Good read. This regime is beyond transparent. Compared to the days of let's have our season opening luncheon and cut you afterwards; night and day.
Rfc, those 'rumors' appear to come out from within...the top brass don't seem to mind sharing intentions, and details of execution. All it takes is one disclosure to an external source, or otherwise.
Considering that Josh Shaw was the most discussed prospect by the Jags, it was essentially Sample vs. Shaw in round 4. They passed on Shaw, picked Sample at 104. Cincy grabbed Shaw at 120. Interesting to see how those two progress.
If you look at how the Jags graded those players:
Fowler 1st round
Yeldon 1st round
Cann 2nd round
Bennett 2nd round
Greene 3rd round
That isn't bad.
Yeah I don't think Yeldon was a reach as some suggest. Caldwell had 3 RBs with 1st round grades and he probably wasn't the only GM to come to that conclusion. Yeldon probably wouldn't have lasted another 10 picks had we not taken him where we did. Casserly said after rounds 2 and 3 that he had a 1st round grade on Yeldon and that it was his favorite pick of the 2nd round as well. I liked Duke Johnson, but he's never going to be a feature back in the league at his size. Yeldon has the size and capability.
I think Caldwell is overemphasizing the needs picks in rounds 1 thru 3. Sure the first two rounds were needs, but they were also getting highly rated players at those spots. I think it's more of a case where need met value. Rounds 3 to 7 seemed very BAPish to me, however.
I think our new RB coach can really fine tune Yeldon and get a very productive first season out of him. I wouldn't mind drafting him in fantasy football as my 3rd back taken.
Wow night insight on how the process works. I guess the media does make some things up leading up to the draft. Caldwell said he was getting no calls to move up to 3rd overall but the media was reporting they were.
Many people including me has Fowler the best prospect in the draft.
Remember Caldwell was with Atlanta for awhile. Yeldon could be our version of Michael Turner.
Hot take in the comments section of the article.
Quote:Overall nothing too earth shattering in there. However the rumors of them wanting to move back up into the 1st were true. I always wonder how stories like that get out. Was Dave calling teams ahead of time in anticipation? Did he tell the likes of Mort and Schefter? Or did the teams Dave was calling?
Also, I like their strategy of drafting need early and value late. I remember Vic used to say the opposite which never made any sense to me. I'd always shoot him a note and he never replied. Early in the draft the talent of the players are all bunched together. So "reaching" for a need isnt really reaching. However late in the draft there are ALWAYS guys who thought were a 2nd or 3rd round pick that for whatever reason are still on the board in the 5th and sometimes 6th round.
That stood out to me, too.
Here's the logic behind it... the players you draft in the first three rounds you expect to be starters. Rounds four and after aren't likely to be around in three years, if they even make the roster.
So, if you're expecting starting caliber talent, use them to fill holes.
Of the rounds not expected to even make the team, take the very best available so they have a better shot at actually making the team and contributing.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but it makes sense when you dig deeper. Even if a guy isn't what you thought, he can still contribute until he's replaced. You can never expect to fill a hole with a late round guy as well as you can a more talented guy earlier.
Nothing is guaranteed, but that increases your chances of drafting contributors in all rounds.
Could someone post the article here for those /wo access?
True talk Pirk. Also a huge neglected factor in predicting rounds/assigning pre-draft grades to prospects is the weighted ranking, i.e. volume of players per round.
We commonly hear a scout or team say 'we gave him a 2nd round grade'. Did you only give 32 players this grade? Or 40 players of comparable quality. Due to this discord in quantity of players with similar grades, hence the fall of some to later rounds.
In this example, you'd have 8 players who'd be perceived to have slipped. Not due to talent reasons but a simple numbers game.
Quote:I think our new RB coach can really fine tune Yeldon and get a very productive first season out of him. I wouldn't mind drafting him in fantasy football as my 3rd back taken.
It would be cool is Yeldon puts up 1200 yds and 8TDS. But I'm expecting more like 90yds and 5TDS for his rookie year.
Quote:It would be cool is Yeldon puts up 1200 yds and 8TDS. But I'm expecting more like 90yds and 5TDS for his rookie year.
90 yds?
yuck.
Quote:It would be cool is Yeldon puts up 1200 yds and 8TDS. But I'm expecting more like 90yds and 5TDS for his rookie year.
90 yards?
I think it is safe to assume he meant 900.
Great read, glad to see that Dave would have traded up for Gordon and Gurley, they knew RB was a big need and they got their guy in Yeldon. Cann being BAP ended up being a great move, when you still get Green, Sample and Bennett after him.
How do we give one player a first round grade and other teams give him a second round grade?
Quote:How do we give one player a first round grade and other teams give him a second round grade?
How do we determine which is right and which is wrong?
Was brought up with the notion that left is wrong. Is that right?
Quote:How do we give one player a first round grade and other teams give him a second round grade?
The same as how I might believe Mortal Kombat on Sega Genesis is the best video game ever. You might disagree and think Donkey Kong is the best game ever.
Quote:How do we give one player a first round grade and other teams give him a second round grade?
Gosh, I don't know. Maybe the criteria each team uses to grade players isn't EXACTLY the same?