First Round Grades - not.

[Box_O_Rocks]

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/9256785


Pat Kirwin - MOVING UP THE CHARTS (Feb. 26, 12:58 p.m. ET)

I sat through most of the Saturday morning drills with a GM who told me there were only 12 players at the Combine with a first-round grade when he got here on Thursday. I caught up with him on Sunday morning and he said the list has grown to 14, but was confident it would never get to 20. What does that mean? Look for a number of teams trying to move down from their draft spot if they are not in the top 15.

Vic Carucci - CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Feb. 24, 1:01 p.m. ET)

NFL talent evaluators always face a difficult challenge in trying to identify quality receivers. And, because this is widely considered a down year for the position, the challenge is even greater. The fact they must judge a combination of running and catching skills causes scouts to generally struggle to determine where receivers should be selected, especially those who might warrant consideration in the early rounds of the draft. This year, no more than three -- and possibly fewer -- receivers are projected for the first round, whereas five were chosen last year. The most likely, and perhaps lone first-rounder, figures to be Santonio Holmes, a junior from Ohio State. Several players at the position could wind up being taken in the second round. What separates a first-round receiver from a second-rounder? "Either they run real fast and can't catch or they can catch, but run slow," Browns general manager Phil Savage said. "Or there was some medical issue or character issue. A lot of times, the second round in general is a hit or miss type of round regardless of position. I do think receiver is a position where you see a number of misses in there."

 

[rookBoston]

I started counting the number of players who'd be gone before we pick:

For sure Top-20 picks:
QB (3) Leinart, Young, Cutler
RB (3) Bush, White, Williams
OL (1) Ferguson
TE (1) Davis
WR (0)
DT (1) Ngata
DE (2) Williams, Hali
LB (2) Hawk, Greenway
CB(2) Williams, Hill
S (1) Huff

That's 16 players who we can probably write off as lost cause.

The next tier of players are the ones we have a real shot at, either at #21, or in a minor (3rd rounder) trade up:
RB (1) Maroney
WR (2) Holmes, Jackson
TE (2) Pope, Lewis
OT (3) Justice, McNeill, Winston
OG (1) Jean-Gilles
OC (1) Mangold
DT (2) Bunkley, Watson
DE (4) Kiwanuka, Lawson, Dumerville, Wimbley
LB (6) Ryans, Carpenter, Simms, Howard, Jackson, Hodge
CB (2) Youboty, Cromartie, Marshall
S (2) Bing, Simpson

That's a fair group of 26 players in our target zone. Of the bunch, Lawson, Kiwanuka, Carpenter, Youboty and Marshall are really the only one's I'd consider for the Pats. ... and perhaps Simpson.

Lawson is lighting it up at the combine, and may be slipping out of our reach; 45' vertical and 4.4 speed. But if he squeezes someone out of the top-16, that could still work to our advantage... Huff and Greenway are among the most likely to drop if someone else goes in the top-16, and I'd take either one of them in a heartbeat.

 

[AzPatsFan]

I started counting the number of players who'd be gone before we pick:

For sure Top-20 picks:
QB (3) Leinart, Young, Cutler
RB (3) Bush, White, Williams
OL (1) Ferguson
TE (1) Davis
WR (0)
DT (1) Ngata
DE (2) Williams, Hali
LB (2) Hawk, Greenway
CB(2) Williams, Hill
S (1) Huff

That's 16 players who we can probably write off as lost cause.

The next tier of players are the ones we have a real shot at, either at #21, or in a minor (3rd rounder) trade up:
RB (1) Maroney
WR (2) Holmes, Jackson
TE (2) Pope, Lewis
OT (3) Justice, McNeill, Winston
OG (1) Jean-Gilles
OC (1) Mangold
DT (2) Bunkley, Watson
DE (4) Kiwanuka, Lawson, Dumerville, Wimbley
LB (6) Ryans, Carpenter, Simms, Howard, Jackson, Hodge
CB (2) Youboty, Cromartie, Marshall
S (2) Bing, Simpson

That's a fair group of 26 players in our target zone. Of the bunch, Lawson, Kiwanuka, Carpenter, Youboty and Marshall are really the only one's I'd consider for the Pats. ... and perhaps Simpson.

Lawson is lighting it up at the combine, and may be slipping out of our reach; 45' vertical and 4.4 speed. But if he squeezes someone out of the top-16, that could still work to our advantage... Huff and Greenway are among the most likely to drop if someone else goes in the top-16, and I'd take either one of them in a heartbeat.

i would be inclined to add K Holmes and
maybe Cromartie ot the lsit of 16 to make 19.

The others are all possible falls to the Pats. lawson and/or carpenter are the guys I have my eyes on and if forced to chose would take Carpenter over lawson,but only because i think Wimberly and Cocould are attractive first day picks for Willies' position eventually....

 

[BelichickFan]

I sat through most of the Saturday morning drills with a GM who told me there were only 12 players at the Combine with a first-round grade when he got here on Thursday. I caught up with him on Sunday morning and he said the list has grown to 14, but was confident it would never get to 20.

That's kind of shocking considering what a strong draft this is supposed to be.

 

[dryheat44]

That's kind of shocking considering what a strong draft this is supposed to be.

I don't think it's that different. There's probably 18 guys that are consensus first rounders and another 6-8 who are or aren't, depending on which team you talk to. I don't think there's ever 32 guys who grade out as first rounders, which personnel men equate to Pro Bowlers.

The good thing, especially for a guy like Belichick, is that even though there are only, say 18 first round grades, there are about 45 guys with 2nd round grades.