NFL Draft

Kevin Kenneally

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Alright,

Just a few more days until the NFL Draft (1930hrs this Thursday)....

How will your team fair in the Draft?

New England - No clue. They hold EVERYTHING so close......
 

rdw5150

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the Bills have not gotten a "star" out of the draft in over 12 years (seriously, go look it up, they may have had the worst drafts of the 2000 decade). I expect that trend to continue.

But, I am hoping they take one of the tackles. Might not be a sexy pick, but, we need O linemen.

Peace

Roger
 

swellington

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Our Vikes got #3 and im afraid there going to waste it, now I cant say we have never gotten anything out the draft recently, (Adrian Peterson, and Randy moss a decade ago) but other than that Vikings have made bad choices in their drafts.

This year I hope we use our pick on a good lineman.

But atleast we have a drafted quarterback for the first time since Fran Tarkenton in 1961', yes Vikes drafted Tarkenton and then sold him off to the Giants, and re acquired him later after his prime.... A blueprint the Vikings have seemed to follow until drafting a possible starting Quarterback last year.
 

swellington

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Free agency and salary caps are there for 2 totally seperate reasons. Drafting youngsters out of college is how the sports get new player, and new stars otherwise we would be still cheering on 50 yr old men out there. Free agency is how the stars get moved around to balance things out and make a free market, and salary cap is to make everything fair otherwise you have like in baseball were the Yankees buy all the good players as soon as they show promise.
 

Kevin Kenneally

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The NFL Draft is more of a "circus" than it is actually something important.

Many college stars "fizzle" and become useless, while many "team players" become heroes to the fanatics (fans) for their NFL team....
 

RobZagnut

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With free agency and salary caps, does the draft really matter anymore?
Yes, very much so.

Many successful teams only build thru the draft and don't sign high priced free agents. The Pittsburgh Steelers are an excellent example of this. The Washington Redskins are a prime example of how not to build a team thru free agency.
 

RobZagnut

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The NFL Draft is more of a "circus" than it is actually something important.

Many college stars "fizzle" and become useless, while many "team players" become heroes to the fanatics (fans) for their NFL team....
I completely disagree. The NFL draft is extremely important.

I've followed the draft for over 30 years, have watched the draft religiously for over 10 years and I study up on all the players. Great teams don't miss on their first round drafts picks like the Ravens and Steelers. Bad teams miss all the time. Your first statement is completely ignorant.

With two or three great drafts in a row a team can change their fortunes immediately, while other teams are destined to be mediocre. Matt Millan ruined the Lions for years by drafting WRs every year with their first pick. They have finally recovered, but it took a long long time and an 0-16 season.
 
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The '12 Colts are in the same place (relatively speaking) as the '98 Colts. They gave up a questionable QB (Harbaugh, Manning) for a #1 draft pick (Manning, Luck) while it was a question mark as to who would be the more successful NFL QB (Manning, Leaf; Luck/Griffin III.) They definitely struck gold in '98; now it's wait and see for '12. I don't look for much this year, maybe 5-11 or 6-10; they really purged their roster and it's going to take more than one draft to build the team back up again. IMO the Colts don't have the same talent in the clubhouse, off the field or on the field that they had even 5 years ago; as long as Irsay is involved in day-to-day I don't hold much hopes for a true resergence.
 

Vinnie

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There's not that much between the teams. Winning is though a habit that teams get into (and out of). While I don't expect the colts to do well this year, a winning season is not unobtainable.
 

RobZagnut

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The '12 Colts are in the same place (relatively speaking) as the '98 Colts. They gave up a questionable QB (Harbaugh, Manning) for a #1 draft pick (Manning, Luck) while it was a question mark as to who would be the more successful NFL QB (Manning, Leaf; Luck/Griffin III.) They definitely struck gold in '98; now it's wait and see for '12. I don't look for much this year, maybe 5-11 or 6-10; they really purged their roster and it's going to take more than one draft to build the team back up again. IMO the Colts don't have the same talent in the clubhouse, off the field or on the field that they had even 5 years ago; as long as Irsay is involved in day-to-day I don't hold much hopes for a true resergence.
Colts are extremely fortunate to have a shot at two franchise QBs back-to-back. Many teams don't get the opportunity of having one let alone two. I actually jumped up and down on my couch when the Steelers were fortunate to have Roethlisberger fall to them. If the Chargers didn't trade Manning to the Giants they would have taken him. I knew the days of Bubby Brister, Kordell Stewart, Neil O'Donnell etc were over. A great coach and #1 defense for years can only get you so far. A franchise QB makes all the difference.
 

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Let me see......the Feables will trade an all-pro player for a 7th round pick.......oh, wait, they just did that:(

Then they will move up to draft a player in the top half of 1st round that no one else was tracking as a top pick even in the 2nd round. The third pick will then be used on a player that is going to show how smart Andy R is. Yep, a very undersized DE will work in the NFL. I mean, if we didnt draft a DE in the 3rd round every year to then cut him what would we do........actually pick one of those pro bowl players at a place of need that we pass on year in and year out.
 

RobZagnut

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I'm just giddy this morning. I'm a happy, happy, happy guy.

David DeCastro a Top 10 talent fell to the Steelers at #24. OL was the Steelers #1 need and they got the best Guard prospect since Steve Hutchinson with the 24th pick. Even Mel Kiper ranks Pittsburgh's pick as one of the top three round one picks of the day. Un freaking believable. Paired with pro bowl Center Pouncey the interior of the Steelers line is set for a decade.

Thank you to the Seahawks and Browns for reaching, and to the Patriots for trading up and moving the Bengals out of their spot. Now with 9 more picks the Steelers can address their other two needs, NT and ILB.
 

sunoftzu

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The NFL draft is really interesting.

To regard it entirely as a crapshoot is a bit short-sighted. Having said that, there are no guarantees.

However, over the years, I have come to notice that the majority of busts occur at (so called) skill positions (QB, RB, WR, CB, S).

IMO, a team gets best value for 1st - 3rd round picks when they draft linemen. But of course, you can only take that so far. To get that great QB, deep threat WR, lock down CB (etc), a team needs to eventually take a chance.

Great stuff indeed!!!

Oh, and BTW, I'm quite happy with the Patriots draft. Go Pats!!!

John.
 

Vinnie

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I think the expectations in the skill positions is that much higher and I'm not sure about the injury risks. Due to lower exposure in the trenches, players are given more time to adapt than the flair players get.

Once I've written thatbim thinking "the skill positions" that's unfair to the guys on the lines who have lots of skill too.
 

sunoftzu

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Once I've written thatbim thinking "the skill positions" that's unfair to the guys on the lines who have lots of skill too.
I put "(so called)" in brackets to imply that the phrase 'skill positions' doesn't quite reflect my sentiments, either.....

John.
 

Bret Hildebran

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It's relatively easy to measure the impact of a skill position player so we know when a guy is really good or a huge bust. Line, particularly offensive line is far tougher to judge. You're pretty much relying on if they started and how NFL people rate the guy.

Bill Barnwell wrote a pre-draft piece for Grantland trying to cover some of this: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7853608/how-tell-which-nfl-draft-picks-truly-valuable

He came to the conclusion that the least likely positions to bust drafting high were: TE, OL, LB, DB with QB, RB, WR & DL more likely to bust. QBs had the lowest success percentage at just over 50% while OL were just over 80% & TEs were pushing 90% success rate.

He also looked at relative value of taking a position in R1 vs. R2 etc. 2nd Round WRs returned 84% of the value of first rounders (highest) while QBs were lowest at 56% - which is likely why QBs go high (and bust often). Interesting read if you're into that kind of thing...
 

Kevin Kenneally

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How do you Grade how your team drafted this year?

New England High B+, or a low A-.

But the Patriots got what they lacked, some Big 7 help.
 
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