Your right! Keller isn't the second coming of Jason Witten, he is the second coming of Shannon Sharpe! if we are aiming for second comings, might as well be of one of the best TE's to ever play the game! in reality I trust the FO if they say that Keller is the best offensive weapon for us, than he is. I still wanted Limas Sweed like there was no tomorrow, but if Keller is as good as advertised, then no matter how studly Sweed becomes in Pittsburgh, i can deal...
That's it? You laugh off three major mocks that disprove your claim, one from Kiper, and the best you can come up with is a fan conducted mock draft here at TGG? Really? And if ANY GM based their draft boards on mock drafts and fan forums they should be fired or running the Bengals. Consensus with who? Like you said that is a big word. Concensus with the 100 people voting in a fan mock draft?
If that is the logic that you wish to use, no amount of data will convinve you otherwise. Blind faith in the FO is a much different position than "everyone had him in the first round".
Undersized TE that can't block. Fast for a TE but slow for a WR. Why not just get a BIG and FAST WR? this pick sucked.
I wouldn't say several examples. One guy mentioned a link I haven''t seen, along with Kiper's book and Goose Goselin. I have posted a link to the mock draft conducted by the users on this very site. If the consensus of mock drafts had Keller in round one you can bet your ass that someone would have tried to stal him before he dropped to round two. No, he was picked at # 48 because all of the mock drafts that we read to prepare for the mock did not have him that high. Draft Blitz didn't have him in round one: http://www.nfldraftblitz.com/mock_draft.htm Scott Wright had him at # 40: http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/sub/mockdraftround2.html His stock was rising due to a strong combine but with the possible exception of Mel Kiper's book I challenge anyone to present a pre-combine mock from any mock expert (someone objective that we know of) that has Keller in the first round. The fact is that he might work out but his value was questionable at best. If you guys want to believe the FO doesn't make mistakes that is all well and good but don't try to get others to drink the cool aid if you are making up stories.
Cause they all sucked too, no one else wanted them why should we. Yea he may fall into those things your just said, but he is explosive with good hands, I would love to see you say hes not
Dude Matt Ryan was the 1st overall pick in our mock draft. So many picks were wrong right there. And thats another point I must make..... Us fans have to stop basing rankings on what Scott Wright, Mel Kiper or Mayock have. NFL teams tend to have FAR different rankings then each of the 3, and thats for good reason too as each of those 3(And other draft sites) post dumbed down versions for the common football fan who isnt a draft diehard and not a diehard scout that the NFL teams have hired. If you have looked at the trend the past few years, teams who tend to grab the BPA or just take the usually big name but falling player tend to crash and burn. Its happened some times in the Dennie Green era of ARI(JJ Arrington, Matt Leinart, Antrel Rolle) and CAR got burned last year for it with their picks of Dwayne Jarrett and Charles Johnson(The 1 guy Panther fans disliked was their best player....Beason). Teams NEVER pick for flash and to please the fans because it never pans out. Never ever does it, especially in the later rounds where a ''falling big name'' is there.
Look guys, I have seen Dwight's work ethic and desire up close. He is in the gym constantly working on his strength and technique, sometimes past midnight. Something that he would never say is that he injured a hammie the week of the combines and it was not fully healed until after his pro day. This kid is the real deal.
I want to see this kid play safety. I just watched some highlights on him and he has some real good ball skills. I was a little weary of this pick at first but now I really like the selection.
Honestly, the only pick I'm worried about is Gholston. Boom or bust all the way, but just maybe he can channel some Gastineau, Keller is a stud. No other way to put it. His hands and speed for that size just dont make sense. We got our new Ray Mickens for a 4th round pick. One of my favorite Jets of all time, and this version might be able to play safety?
Dwight is a great pick. like I've said before, his team first attitude and work ethic are unmatched in this draft.
I agree with most of what you said but I posted our mock as evidence that most of us based our picks on Keller rarely if at all being considered a first rounder in mocks from sources such as the ones that you have mentioned. Although you didn't say what specifically is so good about the individual players seleted (or bad about the guys passed up), you have made a solid point in defense of the front office. Again though the other 31 teams also have scouting departments and the same tools as our front office and none of them wanted these guys bad enough to take them first. What I also liked about your post is that you didn't make up stories about non-existant mock drafts that had Keller, etc. go eatly. Our FO may have gotten it right, they may have overweighted "character" or other traits above raw talent, or they may have reached for position. Right, wrong or indifferent, we all have our opinions and a logical discussion would give us a bettr understanding of the FO's performance than blind faith or insults to other fans.
I love this kind of inside information! why? because it is these type of people who go the extra mile, who put in the extra work who succeed. Yeah some people can suceed on talent alone, but those guys who aren't as phiscally gifted need to work hard to succeed, and this kid sounds like he works very hard. Even though I have been touting him up as a safety, I need to make it known I have no idea if he can play there, just that I think with his inability to play in Man coverage due to stiff hips, he would fit in great across from Rhodes as a ballhawk, plus he does his best work with the ball in front of him...
The problem is Hasty, is that somone DID give three substantial examples of mocks having Keller going in the first. However, you laughed it off and dismissed it. Now you are pretending that that post (Post #42) doesn't exist and people are "making up stories." Ok, you present mocks that had him going early second. Fine. MY, conclusion then is that Keller was projected to go Late 1st/Early 2nd (depending on which mock you look at). And therefore is not a reach. I am not, unlike you, going to ignore the facts you provided just to prove a point. You can't just conveniently ignore the proof someone provides you just because it doesn't support your argument. And that is the problem I am having with your argument right now, it seems irrational.