(10-13-2021, 05:55 AM)SeldomRite Wrote:

(10-12-2021, 11:20 PM)Bullseye Wrote: (Emphasis added)

But every player drafted fills a role-or at least is supposed to, assuming he makes the team.  There are no position less players, despite the contrived trend among pundits is to try to make a player or two just that (see Isaiah Simmons).

But that doesn't necessarily make the player a need pick in the traditional sense.

Every player should have an NFL role, otherwise there's no point in drafting them, that's an obvious tautology. When Meyer said he wanted Tooney but settled for Etienne he was actually saying he was taking someone to fill the Harvey [sic] (Harvin?)role there regardless of ability, even if the guy was a running back with a lot of mileage and not a guy primarily known for his receiving ability.

When a team drafts players based on demonstrated ability, which is combination of college production correlating to NFL production (so taking a quarterback with a fullback's skillet, like Tebow, wouldn't apply) along with positional value and measurable athletic ability, rather than a fantasy about them filling out the roster in a perfect way to make some idiot's scheme work, then that's bap. The Jaguars have a bad tendency to ignore ability and start going into fantasy when they make their picks. Either that or they have no ability to observe demonstrated ability or access positional value.

If they really just are terrible at evaluating talent then that's even worse than being a needs drafter, and there's no need to defend them.

Again, I don't see the willingness to do that as being wholly unmindful of ability.  Before the draft, there was much speculation by the exoerts that Travis Etienne was a potential late first round talent, with pre draft and real time speculation having him with the Jets, Bills or Bucs.  In Lindy's 2021 draft preview magazine, typically released in early March, Etienne was given a 2nd round grade.  While not on the mark exactly, was at least in the ball park compared to where he went.  Those who would have the biggest critique of the pick did so due to positional value (i.e. the idea you should never take a RB in the first round), and the lack of need (i.e. the Jaguars already had James Robinson at the same position), not because of the overall lack of talent Etienne possesses. It's not as if Meyer took a guy like Kylin Hill (projected by Lindy's as a 5th rounder) at that spot.  Might UM have been saying he would fill the role regardless of POSITION?  That is more plausible to me.  In UMs offense at Florida, Harvin was a receiver, though in many instances he played RB.  He valued the versatility his explosiveness and agility provided in Harvin's case.  A player of lesser speed and explosiveness (i.e. lesser talent) would not be able to fill a Harvin type role.  It's not as if he randomly drafted a kicker or an interior OL to play the role.  There had to have been some correlation between the skill set to fill the role and the player selected.



Etienne had demonstrated ability, based upon your own definition.  He had outstanding college production, and his speed and explosiveness by most metrics would seem to readly correlate to success in the NFL.  It goes back to perceived positional value.  While there is a growing sentiment that RBs should not be taken in the first round because of guys like Robinson, Alvin Kamara and Arian Foster who were all found later in drafts if drafted at all, the fact is with very few exceptions, NFL history demonstrates teams, even successful franchises, value RB enough to draft them in the first round (see Pittsburgh this year with Harris, taken exactly one spot before Etienne).  Does that mean the Steelers got that pick right?  No, but it does mean they don't necessarily share the view about positional value that many of us do.  Just the year before, the Chiefs took a RB in the first round.  They are pretty good at finding talent, as their two Super Bowl appearances in the last two years will attest.





Now if they just flat out suck at evaluating talent, which sadly is a possibility at this point. then that IS worse than a needs drafter and definitely should NOT be defended by anyone wanting to see the Jaguars succeed.

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