Best and Worst draft picks of the Bobby Grier Era

[JoeSixPat]

Same rules as the BB best and worst draft thread... best and worst in the 1st three rounds only, of the Bobby Grier Era (not including any overlap with Parcells).

There are actually some pretty tough choices on both sides of that coin - there's a heckuva lotof bad players throughout those drafts, though even the first three rounds presents some tough choices.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?teamId=3200&type=team


Tony Simmons or Rod Rutledge might be candidates, if not for the even worse picks of Chris Canty and Andy Katzenmoyer. Its amazing how many bad players were drafted and how high they were drafted.
I think Canty gets the prize as Katzenmoyer's injury or the head games it played with him played a role in that waste of a pick.

On Canty we should have known better.

Best is Kevin Faulk by a mile.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

I don't think it's fair to say that Katzenmoyer was bust because he was pretty good until he got injured. Overall, he had a good rookie season when filling in for Ted Johnson. Had he not suffered that neck injury, I think he would have been a pretty good player.

My pick for worst selection is Chris Canty by far. He didn't do a damn thing in the NFL. Tebucky Jones comes in a close second. He had all the physical tools, just couldn't get it done on the field at a consistant level.

Best pick goes to Kevin Faulk (which we will all agree on). Damien Woody comes in second.

As for Grier/Carrol's grade overall: F

Drafts from 1997-1999 were flat out awful! It's even more pathetic when they had multiple draft picks in round 1 and 2, missing on all of them. Although Kevin Faulk started off his career slow, he is now known as a clutch player.

 

[jeffbiologist]

Best--has to be Woody
Worst--Sedrick Shaw, did he even make the team?

 

[State]

What was Pete Carroll thinking?

I don't think it's fair to say that Katzenmoyer was bust because he was pretty good until he got injured. Overall, he had a good rookie season when filling in for Ted Johnson. Had he not suffered that neck injury, I think he would have been a pretty good player.

My pick for worst selection is Chris Canty by far. He didn't do a damn thing in the NFL. Tebucky Jones comes in a close second. He had all the physical tools, just couldn't get it done on the field at a consistant level.

Best pick goes to Kevin Faulk (which we will all agree on). Damien Woody comes in second.

As for Grier/Carrol's grade overall: F

You're right on the money. I remember a couple of weeks before the disastrous decision to draft the short (and short-armed), SLOW Chris Canty, Pete Carroll was on the radio talking about DBs, his specialty.

If they're short, they'd better be fast. If they big, you can let them not have as blazing speed. It made perfect sense to me, which is why the Bobby Grier BrainDead Reign is symbolized no better than 5'9", 4.7 Chris Canty, going against what Carroll had instructed on DBs. Small and slow won't get the job done in the NFL.

But how's Canty's musical career going?

 

[State]

D. Woody

It turns out that Damien Woody has turned out the way Jim O'Brien warned about: very talented but not motivated. Becoming grossly overweight and ineffective & injured at times in Detroit after signing the big contract, Woody lived down to this negative expectation. It is another reason why giving in to big contracts for most players doesn't work. They rest on their laurels and fire up the grill for some home cookin'! Let the waist line begin exploding like Chris Farley's at a Twinkie warehouse.

But for a while there was Drew...behind the biggest Woody I ever did see. And times were good.

I wonder how he'll play for the Jets. Maybe he develop a fire in his belly again.

 

[Jimke]

Bobby Grier's drafts showed what can happen if you draft

strictly for need. Tony Simmons, Rod Rutledge, and Chris

Floyd were drafted in 1998 three rounds before they should have

been because the Patriots needed backups at WR, TE, and FB.

All they ever became was backups because they were not very good.

 

[primetime]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

But how's Canty's musical career going?

Canty has had a longer professional football career than many of the Grier era draft picks.

Unfortunately, most of it has been in Arena Football. Two. That's right, the af2, the minor league of Arena Football. The Patriots top pick in the 1997 NFL Draft couldn't even play in the top Arena League.

http://www.arenafan.com/players/Chris_Canty-4804/

Tony Simmons has made a pretty good career for himself in Canada, as well.

 

[captain stone]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

You're right on the money. I remember a couple of weeks before the disastrous decision to draft the short (and short-armed), SLOW Chris Canty, Pete Carroll was on the radio talking about DBs, his specialty.

If they're short, they'd better be fast. If they big, you can let them not have as blazing speed. It made perfect sense to me, which is why the Bobby Grier BrainDead Reign is symbolized no better than 5'9", 4.7 Chris Canty, going against what Carroll had instructed on DBs. Small and slow won't get the job done in the NFL.

Small and slow, and with a shyte attitude, def. won't get the job done. I still remember him acting like Ray Lewis even after his man just gained a dozen yards on him. To his credit, Wrong Bogus described Can'tHe, the day after the draft, as a "slow dwarf". Before the draft, he wrote that if you asked Booby Grier about Sam Madison, you might as well have been asking about James Madison. And didn't Can'tHe one night get drunk, the December before the draft, and wreck his car? That punk was a walking, talking Red Flag.

But wait, there's more. Same draft: Brandon Mitchell - declining production in college, mediocre pro...and Jason Taylor was available. Sedrick Shaw, instead of Duce Staley. Chris Carter, instead of Mike Vrabel. 1998: Instead of fortifying the DL and OL with Vonnie Holliday and Alan Faneca, Booby chooses a RB short on experience but long on injuries, and a CB who had absolutely no experience as a CB. In the second round, he chooses a track star pretending to be a WR, and a TE with hands of stone, exc. when he's slipping dollar bills into a stripper's thong. In the third round, another mediocre RB is taken, as well as Greg Spires, who turned out to be their best pick of the entire draft. In 1999, Booby finally started to not blow the draft completely out his cornhole, exc. when he chose Tony George in the 3rd round, a Safety who was built like a CB and ran like a LB, and who was diabetic.

Good times, good times...

 

[Jimke]

Grier turned one of the best 53 man rosters in the NFL into

the absolute worst in three years. This is why a team can't

afford to screw up very many drafts.

 

[captain stone]

Grier turned one of the best 53 man rosters in the NFL into

the absolute worst in three years. This is why a team can't

afford to screw up very many drafts.

I hope the current FO realizes this, also.

 

[jczxohn1]

didn't Greer draft Troy Brown?

 

[captain stone]

didn't Greer draft Troy Brown?

In 1993, Troy would have probably been a Parcells/Charlie Armey pick.

 

[reflexblue]

Worst first theres a lot of candidates.........Chris Cannoty CB 1997

Best on what he did before he got hurt........ Robert Edwards.
Before his freak accident Edwards had all the tools to be a great back. IMO

 

[primetime]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

1998: Instead of fortifying the DL and OL with Vonnie Holliday and Alan Faneca, Booby chooses a RB short on experience but long on injuries

Whoa, whoa. Edwards was exactly what that team needed. They had just lost Curtis Martin and Edwards had an unbelievable rookie year. He looked like a budding superstar. Not that I agree with RBs in round 1, but Edwards could've been one of the best. You can't blame Grier for a freak career-ending (more or less) injury. As for Tebucky, well... Tebucky sucked, but the team did win a Super Bowl with him.

 

[flasox27]

the problem with Grier is not just that he couldn't good picks in general, but he squandered the extra picks we received for Parcells and Martin. By the time Belichick and Pioli arrived the Pats were both over the cap and talentless.

 

[captain stone]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

Whoa, whoa. Edwards was exactly what that team needed. They had just lost Curtis Martin and Edwards had an unbelievable rookie year. He looked like a budding superstar. Not that I agree with RBs in round 1, but Edwards could've been one of the best. You can't blame Grier for a freak career-ending (more or less) injury. As for Tebucky, well... Tebucky sucked, but the team did win a Super Bowl with him.

Edwards already had a couple of leg injuries at Georgia, even tough he played the position only the last 2/3 years. I also think that he benefitted from Terrell Davis' success with Denver, and was therefore more highly thought-of than he should have been. He just didn't seem to have the vision that the really good ones have; he simply ran to the first opening he saw, as fast as he could. His 3.8 ypc was a reflection of his inability to gain the extra yards when there was nothing to be gained by merely running straight ahead. Now, if he were still on the board at #52, I would have taken him; just not at #18, or #22.

P.S.: Any good places to watch the NFL Draft in Dublin? I'll be there that weekend, and not knowing the results will drive me nuts.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

But wait, there's more. Same draft: Brandon Mitchell - declining production in college, mediocre pro...and Jason Taylor was available. Sedrick Shaw, instead of Duce Staley. Chris Carter, instead of Mike Vrabel. ...

What can I say about Chris Carter? I will always remember how mad I was when Pete Carroll descided to release Willie Clay because Chris Carter was ready to step up. How did that turn out? Their secondary was god aweful that year. Had their secondary been better, they would have made the playoffs and saved his job. One of the worst coaching moves during the Pete Carroll era. But I guess it benefitted the Pats in the long run. Without all those dumb coaching moves, Belicheck could be coaching somewhere else.

 

[DaBruinz]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

Edwards already had a couple of leg injuries at Georgia, even tough he played the position only the last 2/3 years. I also think that he benefitted from Terrell Davis' success with Denver, and was therefore more highly thought-of than he should have been. He just didn't seem to have the vision that the really good ones have; he simply ran to the first opening he saw, as fast as he could. His 3.8 ypc was a reflection of his inability to gain the extra yards when there was nothing to be gained by merely running straight ahead. Now, if he were still on the board at #52, I would have taken him; just not at #18, or #22.

P.S.: Any good places to watch the NFL Draft in Dublin? I'll be there that weekend, and not knowing the results will drive me nuts.

Hm.... Edwards sets records at Georgia, yet he benefitted from Terrell Davis' success?

Yes, Edwards broke a bone in his foot and missed 8 weeks, but now, you claim he was injury prone.

Hell, next you'll say that Edwards spent all 4 years at Georgia as a RB.

Your synopsis of Edwards is severely lacking. Sorry.

 

[DaBruinz]

I hope the current FO realizes this, also.

What, you think that BB and Pioli don't realize thist? You think they are ignorant or something?

BB and Pioli probably realize this better than any friggin poster on here. What people fail to understand is that how THEY judge the draft is not how we judge it. And while some "people" claim that last year's draft was a failure, BB and Pioli have BOTH said at different times that last year's draft was short on talent and that there were several players taken in the first round who they had as street free agents.

THINK ABOUT THAT.

BB and Pioli used the picks they couldn't deal away. They hoped to find a diamond in the rough who could surprise someone and possibly be snuck onto the practice squad. Unfortunately, that didn't happen as the players were too well scouted.

 

[primetime]

Re: What was Pete Carroll thinking?

P.S.: Any good places to watch the NFL Draft in Dublin? I'll be there that weekend, and not knowing the results will drive me nuts.

Your best hope is probably at the Wool Shed on Parnell Street (it's an Aussie/Kiwi bar, and actually one of the best sports bars I've ever been to, be it at home or abroad, the food's half decent, and the 10 euro pitcher of Fosters is the best deal you'll find in beer in the city), but no promises. Buskers in Temple Bar is another possibility. Sky Sports is apparently going to be airing the draft for the first time this year, so any place capable of airing Sky Sports (read: nearly every television set in Ireland) can show it. The question is, will they?

I think the Wool Shed is probably your best bet. It's where I watched the Super Bowl (I'm surprised I'm not banned for life). I'm sure they'll be able to toss it up on a screen or two. You can find its location on Google Maps, it's pretty close to all the main things to see or do in Dublin (Parnell Street is off the top of O'Connell, the main street in the city). Ask me again as the draft gets closer, I'll let you know for sure if they'll be playing it there. If they are, I suspect I'll be spending most of the weekend there myself.