It is obviously not easy being a successful general manager, or else everyone would do it. That's entirely the point. If you don't have one of the ones who can do it you're forever three steps behind teams that do, and need to keep looking. There is certainly debate about whether Maccagnan has had enough time to establish with high probability that he can't do it, but to me there is absolutely no debate that he hasn't in any way established that he can do it. As to what grade he gets, well that depends on your view of grade inflation. Just about every official grading scheme I've ever seen defines A as "excellent," B as "good," C as "satisfactory," and D as "minimal pass" (or some variation). By that scheme I can't see any grade higher than C for him. On the other hand, in practice grade distributions have crept up through the years so that B is viewed as average, and C is viewed as a clear negative signal. If that's the rubric you're using then you'd give him a higher grade, but you're still saying the same thing.
Also, for everyone that liked Stewart, he showed no real signs that he could play for us. Does he have even 1 play that we can point to that says, "See? This is why we drafted him!" Not to my recollection so why hang onto someone that isnt contributing? better to cut your losses than waste your time/roster spot
Why are we just throwing away 2nd and in this case 3rd and 4th round draft choices each year ? Guys on a message board can be wrong about draft picks but GM's get paid to get them correct.
Very True. I always go back to Stephen Hill we drafted him a pick or two before the Bears drafted Alshon Jeffrey......WHY?! Alshon is not a world beater, but is a good player and had better college numbers. If i remember correctly, he came into the combine a little heavy and that blew up into a bad rep for him. I wasn't mad at Stephen Hill for sucking when we finally cut him, i was mad at the FO for overthinking it and trying to be smarter than the rest of the league
I don't know what the background was with each of those picks, but it's concerning nonetheless that 3rd and 4th round picks at WR are off the team so fast.
.....Stephen Hill, there were plenty of "draftniks" that agreed with the pick due to his "upside", and basically said I was stupid because I was mad they took him over Alshon Jeffrey. Most of them died in a fire..... but the pick is proof that running fast in gym shorts and going to the same school as Calvin Johnson doesnt make you a good receiver In regards to Stewart, pretty disappointing that they cut bait so soon. While I agree he hadnt shown shit on the field, WR is usually the one position that has the steepest learning curve for young players, and takes awhile to click. I liked he pick at the time, but looking back, it may just have been being duped by the fact that Alabama was SO much better than the compettion. Jalen Hurts kinda sucked so I thought maybe Stewart had even more potential than he was showing, and maybe Mac felt the same way. Often hard to get good reads on Alabama guys. My guess is that Stewart gets picked up somewhere, but hopefully he makes it back to the practice squad somehow
So last year's 3rd and 4th round pick are off the team.....Macc's drafting has been less than stellar
Cimini has said many times over that Alshon Jeffery completely bombed his pre draft visit w the jets.It was so bad they asked him to leave facility. Hill had a great visit. Sometimes just how it works out
right, but i hate how the pre-draft events sometimes out-weigh the college production Alshon Jeffery College stats for 3 years - 183 catches, 3042 yards, 23 TDs Stephen Hill College stats for 3 years - 49 catches, 1248 yards, 1 TD this alone is pretty alarming....or should have been
the good news: it's smart management to know sunk cost, not throw good money after bad. If the guy can't play, but the UDFA or 7th rounder can, go with the latter the bad news: another indictment on the GM's draft acumen or lack thereof. I was actually surprised with the cut and thought this guy had some playmaking potential
The hit % on first round picks is somewhere between 50 and 60% and goes down every round from there. GM's, scouts, coaches are all payed to evaluate these players and miss more often than not. Its not easy.
What you say is true, but like Las Vegas or Atlantic City, it's filled with casinos for gambling, and while most gamblers don't usually win, there are some who consistently do, so there IS a method to winning. Either Macc needs to discover it, or we need to find someone who has it.
I get what you are saying but what do the percentages say about continually missing on 3rd and 4th or how about 2nd round picks ? Thats an art form , how many organizations continually blow 2nd round picks ?
Jeffery was one of my favorite players in that draft but ... Looking at those numbers and those alone is poor scouting. Production in the NCAA only means so much and adds 0 context to the numbers. Hill player in the Georgia Tech triple option offense that rarely threw and asked their receivers to block a ton. His blocking was seen as a positive to his extremely raw athletic ability. People wanted to see the next Randy Moss and forgot that Moss was a student of the game who ran great routes as we ll as being an athletic freak. Hill had the freak side, but was never able to polish the part of receiving that matters more. It was a terrible boom or bust pick. In fact it is the kind of second rounder that happened a ton with Bradway in and around the scouting department. Guys with coachable "traits" but not a ton of refined skills. Its why we have lacked depth for so long. Stewart and Hansen were supposed to be players who while not physically imposing they were supposed to have the type of skills that were already close to NFL caliber. They both showed little in that area and provided nothing in terms of special teams play, something Peake excels at. If your a young receiver trying to stick on the fringe you had better be a good return man or gunner.
he has, but he's also been hurt. what has Stewart or Hansen done? peake is also a very good special teams player. Hansen and Stewart are not. that's why we kept peake over them. he's just a better football player overall. peake slipped in the draft but was graded out the same as those 2. he was a 3rd-4th round grade WR we just happened to grab him in the 7th
True, however, Hill also played in the ACC which was a much weaker conference at the time than Jeffrey's SEC conference. Had Hill truly had a freak athleticism he would've stood out on the field more
Look, this is all at the feet of Stewart. I loved him coming out of Alabama where he ran great routes, had really good hands and was an OUTSTANDING open field runner. I never saw any of that in the year plus that he was here. Again, I hope he clears waivers and makes it to the PS but he didn't really show much. And Hansen seemed to regress this year.
Statistically, most of them. Its why trading down has always been the better option for teams needing to add over all depth. You can read it all for yourself if you'd like http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/stephen-hill?id=2533537 He ran a 4.36 at 6'4 inches tall. #1 in the nation in yards per reception his senior year. 39.5 Vertical, he had all the freak combine numbers. He did truly have freak athleticism, he was jsut not a NFL caliber receiver. There is more to it than combine numbers and NCAA stats.
