(04-30-2024, 06:46 PM)TheDogCatcher Wrote: I give it a B/B-, but light years better than last year's. 

I don't like that a guard or center wasn't drafted, especially picking Jefferson over some good prospects. 

I like Maason Smith pick. He's boom or bust. He has all the measurables and was peaking toward the end of last season. 

I also love the two scheme-specific corners. Both seem very competitive and talented, with Jones likely starting at nickel or outside.

Baalke's best work was fleecing Minnesota and still grabbing Thomas. I read the rumor that they had a mandate from Trevor's camp to get him another weapon. I also think Baalke also faced a lot of pressure from the new LSU defensive gurus to draft Maason Smith. If either of these are true, he pleased all stakeholders.

I strongly disliked the assistant GM's comments to Jags reporter Mia while round 5 or 6 was ongoing. He said no players on their board remained, and at that point the scouts start making arguments for players. He chuckled and said, "this is how they earn their money" or something to that effect. They should rank every potential draftable player and create a longer board so arguments for/against players don't need to occur on the clock. They treat the bottom 2-3 rounds as if it's throwing darts at the wall, with only special teams players remaining. It felt like Trent, Doug, and other top brass went to dinner after the 5th round. I wouldn't be asleep at the wheel leaving it to scouts to sift for hidden gems. If you make six figures, you should be supervising the whole time. It's just one more night, and it's kind of a big deal. I get it that they want to throw the hard-working scouts a bone and feel like they're part of the decisionmaking. But no, they're scouts. They can make the calls when/if they get promoted. Until then, their role is to provide reports and insights to the decisionmakers.

This is the first I heard of that last bit. You're right, if you're at the point where every draftable guy (per your board) is gone, trade the picks away for future value! If you are just evaluating the top 150- 175 guys and then leaving the rest to grab bag, there's no way you can properly value late draft trades, you potentially overpay to get guys as your board dwindles to nobody left, or you let the more ambitious teams get advantage over you. 

I got that feeling about our entire draft after day 1 - we sat on our hands and watched everyone else move and shift and fit players to picks and we just waited for our clock to start and pointed in the vicinity of the top of our board each time. It was lazy. Even if you don't scout EVERYONE in the top 250-300, you should have your eye on a handful of guys for each round and for UDFA.

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