Hmm...he's making some pretty strong statements about intent based on outcome:
The problem is, that was the draft with the live cameras in the Seahawks war room that showed the room suddenly deflating and sinking into dejection the moment Dominique Easley came off the board, and only THEN hitting the trade phones.
IOW, the whole scenario he maps out was plan B, and amounts to little more than "they didn't like the available talent at #32 and responded accordingly."
I agree, which is why I think the key is to do both: identify some prime targets that you really want to get - "your guys" - and go with where the board takes you and where the values are. That's part of the value of a short board - it allows you to focus more and to move a bit more aggressively. That's also part of the value of having a very small war room of people who have worked together for a long time (BB, Kraft, Caserio and Ernie Adams). Teams who have big boards and 30 people in their war rooms sometimes get bogged down in indecision.
I think one of the really under-rated aspects of the draft is the real time element. Teams have only 10 minutes between picks in round 1, 7 minutes in round 2, and 5 minutes for round 3 and later. Not much time. You can be all set up and then your whole strategy is thrown into disarray, with only a few minutes to plan. That's reportedly what happened with Philadelphia last year, when all their top choices were gone by pick 22 (they reportedly wanted Ha-Ha Clinton Dix badly, who went 1 pick earlier to Green Bay), so they traded back 4 spots with Cleveland, regrouped, and reached for Marcus Smith.
At pick 32 there are no guarantees. I think it's imperative to have a very clear board and a short list of guys who you would take at 32. If none are available, you trade back or trade out, even at a discount. If no trade is available you're effectively screwed, and need a good back up plan.
My strategy, as discussed above, would be to target Hardison and Marpet day 2 to fill key positions, and move aggressively to get them. A trade back from 32 would be my last resort. Otherwise I'd have a short list of guys that I'd take at 32, and of guys who I'd trade back for. My list would look something like this:
- Would take at 32: Todd Gurley, Eddie Goldman, Dante Fowler (long gone), Bud Dupree (likely long gone), TJ Clemmings. Maybe Cam Erving (only issue would be redundancy with Marpet). Maybe Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Jake Fisher or Shaq Thompson. Maybe a DB like Jalen Collins, Byron or Marcus Peters, depending on how high they grade out. The goal would be to add a 1st round worthy talent and value, not to fill a specific need.
- Would take after trading back from 32: Any of the above players plus Bernardrick McKinney, Danielle Hunter, Malcolm Brown, maybe Jordan Phillips, maybe Maxx Williams, Maybe Tevin Coleman.
As long as I landed a couple of "my guys", even if they were considered reaches, I'd end up pretty content. As I said in the OP, the rest is gravy.
