2014 NFL draft thread (no longer too early)

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

I remember the year the Saints took Reggie Bush No. 2 overall, there were quite a few scouts who had him rated as a late first-round pick. That was the year when the Pats drafted Maroney and Belichick said, "He was the top-rated back on our board." and people went nuts...

I don't doubt for a second that a few teams agree with Jaworski's assessment of Manziel and I don't doubt that a few teams have him rated as a top 5 prospect.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Manziel with an offense like the Steelers would fail miserably, but if a team buys into him, like the Eagles (who already have a QB) or the Patriots, I think he works in the NFL.

In 2-3 years when Brady hangs them up, I could easily see New England going for a QB like Manziel. It probably won't happen this year, but I could see them going in this direction.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Rodgers and Andrew Luck were the most "ready to play immediately" QBs of the past decade. I really expected Brady Quinn would fare better. He endured a lot of coaching changes in his early years that seemed to set him back a bit. Maybe he'll be a Rich Gannon-type late bloomer.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Rodgers would have been killed if he played as a rookie.

Story on NFL Network about how the Browns are not interested in Manziel and how they want to take Carr with the No. 26 pick. My biggest question about that is I think it's a pretty big assumption that Carr will still be there that late.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

The Browns already drafted a Manziel. His name was Brady Quinn.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

I am puzzled about Cleveland. Is it that the players they pick just aren't that good? Or does the coaching staff and management result in them underachieving? Seems to happen over and over with that team.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Joe Haden and Joe Thomas seem to have done fine...

Any team that has that much turnover on the coaching staff is going to be a mess. There have been a few bust picks (Couch is the first that jumps to mind), but if you have a new person deciding how to rebuild the team every two years or so it's impossible to succeed. Until Cleveland has stability, there is no way it can have success, unless it stumbles on to an Andrew Luck type in the draft and even then, that might not be enough...

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Well, they've gone through Couch, Brady Quinn, Braden Weeden and Trent Richardson without much to show for it. Maybe it's just the skill position guys. Hope they can start doing better.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

The Browns came out looking pretty good for taking Josh Gordon with a No. 2 in the supplemental draft, and that was a major gamble.

FYI, Mike Lombardi, working for NFL.com at the time, called the choice of Gordon "a waste of a pick."

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

That was a major gamble at the time, and the pick was pretty universally panned.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Indeed it was. Even Gordon said he was shocked to go that high. But Tom Heckert's quote that day was this: "I think next year we will be sitting there going, ‘Wow,’ if he plays like we think he is going to play this year."

I think a lot of people were saying wow last season.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Of course, as good as Gordon is, it's not like he doesn't have a ton of baggage and had it coming out of school.

Not quite at Justin Blackmon level, but he's one more fuck-up from a year-long suspension.