I feel like Bob and Rick Smith get too excited when a guy drops in the draft. There's a reason a guy drops.
I'm not going to make the argument that anyone who drops should be passed up, but come on Bobby, you can't use outliers to invalidate a point. The reason you know the stories of guys who get drafted really late and become stars is because of how rare it is.
There's always reasons why people drop, but some of them aren't valid. It's worth getting excited about when someone that you are high on gets overlooked by the rest of the league. Also, note that we're talking about 2nd and 3rd round picks, not 5th round picks....it's not really that rare for 2nd and 3rd round picks to be very good players.
I agree with you. I said I wouldn't argue that anyone who "drops" should be passed up, but we shouldn't cling to a few outlier cases for hope either.
I'm aware of this, but I don't consider that a compelling reason to think he would lie. Like I said, I don't have sufficient reason to doubt him. I have even less reason to doubt him when I look at BOB's offensive history and notice the WR2 getting, at best, 50 catches a year. Coming back full circle to my original point... 50 catches a year for Strong would be a reasonable contribution, and like most of you, I'm glad BOB seems to be a more versatile thinker on offense.
And Washington. Depending on how special teams shake out, the entire WR corps outside of Hopkins could be turned over following BOB Year 1. Hopkins Shorts Strong 3 locks to make the team. They only carried five last year. That leaves two spots between (in order of my handicapping) Washington Mumphery* Damaris Johnson* Nwachukwu Keyshawn Labhart Bonner *Consider these two tied. Damaris has experience and Mumphery has rookie contract/draft status. Will be a true "who wins the job" battle in my opinion.
Absolutely, he dropped because of the medical reports that came out at the combine. I was pretty against that pick because of the reports that he had awful knees, but it was a high risk high reward type of pick. We'll see if it pays out in the long run because it was always going to look bad in the short term. I still think it's odd that a guy who runs a 4.4 forty time gets called "slow". Also, if you look at the Strong pick, he's a very versatile offensive option and that's why I think BOB liked him so much.
I kind of hope Labhart puts it all together and can come out of nowhere to be a Welker type guy for us. Probably not a very good chance of it happening, but it would be a feel good local story about the Aggie that made it.
No one thinks AJ lied; at least, I don't. I just think he's angry and likely selectively filtering what he's hearing... which is exactly what humans do when they get angry. IOW, I wouldn't try and predict what BOB has planned based on something AJ said on his way out the door to sign with a long-time division rival. Like you, I assumed he was building on the TE approach from NE. But his loading up on WRs this offseason is sending a drastically different message. I'm starting to think he wanted to diversify his weapons by spreading AJ's salary out to several uniquely different WRs.
I agree he has the chance to be versatile, but every scouting report says he's slow on tape, both in the slot and on the outside.
Yeah it would be nice. I think after the top 3 the rest are pretty bunched together. The bigger point of that list was to show just how many guys there are on that roster fighting for 2 spots. It's almost a lock that Hopkins will be the only carryover, with Damaris Johnson as the one guy who could stay. Ultimately I could see them going six just to keep Damaris on the roster.
Most of that is that he uses his body to create space instead of his speed and that he's limited with poor footwork and poor route running, I expect him to take a step forward in both categories. Also, it's important to note that while his footwork and route running needs work, he was still the most effective slot option in college football this season. He can be used on bubble screens, in the slot, on the outside, as a red zone target....I mean, he's a swiss army knife of a QB.
The whole draft culture of over-analysis and valuing measurables over tape is really laughable when you go back a few years later and see the aftermath. I'm looking at the 2012 NFL draft right now and I see maybe 2-3 guys taken from the 7th round who have even contributed anything to their teams, meanwhile 4 undrafted players have already made a Pro bowl (Tashaun Gipson, Vontaze Burfict, Justin Tucker, Johnny Hekker).
I'm still trying to get my head around the Mumphery pick. I'm not quite sure what the upside is there with him as a WR because it doesn't seem like he will be able to get separation. He almost looks like a guy that you'd convert to a RB for passing downs
