(02-13-2020, 10:10 AM)Mikey Wrote: To begin, I would be remiss to say that usually when we see a wall of text, our first reaction is "TLDR", but Bullseye, I love to read these posts from you. They are thorough, informative and help guide the discussion you prompt.  Glad to hear things are getting better, and keep fighting.

Now to the topic.  I've been perfectly fine with Dave making the moves he has made in the twoth round. I went back to check just to be safe, but the year we were at the back of the rounds (2018), Dave stayed put, and picked in the order prescribed. More often than not, when Dave moves around in the second, it is finessing around to jump a few spots in the order to get a guy, as you or others have already said, likely carried first-round grades but managed to slip. The moves don't break the bank or mortgage the future, but often target a current need (Taylor) or take advantage of clear value that is too good to pass up (Jack).

I think a lot of what needs to be looked at when reviewing those trades is who the next guy was that either was picked at that position or who would have been a likely target of ours. How big was the talent dropoff? Was it worth losing a later-round pick to be sure we got the player we felt was that much better? In most cases, I fully understood the move, and was satisfied with both the trade to move up and the player taken. To the best of my knowledge, Dave has never broken the bank in pursuit of a 'crush' he's had on a player, in any round.

In most every case, even with Dave's record of finding talent in later rounds, the earlier picks are the ones you use to build the foundation of a roster. Finding a starting QB in the 6th is an anomaly. Nobody expects a 5th round OT to become an all-pro. More often than not, those are guys that spend a few years covering kicks, and getting most of their reps on a practice field, barring injury to the starters. Dave's also shown that he can find some gems in UDFA, so that softens the blow of dealing the picks that would be used on these type of depth guys.

What makes the darft so intriguing is the anticipation when you pick approaches, and then the hindsight of what you would have done if you were the GM instead. Looking at the wide range of players available at any pick, and thinking either that you outsmarted the rest of the room, or lamenting that you passed on a guy you expected to be a legend on the field.  I don't think Dave has given us any reason not to trust his acumen with regard to movement on darft day.

I look forward to seeing what he can accomplish.

Thank you and everyone else for the welcome back and well wishes.

It's interesting that with as many detractors as Caldwell has, very few have expressed any negative reaction to his strategy of trading up in round 2, even though historically speaking, this board has expressed a general aversion to trading up in the draft.

Of course there are plenty who have yet to chime in on the subject, but I don't expect much change, if people are consistent with their "immediate real time responses" when those moves were made (or as close to that as posting on the board allows).

I share your reasons (and I submit a few more) as to what makes the draft intriguing.  I love researching the players and predicting their prospects for success or failure in the league, and debating my views with others.  One of my most satisfying prognostications came a few years back when, months before the draft, I predicted the Bills would draft Aaron Maybin and he would be a horrible bust for them.  I throw that in my buddy's face to this day.  I love trying to get into the heads of teams and GMs in mock drafts and while the team's are in the clock.  After the picks are made, I try to figure out the reasons why they did what they did.  I'm still trying to figure out how the Jets, Raiders, Bucs and Giants all managed to pass on Josh Allen...or lookinf back and trying to figure out why a guy succeeds or fails.  Just the opportunity to talk football makes it fun.

My goal this offseason is to do more research than usual, not just on the players, but on the GMs, to try to get a better gauge on how they think.

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