Draft Grades

[HarveyWallbangers]

Now for the meaningless draft grades. Remember before TT proved himself, we got dinged on a lot of draft grades, but now everybody loves them some TT.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/18881992/2012-nfl-draft-winners-and-losers-colts-stay-on-offensive-with-smart-draft

Winner


Green Bay Packers -- I neglected to include the Packers in my Day 2 list of winners and losers and that was wrong. So my apologies for that, because Ted Thompson crushed this draft, going defense with his first six picks. Nick Perry will help limit the number of double teams Clay Matthews sees and moving up to snag Jerel Worthy in the second was superb. Thompson then proceeded to pile on the depth all over the defense with good value picks like Terrell Manning and Casey Hayward. I love the pick of B.J. Coleman from Chattanooga late in the seventh round too. He's going to be their next Matt Flynn type guy, watch.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Kiper had the Pack with a B grade--only 6 teams with better.


Summary: Green Bay sacked opposing quarterbacks on 4.28 percent of pass attempts last year. That was worse than the other 31 teams in the NFL. The Packers simply had to add to the pass rush. Nick Perry may not be the perfect profile as a guy who can fit their scheme, but one thing he can do is get up field and turn the corner. I still think he has some development left. The value was about right for my board. Jerel Worthy gets dinged for effort, but when he plays, the guy is Round 1 material. He could be a steal at No. 51. Casey Hayward is a nice little nickel corner and can handle slot receivers, something they really need in that division. The real steal for me is Terrell Manning all the way down at No. 163. He can shadow Clay Matthews and become a nice pass-rush threat for them. If you saw my draft guide book last year, I had Manning as the top OLB in his class. He fell a little this year, and had injury issues, but there's a lot to like. Nice draft for the Pack.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Vinnie Iyer has always loved him some TT.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-04-28/nfl-draft-2012-grades-bengals-cowboys-patriots-packers-steelers


Green Bay Packers (A)
Key picks: OLB/DE Nick Perry, DT Jerel Worthy, DB Casey Heyward.

They needed defensive energy and focused all but their last two picks on that intention. More specifically, they turned to boosting the front against the pass to help their secondary.

[wist43]

Give TT an A this year.

[Joemailman]

Give TT an A this year.

I feel like I don't even know you anymore. :whaa: :glug:

Hope you're recovering well from your surgery.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Some knocks on Worthy about not being as productive as he should be, but the dude was first-team All-Amercian, so I don't know where that comes from. Maybe he needs a breather on occasion, but in the NFL that isn't as big of a problem. He looks like a beast on his highlights.

I was down on Hayward a bit because he doesn't have that size/speed combination you look for, but the kid looks like a poor man's Antoine Winfield in his highlights. Half his highlights are of him making a good tackle. I doubt he tackles that well, but he's a bit taller and has good ball skills to boot. Maybe he'll pan out.

[smuggler]

He doesn't have long speed, but he is quick. If they stick him in the slot, he can change directions and hopefully deal with the Harvins and Welkers of the world who are typically shorter WRs anyway. He's a willing tackler, but I think he needs some coaching in that area. He definitely is comfortable near the LoS and that's nice for what we usually have our slot CB do. He has good instincts and ball skills, and was falling only because of size/speed. As long as he doesn't have to run with a burner, he should be okay.

[Scott Campbell]

All this talking head draft love can't be good.

[denverYooper]

Some knocks on Worthy about not being as productive as he should be, but the dude was first-team All-Amercian, so I don't know where that comes from. Maybe he needs a breather on occasion, but in the NFL that isn't as big of a problem. He looks like a beast on his highlights.

I was down on Hayward a bit because he doesn't have that size/speed combination you look for, but the kid looks like a poor man's Antoine Winfield in his highlights. Half his highlights are of him making a good tackle. I doubt he tackles that well, but he's a bit taller and has good ball skills to boot. Maybe he'll pan out.

One of the other draft day writeups on Worthy said that he wasn't highly recruited and worked very hard to get to that All-American level. But then it went on to say that he takes plays off. It seems like a lot of the bigs get knocked for taking plays off but at 300+ pounds I think these guys just get gassed at times and need a quick break. The real trick is knowing when they can get away with it and not doing it when it will negatively affect the play at hand.

[smuggler]

All this talking head draft love can't be good.

The talking heads love any draft when you trade up and address needs. The real test will be if we picked the right guys or not, which they can't answer (yet).

[Bretsky]

I keep finding reason to be upset at this draft but logic keeps slapping me back

Historically, IF I am really happy with a draft pick or a draft it does not turn out so well...aka....Brent Fullwood...etc

So looking for straws

In retrospect, would we rather have Jared Crick and Vinny Curry or Jerel Worthy ?

[Bretsky]

wait...I don't think Curry would have been there so I have to scratch that idea

[pbmax]

All this talking head draft love can't be good.

That is the downside of Ted being "reasonable". That, and the other method was working just fine :)

[pbmax]

The talking heads love any draft when you trade up and address needs. The real test will be if we picked the right guys or not, which they can't answer (yet).

This.

[Tony Oday]

Is Wist suffering from a brain tumor? I'm scared he actually likes something the Packers did...next ill see a post by him saying Hawk is a valued member of the defense!

[mmmdk]

All this talking head draft love can't be good.

You have failed me for the last time, Admiral Thompson! Better?

[pack4to84]

As dominating as Worthy was when he played full out. Coach new if he was just out there other team still would have to double team him taking 2 OL out of the picture. If Worthy came to the sideline to rest the other DL men that replace him wouldn't have gotten the same attention. In the NFL rotation would be key for him. Every time he is out there 90% to 100% he would be a beast.

[hoosier]

The best line I've seen in a post-draft grade in some time, from Walter Football, which gave TT a grade of D for the McMillian pick:
The Packers had to find a safety, but they should have drafted someone in the fourth round who was actually in the top 225 of a major big board. If that doesn't point up the futility of assigning post-draft grades, nothing does.

[MadScientist]

All this talking head draft love can't be good.


The talking heads love any draft when you trade up and address needs. The real test will be if we picked the right guys or not, which they can't answer (yet).

I think more specifically, the talking heads like a GM doing what they would have done. It makes them feel like they aren't completely clueless idiots.

[Guiness]

The best line I've seen in a post-draft grade in some time, from Walter Football, which gave TT a grade of D for the McMillian pick:

The Packers had to find a safety, but they should have drafted someone in the fourth round who was actually in the top 225 of a major big board.
If that doesn't point up the futility of assigning post-draft grades, nothing does.

lol

I suspect he was at least on one 'big board' that mattered - TT's!

[Lurker64]

The best line I've seen in a post-draft grade in some time, from Walter Football, which gave TT a grade of D for the McMillian pick: If that doesn't point up the futility of assigning post-draft grades, nothing does.

The funny thing is when the Packers picked Nick Collins, a lot of people were complaining about them taking a sixth round CB in the second.

It's not like there weren't people who were "top 225 on a major board" that TT could have picked in the fourth instead of McMillan, and it's not like there weren't "consensus second round CBs" that TT could have taken instead of Collins. It's just that TT disagreed with the consensus opinion.

It's not like agreeing with the consensus opinion is for the best, since "drafting off Mel Kiper's board" is pretty much how the Bengals do business.

[Guiness]

The funny thing is when the Packers picked Nick Collins, a lot of people were complaining about them taking a sixth round CB in the second.

It's not like there weren't people who were "top 225 on a major board" that TT could have picked in the fourth instead of McMillan, and it's not like there weren't "consensus second round CBs" that TT could have taken instead of Collins. It's just that TT disagreed with the consensus opinion.

It's not like agreeing with the consensus opinion is for the best, since "drafting off Mel Kiper's board" is pretty much how the Bengals do business.

Pete Prisco thinks it's a great idea!


The Cincinnati Bengals have been the punch line for a lot of jokes, many of those aimed at owner/general manager Mike Brown.
The Bengals have a skimpy scouting staff and other teams privately laugh at how they refuse to spend bigger on scouting.
Maybe Mike Brown has it right. After all, his team had the best draft of any of the 32 NFL teams this year.
I gave the Bengals an A+, a three-day pick-a-thon that netted them a lot of good football players. It helped that they had extra picks because of their trade of Carson Palmer to the Raiders last year, but it's what they did with all those picks that truly impressed.
I see the Bengals adding 10 solid football players, all with a chance to make the team, even sixth-round running back Dan Herron from Ohio State. Top pick Dre' Kirkpatrick will likely be a Week 1 starter while several others have a chance to start.
That's dominating a draft. Here are big props to Mike Brown and the Bengals, who might be laughing at the rest of the league now.

[Lurker64]

Pete Prisco thinks it's a great idea!

The Bengals draft grades are generally disproportionately high compared to the actual collection football talent they end up assembling, generally because the Broncos draft room is more driven by groupthink than other teams'.

[hoosier]

The funny thing is when the Packers picked Nick Collins, a lot of people were complaining about them taking a sixth round CB in the second.

It's not like there weren't people who were "top 225 on a major board" that TT could have picked in the fourth instead of McMillan, and it's not like there weren't "consensus second round CBs" that TT could have taken instead of Collins. It's just that TT disagreed with the consensus opinion.

It's not like agreeing with the consensus opinion is for the best, since "drafting off Mel Kiper's board" is pretty much how the Bengals do business.

He disagreed with a certain consensus. But who knows what kind of interest there was in McMillian among teams drafting in the early fifth round. The hilarious aspects of the Walter football line are its inability to see the difference between the crushes that pundits develop for certain players (which in turn lead to "major big boards") and the kind of knowledge that comes from serious, professional scouting; and its wilfull blindness to organizational track records. After five years of his drafts, when TT picks a name I've never heard of, my response is not "wtf" but rather "I suspect this is going to be a good one." I know that even if I had the time to watch college football every weekend of the season, I would still know nothing compared to a professional scout or GM. I guess that makes me one step less ignorant than Walter football.

[woodbuck27]

I feel like I don't even know you anymore. :whaa: :glug:

Hope you're recovering well from your surgery.


TT really stayed focused this draft. Impressive and aggressive. great to see. He's learning.

[Iron Mike]

Give TT an A this year.

And where is Herbert Goodman now???