2014 NFL draft thread (no longer too early)

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

It's tempting to take a QB high if the need is there because they're so much cheaper than they would have been just a few years ago. But do you want to pass on an elite tackle like Robinson or Matthews or a WR like Watkins or Evans to take a QB that you might not be completely sold on?

I still think Manziel is the first QB taken and Bortles goes shortly after him.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Again, the assumption that Robinson, Matthews, Watkins and Evans will be better pros at their positions than Manziel or Bortles (or Bridgewater. Carr, etc. will be at theirs seems to me to be an assumption made on the premise NFL teams are better evaluators of those positions than of QBs. And history shows us just about the opposite.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

It's true... Watkins could be the next Julio Jones or he could be the next Braylon Edwards.

But, if Watkins or Robinson or Matthews are busts, I don't think a GM would have to answer for that pick in the same way they would if they picked a QB in the top 5 who was a bust.

That's not fair, but it's the way it is...

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

There is no reason to reach for a quarterback. There are only four teams that "need" a starter (Texans, Vikings, Browns and Jags) and at least five QBs that fit the bill. I'd rather pick the worst of the lot (Bridgewater?) in the second round than the best (?) in the top half of the first.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Mizzou, again your point is spot on. Fans and some journalists believe they know more about quarterbacks than say, linebackers because that's the guy most shown on TV, so the heat of QB failure is more intense. But in an interesting if painful experiment, the Detroit Lions and Matt Millen proved you can screw up a franchise just as effectively by drafting wide receivers who can't play.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

With the rare exception of someone like Mandarich, drafting a offensive lineman high is probably the safest move you can make. Even if the pick is a bust, fans and some journalists won't know it because they can't properly determine the difference between an average starter and a Pro Bowler.

People have also forgotten about all of the horseshit receivers who have gone in the top 10. People justifiably point to Millen, but there's also Darrius Heyward-Bey, Ted Ginn, Troy Williamson, Reggie Williams, David Terrell, Koren Robinson to go with Roy Williams, Mike Williams and Charles Rogers...

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Another factor is that the standard by which high QB picks are evaluated by outsiders is much tougher than for high picks at other positions. If a tackle or defensive lineman gets drafted in the top five, struggles a bit when young, then goes on to have a long career as a journeyman starter, nobody calls them a bust. If a QB, say, Vinny Testaverde, goes on to have the exact same kind of career, he's a bust.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Saw a Raiders draft preview show last week. GM Reggie comes across as having the same amount of pizazz as a piece of concrete.

 

Agreed. These Rams/Manziel rumors seem ridiculous unless St. Louis is facilitating them to scare other teams. The real goal may be to trade down one or two spots and still get Matthews or Robinson.

 

Some of us have been saying that could (and should) happen since February, when all the talk was that three QBs would go in the top five picks.

FWIW, I don't think the QBs are being "downgraded" or their stock has dropped among actual NFL scouts. I think for the most part, the scouts have known all along that none of these QBs was a top-five or top-10 caliber prospect -- all that speculation came from outsiders who think they know what they're talking about.

 

Yeah, like the ESPN propaganda machine.

 

Nice guy. Not exactly Captain Personality, but I think he's one of those people who was passed over for enough GM gigs that he felt he had to take the Oakland job and probably has been beaten down so much he wonders what the fuck he was thinking taking that job.