Gon_Trevil
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People of the earth: a top 5 draft pick does not bring the Messiah. Quite the contrary...
You need to stop thinking of high draft picks as some kind of Holy Grail and look at it in terms of players. A Top 5 overall pick is just that, one player. A very expensive one, at that. Which is why I'm always somewhat irritated at hearing people say it'd be the dumbest thing in the world for a team to trade a Top 5 pick for a mere 2 first rounders. I mean, how many Top 5 picks this millennium have turned out to be worth 2 first rounders? Very few.
Here's a little draft history:
2000 Draft
1. Courtney Brown
2. Lavar Arrington
3. Chris Samuels
4. Peter Warrick
5. Jamal Lewis
2001 Draft
1. Michael Vick
2. Leonard Davis
3. Gerard Warren
4. Justin Smith
5. LaDainian Tomlinson
2002 Draft
1. David Carr
2. Julius Peppers
3. Joey Harrington
4. Mike Williams
5. Quentin Jammer
2003 Draft
1. Carson Palmer
2. Charles Rogers
3. Andre Johnson
4. Dewayne Robertson
5. Terrence Newman
2004 Draft
1. Eli Manning
2. Robert Gallery
3. Larry Fitzgerald
4. Phillip Rivers
5. Sean Taylor
2005 Draft
1. Alex Smith
2. Ronnie Brown
3. Braylon Edwards
4. Cedric Benson
5. Cadillac Williams
I'll leave the 2006 draft out of this because they've only had one year.
Now, for how many of those guys would you be willing to give up two first rounders? LaDainian and Palmer, and perhaps Fitzgerald. Three guys. OUT OF THIRTY TOP 5 PICKS THIS MILLENNIUM!
At least by keeping both our #24 and #28 picks, we have two chances at landing an impact player.
I'll make one last example: In 2004, the Patriots had the #21 and #32 picks in the draft. They selected Vince Wilfork and Ben Watson, respectively.
Would you trade BOTH of them for any of the players in the Top 5 in that draft? There are 2 QBs: One is Bledsoe incarnate; the other proved he can play well with the best OL, RB, and TE in the league. For obvious reasons, we wouldn't have picked either of those guys. That leaves Gallery, Fitzgerald, and Taylor. I'll even give you the rest of the 1st round picks in that draft, just in case you think the Pats would have taken someone else.
http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/2004.jsp
Would you trade both Wilfork and Watson for any of those guys? And this is before even taking into account the guaranteed money you have to fork over to a possible Top 5 bust.
I'll pass, and keep my team well stocked with the Wilforks and Watsons of the world while you keep swinging and missing praying for your Messiah in the top 5.
You need to stop thinking of high draft picks as some kind of Holy Grail and look at it in terms of players. A Top 5 overall pick is just that, one player. A very expensive one, at that. Which is why I'm always somewhat irritated at hearing people say it'd be the dumbest thing in the world for a team to trade a Top 5 pick for a mere 2 first rounders. I mean, how many Top 5 picks this millennium have turned out to be worth 2 first rounders? Very few.
Here's a little draft history:
2000 Draft
1. Courtney Brown
2. Lavar Arrington
3. Chris Samuels
4. Peter Warrick
5. Jamal Lewis
2001 Draft
1. Michael Vick
2. Leonard Davis
3. Gerard Warren
4. Justin Smith
5. LaDainian Tomlinson
2002 Draft
1. David Carr
2. Julius Peppers
3. Joey Harrington
4. Mike Williams
5. Quentin Jammer
2003 Draft
1. Carson Palmer
2. Charles Rogers
3. Andre Johnson
4. Dewayne Robertson
5. Terrence Newman
2004 Draft
1. Eli Manning
2. Robert Gallery
3. Larry Fitzgerald
4. Phillip Rivers
5. Sean Taylor
2005 Draft
1. Alex Smith
2. Ronnie Brown
3. Braylon Edwards
4. Cedric Benson
5. Cadillac Williams
I'll leave the 2006 draft out of this because they've only had one year.
Now, for how many of those guys would you be willing to give up two first rounders? LaDainian and Palmer, and perhaps Fitzgerald. Three guys. OUT OF THIRTY TOP 5 PICKS THIS MILLENNIUM!
At least by keeping both our #24 and #28 picks, we have two chances at landing an impact player.
I'll make one last example: In 2004, the Patriots had the #21 and #32 picks in the draft. They selected Vince Wilfork and Ben Watson, respectively.
Would you trade BOTH of them for any of the players in the Top 5 in that draft? There are 2 QBs: One is Bledsoe incarnate; the other proved he can play well with the best OL, RB, and TE in the league. For obvious reasons, we wouldn't have picked either of those guys. That leaves Gallery, Fitzgerald, and Taylor. I'll even give you the rest of the 1st round picks in that draft, just in case you think the Pats would have taken someone else.
http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/2004.jsp
Would you trade both Wilfork and Watson for any of those guys? And this is before even taking into account the guaranteed money you have to fork over to a possible Top 5 bust.
I'll pass, and keep my team well stocked with the Wilforks and Watsons of the world while you keep swinging and missing praying for your Messiah in the top 5.