Official 2015 NFL Draft Thread

Yep.  Pat Lee had basically one good half in his GBP - and I guess entire NFL - career.  Good thing that happened in the second half of the Super Bowl.  

 

They must see something in Goodson as well.  Otherwise they would not have kept him around and even made him active towards the end of the year, even though it was only on those vaunted STs units.  I know they jettisoned the Immortal Jumal Rolle for him, but I guess we'll see what if anything he has next summer.  

 

That said, I think one of the two CBs will be back.  If they do somehow lose both, then Ted will probably pick a DB high.  As the list above shows regardless of how they all turned out, Ted drafts a lot of DBs.  That's not an accident.

TT loves his CBs.  I personally wouldn't be shocked or upset if TT grabs a good CB in the first round.

If a CB is the best player on the board then Ted will take him.

Except rarely is a guy truly the "best player on the board" without other qualification, it's usually "guy in the tier who best fills a need". 

 

I found it kind of fun where Ron Wolf said something along the lines of never having as many guys rated as first rounders as their were teams and still not running in to problems with value prospect availability. 

I don't think need plays as big a part as you think. It obviously plays a part, but I think it's more about what DON'T need versus what they do need. They're not picking a QB, K, or P in round 1 and probably not a RB, WR, OG, FB, S, or C in round 1 based on starters, depth and recent draft picks. If the BPA on the Packers board (not yours, mine, or the any draft "guru" boards) is any of the remaining positions then he's the pick, plain and simple. Even if there is a greater need to fill, Thompaon sticks to the board.

Somwhat also, but what we hear about real draft boards is they're not so black & white but rather grouped by tiers so if lots of guys are valued in the tier you're drafting, trade back and still get one, while if you're just missing a marked talent cutoff to the next tier you trade up. That's also supposedly why there are lots of trades later as the top guys are pretty easy to pick out while there's less agreement on the late-tier guys.

NFL Draft summary.  I need more tape on this.

 

 

Yeah that's how the Rodgers pick happened.  He was the only first rounder left on TT's board and while it wasn't a "need", it certainly wasn't a "don't need".  They looked at trading out but at the end of their 15 minutes, the value was in picking Rodgers.  The rest, as they say, was history.  

Now I have to watch Idiocracy again. Funny movie.

 

 

If a punter is BPA, then YOU DRAFT A PUNTER IN THE THIRD ROUND

Whether you need one or not.

 

 

I am also including TTs tenure drafting corners and safeties when he was with Seattle.  Marcus Trufant and Ken Hamlin come to mind.

The irony is that TT has done a poor job finding LBs. I wonder if it's because he was one and can't think objectively who knows

Corners and safeties?  There might not be a better GM in the league - he has an eye for defensive backfield talent

No matter WHAT it takes to get him.  

 

Hey.....It's Eddie Munster!

I think LBs, especially MLB/ILBs, tend to be kind of wildcards in the personality department. I think you have to be a crazy SOB to be a great ILB, they hit the hardest, throw their bodies around carelessly, lead with their head, etc...crazy SOB's probably aren't the most reliable group though. I think about guys like Ray Lewis, easily the best ILB of his generation but he was a crazy motherf*cker, especially in his younger years. It seems Thompson has tried to get ILBs who are a little more reliable, personality wise, on and off the field. All of the guys he has brought in have been reasonably good guys it seems, but they've all been bad ILBs...Barrington seems the most promising and you can definitely see an attitude difference between him and Hawk/Jones.

Interesting observation. Desmond Bishop had a nasty attitude. You might be on to something

He also liked to play the piano.  Crazy!

One spot I think needs attention is DE. They're really fairly weak at that spot right now. Jones hasn't been healthy, Daniels hasn't been smart or consistent (probably most due to size) and Boyd's not very fluid. They mix it up a lot, but a guy who can come in and play in the "base" would definitely be helpful.

Daniels had the one brain fart so I wouldn't say he hasn't been smart. He was by far the most consistent of the DL this season. Jones has played in 29 of 32 (regular season) games, I wouldn't say he hasn't been healthy, and he showed steady progress this season. 

 

But I do expect them to take DL in the first 3 rounds.

 

Daniels gets completely blown out against the run, seemingly most often later in games, a little too often for my tastes. The guy's explosive, but not very big. It would be nice if they could spell him a little more and maybe keep him fresher. They seemed to be trying to do that more later in the season this year, just not with great results from linemen.

 

Jones has been dinged up quite a bit. I still think/hope he'll be a solid DL, but again, another solid guy to rotate with he and Daniels I feel would be an importan addition.

The 3-4 needs big bodies near the ball to work.  Getting better there gets the D better overall.  It's why TT has drafted DL every year and will continue to do so.

Next season, the DL contributions must come from young vets like Boyd or from free agents.  Very rare to get a DL in the 3-4 who can perform well as a rookie.

How quickly and conveniently you dip****s forget about

 

Ya, take him lightly if you want folks, but as clueless as he was as a rookie Thornton showed great quickness and we know he is a big dude. 3-4 DE and DT in general is a man's game based on leverage and movement and strength. It takes time to master all 3 concepts.

I actually thought Datone started to come into his own as a DE in the last half of the season. He's been dinged a little in the past, but I thought he showed marked improvement. Daniels is a nice rotational player also and I think the reason you saw him wear down later in games is probably the fact that he was playing too much. He showed some real talent the last two seasons though. 

 

I do agree though that we need to upgrade some talent in the interior DL. We have a collection of good rotational players (Daniels, Raji, Jones, Boyd) and I'm optimistic that Pennell can become a similar rotational player. We need at least 1 elite player in that interior though who can consistently win 1 on 1 battles. 

Yup, Pennell is the most likely guy to take that step forward.

I think GB will spend more time with 3 DL on the field next year. The hiring of another DL coach offers some hint.

The 2-4-5 nickle might become a 3-3-5 nickle if GB can find a suitable ILB

Daniels/Boyd/Raji/Thornton/Pennel rotating on early downs same and as last season- with Jones/Neal inside in pressure packages.

Wild card is Luther Robinson who showed something last year before getting dinged

 

 

Exactly. And don't listen to IowaCheesus

Chris Harper....combine snub

The combine is less important than it's every been IMO. I think teams mostly just use the combine for interviews and the weigh-in. Teams already know going into the combine if players are fast or strong or explosive, they rely on the tape and not manufactured workout numbers. There are some relevant numbers, like when a player's results are far outside what is expected (only managed 2 reps on the bench or ran over 5 sec 40 for example)...those kinds of numbers make you question how dedicated that player is to the process. It can be helpful for discovering lesser known prospects (Dri Archer comes to mind immediately) because I seriously doubt scouts and GMs have poured through tape on all 300 prospects at this point...guys like Dri Archer made teams go back and look at his tape. Overall though teams trust the film more than workout numbers so if Harper's tape is good then he won't have anything to worry about. 

 

...to the buffet line.

What's wrong with the buffet line. I may not be as productive as I was when I was in my 20's, but I still love the challenge of the buffet line.

The combine is good for draft geeks (I am anxiously awaiting for all of your 7 round mocks), and that's about it.

 

The 2014 draft proved (once again) you can hit gold or a turd anywhere. 2014 was one of TT's top 2 drafts of his tenure. 3 starters, 1 potential future starter and we might have had our KR/PR woes solved had Magic not gotten hurt...then again, it might mean we'd still have Slowcum has our ST coach...

 

I am looking forward to the accumulation of more ROTTallant this year.

I would fully agree yet the mocks seem to change most after the combine than any other offseason marker.  Certain guys seem to rise like a rocket or drop like a stone after the combine.  But then again, maybe the teams already had those players slotted there in the first place and the mocks (which have maybe 1% knowledge of how teams are going to draft) just catch up a little more after the combine.  

Or maybe the honks writing about this stuff need to move guys around quite a bit to keep the traffic to their articles high.  If they put the same guys in the same spots over and over, their readership drops.  

Mel Kiper's 438 pre-draft mocks?

I think real talent evaluators use the combine to affirm game tape.  If a guy runs faster/slower than expected, they go back to the game tape to see if they missed something.   I think when a guy like Greg Robinson kills the combine and gets drafted #2, the Kipers of the world are just reacting late, which gives fans the idea that the combine caused him to rise.  More likely is that NFL GMs already had Robinson that high and the combine just confirmed what they saw on game tape.  Maybe he went up a little bit, but hardly went from 2nd round to #2 pick based on a 40 time.  Same can be said of guys like Bridgewater, where the media dropped him after his poor pro day, causing fans to think the pro day is what pushed him down.  More likely, is that teams had him there to begin with and the poor pro day just confirmed it.  

The combine is important for draft geeks because they have no knowledge of what teams are actually looking for and they don't have access to player interviews (which I think is the most crucial part of the process for most teams). All they can go on is player measurements and tape which probably makes up 1/2 the actual story for each player and team.