Quote:I tend to agree with Caldwell.  He talked about generally speaking, you get players from Division 1 schools and big program.  He actually cited LEVEL OF COMPETITION as the reason.  He didn't say "We target players from schools that are traditionally known for developing certain positions, and avoid players from schools where they haven't developed anyone in the past."

 

He said generally speaking, you will look at the big schools first because that's where most of the talent is.  He said this as a direct response when someone asked about his drafting philosophy, citing "small school Gene" as the other example.

 

Maybe your reading comprehension is poor, but Caldwell's statements are not directly in support of what you said.

 

You just said you wouldn't draft the guy because he played at Penn State.  Caldwell would NEVER say or think that.  Case in point - we drafted a WR from Penn State pretty high and it's not like they're known for developing good receivers.

 

To answer your other question:  Why haven't they created that many good defensive backs?  I'm not sure, maybe Joe Pa and his defense stressed lineman and LBs more, but I don't know the details.  I'm saying that it's not that unusual to find one specific position group from a big school and then realize that they haven't really developed that many good players from that position.

 

I also realize that Penn State has new leadership.  In that case alone, you can pretty much forget Joe Pa's years completely and just look at what O'Brien and Franklin (if that's his name) have done/will do.

 

If you scout the player and you like him a lot, it doesn't really matter where he came from.

 

You are likely going to find those players at the best college programs where they play the highest level of competition.

The logic is the same.

 

If he tends towards schools that produce players and away from those who don't, why wouldn't he apply that logic as it applies to positions?  If a school NEVER produces good players at that position, if he is playing the percentages, why would he go to that school looking for players at the position the school doesn't produce, unless there is  a complete aberration of a player?

 

Navy competes on the FBS level.  Would you expect Caldwell to spend much time scouting their players?

 

Why or why not?

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