(05-02-2021, 08:30 AM)rfc17 Wrote: I think there are some competing factors here as to why maybe the board has lower opinion than the national media.  First, I think most fans here are looking at this as a 2 part draft.  Trevor Lawrence and then the rest of the draft.  Everyone on the planet, aside from Chris SImms and the families of the other top QB prospects, would have taken Lawrence first.  Obviously he is an A+ but the reaction of most fans on this board is really a grade on the rest of the draft.  Second factor is that we all know the national media (including the supposed football experts) don't know much about the Jags.  We've all read articles or seen segments on TV where they clearly haven't done their homework.  And while that should be somewhat mitigated here because these grades are more about the college prospects and less about the Jags, the needs of the team, the type of offense / defense the team wants to run is a factor, etc.. do play a part in these grades.  And honestly I'd follow the combined judgement and wisdom of the better posters on this board than I would any talking head that isn't based on Jacksonville.

As far as this draft, I'll admit I'm a little underwhelmed after the Lawrence pick.  Specifically our next 4 picks across Day 1 and 2 and less so Day 3 as those players taken round 4 and beyond are typically more of a longshot.  Ironically it seems like Etienne is driving down our grades nationally while I can argue for that pick more than the others.  I'm not a huge fan of Etienne at that spot but not because of the typical criticism about taking a RB in the first.   That pick needs to be thought of as a taking a playmaker who can run out of the backfield, can catch the ball in the flat or even out of the slot, and someone who can be thought of as a gamebreaker.  Who cares if he is called RB or WR.  So many good players these days are versatile that the position name is a little more irrelevant.  I just have doubts if he is truly the gamebreaker they think he is.  

Tyson Campbell seems like the oddest pick to me.  So early in the draft to take a guy who was a decent player in college but not great and you're hoping the potential of his elite level size and straight line speed can be realized.  There were other players available that also had really good potential but were actually better college football players so you know they were closer to that fulfilling that potential.  Then combine the fact that it's at a position which is one of the few we don't have a desperate need and it feels like a strange pick so early in the second.  Not necessarily a need or value pick.  And of course digging more into the player, the extremely poor short shuttle and 3 cone tests puts into question his agility and will he be limited to an outside corner only.  

Walker Little I understand the idea.  I made the comment on another thread that Gene Smith loved the idea of taking small school guys that would have been rated higher had they played at higher levels of competition but he always seemed to overdraft them as if they had.  I didnt love the strategy but at least I understand it.  And with Baalke we all talked about this beforehand that with the Niners he loved taking injured players that would have gone much higher had they not been.  Again I understand the logic of the strategy.  I like that strategy better with 4th and 5th round players as opposed to doing that in the 2nd round.  I dont believe any of Baalke's ACL picks with the Niners ever came close to living up to potential.  Tank Carradine being the only 2nd rounder and he was never close to what he was beforehand.  Little supposedly had a great sophomore year.  Blew a knee.  No one has seen him play since.  Hopefully he'll regain the form he had two years ago.  And if so, he could be a huge steal in this draft.  But for a team that went 1-15 and has a lot of holes, sure seems like there were better options.  Similar players at the same position that werent hurt.  This feels like the ultimate luxury pick that a team without a lot of holes can make.

Cisco same story. Another ACL tear and no one has seen him play since.  Hopefully he regains his form as well.  Even without the ACL tear it sounds like there were some questions about him.  Made a bunch of big plays but due to propensity to gamble would also give up a bunch of big players.  Unlike Little who blew his knee out a year and a half ago, Cisco blew his out early last season.  Seems like guys come back from ACL tears pretty quickly these days but do we know if he'll be ready for the beginning of the season?  Even if so may take him some time to feel fully secure in that knee.  Even if he were to have a disappointing year in 2021, would probably be unfair to put a label on him.  Again another luxury pick for a team with a lot of needs.

The rest of the draft seems fine for day 3 I guess.  Always getting a guy that has some weakness.  Either great athlete but not great football player, vice versa so maybe limited potential, etc, etc...  I admittedly don't know much about the guy from USC.  Fills a need, seems solid.  Saw a conflicting reports on whether he can hold up in the run which is basically what we'll need out of dlineman.  Felt like they had to take the best dlineman as they passed on that position first two days.  There were other players I liked more but I'm not Nostradamus.  Felt like they were trying to fill needs in round 4 and not sure they got the best value there.  We'll see.

Overall I do feel underwhelmed.  I'm not expecting much from Little and Cisco this first year.  Little because he'll need to prove he is 100% healthy and will then have to beat out Cam and Jawaan.  Cisco I don't know what his recovery status is and if he'll be 100% during the season.  Not a given either starts or will see the field much.  Campbell will probably play a bit as 5-6 DBs on the field is almost the standard now.  Barring injury, I doubt he'll be a top two starter.  And if he isn't agile enough for the slot, does he get in on nickel downs though?  Would they kick Henderson or Shaq inside?  Sidney and Herndon are solid nickel corners already.  Will be interesting to see how much time he gets and if he becomes a better pro player than he was a college one.  Etienne will likely give us the most production of any of these early picks. I hope is the gamebreaking playmaker they want him to be.  I bet he gets a lot of playing time and will be fun to see how they use him.  I do have questions if he is gonna be that explosive playmaker which I could spend a few more paragraphs discussing... wrote about him in the specific Etienne thread.  

Anyways for a team that has a lot of weaknesses and had a bunch of early round draft picks, it feels odd walking away from this thinking that we might not see much impact from the majority of these players.  You look back and wonder how this happened.