a fantastic start to the draft. Honestly, this pick could open up if we included some of the tackles that might slide inside to guard like Wyatt Milum. It’s, overall, a very strong OL draft, and that’s one of the reasons I like the trade back to start adding volume.

Jackson gets might slight nod over Booker due to the way he adjusted to playing left tackle for the Buckeyes after the season-ending injury to Josh Simmons. And, really, with Schneider’s recent comments about guards over-paid and over-drafted; maybe a guy that most-recently played well at tackle, can be the exception (see: Germain Ifedi).

This pick needs to be a leader. I feel confident that Jackson, Booker, Milum, Armand Membou, Josh Conerly all have very strong leadership traits. The Seahawk OL, as currently contructed, doesn’t have a leader. Certainly not one that is playing well enough to remain in the starting lineup, and lead from the field.

#2.50 – DS, South Carolina, Nick Emmanwori

I don’t have a great, articulate justification for this pick. Do the Seahawks have room for a high-priced safety pick?? Do they need a starting safety? It doesn’t really feel like it. But that also makes this feel like good drafting. This will be the best player available if he falls this far. He won’t.

I like everything that Emmanwori brings to the table. He’s a 6’3″/227lb safety that should light up the Combine. He’s as big as many modern linebackers. He posted 6.77 tackles per game, which is a lot for a safety. And he had 4 INT and 2 PBU, to demonstrate his coverage ability. This could, potentially, be Mike Macdonald’s new Kyle Hamilton type that he can just create around.

#3.69 – DE, South Carolina, Kyle Kennard

Defensive end is one of the strongest positions in this draft, so it will be a bit of a game of draft chicken to push drafting one this far. It’s probably the smarter move to take one with the #50, but I think Emmanwori is the rarer player.

There’s an underlying theme to this entire draft class. Kennard matches up very well with this theme. He’s 6’5″/255lbs and had an impressive 15.5 TFL, 11.5 sacks, and 10 hurries. One of his most-notable performances was the game he played vs likely 1st round pick OT Will Campbell.

#3.82 – DT, Nebraska, Ty Robinson

The Seahawks have some issues to resolve along the DL. As we mentioned earlier, there are some potential cap casualties that could be lost. But there are also the free agents: Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins. We need some fresh bodies. And they can kinda be all different body types. Dre’mont is 6’3″/281lbs and plays mostly outside. Jarran is 6’3″/306lbs and plays some undersized nose tackle. Hankins is 6’3″/325lbs but was never really the run-stuffer his size would suggest.

I kinda like targeting some DL that have versatility. Robinson has it in droves. He’s 6’6″/310lbs and he’s played all over the DL for the Huskers, not to mention some fullback. Last year, he had 12.5 TFL, 7.0 sacks, 7 hurries, 4 PBU, 1 FF, and a blocked kick. I think he can absorb snaps from both Dre’mont and Jarran.

#3.83 – TE, Oregon, Terrance Ferguson

Tight end is a few things in this draft: it’s a good position group, it’s a player that could figuratively give you some replacement production for the traded DK Metcalf, and it’s another of my player duos. Michael Arroyo is the counterpart to Ferguson, and he might be the better candidate to replace DK, but he also might post the better forty time at the combine and be drafted earlier.

Ferguson is 6’5″/255lbs and his season included 43 receptions for 591 yards and 3 TD. The key to Ferguson is his ability after the catch.

#4.105 – CB, California, Nohl Williams

For whatever reason this year, I haven’t been looking closely at the corner class. When I started correcting that omission recently; I almost instantly fell for Nohl Williams. He’s a 6’1″/200lb corner who posted 7 INT and 9 PBU. When I crack open the tape; I thought his press technique was immaculate. His footwork is very good, and I think the long-speed might be REALLY good.

#4.112 – OT, UConn, Chase Lundt

Here, we find our third of the duos. In what is overall a very cool class for right tackles; I’d like to see Seattle draft one of Lundt or Ozzy Trapilo. In a practical sense, this guy can replace the free agent Stone Forsythe, but really we’re trying to find an eventual replacement for Abraham Lucas. Just in case.

Lundt is the better rush blocker, and Trapilo is the better pass blocker. I’m going with the run-blocker until we have a larger sample size on what Macdonald likes.

#4.121 – DT, Ole Miss, JJ Pegues

Going back to the DL, I think we need a big time run-stuffer, and there are a number of big body guys we could look at. The thing is…I’m not sold that Macdonald wants to use a true nose tackle…like somebody that weighs over 330lbs. I think he wants to disguise defensive play call by using players with versatility. Everybody on the team needs to be able to play both run and pass so that teams can’t audible out of play calls, or if they do they’re audibling to something we can also still defend.

With Pegues, we get a bit more heft from his 6’2″/323lb build. I believe those measurements went official yesterday at the Shrine game weigh-in. Oh, and 33″+ arms. So more heft from Pegues, and more versatility. Pegues can also give you DE snaps (see below). And he’s lowkey electric as a running back in goalline or short-yardage situations.

This year, JJ had 13.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 5 hurries, and 7 rushing TD. And just a great dude.

#4.136 – QB, Louisville, Tyler Shough

It’s been one of my greatest frustrations the last few years that John Schneider passes on drafting a QB anytime in the 3rd-6th rounds. They could have had Sam Howell at 5th round cost, instead of what became a 3rd round price in trade. They could have drafted Joe Milton directly instead of DJ James, who never even made it out of training camp.

Shough is a 6’5″/225lb, 6th-year senior, who will likely be available later in the draft than his tape suggests because of his age. I think the age thing on draft QB’s is incorrectly considered. I think some maturity in a QB is actually helpful.

In terms of production, Shough had 3195 yards, 23 TD, 6 INT, 62.7% completion, and a 148.15 passer rating.

Give me a QB competition between Joe Milton and Tyler Shough and I’ll love the upside of the 2025 Seahawk offense.

#5.172 – OL, Jacksonville State, Clay Webb

I’ve been saying for weeks that this is a very good OL class…but not at center. I like Florida’s Jake Slaughter quite a bit as an OL intellectual. As part of my due diligence, I was ticking off some of the Senior Bowl players that I was not familiar with.

Coming from Jacksonville State, I definitely had not looked at Webb. One of the first things I found was that he actually was originally committed to Georgia as a center. At Jacksonville State, Webb was playing left guard, and interestingly he does it with no gloves. This guy is old school. Oh, and his measurements are 6’3″/310lbs.

#6.186 – LB, South Carolina, Demetrius Knight

Linebacker is an interesting conversation in this draft. There aren’t many strong candidates. You either draft one before the end of the 3rd round, or you push hard into the late rounds and hope Ernest Young re-signs.

For the longest time, I was trying to force the former method. Only in the last few days did I come to terms with doing the latter. And I’m kinda digging it. I had been stashing Knight in my back pocket as a guy I wanted to make the back half of a LB double-dip.

I actually love Knight in the 6th more than I did Carson Schwesinger in the 3rd. At 6’2″/245lbs, Knight is already a throwback to an era of linebacker from 10-15 years ago when they were this big. I watch Knight’s tape and I think his size plays. The dude has more stopping power than most of this group. And his speed/athleticism is really underrated.

#6.211 – WR, Kansas, Quentin Skinner

It’s a very good testament to the depth of WR this year (and most years) that I have, like, 5-6 names I want to draft here. And I’m still considering taking two WR in consecutive picks.

I’m going with Skinner for checking the most boxes. He’s 6’5″/195lbs and has really good body control. He only had 25 catches this year, but they went for 557 yards (a very high 22.28 ypc). He had only 4 TD, but if you look at his efficiency stats…16% of his catches went for TD, and a ridiculous 52% of them were explosive catches. I think there’s more to be found in there.

On tape, I found myself noting time and time again how wide open he was. You rarely see that anymore. But he also can win contested. He’s a very well-rounded WR, and he can play special teams gunner.

#7.235 – RB, Michigan, Kalel Mullings

I think it’s important draft strategy to take guys from the position groups that are strong in a given year. Everyone knows this is a good RB class. But, for me, that also meant I ended up pushing RB further and further down my board.

Mullings is listed 6’2″/233lbs and rushed for 948 yards, 5.12 YPC, and 12 TD this year.

Some names that I just couldn’t find room for, but liked:

At WR, I really like Kam Chancellor’s nephew, Keandre Lambert Smith. Not a huge body, but he’s great winning in the air contested. He had a ton of explosive plays, and some very intriguing analytics.

Dont’e Thornton is another WR that I’ve got pinned. He’s a huge body guy and he should blow up the combine. He might be the most 1-for-1 replacement for DK…but that includes the fact that his hands are a little sketchy. DK had that, too, and god bless him, he’s improved that as a pro.

The third WR I’ve got in mind is Pat Bryant from Illinois. Again, he’s got REALLY interesting analytics. And I like Ja’corey Brooks and Andrew Armstrong…two very productive guys this year…at the right price.

Mullings was kind of a throw in as my RB pick. I like some other guys more, but just didn’t feel like we needed to push that pick. I love Kaleb Johnson and Omarion Hampton, but can Seattle really be spending another 2nd round pick on a RB? I think DJ Giddens is potentially the best value RB when we look back at this draft in 5 years. I just wish he was a bit thicker. And Damien Martinez had some great analytics from his 2024 season that popped in my research.

I like QB Jaxson Dart better than most of this class, and if we’re not getting Joe Milton back; maybe I make a move on Dart (and still draft Shough late). The buzz on Dart is really starting to pick up, so we’re probably using a 1st rounder to get him, and we might need to use the #18.

Some OL guys that popped in my analytic look at OL included Florida’s OT Brandon Crenshaw and Georgia OC Jared Wilson. These feel like Seahawk picks, too.

I haven’t given him a full tape-study, but TE Jalin Conyers popped in my analytic study. So he may be the third TE behind Arroyo and Ferguson for mid-rounds.

At DE, I had LSU edge Bradyn Swinson in my rough draft for this mock. Good production, some very good intangibles, and he had some numbers pop in the analytics study for DE projectability.

Up next…Senior Bowl weigh-in, practice, and game. Then Combine. Then we try to steal info on Seahawk 30 visit names. Then we draft in April.

My take on 2024 movies

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

I’ve been trying to post some kind of “best movies of 2024/Oscar prediction” story for a few weeks now, but I keep putting it off in order to get more touted films checked off my list. I’ve just come out of a screening of “The Brutalist” earlier today, so now might be as close to ready as I’m gonna get without waiting until February. Plus, the Oscar nominations were supposed to be out today, but have been postponed a week due to the L.A. fires.

As of today, I’ve seen about 40 of the top 50 movies by critical acclaim and/or by significant box office performance (and a few that I’ve just watched as a fan of movies) of the 2024 season. I’ve also done some digging into the Oscar Best Picture winners of the last 10 years to create a scoring system to determine what, analytically, looks like a potential winner by recent historical comparison.

The thing about the last 10 years, or more accurately nine weird years capped off by one year in 2023 of a more normalized choice of Oppenheimer, is that the Academy has been out of its mind. Here is the list:

Birdman
Spotlight
Moonlight
Shape of Water
Green Book
Parasite
Nomadland
CODA
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Oppenheimer

When is the last time you’ve watched ANY of those movies? How many of them have you only ever seen once, if that?? The Oscars used to recognize movies that were rewatchable classics. And maybe that was more like 15 years ago. I don’t know what changed. I don’t know why it changed. Are they trying to be modern and trendy? Are they trying to be socially conscious or political? I honestly don’t know. It certainly doesn’t look like they’re trying to be populist, as most of those winners weren’t exactly box office performers.

In that same time-frame, some of the other best picture nominees that lost Best Picture includes: Whiplash, Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Arrival, Hell or High Water, Dunkirk, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Joker, Jojo Rabbit, Ford vs Ferrari, 1917, Sound of Metal, Dune.

Like, what are we doing here??

I’m starting to be more and more cynical that 2024 will join the ranks of the Green Book, CODA, Moonlight ranks as just a nonsense winner.

The Brutalist

As I said, I’ve just finished seeing “The Brutalist”. It. Was. Fucking. Awful. Let me be more specific…the script is fucking awful. It is a terrifically beautiful movie to look at it, and I very much liked the score. But this dialogue is barely a step above something you’d find in porn. Like, in real conversation, a person doesn’t call their cousin “cousin”. Because the two both already know who each other are. Shit like that is how bad writers try to sneak in lazy exposition.

I can now say that the two Golden Globe winners for Best Picture Drama and Musical (Brutalist joining Emelia Perez) are two of the worst winners I’ve ever seen. Is this an AI related thing? Are we seeing more and more scripts that are secretly written by ChatGPT and nobody bothered to have a real human writer punch them up??

Brady Corbet, the writer and director of “The Brutalist”, should maybe cutback on his multi-hyphenate titles. Stick to directing, I say. Corbet, when accepting one of his Golden Globe wins, talked about a filmmaker should have final say on the edit of his movie. If the 3 hour and 35 minute theatrical cut was Corbet getting his way, bro you are fucking wrong. You need editing.

At one point in the movie, Corbet shows us two shots of a maid walking across a lawn to a guest house while carrying bed linens. HOW IS THIS NOT EXPENDABLE?? There were also multiple times in the first half of the movie that Corbet uses, presumably, real news footage/b-roll on the history of Philadelphia. All of that can go. It does not matter if this movie is set in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, or Gary, Indiana. Certainly we don’t need more than a passing mention that it is in Philly.

In addition to the editing (down) needed in the cut of the film, the bigger problem is probably that nobody edited down the script. There are so many lazy and exploitative plot devices. Does Adrien Brody’s lead character, Laszlo Toth, really need to be Jewish in addition to being a recent immigrant? What storylines would open up if we made Laszlo a heroin junkie?? Then there’s the lazy structure that the antagonist is the rich prick, but Corbet also swings wildly between the rich prick being a prick, but then giving Toth incredible praise and opportunity, and then make another INSANE swing to where the rich prick becomes a gay, anal rapist out of fucking nowhere. Does Laszlo’s wife, played by Felicity Jones, really need to be in a wheelchair from osteoporosis, only to late in the movie be able to walk for a climactic scene??

Speaking of the wife…there’s like a niece character played by Daniel Radcliffe in a wig that comes to the U.S. with her as a sort of nurse/companion. One night, in an extremely painful bout of osteoporosis, the nurse gets called to the wife’s bedside to…give her a pill. What? Her husband laying by her side couldn’t do that?? I guess not because his preferred treatment method is to just shoot his wife up with heroin. Cool.

Quickfire things in “The Brutalist” script that we’re just supposed to be okay with:

Laszlo befriends a black man and his son in a line for a soup kitchen, and then the son disappears for like an hour of the movie with no explanation while his dad and Laszlo shoot heroin.

Wife not strong enough to walk (until a specific plot point), but she can still become a writer for an English-language New York magazine when her first language is not English, and can also give a vigorous handjob to her husband on their first night after being reunited. Although, it kind of seemed like Laszlo couldn’t get it up from the handy. I guess the wife wasn’t the only one with brittle bones.

Corbet really gives me creepy vibes before the movie, but definitely during the movie, because it is VERY kinky. Girl masturbates guy, guy masturbates girl, guy visits old-timey stroke flick theater, guy visits brothel, happy couple have pretty inappropriate heroin-fueled full-frontal sex scene (clearly using two body doubles for Brody and Jones), and the aforementioned anal rape. Oh, and there’s kind of a weird, incestuous cousin cuck scene, which then becomes the inexplicable reason for a 180 degree turn, relationship fallout between the cousins. As one does.

There’s also this unneccessary subplot where the rich prick’s son insults Laszlo’s niece (the nurse) for being, I dunno…mute? Jewish? Poor? But even though she’s “gross” in some way, he still has that thing in movies where the rich, handsome, athletic, or popular guy character wants to get a blowjob from some poor, plain, unpopular girl to show his superiority. The movie shows us him starting to make a move on her, but then don’t show us anything actually happen, and instead cut to later when she walks back to Felicity Jones, but she’s adjusting her clothes…the universal shorthand for “I was just naked seconds ago having sex”. I guess the actual date rape scene will be in the director’s cut on the blu-ray.

After winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor, I guess Adrien Brody is one of the favorites to win the Oscar in the same category. I really am having trouble signing off on that. Brody is fine in the part, I guess, but I just can’t suspend my disbelief long enough to get past the terrible dialogue.

A Real Pain

That same sentiment can be applied to overwhelming favorite for Best Supporting Actor, Kieran Culkin, for his performance in “A Real Pain”. I went into both “The Brutalist” and “A Real Pain” with the highest of hopes. The trailers, the critical buzz, the media campaigns all pointed to both of these movies being directly in my wheelhouse. But both disappointed me in very similar ways.

“A Real Pain” also has some lazy, Jewish/Holocaust exploitative elements. It also has another pretty weird cousin relationship at the center of the story. It also has, to my mind, some crazy continuity problems in terms of story and selectively applying character traits. And the plot, in general, is pretty insane.

Two cousins, close friends in childhood, have grown apart after one attempted suicide and the other got married and had a kid, but then they decide to reconcile their relationship after their grandmother died, and the ideal place to do all of this is on the jovialist of places…on a multi-day, guided, group tour of the holocaust.

Is that even a real thing? Like, I’m aware that people go to Auschwitz and Dachau, but I kinda pictured those types of pilgrimmages being smaller, more intimate, more personal. The idea of two cousins joining up with four strangers and a tour guide like they all bought the same groupon; just seemed bizarre to me.

There’s a very strong chance that Jesse Eisenberg also wins a Screenplay Oscar for this movie, and that’s so baffling to me. Of the two main characters, one is manic, one is depressive, and they’re both intolerable personalities. Are we really supposed to think it’s okay for Culkin’s character to have these really offensive outbursts at the expense of the members of the tour because 30 minutes before or after he was leading the group in an imaginary storming of the German front? Oh, he’s so fun and silly and talks fast and sarcastic so he must be a free spirit and not just a selfish, indulgent prick.

How is no one else seeing this??? I swear to God, just go watch “Igby Goes Down” instead.

Wicked & Emilia Perez

Here we have two entries from a similar vein…the movie musical. I, overwhelmingly, HATE this type of movie. I very rarely can tolerate characters breaking into song (and especially choreography) with the music coming from an imaginary orchestra. I don’t like songs that are giving exposition and/or pushing the plot forward. If you can bake the song, or the songwriting into the plot…then maybe I can stay involved.

In the instances of “Wicked” and “Emilia Perez” we have two very different cases. I’ve tried to watch “Emilia Perez” and my firsthand take is that it is truly bad. I tried to watch it…twice. And that movie analytic I referenced earlier…”Emelia Perez” is one of the three worst scores of the 50+ movies studied. Like, it was worse than the Clooney/Pitt vehicle “Wolfs”. It was worse than “Imaginary Friends”. That is an objective statistic. None of the Best Picture winners from the previous 10 years has scored even close to as bad as that movie. And yet…it is winning awards and continues to stack nominations.

On the other hand, “Wicked” I have not seen, but on the movie analytic it is a top 10 scoring movie. And I believe it has had very good box office numbers. I’m sure I will not like it, but I will give it the old college try (once it goes free to stream) before the Oscar broadcast. Historically, analytically speaking…I think “Wicked” is a potential winner.

A few more of the movies that have some awards buzz that I have not seen:

Sing Sing

The #2 scoring movie. I’m actually looking forward to seeing it, but it’s been hard to find it screening in WA until, I think, today. I will see it probably in the next two weeks.

September 5

I’m pretty indifferent to this one. I won’t really prioritize seeing it unless it actually gets nominated.

Nickel Boys

Like “Sing Sing”, I’d like to see this one. The first person POV look that director Ramell Ross incorporated in this movie is at least interesting. It’s been done before, but I’m not sure I’ve seen those movies.

Nosferatu

I don’t get the sense this is a strong candidate for the major Oscar awards, but I did really like director Robert Eggers movie “The Witch”, and the cast and trailer of this look pretty great.

A bit of rapid fire on the potential Best Animated nominees:

Wild Robot

The highest scoring movie in my database for the year. I kind of hated it. The script feels like it was, ironically, written by a robot/AI. A lot of what I found enjoyable about my favorite movies, and disagreeable about films I disliked, this year, was the pacing. In “Wild Robot” the pacing felt breathless. You’re never left to dwell in a moment for any time at all. The attempts at humorous moments felt slapstick without being funny, and the attempts at sentimentality felt forced and uncompelling.

You’re better off re-watching “Iron Giant”, “Bambi”, or watch “Flow” from this year.

Flow

A beautifully animated, almost silent film surrounding a group of animals actions before/during/after a cataclysmic flood. I’m not sure I understood the totality of it, but there’s nothing to say that is requirement for appreciation. In fact, that can mean it needs another watch.

Robot Dreams

Three animated movies in and we’ve got three with animal central characters, and two with animals interacting with robots. “Robot Dreams” is another that tends more towards a silent film aesthetic. I liked the animation style, but I couldn’t finish it. It needed to get where it was going faster.

Inside Out 2

I wasn’t really a fan of the first one, and I couldn’t finish this one. I just don’t love the gimmick central to this story.

Memoir of a Snail

What a beautiful movie to look at, but holy shit this is depressing. Maybe it pivots at the end to something uplifting, but it sat too long in sad that I moved on. Did not finish.

Live action misses that are still getting award show buzz:

The Substance & A Different Man

I put these two movies together because they both feel like blown out versions of an old “Twilight Zone” episode called “Eye of the Beholder”. Both movies deal with actors trying to deal with standards of beauty. We’ve got one from a female perspective and one from the male. Both movies probably have stronger chances to win their lead actors the prize for their respective categories than they do for winning Best Picture. But they might get nominations for the night’s biggest category.

I did not love either of these movies. “The Substance” seemed to have the better overall concept, but the backend of this movie downgrades to the quality of film you’d normally find coming out of Troma Entertainment, like “Toxic Avenger” or “Basket Case”. Actually, I don’t remember if “Basket Case” was Troma, but it came to mind.

I just can’t believe that I have to have a conversation about this movie as a potential Best Picture. This movie should be found in future history books as a cult classic only.

Juror #2

One of the biggest hoaxes in all of Hollywood, for me, is the classification of Clint Eastwood as a great director. Nothing he has made has ever approached true greatness. He’s the king of obvious, paint by number movie making. I think the true criticism should be that Eastwood lives entirely in the middle. He’s a C- to C+ film maker. There is nothing terrible in his catalogue, but there is also nothing great.

And the funny thing is…I don’t think anyone else really likes him either. But there’s this sort of standing groupthink that has created this echo chamber where, movie after movie, we just talk about him and his movies like he’s in the echelon of Spielberg and Scorsese.

When was the last time you re-watched a Clint Eastwood movie??? Hell, when is the last time a Clint Eastwood movie has come up in your casual conversation?

Since 2006, this is Eastwood’s filmography: Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino, Invictus, Hereafter, J Edgar, Jersey Boys, American Sniper, Sully, The 15:17 to Paris, The Mule, Richard Jewell, Cry Macho, and now Juror #2. What in there do you love??

“Juror #2” is just silly. We’re shown from the beginning what really happened, so, I guess, the suspense is supposed to be will Nicolas Hoult’s lead character do the right thing? Maybe the momentary tease that maybe he will be caught by JK Simmons or Toni Collette.

If you want a courtroom thriller; you’re better off watching “A Few Good Men”, or “The Rainmaker”, or even the recent Jake Gyllenhaal re-make of “Presumed Innocent”.

Dune 2

At this point, before I get into the movies of 2024 that I truly did enjoy, we’re at the biggest “cusp” movie. I don’t have much complaint with this movie…great box office, great analytic score, great director Denis Villeneuve, great cast…but I felt the same way about it that I felt about “Avatar 2”: it’s a fine picture continuing what was already established. But there’s nothing special differentiating it from the first film. AND…we’re already conscious that there will be another one coming. It’s literally mid, in a sense.

And now for the movies of 2024 that I really did love. As I talked about in my opener; I’m presupposed to the movies that have that quality that begets seeing them repeatedly. I’ve seen almost every one of these movies at least twice already. These are the movies I couldn’t wait to tell other people about as I was walking out of the theatre. These are my top 10 of 2024:

#10 – Chasing Chasing Amy

2024 was kind of a big year for the trans community in film and TV. I believe, if I had finished “Emilia Perez”, it gets into trans themes. I think “Baby Reindeer” had a trans character or storyline if I finished that. “Ripley” had a trans actor. But the two that I thought were the most interesting were both documentaries. There was the Netflix doc featuring Will Ferrell and his friend Harper Steele that got a pretty big publicity run earlier this year, and then only recently I stumbled upon “Chasing Chasing Amy”.

I am a longtime, sometimes recovering, fan of Kevin Smith and his movies. His career has gone through a number of ebbs and flows, but I will generally get around to seeing most of the stuff he’s made. For me, the probable apex of his works is the 1997 romantic comedy, “Chasing Amy”. It’s the story of two comic book writers that meet and struggle to navigate through sexuality, gender politics, and the expectations of such placed on them by friends and society, to see if they can find love. The catch is…what if the girl likes other girls?

Sitting in a movie theatre watching that movie for the first time was the literal moment I realized I wanted to, and potentially could, write a movie. Personally, as a straight white male, I wasn’t seeing it and relating to it as a straight guy falling in love with a lesbian. I saw it and related to a guy falling in love with someone who wasn’t open to falling in love with him back.

For Sav Rodgers, the director of “Chasing Chasing Amy”, Smith’s film was relatable, and inspiring for their own reasons. This documentary carries a nice balance of giving us the backstory of the Smith movie’s creation, production, release, and various stages of it’s shelf-life, including discussion of when/how it came to be viewed as “problematic”, and the counterpoint of why it isn’t problematic if you, ironically, hadn’t marketed it as a “boy falls in love with a lesbian” movie.

The documentary brings us interviews with Smith himself, many of the View Askew production team, and two of “Chasing Amy’s” three primary cast members, Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee. But the surprise of the documentary is how Sav Rodgers becomes the central character in their own documentary. It’s surprising, and thoughtful, and emotional, and just a beautiful little film. It hit me surprisingly hard.

#9 – The Outrun

This film is a depiction of the true life story of Scottish writer Amy Liptrot, from her self-penned memoir. Saoirse Ronan plays a version of Liptrot as a character named Rona, who is an alcoholic, as she wanders through recovery and relapse. The filmmakers take us in and out of present day and flashback. All amongst the backdrop of a tiny, cold, windswept island in the Scottish archipelago.

The headline here is Ronan. She is consistently one of movie-making’s best actresses. She is in almost every frame of this movie. And her performance is absolutely breathtaking. The way she, a native Irish, can master a Scottish dialect. The way she can go big at the mania moments of an alcoholic on an active bender, but then find the most incredible quiet, complicated stillness in some of the toughest moments of recovery…it is just mesmerizing.

There is a moment of this film…and it really is only a moment, a look, a breath…that was so impossibly real and heartbreaking that I stopped the movie, rewound, and watched it again to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. Even now, just remembering that scene to write about it, my eyes are welling up.

It’s a crime that Saoirse has never won an Oscar, and an even bigger crime that she seems to be headed toward not even getting nominated for “The Outrun”. She is magnificent.

#8 – Strange Darling

What a wonderful little surprise. This was a movie that I heard mentioned on someone else’s year-end top movies list. I hadn’t heard much about it, but I’ve been actively seeking out great movies the last 3-4 months, since many of the overly-hyped studio releases have been so disappointing.

There is nothing about this movie that was familiar to me going in. I didn’t know the director by any of his prior work. I didn’t know either of the two leads by any of their prior roles. I didn’t know what the plot was. I think that’s actually a good way to go into seeing it. This is primarily an action, suspense, thriller. And it’s new. That’s all I want to give you.

#7 – The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

This is a big, popcorn, action-adventure, summer blockbuster kind of movie from director Guy Ritchie, and starring Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Eiza Gonzalez, Henry Golding and Cary Elwes, and it’s in the vein of “Inglorious Basterds” and “Indiana Jones”. The only problem is: it wasn’t a blockbuster.

The action is great. The cast is gorgeous. Eiza Gonzalez playing British surrounded by an all British cast and director is surprisingly great. The humor is tremendous. And there’s a nice little Easter egg in there tying it to another movie franchise.

#6 – Monkey Man

Here we have some familiar movie tropes brought to us by a new star in that genre, and from a new director. And both are the same guy…Dev Patel.

This is the kind of revenge, action, thriller we’ve seen from Keanu Reeves, and Denzel Washington, and Liam Neeson, and Jason Statham, and Matt Damon. Maybe a little bit of Ryan Gosling in “Drive”, as well. So it takes some pretty high skill to do that which is now standard, but to make it feel fresh and new.

I love what Patel has done here, creating new imagery, new action, and re-inventing himself as a multi-hyphenate to be reckoned with.

#5 – A Complete Unknown

Going into this movie; I had no particular fondness for Bob Dylan. If pressed, I probably like more cover versions of his songs than I do his originals. And Timothee Chalamet, to this point, has struck me more as the kind of pretty, dumb actor like Keanu Reeves that needs to be hidden behind the bells and whistles of other aspects of a movie.

I did not know Timmy had this performance in him. He’s really playing that guitar. He’s really singing those songs live to camera. The hair and costume people also kill it…they somehow make the skinny Chalamet look like he’s gotten shorter, and heavier in those boxey-ass jeans.

And director James Mangold is fully in his wheelhouse. After leading Joaquin Phoenix through his performance in “Walk the Line” and Christian Bale and Matt Damon through their portrayals of real life people in “Ford vs Ferrari”; Mangold knows how to structure a biopic. I love that, here, he’s not pushing for Dylan to be heroic. In one of my favorite moments of the film, Monica Barbaro (as Joan Baez) says to Chalamet, “you’re kind of an asshole, Bob,” to which Bob replies, “yeah, I guess.” THIS is what most of our cultural heroes truly are. Unapologetic, unrepentant assholes with a singular vision for greatness at all costs.

Chalamet deserves the Oscar. If he is our new Dicaprio; THIS is his “Gilbert Grape” moment.

#4 – Civil War

Most of the movies on this list I saw recently, and were therefore easier to remember and place. “Civil War”, from director/writer Alex Garland, was a movie I first saw maybe last May or June. But it was enough time passing that I wasn’t certain it was what I thought I remembered it was. As I made this list, and by process of elimination it started looking like it might make my top 10, I had to go back and rewatch the movie. Not only was it certainly top 10, it was actually one of the most complete movies of the year.

This movie is haunting. The same way that Garland’s “Ex Machina” was haunting for AI, or “28 Days Later” was haunting for, I don’t know, medical experiments…”Civil War” is haunting for modern American social politics. This is the kind of movie that gets banned at some point.

#3 – Rebel Ridge

One of the reasons I generally feel like most year-end “best-of” lists are bullshit; is because you NEVER see movies like “Rebel Ridge” on them. Certainly not this high.

This movie has zero pedigree. I had seen one of director Jeremy Saulnier’s prior movies, but I didn’t even know it was his movie at the time. The cast is, I guess, headlined by Don Johnson, with a cameo from James Cromwell. The third most recognizable actor in it, to me, was the guy who played Roy on “The Office”. The female lead is the grown up version of the girl who was in that “Winn Dixie” movie years ago, but whose name I never remember without googling. The lead-lead is a guy I’ve never seen before.

And the story is not new. It’s kind of almost exactly the opening of “Rambo: First Blood”. But you just have to trust me that the execution here is impeccable. This movie is like getting in on the ground floor of Rambo, of Die Hard, of Jason Bourne. There is absolutely zero fat. This is all killer, no filler.

I’m not even going to say anything else about it. Just put it on and the movie will compel you through it. When I watched this movie for the third time, I put it on for my mom…this is not, on paper, her kind of movie…but I just started it for her…after about 30 minutes she says to me, “what is this movie called?” “Rebel Ridge” “This is a GOOD movie.”

And, by the way, the lead is Aaron Pierre (somebody make this guy a star), and the female lead is AnnaSophia Robb. Cast her more, too.

#2 – Anora

There were quite a few movies this year that I went to see with raised expectations. “Anora” might be the only one that really met them. This is a thoroughly modern take on the “stripper with a heart of gold” who meets some version of prince charming. Only, does Anora have a heart of gold? And, is prince charming actually that charming? So it’s, really, a deconstruction of the “Pretty Woman” vibe.

As I said earlier, one of the big themes of the year was movie pacing. “Anora” is moving at breakneck speed throughout, but it works. The second-biggest theme, for me, might be dialogue. It has been so hard to find realistic dialogue. That might be the giveaway that we’re quietly seeing a lot of AI scripts. Especially since 2024 was the year we were seeing movies produced before and/or after the Hollywood writers’ strike of 2023.

“Anora” has some of the best dialogue of the year. And it’s spread equally across the entire cast. Everybody gets a unique voice, and they are all grounded in the real way that people talk. Wonderful. It makes watching the parts of this movie where the characters are such self-centered, indulgent little brats tolerable.

The actual best actress performance for me in 2024 was Saoirse Ronan, but since she won’t be competing; I think the next best performance might by Mikey Madison in the titular role of “Anora”. Plus, I have this long-standing theory that the Academy loves to give Oscars to actresses in roles where they show their breasts. Madison is definitely eligible from this, but so would be Demi Moore.

#1 – Conclave

I saw “Conclave” and “Anora” on consecutive days back in, I think, November, and I kept waiting for one or both to be knocked out of the top two spots, but every entrant that I’ve tried has failed. Maybe “Sing Sing” or “Nickel Boys” will do it, but for now…the title belongs to “Conclave”.

I loved this movie. It is lush and grand, while also managing to be small and intimate. It is gorgeous to look at. It is sonically incredible in both score and sound mixing. Every single cast member is acting their asses off, and they have pitch perfect dialogue to say. Ralph Fiennes was my leader in the clubhouse as Best Actor until I saw Chalamet.

In terms of the plot…I went in thinking it might be kind of a “Ten Little Indians” murder mystery thing, as we know from the trailer that there is a dead pope in the story. While the movie quickly absolves itself of a murder plot, there is still a suspenseful mystery throughout. And with the backdrop a papal conclave…something already inherently mysterious to the average person…this was one of the rare movies that managed to surprise me. Maybe not at every twist and turn, but enough to make me appreciate it for the unexpected moments. I also appreciated how the movie was, in a sense, self aware.

Was 2024 a good year for movies? I think the immediate answer is a hard ‘no’. But the more thoughtful answer has to delve into how and why we end up with the touted movies that we end up with. I legitimately don’t understand how some of the “consensus” best movies get talked about the way they do, while conversely some of the best movies, that I think people will be invested in and repeat watching for years to come, are kind of nowhere to be found. I don’t have that answer.

We just all need to love what we love. But also see me in five years. I’ll bring receipts.

Seahawks new year mock

/ seattleseamocks

By Jared Stanger

Welcome to 2025! As I’m writing this we’re still a few hours away from the Seahawks’ season finale in Los Angeles. It will be a meaningless game for the already-eliminated Hawks in terms of this season, but maybe it gives us some ideas about what they will be doing going forward. The big intel might be how they handle Geno Smith in the game, as he is on pace to hit a number of contract performance bonus escalators if he plays and plays well today.

I’m not a salary cap expert by any stretch, so the way I read the projections for Seattle’s 2025 cap, they’re in bad shape. Like, “bottom five teams in the league” bad. It’s no wonder they had to table negotiations to extend Ernest Jones. They really need to make some cuts first. And there aren’t really clean cuts to make. There’s a lot of dead money they are going to have to just eat. I think the best way to do that is to rip the bandaid off. The three biggest cap hits are Geno Smith, Tyler Lockett, and DK Metcalf. The single biggest cap savings would be cutting (or trading) Geno before June 1…saving $25million. The biggest dead money also comes from probably your best trade chip…DK, with $21mill dead money. And Lockett is probably the most replaceable based on his current role on the roster with JSN now looking like WR1. Lock will dead money you almost $14mill, and save you $17mill.

Personally, I might just do all three. But I kinda doubt Seattle does. I’m going to split the difference, cut Geno, trade DK, and just ride it out with the always classy Lock.

For a DK trade, I look at competitive teams that have good cap space, maybe only have a WR1, and then have a decent amount of draft capital. Buffalo has the draft picks, but don’t really have cap space. Washington has cap, but only mid on draft picks. Minnesota has cap space, but hardly any draft picks. I came away with the Chargers having the best fit.

Chargers have the 8th-most cap space. They have 11 projected draft picks. And their leading WR this year was Ladd McConkey with 1000 yards, followed by Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston with under 600 yards. It’s a pretty young WR room, where DK would actually become the elder-statesman at 27. I’m going to project the trade is DK for the Chargers’ 2nd (#2.57) and one of their four picks in the 6th round at #6.178.

In one note on free agency, before you wonder why I don’t have Seattle drafting a left guard after losing Laken Tomlinson to free agency…I will project Seattle goes out and signs Teven Jenkins as their #1 priority in free agency.

In the first trade within the draft; I have Seattle moving back from #1.18 to #1.29 while adding #2.62 in deal with Buffalo, who also own the #2.61 pick.

We’ll immediately flip #62 to Las Vegas for pick #3.69 + #5.146. And we’ll move Seattle’s native 3rd round pick to Baltimore for their 3rd (3.91) and one of their 4th’s (4.128). This will be a LOT of draftpicks, but Seattle needs to get younger and cheaper while they take the dead cap hits from Geno and DK.

1.18(SEA)->1.29(BUF) + 2.62(BUF)

1.29(BUF) – QB, Ole Miss, Jaxson Dart

I’ve decided the way forward for Seattle isn’t to cut Geno Smith and then immediately target someone like Sam Darnold, who is going to cost almost as much as Geno. Nor do I want to lose draft picks to acquire, say, JJ McCarthy in trade. Seattle has Sam Howell under contract for another year. They also have Jaren Hall on the active roster, and then there’s John Rhys Plumlee who was also recently added to the active roster but now listed as a WR. (This might be some parlor trick bullshit until they resolve the Geno situation. It would just be a bad look to openly show four QB on the active roster in a game that doesn’t matter, but could cost the team millions.)

I think the move here is giving thorough examination of Howell, Hall, Plumlee, AND two more QB that they will get in the draft. To me, Howell, Hall, and Plumlee all have a very similar vibe, and Jaxson Dart has that same vibe. (Maybe I’m on to the right idea, but the wrong player, and it actually ends up Riley Leonard…but I prefer Dart.)

I’m not gonna telegraph the entire thinking here, but suffice to say, focus on the strategy.

https://twitter.com/SSN_OleMiss/status/1875021882279506216

2.50(SEA) – Defensive End, Boston College, Donovan Ezeiruaku

Seattle needs a more consistent Edge rush presence. Uchenna Nwosu missed most of the year injured, and now has only played 11-12 games over the last two years, producing only three sacks combined. We can’t count on him. Derick Hall has had a nice sophomore season with 8.0 sacks, but to my eye a lot of those have been coverage and/or cleanup sacks. And Boye Mafe only has one sack over his last five games, after opening the year with four sacks in the first five games.

This draft looks incredibly strong in the Edge rush class. It is the best philosophy to pick from the strength(s) of a draft. Seattle should do this just based on that, alone.

Ezeiruaku is a more long, slender, speed edge rusher than the guys we have presently have at 6’2″/247lbs. He bends the corner better than almost anyone in the class. He had 20.5 TFL, 16.5 sacks, and 15 QB hurries this year.

https://twitter.com/NoFlagsFilm/status/1841918705288012035

2.57(LAC trade DK) – Offensive Guard, Georgia, Tate Ratledge

As I said before, Seattle should target Teven Jenkins in free agency to address one of the guard spots. The second guard (right) they should get early in the draft. There are some college tackles that project to move inside that I’d be happy to get, but in this case I’m taking one of the true guards.

Ratledge is listed 6’6″/320lbs and is just one of the most well-rounded OL in the draft. Intangibles, too.

https://twitter.com/JosephHerffNFL/status/1874875736148046105

2.62(BUF)->3.69(LVR) + 5.146(LVR)

3.69(LVR) – Linebacker, Ole Miss, Chris Paul Jr

Maybe Seattle gets Ernest Jones re-signed, maybe they don’t. But Seattle needs more talent in the linebacker room. It clearly made a difference in the performance of the Seahawk defense from Baker and Dodson to Jones and Knight. If you end up redshirting Paul for a year or two…fine.

Listed 6’1″/235lbs, Paul posted 88 tackles, 11.0 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 9 hurries, 1 INT, and 4 PBU this year as the MIKE in the #14 defense in the country (#3 in scoring defense). He checks a lot of boxes that I’m looking for.

https://twitter.com/BengalsBrews/status/1859046662028542307

3.82(SEA)->3.91(BAL) + 4.128(BAL)

3.91(BAL) – Defensive Tackle, Nebraska, Ty Robinson

Seattle has impending free agents at DT in Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, and Brandon Pili. Cameron Young has been non-existent since he was drafted in 2023. We need reinforcements on the interior DL. I’m a fan of using vets at DT, as the younger guys seem ineffective until they’ve had 3-4 years in the pro’s, but Seattle may not have the cap space to do that.

Robinson is listed 6’6″/310lbs, and he’s played everywhere along the Huskers’ line (not to mention some fullback). This year he posted 12.5 TFL, 7.0 sacks, 7 hurries, 4 PBU, 1 FF, and 1 blocked kick. It may not be a sexy pick, but this guy makes your roster better.

https://twitter.com/JaredNFLDraft/status/1873070977397219825

4.128(BAL) – Quarterback, Louisville, Tyler Shough

I mentioned last week on twitter that I kind of like Seattle doing what Washington did in 2012 when they drafted RG3 in the 1st round and then Kirk Cousins in the 4th round of that draft. I don’t really think the quality of this quarterback class will be in the 1st round. I think there’s a number of quality leaders of men that play QB, but have not caught the eye of the media, and probably not the league. But history will look kindly on a couple guys drafted in the 2nd-4th rounds.

Shough has a complicated story, having started at Oregon, played a couple injury-plagued years at Texas Tech, before finally getting a full healthy year in 2024 at Louisville. He now has ties to the schools that recently gave us Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson. He’s got the ideal QB build at 6’5″/225lbs. He’s an older player at 25, which is why he will fall in the draft, but I like his longterm prospects.

https://twitter.com/dpbrugler/status/1869755257540235527

4.136(SEA comp) – Tight End, Miami, Elijah Arroyo

I think this is a lowkey nice TE class. I’d like to see the Hawks invest a decent pick at the spot. A) they need a quid pro quo replacement for free agent Pharoah Brown. B) I kinda think the right TE player could end up being a pseudo replacement for DK Metcalf.

Arroyo is listed 6’4″/245lbs and posted 35 catches for 590 yards and 7 TD this year.

https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1855299379197825066

5.146(LVR) – Defensive Tackle, Ole Miss, JJ Pegues

Listen, at this point, I’m just ride-or-die with some of these guys. The only thing that changes is how early I need to draft them. Pegues is one of my favorite players in the entire draft. I want him on my team. He’s listed at 6’2″/325lbs and still has a pretty legit outside edge rush. And he can get you short yardage carries as a ball carrier. He makes your roster better and deeper.

JJ finished the year with 13.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 5 hurries, and a total 7 rushing TD.

https://twitter.com/BradLoganCOTE/status/1815468165184331958

5.173(SEA comp) – Wide Receiver, Tennessee, Dont’e Thornton

This is another, more literal, attempt to find a replacement for Metcalf. There’s a sneaky group of BIG receivers that will be available in this draft, and most aren’t getting crazy buzz. Maybe that changes for the ones that flash at the combine, but for now I’m seeing Thornton available this late.

He’s listed 6’5″/214lbs. I believe the rep is that he will test well. And in 2024 he only had 26 catches, but he averaged 25.42 ypc on those catches, with 6 going for TD.

https://twitter.com/Volology/status/1837651506893291623

6.178(LAC trade DK) – Center, Florida, Jake Slaughter

One of my biggest complaints of John Schneider’s last decade running the show in Seattle has been the way he has mismanaged the center position. He traded away Max Unger and the offensive line, and the team’s success, has never been the same. And he’s screwed up time after time in the draft with his decisions (and indecisions) regarding centers.

Ironically, this year comes around and I don’t think the draft warrants an early pick at the center position. As I scan national big boards, the top ranked center isn’t coming off the board until the 5th round. Yeah, it’s potentially that empty.

So we don’t want to spend a high pick on a center, but we do need to take a shot on a potential upgrade to 2023 5th-rounder Olu Oluwatimi.

I like Slaughter. He’s listed 6’5″/308lbs. He’s a very smart player.

https://twitter.com/AKing_Evals/status/1802352928377753985

6.184(CHI) – Offensive Tackle, Kansas, Logan Brown

This pick is two things…1) it’s a de facto replacement for Stone Forsythe, who will be a free agent coming off IR, 2) it’s a lotto ticket to finding a decent hedge for Abe Lucas’ future at RT.

Brown is listed 6’6″/315lbs and I just like the temperment he brings.

6.210(SEA comp) – Wide Receiver, Auburn, Keandre Lambert Smith

It’s possible I’ve got way too many picks in this mock draft. There’s a reason I think it might be good to draft a high number, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s plausible. Trading draft picks isn’t as easy in reality as it is in mock draft simulators, etc. So if I were to cut down on picks, this would be the one that I’d lose first.

But I like the story of Lambert Smith. You may remember in 2015, the Seahawks had a safety named Keenan Lambert they got as an UDFA. That was Kam Chancellor’s half-brother. Well, with a first name that starts with ‘K’ and the last name Lambert, you might put together that Keandre is actually Kam’s nephew.

KLS played this year for Auburn after spending four years at Penn State. After swapping Lions for Tigers, Lambert led Auburn in receiving with 50 catches for 981 yards and 8 TD. Listed at 6’1″/182lbs, but I think he plays bigger than that. He’s very strong winning contested balls in the air. If you can get Jermaine Kearse production out of him (about 40 catches, 550 yards, an explosive play per game); that’s a great value.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1860519940853280846

7.234(SEA) – Safety, Nebraska, Deshon Singleton

There are a couple safeties in this draft that I wouldn’t mind seeing Seattle draft early, and giving Mike Macdonald his new Kyle Hamilton type. Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts is an absolute ball-hawk that is second in the country in INT this year, after tying for the national lead in the same category last year. And South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori is a huge safety at 6’3″/227lbs that should end up one of the top performers at all positions at the Combine. Either of those guys is worthy of a top 60 pick.

Singleton is probably not as complete of a player as the two aforementioned. He basically seems to have the kind of hands that show why he’s playing defense, not offense, and his career mark of 1 total INT all but confirms it. But the guy is one of my favorite tackling safeties I’ve seen. This could be the kind of guy whose ceiling is on special teams, but it might be the special teams player that goes to the Pro Bowl every year. Listed 6’3″/210lbs with 71 tackles on the year from safety.

https://twitter.com/HuskerEastNE/status/1843112305720271109