When you have Medenhall, the 2nd best RB in the draft, fall in your lap, and you pass on him,it is the kind of stuff that will haunt Kubiak down the road. Medenhall is in the same mold as Andre Davis, and if I recall correctly, did ok in Denver's blocking scheme. You don't get alot of opportunities to draft guys like that. And it's not like our RB situation is shored up by any means. Our RB by way of retirees is not gonna get it done. To pass on the 2nd best RB in the draft for a 8th best OT that's projected in the 2-3 round is a very hard pill to swallow. I know Gibbs had this kid as HIS forth rated OT for his scheme, but there's a good chance he would have been there in the third. If not, Chad Rinehart or Brandon Keith out of Northern Iowa, or Breno Giacomini out of Louisville would have been. They are all fast and agile enough to fit into Gibbs' zone blocking scheme. I like the value pick we got with Xavier Adibi in the 4th, but I would have taken Cliff Avril with one of our thirds. Molden, Slaton, and Okam were solid picks. Overall Grade+
Many would argue (including me) that Mendenhall was the top overall RB prospect in this draft - so that makes the decision all the more perplexing
First of all, who is this Andre Davis you speak of? I've never heard of him so maybe you can enlighten me. And instead of looking at one player, maybe you should look at the collective list of RBs who have done well in Denver, none of them were high picks. To me, that speaks more about the ZB scheme than 1 player that did well. Second, as I've stated, all these projections are just the opinions of some guys on t.v. But if you want to look at mock drafts and projections to see how good the picks are, Kiper and NFLdraftcountdown had Brown going in the late 1st-early 2nd. So just because Todd McShay didn't have him going in the 1st, all that matters is the scouts, coaches, and gm's analysis of the player. Everything else on t.v. is just an opinion. To say there's a good chance Brown would have been available in the 3rd is laughable. Unless you get a good look at all of the team's draft boards, then you have no idea.
No one in the world considered Mario Williams a "project" except for deranged VY/Bush lunatics looking for a reason to whine. He was a dominant college player who has since become dominant in the NFL. Nothing more, nothing less.
Those 4 analysts with Tony Reali all chose 1 player who they thought would make the most impact next season. They chose Keith Rivers The Patriots Linebacker (I forgot his name) Leodis Mclevin Steve Slaton
First of all Spelling Police, I can't edit my post or I would have. Second of all VY couldn't hit the side of a barn and can't even spell barn. The only reason the Titans made the playoffs last year was because of the defense not VY. Mendenhall fell for a reason. We moved down and picked up an extra 3rd that netted Steve Slaton. So we got OL help and the RB that we needed by trading down. Screw VY and the Eagles.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/usf/2008/04/undrafted-moffi.html Passed over in the NFL Draft, former USF linebacker Ben Moffitt has landed on his feet, signing a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans on Sunday night, according to his agent, Marc Lillibridge. "They didn't draft any linebackers, and we feel like it's a good fit for him," said Lillibridge, who said he heard from about 15 other teams after the draft before choosing the Texans. Houston actually drafted outside linebacker Xavier Adibi of Virginia Tech in the fourth round. Moffitt will report to Houston for a rookie minicamp next weekend. He's the third Bulls senior linked to an NFL team, joining draft picks Mike Jenkins (Cowboys) and Trae Williams (Jaguars). Two more undrafted Bulls -- receiver Amarri Jackson and tackle Jared Carnes (St. Pete Catholic) -- will attend the Bucs' rookie tryout this coming weekend with the hopes of landing a free-agent contract, according to their agent, Tim Rogers. Offensive tackle Walt Walker said Sunday he will be attending the Bucs' rookie tryout as well.
Texans also signed WR Ryan Grice-Mullins from Hawaii. http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2008/04/2008-undrafted-free-agent-signings.html
My mistake, Terrell Davis. NFLdraftcountdown has Brown "2nd or 3rd". Kiper didn't have him in his mock draft in the 1st round. And your last paragraph contradicts the nature of your premise. I find that laughable.
see post #80 in this thread. thanks VesceySux. i don't know how to interpret that statement any other way. it's not that i can't accept it. i can't make sense of it.
Terrell Davis was a 5th round pick if I remember correctly, and if you watched the draft Kiper said this is about where they expected he should go and he had him rated higher than two tackles that were already selected. I don't see where he was a reach.
I said in the same mold as Davis. Kiper had R.Mendenhall as the 2nd best RB. Didn't hear what you claim. We did add more depth at areas of need, so whatever. It's done.
Who cares if someone is in the same "mold" as another player. Matt Ryan is in the same "mold" as Tom Brady but that doesn't mean he'll be anything like him. Davis was a great back and he was a 5th round pick, look at Mike Anderson, Mike Bell, Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin, and Selvin Young, all low picks that produced. But I guess all the teams that passed on Mendenhall are screwed since they didn't listen to Mel Kiper and his mock draft. Not like it matters but their mock had him going in the first...http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/sub/mockdraft2.html
agreed plus i think Mike Mayock is better draft analyst than Kiper. He got 90 of first 100 picks on his big board correct.
Sorry, but this is not at all true. He was almost universally considered a fairly raw prospect as far as Defensive Ends go. There was a lot of talk about how his coaches sucked at NC State and he needed to learn better technique, etc. Part of what rocketed him up from top-10 type to top-3 type in the draft charts was his combine performance. Here's a mishmash of pre-draft articles about Mario - all unrelated to the Texans. http://www.kffl.com/article.php/47074/160 One defensive player who will be drafted highly to help turn around some team's pass rush is DE Mario Williams from North Carolina State. When coaches and writers talk about the 6-7, 290-pound defensive end one of the most common words used to describe his athletic ability is "potential." While many still see Williams as a physical, raw talent, he has had a productive college career as well. ... It is believed that Williams could be one of the top five selections in the upcoming draft due to his pure and rare athletic abilities. ... Some critics have questioned his instincts, motivation and technique at times, which will be worked on by one lucky defensive coordinator soon. While his footwork and consistency will need some tweaking, he won't be able to rely solely on his speed and power as much as he did in college to become a dominant pass rusher. ... Considered to still be a raw project with "potential" to be a franchise defensive end there are several teams that will consider drafting Williams early and possibly making him the first defensive player taken in the draft. Years from now some teams may kick themselves for not choosing him, but there won't be many because he should be drafted somewhere in the top 10 picks. ... If he goes to a team that has a solid defensive line and another speedy edge rusher he could be simply devastating to quarterbacks for years to come. At only 21 years old, he has the "potential" to develop into a Pro Bowl player in the future and continue to improve, as he has done every season. http://football.about.com/od/playerprofiles/p/mariowilliams.htm Williams understands the game, but is still learning. http://www.footballsfuture.com/2006/prospects/mario_williams.html There may not be a better physical specimen at any position in the draft. Williams has fantastic size for a defensive end, but couples that with supreme athleticism. ... Despite being so talented, Williams has not dominated like he should. He just seems to disappear at times. ... Williams may end up being the first defensive player selected in April. His upside is that tremendous. http://hou.scout.com/2/519286.html The pure athletic talent that is demonstrated by Williams is one that is unrivaled by many. ... Williams’ biggest problem heading into the draft is that he is not a finished product, which is not necessarily a bad thing. http://media.www.thepenn.org/media/...ospects.Hot.Topic.Of.2006.Draft-2231775.shtml He combines freakish size (6-foot-7, 295 pounds) with startling speed (4.66 40-yard dash) and has the tools to become an elite defensive end. The only thing scarier than his size is the fact that his skills are not yet fully developed and he has not yet reached his full potential. That being said, Williams is still a project. None of these people are "deranged VY/Bush lunatics". He wasn't a project on the level of a Vince Young, but he was talked about far more in terms of his potential due to his combine performance and his physical attributes than what he did at NC State. For a Defensive End, he was definitely looked at as a project.
I'm not sure how to respond. Of the eight examples you bolded, five of them said nothing negative about Williams. Most were focused on the words upside and potential, which is true of any player. That's kind of what rookies have, by definition. To deduct that because a writer sees fundamental techniques that can still be improved that Williams is a "project" -- or perhaps I should say more of a project than any high rookie draft choice -- is extremely biased thinking. Vince was and is a project with his throwing motion and accuracy. Reggie was and is a project regarding his ability to run inside. Not a finished product? Neither was Vince, neither was Reggie, neither are 99 percent of rookie draft picks, including top choices overall. That's what being a rookie means, again by definition. That's nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking. In addition, another problem is that the examples you cited are taken out of context. He was inherently given the "project" label by some weak analysts -- namely, three that you cited -- because he was constantly compared in the shadow of Bush and Young, who dominated the college game and most media types assumed that would immediately transfer to the professional level. In the context of defensive ends, as you put it -- I haven't seen evidence to support that. Also, I consider the media among the absolute leaders of the "deranged VY/Bush lunatics" club, and I think that's where we'll have to agree to disagree. They're worse than most fans -- the Al Michaels outburst on the Saints/Cowboys SNF game, for example, was the most unprofessional, embarrassing, biased fanboy rant that I've seen in 15 years of watching and studying sports media. I knew he wouldn't face sanctions because he's Al Michaels, but at that moment, he should've been banned for years from covering any Saints or Texans game -- and he's only the tip of the iceberg. But I understand it's impossible to empirically answer that question, and I'm straying off topic with that, so I'll let it go from here on out.
