This challenge goes out to all those who are critical of BB's talent evaluation skills. To anyone who likes to point out that 8 out of 9 players drafted in 2007 are no longer on the team.
I challenge you to redo the 2007 draft.
You armed with 20/20 hindsight not available to BB at the time must do the following for each of BB's misses.
1) Name the player that you would have drafted instead;
2) name the player from the 2007 roster you would have cut;
and
3) explain your choice.
Note you can not Adrian Peterson for Clint Oldenburg. You can only substitute players not yet drafted. You could subsitute Jacob Bender (selecteed #177) for Kareem Brown (#127) but not for Justin Rogers (#180)
Here are the players you need to find replacements for:
Stomper Meriweather
Kareem Brown 127
Clint Oldenburg 171
Justin Rogers 180
Mike Richardson 202
Justise Hairston 208
Corey Hilliard 208
Oscar Lua 211
Mike Elgin 247
Good luck! I bet you can't go 8 for 8.
No, I won't go 8 for 8, but I'll do much, much better than the Emperor did.
I haven't read any of the other posts, so my picks haven't been influenced. Besides, I've kept the same list of preferred picks for almost 3 years anyway.
A couple of my picks are direct descendents of what Bill should've done in the 2006 draft, as I'll explain as I go, beginning with the very first pick:
1/24
The Emperor William - Stomper
The Captain - RG/RT Justin Blalock or ILB David Harris
On offense, I liked Blalock's ability to play both Guards & RT, and his character & intelligence were superlative. We could've used him when Neal went down - again - in the SB. We also wouldn't be having conversations about his replacement right now, either. Blalock is the starting LG for Atlanta.
On defense, I was persuaded on the Draft Board that Harris would be a better fit at ILB than the higher-rated Poz; had Bill drafted potential DE/OLB convert Mark Anderson with the 5th-rounder used in 2006 on the ill-fitting, lead-footed Ryan O'C, the need to draft a DE/OLB convert like Anthony Spencer or LaMarr Woodley would've been mitigated.
Why not Stomper? Not only was his character undraftable, but he wasn't even the best damn Safety available - that would've been Eric Weddle. Besides, Bill should've used any one of his THREE 6th-round picks in 2006 on FS Antoine Bethea; there would have been therefore no need to draft a FS in the 1st round. And I haven't even mentioned our "Pro-Bowl"(snicker) FS's terrible tackling.
4/127
TEW - Kareem Brown
TC - CB Tarell Brown
Bill chose the wrong Brown. The lazy, under-achieving KBrown was way too slow for DE, yet not stout enough for NT. TBrown was a first-day-caliber CB, and the best available; a broken foot & a wacky weed/firearm arrest dropped his stock. Today, he's in the CB rotation - incl. 4 starts & 2 INTs - for the 49ers.
5/171
TEW - Clint Oldenburg
TC - OT Adam Koets
Bill chose the wrong OT. Not that Koets is starting - or will ever start - for the NJG, but he was the best avail. LT, and at least there was a body of work, and more with which to work, than the completely unknown & unregarded UDFA-talent OBurg Part I. Ohio State's Doug Datish also would've been a much more logical choice because of his versatility at Center, Guard & even LT.
6/180
TEW - Justin Rogers
TC - S John Wendling
Another completely unknown pick who could've been avail. as a UDFA. Many of us on the Draft Board liked Wendling's athleticism, and felt that at the very least he would become an excellent STer while he was learning either the FS or (preferably) the SS position. He was surprisingly released this week by the Bills; I wish that somebody in Foxborough would awaken Bill and convince him to sign Wendling as Effin Alexander's replacement.
6/202
TEW - Mike Richardson
TC - DE(OLB) Jacob Ford
Bill decided to give Charlie another 6th-round solid (see Stevenson, Dan in 2006) by choosing a mediocre CB on a terrible ND defense. And he wasn't even the best ND DB available - that would've been Safety Chinedum Ndukwe. Ford, OTOH, was the best Pass-Rusher avail. and could just as easily have gone at the spot used to select Justin Rogers. Ford has recorded 12.5 sacks in his 2 years with the Titans (season-long IR in '07).
6/208
TEW - Justise Hairston
TC - RB/FB Jason Snelling
Bill chose the wrong RB. And boy, were there a lot of RB still available, too: DeShawn Wynn, Ahmad Bradshaw, Ken Darby, Darius Walker, Selvin Young and SB winner Pierre Thomas. Instead, Bill decides to give Pioli's alma mater a solid by choosing another UDFA talent (noticing a trend here?). Because the faster LaMa had been drafted the previous year, I wanted Bill to pick a bigger, stronger RB preferably with FB capabilities. Wynn & Bradshaw had too many multiple character issues. Snelling, OTOH, had superior strength of character & intelligence, and experience at FB. He filled in admirably this season for the Falcons when Michael Turner was injured, incl. averaging 2 catches /game.
6/209
TEW - Corey Hilliard
TC - TE Ben Patrick
Another pick wasted by Bill on an ill-fitting OLman. Hilliard was not athletic enough for LT, not stout enough for Guard, and not strong/athletic/nasty enough for RT. Patrick, OTOH, was a first-day-caliber talent who inexplicably fell to the 7th round. He would've helped mitigate the loss of Dan Graham while allowing David Thomas to heal correctly; instead, Bill signed the washed-up Kyle Brady & rushed Thomas off pre-season PUP. Patrick, meanwhile, has started 13 games in his 3 seasons with Arizona, incl. a TD catch in the SB. Imagine a TE trio of Watson, Thomas & Patrick for the last 3 years; I could've lived with that.
7/211
TEW - Oscar Lua
TC - ILB Brandon Siler
Bill chose the wrong ILB. Lua was a small, unremarkable, injury-prone UDFA talent who was a backup on his college team as a senior. Siler, OTOH, was 1st-team All-SEC as a junior and a consensus first-day talent who fell to the 7th round because of a terrible Combine performance. Still, why not take a chance with the 211th pick on a highly-rated 21-yo with proven success in college football's best conference? Lua is now out of football, while Siler is a ST leader and also started 7 games this year for SD, incl. 2 sacks & 1 INT. I'd rather have Siler next to Mayo than Guyton.
7/247
TEW - Mike Elgin
TC - DT/DE Mike DeVito
Bill ends this abomination of a draft by choosing the wrong Mike, who wasn't even the best avail. OLman on his own team named Mike (that would've been Mike Jones). I wouldn't even have used this pick on OBurg Part I, whom Bill took 76 effin picks earlier. Instead, I would've used it on the DL (one of the positions not drafted in my version) - not on Kareem Brown, even if here were still available, but on UMaine's (and MA native) Mike DeVito, who had the size, speed, strength & motor to play 3-4 DE. It would've been nice to have both DeVito & Mike Wright to mitigate the loss of $eymour, the injuries to Ty Warren and the ineffectiveness of Jarvis Green.
Regarding the 9 players my choices would've replaced, I nominate:
Effin Alexander
Rashad Baker
Kyle Brady
Chad Brown
Larry Izzo
Eddie Jackson
Corey Mays
Stomper Meriweather (Blalock or Harris drafted instead) replaced by Bethea
Ryan O'C (Mark Anderson drafted instead)
Marcellus Rivers
Antwain Spann
Santonio Thomas
Pierre Woods
Billy Yates
Class is dismissed...and You're Welcome.