Not a shocker that Clowney got by far the highest grade in the entire class, what was a bit surprising is that they rated Bortles over Bridgewater.
Also if you look into what they are saying by their grades, they are saying that no QB in this class has a chance to ever become a pro bowl caliber player and that only one player in the draft is a future all pro.
This is what they think the top of the class looks like Spoiler Clowney, Jadeveon DE 6'5" 270 South Carolina 7.5 Watkins, Sammy WR 6'0" 205 Clemson 7.0 Mack, Khalil OLB 6'3" 245 Buffalo 6.7 Matthews, Jake OT 6'5" 310 Texas A&M 6.7 Barr, Anthony OLB 6'5" 244 UCLA 6.6 Mosley, C.J. ILB 6'2" 228 Alabama 6.5 Ebron, Eric TE 6'3" 245 North Carolina 6.4 Bortles, Blake QB 6'4" 230 Central Florida 6.4 Benjamin, Kelvin WR 6'4" 230 Florida St. 6.4 Bridgewater, Teddy QB 6'3" 205 Louisville 6.3 Gilbert, Justin CB 6'0" 195 Oklahoma St. 6.3 Tuitt, Stephon DE 6'5" 315 Notre Dame 6.2 Lee, Marqise WR 5'11" 195 USC 6.2 Hyde, Carlos RB 6'0" 238 Ohio St. 6.2 Lewan, Taylor OT 6'7" 310 Michigan 6.1 Pryor, Calvin FS 6'1" 210 Louisville 6.1 Shazier, Ryan OLB 6'1" 230 Ohio St. 6.1 Evans, Mike WR 6'4" 225 Texas A&M 6.1 Clinton-Dix, Ha Ha FS 6'0" 210 Alabama 6.1 Lawrence, Demarcus DE 6'3" 245 Boise St. 6.1 Roby, Bradley CB 5'10" 190 Ohio St. 6.0 Adams, Davante WR 6'1" 215 Fresno St. 5.9 Jackson, Gabe OG 6'3" 339 Mississippi St. 5.9 Nix III, Louis DT 6'2" 345 Notre Dame 5.9 Manziel, Johnny QB 6'0" 205 Texas A&M 5.9 and this is what their ratings mean Spoiler 9.00-10 Once-in-lifetime player 8.00-8.99 Perennial All-Pro 7.50-7.99 Future All-Pro 7.00-7.49 Pro Bowl-caliber player 6.50-6.99 Chance to become Pro Bowl-caliber player 6.00-6.49 Should become instant starter 5.50-5.99 Chance to become NFL starter 5.20-5.49 NFL backup or special teams potential 5.01-5.19 Better-than-average chance to make NFL roster 5.00 50-50 Chance to make NFL roster 4.75-4.99 Should be in an NFL training camp Also just for fun, here's their QB ratings Spoiler Bortles, Blake QB 6'4" 230 Central Florida 6.4 Bridgewater, Teddy QB 6'3" 205 Louisville 6.3 Manziel, Johnny QB 6'0" 205 Texas A&M 5.9 Carr, Derek QB 6'3" 218 Fresno St. 5.8 McCarron, AJ QB 6'3" 204 Alabama 5.6 Boyd, Tajh QB 6'1" 222 Clemson 5.4 Thomas, Logan QB 6'6" 250 Virginia Tech 5.4 Garoppolo, Jimmy QB 6'2" 225 Eastern Illinois 5.3 Morris, Stephen QB 6'2" 208 Miami 5.2 Mettenberger, Zach QB 6'5" 242 LSU 5.2 Murray, Aaron QB 6'0" 206 Georgia 5.2 Mathews, Jeff QB 6'3" 225 Cornell 5.2 Fales, David QB 6'1" 220 San Jose St. 5.1 Savage, Tom QB 6'4" 245 Pittsburgh 5.1 Renner, Bryn QB 6'2" 215 North Carolina 5.1 Lynch, Jordan QB 6'0" 220 Northern Illinois 5.0 Wenning, Keith QB 6'2" 219 Ball St. 5.0 Shaw, Connor QB 6'1" 205 South Carolina 5.0 Which pretty much says what I've been saying for a while, this class has a lot of QB talent, but no top tier QB talent.
It's just weird to me to reduce players, especially QB's, to a single number and think it means anything. And even weirder is using the same measurement scale to compare DB's and linemen and all the other positions, and think you can realistically compare apples and oranges. It seems very arbitrary to me.
Well at least this year's draft is better than last year's draft. There wasn't a player worth the #1 pick in last year's draft and there's a deep talented pool of players in this draft as well.
Is this player black as well? "Has not developed a reputation as a worker or for doing the extras. Suspect intangibles -- not a leader by example or known to inspire by his words. Carries a sense of entitlement and prima-donna arrogance seeking out the bright lights of Hollywood. Is known to party too much and is drawn to all the trappings of the game. Lacks ideal starting experience (only two years), operated a non-traditional offense and has a lot to learn."
I agree. This isn't the NBA were you can just formulate a calculation such as PER for every player in the league no matter the position and find out what they're about.
Every grade is relative to their individual position and is meant to predict their future success in the NFL. The grades will almost certainly change after the Combine.
Touche, but even something like this is horrible. Suspect intangibles...aka "he's not white enough to be QB" Hilarious. Read between the lines, fam. "Sense of entitlement", "prima-donna". They got sneaky little words for white players, too.
I still want a QB, but I'm becoming more and more enamored every day at the thought of Watt & Clowney smashing opponents in the face every Sunday for the next decade plus...
I have a feeling if the Texans get Clowney and he does become great we'll only be able to keep him for his 5 year rookie contract. Very difficult to pay two players on the defensive side of the ball $20 million per year each.
Well the NFL cap situation could be totally different in half a decade. I'd worry about that when it happens and enjoy the brutal pass rush till then.
Okay, this is the information I was looking for earlier. What their "grading" history showed thru past drafts. Everybody's looking for the next somebody. It's not as easy as looking at plain numbers to scout players and calculate whether they're good enough to succeed or not.