I'm not too convince on Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman or Matt Stafford. Matt seems to be the better prospect of the 3 but still, I have questions about his overall talent. Why are all these NFL teams trying to jockey for these players when NEXT year's draft is going to have the bumper crop of QBs. Why don't they maneuver for next year's draft where all the top talented QBs will be available instead of shooting their load this year with less reliable talent in QBs? There are about 5 quarterbacks that I can think of that are better quarterbacks then the 3 I mentioned. Every year, teams focus on the, NOW and they don't see the bigger picture and see the talent coming out next year in comparison to the current draft of players.
The odds are stacked against these college QBs and I'm impressed with none from this year's draft. At best they all look like career backups to me. Maybe one will get lucky and be on par with a Jeff Garcia or a Chad Pennington and get a chance to start for a team and put together a good season or two. But, like I said, the odds are against them. Maybe next year will be better like you said.
Good post. I agree. Give me the Big 12 QB's coming out next year, and you can have Stafford, Sanchez, and the rest of them. Probably means the Jets will blow their whole draft and next year's too and get Sanchez. Hope not, but they always do something foolish.
I agree. Teams can get caught up in the rush of wanting to do something big. One reason of course is that coaches and GMs get fired. You need a secure situation to take the long view. Of course, the teams that are successful tend to be the ones that have continuity with coaches and front offices. They're not constantly retooling their rosters for a totally different system, plus the coach's system becomes second nature to the players. The NFL is a league of monkey see monkey do. Last year Atlanta and Baltimore were successful with rookie QBs, Atlanta particularly. So two guys, Stafford and Sanchez, get elevated above where they probably should be. It's the draft equivalent of drawing to an inside straight however. For every Peyton or Matt Ryan, there are a couple of Ryan Leafs, Heath Schulers, Tim couchs, Akili Smiths, etc. A couple of years ago, the Texans were harshly criticized for selecting Mario Williams, a D lineman, with the first pick and passing on more celebrated players like Vince Young and Reggie Bush. Now there are doubts about Young even being a starting QB, Bush is a frequently injured part-time player and Williams is a pro bowl quality lineman. Of course, the GM who drafted Williams,Charley Casserly, got fired.
personally, if I had the first/second pick in the first round, I would try to trade it for several lower first rounders and upper 2nd rounders, and load up on great linemen, defensive backs, WRs, running backs, etc. Seems like good established/seasoned QBs are always to be had for a trade. You need 45 people to make a team - do you want one 2nd pick in the draft sitting for 3 years, or trade for 3 draft picks to get good, large young linemen/backs who can strenghten your team NOW? Top QBs have a habit of being drafted, and then sitting for 3-5 years (learning the system) (Eagles - Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kobb (Kolb?) & many others). May never play for the team or get traded...
If I was the decision maker of one of these NFL teams, I would compare players you are looking to draft, to players from next year's draft and see what the talent level is for every position. If you think certain positions have more talent the following year, then hold off on drafting players for that position the current year and draft players from other positions the team needs to fill. I would never waste draft picks and always have picks in every round, year in and year out. Unless you have more draft picks than rounds, then it would be ok to package 2 draft picks for 1. 2 Great pass rushers can disable the greatest of quarterbacks. 2 great offensive lineman can disable the best of pass rushers. Catch my drift?
1) If you have 2 great OL and 2 bad, then the DLs and LBs are going to pound on the bad ones. Conversely, if you have 2 great pass rushers and 2 bad DLs, then the great pass rushers will always be facing double teams, or the blocking back. 2) You need depth: - A great OL or DL gets injured. - Or the great rusher is constantly taking on a 305 pound OL and a 255 pound TE. They will also wear him down if the others on his unit are weak. - And big players often sit for part of the game, especially when it is hot. So his sub is playing instead. Frankly, I would prefer to have all my people on the OL or DL line to be good, and especially, to have some depth behind them.
I knew they were going to do something stupid as usual. Oh well. It could be worse. At least we're not as bad as the Raiders. LOL.