2018 NFL Draft

Except the team that drafted him. The Steelers have been doing pretty damn well of late with their first-round picks, so I'm gonna trust they know what the hell they're doing here. This wasn't some Huey Richardson panic pick.

EDIT: BTW, Huey Richardson: Steelers' most confounding flop

He was in the World Trade Center on 9-11. Didn't know that.

 

I would dispute that they have been pretty good the last few years.
Jones is miss.
Shazier was oft-injured and now likely done.
Dupree, Burns and Watt have not developed into stars, muchless solid starters.
All of most-recent 1st round picks, aside from Shazier (again, injuries) perform as mid-range draft picks and not 1st rounders.

 

Well I was gonna go back to Pouncey in 2010, followed by Heyward and Decastro. That's two perennial All-Pros and Heyward, who made All-Pro last year. Watt, Dupree and Burns haven't plateaued. But yeah, Jarvis Jones was a bust.

 

Matt Ryan has to be giddy with getting Ridley.

 

I think you are being a little unfair to Watt. I think he is already a solid starter and he showed enough upside to think he could be more in time.

Jones was a bust. Dupree is headed that way. Burns took a huge step backward last year, but still has a chance to be a solid starter. Shazier is the only one I think you can say they got the pick right. Injuries are tough to predict, but the guy played up to his draft status.

 

Is the coach still Dan Quinn? Then they'll still fold when the chips are down.

 

That goes back to my original point, that it isn't just where you rank the guy that matters. You have to get a feel for what other teams think of the player so you aren't reaching for players sooner than you need to take them.

That's why Stallworth is such a great example. The Steelers ranked him as a first-rounder, but waited until the fourth round to draft him. They were able to get two other Hall of Fame players before taking Stallworth, Swann and Lambert. If they take Stallworth in the first round that year, they don't get Swann. If they take him in the second round, they probably don't get Lambert, especially because they didn't have pick in the third round.

 

I think that's the key. I'm guessing he was rated that high by a number of other teams, too. Sure, it wasn't the consensus, but who gives a shit about the consensus? Any monkey can pick the top-rated dude on the draft board. You grab a guy who fits your scheme and organization. The Steelers have a habit of picking guys who aren't immediate impact players. Some develop into stars (like Heyward), while others don't.

Anyway, that 1974 draft was ridiculous. Best draft class ever, just insane.

 

There is no indication at all that anybody else had Edmunds that high. Many of the draft experts do talk with scouts and front office personnel, so they at least have some idea. Based on the information available, nobody else had him that high.

If you have a player ranked high and nobody else does, that's where you find value. If everybody really does have Edmunds as a third-rounder and the Steelers think he is a first-round talent, the real value would be in taking him in the second or third round.

 

You have no idea where other teams had him ranked.

 

I really do miss the days when valuations of players were wildly different, where a guy who one team felt was a first rounder went in the fourth. Now everybody has mild disagreements on the value of players, but there's a general consensus on where players should go. The days when there was no chart to value draft picks so teams would be stupid and give up way too many for mere above average player.

The inefficiency of it all made it much more fun.

I also loved when teams would flat-out tell reporters who they were going to pick heading into the draft, knowing that information would likely never get around the country and nobody really cared about the draft enough to make it a big secret.

 

It's a postmodern thing, Dick. Everybody's an expert now. Resentment for institutions of any kind is in, respect for them is out. See any number of writers today who not only are stone-cold masters of the free market, but could run any team in nearly every sport.

That Holiday Inn commercial is only sort of a joke.