I'm a little late in doing my homework for the draft this year. But so far I'm unimpressed with the talent level. Ex. I think McKnight might have been a late second rounder in this one. I know a lot of guys went early last year because of the pending lockout, but you can really see a difference. I think the Pats have a ton of picks in a soso draft and I guarantee that Mark Ingram (Ala. Rb) doesn't make it to the Fins at #15.
I think the talent level of this draft is much better than average, not quite as good as last year, but still respectable. On offense no QB is dominant or a franchise player, since Luck didn't declare. TE is very weak at the top, but some good mid-round talent. There is no Bluechip OT, but some excellent second tier talent....Solder, Carmini, Sherrod, Costanzo...all should become decent starters in the NFL, but not Probowl players. There is a lot of very good RBs in this draft...good depth. AJ Green is one of the best WRs in the past decade and there is a lot of excellent depth for teams looking for a #2 or #3 WR in early to mid rounds. Defense: Dline: has some very good players, especially DE. ILB...Very weak position. OLB Rushers....some excellent quality players in the 1st 2 rounds. CBs a fairly strong unit, expect 4 to 5 corners go in rd 1 Safety is weak at the top, but some good 2/3/4 round players...that will make their teams. Round 2 is the best round to get a quality player at the right price. IMO, Rd 2 will be the best round of the draft.
I think this is the first time you'll see the Jets trade down. If they get 2 2nd rounders in this draft they'll be good to go.
WW85 I disagree a little bit. I don't think there will be much difference talent wise between 20-32 in this one in the first round. Less between mid second and early third. I think you evaluated the positions correctly, and that was part of my point. Ingram is the only true game changer I see. There isn't a Suh, Bradford, Ryan, Jake Long in this draft. I don't see a bunch of future probowlers, yet.
I never said there was a huge difference in talent from 20- 32, there wasn't much difference last year. My point was the 2nd round is very deep, probably on par with last year. There may not be a Suh, Bradford etc. But don't count out players like Fairley, Green and Peterson.....all could be future probowlers. Ingram should be a good NFL back, it depends on the team that drafts Ingram on how quickly he's a "game changer". Don't sleep on LeShoure, he may be the best RB in this draft.
No offense, but the reason Mr E shat on your thread is that you said that you really haven't looked into this draft much then made a pretty decisive statement about it. Fairley, Bowers, Quinn, Peterson, Green can roll with any of the guys you mentioned above, all are elite prospects.
No offense taken. It's also not what I said. I usually spend alot more time here and do I ton of research. That doesn't mean I'm flying blind. I'd put my track record here against just about anyone. You can go back and look. Fairley is not on the same Planet as Suh and Peterson could go top 3 while Revis was a middle of the first rounder in his draft. It's a really weak draft. NE isn't coming out of the first round with a D'Brick AND Mangold.
You can't compare the talent in an upcoming draft to how guys turned out. That's just stupid. Suh was a great prospect, and so was Gerald McCoy, but Fairley is right there with them. Suh had a tremendous year as a Senior, but Fairley was also dominant with a lot less talent around him. Peterson now is also a better prospect than Revis was then. There are probably people that would say Jake Locker or Ryan Mallett is a better prospect than Aaron Rodgers was. I really have no idea what argument you're trying to make here, but it's clearly wrong.
Doesn't it always seem like that though? Every year I fall in love with rd 2... but at the end of the day it doesn't produce as much talent as it promises... With the talent level at positions of needs I'm pretty sure the Jets will select a very good player at #30... not so sure the same will happen if we trade down. What I'd love is for us to franchise a guy between Cro, Edwards and Holmes and trade him for a high 3rd rounder... that would really help. As far as the overall talent level goes... while there are certainly some elite players at the top of the draft and there is good value in the low 1st going into the 2nd I agree there aren't many deep positions. It's too early to tell of course but from the bottom of rd 2 going forward I think last year presented A LOT more talent.
Pretty much spot on, especially with the MLB being so bare but have to disagree with your assessment on TE's....only because the top TE, Kyle Rudolph, if he can comeback from the devastating injury can be a force in the NFL. He at times made the college level look so easy and Clausen/Crist really feasted in games because of him. Great seperation for a big man, underrated blocker, can make circus catches and he is a dangerous red zone threat. I don't mean to sound like an ND homer either but just Rudolph is really good. Fasano and Carlson both have been somewhat successful in the NFL level and I think Rudolph blew both men away(Besides Fasano and his blocking which was superb) in terms of talent. Could be an Owen Daniels/Chris Cooley type of guy. 2nd tier/level TE in the NFL.
I think the ILB position is better than some are giving it credit for. There might not be a lock rd 1 guy in the mix, but there's about ten guys that I think have starter talent in the NFL.
Martez Wilson may not have lived up to expectations out of HS, but I think he'll be a very good LB in the NFL. He has a Rolando McClain-Karlos Dansby build, would make a solid ILB. And then there is the possibility on switching outside as an OLB for a 3-4 team, he has good speed for his size, not to mention past experience at DE. He's one of my favorite players in this draft...
Wilson's versatile enough to play inside and outside in the 3-4. I think he'll be a dangerous player wherever he ends up. I have a good feeling about the kid. I think his best days of football are ahead of him.
I think there is good, not great depth at the ILB, but at the top, which I was referrng to in my post...it's very weak. It could be said at almost every position after Rd 2 there is good depth. Wilson, Sturdivant, Jones...could all be starters someday, but I don't see stardom in their future.
Inside linebacker is loaded this year. I don't care if there's not an elite inside backer prospect, it's a deep class...especially if we don't consider schemes. Mason Foster Greg Jones Quan Sturdivant Mark Herzlich Nick Bellore Alex Wujciak Martez Wilson Nate Irving Mario Harvey Kelvin Sheppard Casey Matthews Colin McCarthy KJ Wright ^ That's a lot of good players.
