I give it a B-. I'd do the Revis trade all over again without a doubt. David Harris, I like the player, like the selection...But just the 3rd round pick is what has me kind of frowning...They got a player who some had in the 1st round , but the 3rd rounder is...ehh.
There was no room for Harris in the first round. He was going 40 to 50 from the get-go. The rumor that the Pats were interested in him was BS, because with a need at ILB and with him available at 28 they traded away the pick and did not even get a 2nd rounder back to make a bid for him.
I liked the aggressiveness of our FO but have my doubts about their logic. I gave them a B (with fingers crossed bigtme). One problem that I have with our draft is that the players we selected were not the guys I was high on. If we made the same moves and selected Leon Hall and Justin Blaylcok (I know he went higher but I am just making a point) I would have been extatic. If Revis and Harris are the real deal then this draft looks better. Another problem with Harris specifically is that we used a # 1 pick on Vilma recently. After doing a few mock drafts, I really came to expect big things from many of the players in this draft. As I looked for late round gems, I really came to believe that this draft is better and deeper than it appeared. Given the actions of our front office, I hope I was wrong about that. As a fan of the NFL draft, I have to admit that I would have had more fun watching the draft if we had more picks. Again, I hope that Revis and Harris are so good that I forget about Anthony Waters, Brian Robinson, and all the other "steals" that we were watching.
All I will say, if either of these guys we drafted day one is a bust this draft will go down as a huge disapointment. All our eggs in one basket.
We had two VERY late second rounders, the players everyone wanted here would have been GONE. Mangini said though this was a weak draft class and I trust his judgment.
D. By the logic that you guys are going by, if we drafted one player considered to be good that we deserve an A because we have 100% good picks. We picked two possible starters. Not game breakers, we don't have the next Asante Samuel or Ty Law in our new corner, we don't have a second Vilma, we just have decent to good players at each position. Potentially, anyone could become the next so-and-so and turn out to be great at the next level, so drafting as few picks as possible really isn't the way to go in the draft. I'm not saying that grabbing every 7th round pick in the draft will net you a star team, but I can most certainly assure you that throwing caution to the wind and reducing yourself to four picks (two of which are a 6 and a 7) from six picks (already down one, though we were heavier in the early rounds so it was alright) is not the way to go.
That's always been my thought process, certain schools produce solid pro players. With the exception of a certain backup QB who found himself in a good situation I can't think of too many Michigan players that have been huge successes.
On the defensive side: 1995 - Ty Law (CB) 1998 - Charles Woodson (CB) 2000 - Ian Gold (LB) 2005 - Cato June (LB) Those are the guys I found who are still active and played in at least 1 Pro Bowl. Larry Foote (LB) Victor Hobson (LB) Marlin Jackson (CB) Those are the active starters. The Michigan legacy is better on the offensive side of the ball where they have had several Pro Bowl linemen, a few good QB's and receivers and a couple of decent runningbacks.
It's a tough call. People on this board would be screaming A at the top of their lungs had we gone, saving a couple day 2 picks in the process: 1. CB - Revis 2. OG - Beekman 3. NT - Soliai I would have been thrilled. Interestingly enough though, Beekman and Soliai ended up going in the 4th round. Maybe there is a reason for that? Who knows. With Thomas in the mix, I'm going with a B. Not so much for giving away picks, but giving them away for what I consider a luxury pick in Harris. If we had taken Blalock or Branch (filling a glaring need) after moving up I would give the draft an A so far.
I wouldn't have been particularly pleased with Branch, as it appears his leg stress fractures were real and he's ultimately a three-technique guy. That said, a DT would make this a very satisfying draft, and there's still time to get a DT and an OT. Hopefully Mangini doesn't do something bizarre and draft a WR.
I gave a D grade. We bet the farm for two players who may turn out or may not 50% A "potential" shutdown corner(man I've heard that before..Miller,Strait) and a Victor Hobson clone from the same school(when we got FA LBs and DEs already) I'm speechless.
When is using a late 2nd and late 5th to move up 11 spots in the first round "betting the farm"? Even if it were, none of us even considered having the possibility of getting the best CB in the draft without losing BOTH 2nd round picks or a player like Vilma or Robertson. Great move and great value. We did not get a Victor Hobson clone (not that it would even be a bad thing) when used a late 3rd and late 6th round pick to move up for Harris. We drafted the prototypical run stuffing 3-4 ILB that the team was missing. I hated losing the 3rd round pick, but sometimes you have to make sacrficies to get the guy you want. On top of that we get 2 guys with mid round grades on just about any draft site in rounds 6 and 7. An OL that will likely start at some point in 2007, and a potential #3 WR. Yes we had 10 picks in the last draft. That's because the FO understood how deep the draft was. We made trades to get EXTRA picks because the situation made it the best thing to do. This draft by most analysts opinion was WEAK. So, we traded up to get a couple starters and hoped a couple "under the radar" type guys would fall to us late, which they did. Well played.
What would you have done differently. Please be somewhat specific. "I wouldn't have traded away all those picks." doesn't really cut it.
I wholeheartedly agree. 3 starters is a great draft. Not gonna lose sleep over what the patsies do. Gotta believe that the FO is doing their best. :shit:
Actually it's in a couple of threads already, including maybe this one, but here's what I would have done: 25. Anthony Spencer an excellent OLB prospect for a 3-4. Big (261 lbs), fast (clocked better than Posluzny who is 25 lbs lighter) and had a bunch of sacks as 4-3 DE at Purdue in the Big 10. Would have given the Jets a bookend for Bryan thomas for years. Dallas traded up to the 26 to take him for their 3-4. 59. Ryan Kalil an excellent C prospect out of USC who also projects very well at LG. He was rated as highly going into this draft as Mangold was last year. With 3 years as a starter in the best Pro style offense in the NCAA he is well ahead of most other interior linemen in the draft in terms of preparation for the next step. Would have been insurance for both Kendall and Mangold this year (we are hideously shallow on the offensive line) and would have replaced Kendall either this or next season. Went to Carolina on the 59... 63. James Marten a good RT prospect who might well have played LG for a year first. He's out of Boston College and a 2 year starter at LG, followed by his senior year at LT, in a program that routinely produces good offensive lineman. Very big frame at 6'7" 307 lbs. He has room to bulk up another 15 lbs easily. He went on the 67 to (who else) Dallas. 89. Really not sure but I'd much rather have the 3 people up front here plus a good prospect on this pick than Revis and Harris. Particularly with us acquiring Thomas Jones this season. That's what I'd have done.
I must admit at first I'm like, OMG!!! Where's all our picks? But I'm starting to warm up to what we did, apparently as other people said obviously someone in the war room simply said that there's is not much value after round two so they went in and took the player's they wanted, so I give them credit for that. The biggest mistake of the draft was trading away our fourth round pick for Barlow in the first place >__>
