Mike Mayock says

[mcsully]

Before I say anything, I find him the most level headed and organized out of all the "experts". So while listening to him today on a conference call with profootballtalk.com he said right now he doesn't believe this is a strong class.. A lot of underclassman will dominate the 1st and 2nd round.. He does not have a senior rated with a 1st round grade.

He also mentioned it was crazy for people to have draft boards out and have Luck at the top.. Way to early..


That being said, it still exciting/fun to get ready for the draft

 

[patsfanboy]

Before I say anything, I find him the most level headed and organized out of all the "experts". So while listening to him today on a conference call with profootballtalk.com he said right now he doesn't believe this is a strong class.. A lot of underclassman will dominate the 1st and 2nd round.. He does not have a senior rated with a 1st round grade.

He also mentioned it was crazy for people to have draft boards out and have Luck at the top.. Way to early..


That being said, it still exciting/fun to get ready for the draft

Then let the trading down being.

 

[DaBruinz]

Before I say anything, I find him the most level headed and organized out of all the "experts". So while listening to him today on a conference call with profootballtalk.com he said right now he doesn't believe this is a strong class.. A lot of underclassman will dominate the 1st and 2nd round.. He does not have a senior rated with a 1st round grade.

He also mentioned it was crazy for people to have draft boards out and have Luck at the top.. Way to early..


That being said, it still exciting/fun to get ready for the draft

If Mayock doesn't have draft boards out yet, how can he say that he doesn't have a senior rated in the 1st round.. Which, btw, I find to be utter BS...

 

[Water Boy]

If Mayock doesn't have draft boards out yet, how can he say that he doesn't have a senior rated in the 1st round.. Which, btw, I find to be utter BS...

Which seniors do you give first round grades to?

 

[BelichickFan]

If Mayock doesn't have draft boards out yet, how can he say that he doesn't have a senior rated in the 1st round.. Which, btw, I find to be utter BS...

I read on RotoWorld that Mayock doesn't have any Senior WR rated as 1st rounders, maybe that's what the OP meant. Or not, I don't know.

 

[DaBruinz]

Which seniors do you give first round grades to?

Jake Locker, Sherrod, Solder, Clayborn, Kerrigan, Von Miller, Amukamara

And that doesn't include the ones who could go high 1st/early 2nd

 

[Wilfork#75]

While I agree with Mayock that this draft isn't particularly strong, especially the senior group, I don't think next year will be any better. With most of the talented underclassmen declaring for this years draft, next years senior draft class will be even weaker with the exception of Andrew Luck (though he will still be a RS Junior). Then when you combine that with the potential impacts of the new CBA and rookie wage scale, next years draft could be very weak, and the next few years drafts relatively weak. I think the implementation of a rookie wage scale could lead to more players staying until their senior seasons to try to go as high as they possibly can, instead of declaring when they have a late 1st or 2nd round grade. Instead of these players declaring like they have in the past, they may very well stay and try to move from a late 1st round pick into the top 10 to try to make as much money as possible.

Looking at this years draft class, I think in the future guys like Aldon Smith, Tyron Smith or even Julio Jones might stay the extra year and potentially go top 5 if there is a rookie wage scale in place. If this is the case and players do stay in school longer, trying to maximize their draft value, then the next few years could turn out to be weak drafts, especailly next years. Because of this I think this draft is extra important especially with the extra picks, in order to continue to build this team as a perennial superbowl contender. I would be hesitant to move too many picks into the future because they would lose their value, especailly mid round picks. And I would be very aggressive in this draft and possibly look to use future picks to move into this draft where there is quite a lot of Junior talent. I could be completely wrong and nothing may change, but I think its something to think about, especially when looking to move picks into future drafts.

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

Before I say anything, I find him the most level headed and organized out of all the "experts". So while listening to him today on a conference call with profootballtalk.com he said right now he doesn't believe this is a strong class.. A lot of underclassman will dominate the 1st and 2nd round.. He does not have a senior rated with a 1st round grade.

He also mentioned it was crazy for people to have draft boards out and have Luck at the top.. Way to early..


That being said, it still exciting/fun to get ready for the draft

I think Mayock is spending a lot more time in front of the camera then he did a couple of years ago. I think he needs to get into the film room more before I take what he is saying more serious. He does watch alot of football but I do not think his is putting the time in studying these kids with his increased involvement with NFL network.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

While I agree with Mayock that this draft isn't particularly strong, especially the senior group, I don't think next year will be any better. With most of the talented underclassmen declaring for this years draft, next years senior draft class will be even weaker with the exception of Andrew Luck (though he will still be a RS Junior). Then when you combine that with the potential impacts of the new CBA and rookie wage scale, next years draft could be very weak, and the next few years drafts relatively weak. I think the implementation of a rookie wage scale could lead to more players staying until their senior seasons to try to go as high as they possibly can, instead of declaring when they have a late 1st or 2nd round grade. Instead of these players declaring like they have in the past, they may very well stay and try to move from a late 1st round pick into the top 10 to try to make as much money as possible.

Looking at this years draft class, I think in the future guys like Aldon Smith, Tyron Smith or even Julio Jones might stay the extra year and potentially go top 5 if there is a rookie wage scale in place. If this is the case and players do stay in school longer, trying to maximize their draft value, then the next few years could turn out to be weak drafts, especailly next years. Because of this I think this draft is extra important especially with the extra picks, in order to continue to build this team as a perennial superbowl contender. I would be hesitant to move too many picks into the future because they would lose their value, especailly mid round picks. And I would be very aggressive in this draft and possibly look to use future picks to move into this draft where there is quite a lot of Junior talent. I could be completely wrong and nothing may change, but I think its something to think about, especially when looking to move picks into future drafts.

I'm not so sure the rookie wage scale would really change how long guys stay in school. Really, the top 15 draft slots are the ones that will see the biggest impact. The rest of the draft is considered extremely good value. So a guy who could go 20th now vs. 3 years from now won't see much difference, but moving up into the top 5 by staying another year will actually not be as important.

And it seems the overall depth of draft seems pretty low, but one area that should have a lot of prospects are DE/OLB/conversion types, which makes it a good time for us to try and get the next Seymour.

 

[patchick]

I think it IS fair to say that this will be an underclassmen-dominated draft, which makes the whole thing chancier. There have been some good analyses here recently showing how heavily BB has leaned toward experienced draftees. This year is bound to change that.

Though even last year, he did trade up at the top of the 2nd for a 20-year-old with only 2 college seasons behind him....

 

[SunnyDenmark]

Also find the OP statement about Mike Mayock quite a bit farfetched. Weak Senior class - fine. But NO seniors rated as first rounders - crazy.

Here is what he said about the first round seniors in a very good article by Don Banks of CNNSI:

"• Draft lacking in senior talent. The draft has seemingly gotten more junior-dominated every year, but NFL talent evaluators believe this is one of the weakest senior classes in memory. Mayock said he doesn't have a single first-round grade on a senior running back, receiver or tight end at the moment, with the quarterback position being an open question. While the depth of last year's draft was outstanding, in part because the fear of the unknown prompted a lot of juniors to enter the league before a rookie wage scale is adopted as part of a new CBA in 2011, the draft isn't expected to be as deep, top to bottom, this time around."


Read more: 2011 NFL Draft notebook on Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, more - Don Banks - SI.com

 

[Off The Grid]

Also find the OP statement about Mike Mayock quite a bit farfetched. Weak Senior class - fine. But NO seniors rated as first rounders - crazy.

Here is what he said about the first round seniors in a very good article by Don Banks of CNNSI:

"• Draft lacking in senior talent. The draft has seemingly gotten more junior-dominated every year, but NFL talent evaluators believe this is one of the weakest senior classes in memory. Mayock said he doesn't have a single first-round grade on a senior running back, receiver or tight end at the moment, with the quarterback position being an open question. While the depth of last year's draft was outstanding, in part because the fear of the unknown prompted a lot of juniors to enter the league before a rookie wage scale is adopted as part of a new CBA in 2011, the draft isn't expected to be as deep, top to bottom, this time around."


Read more: 2011 NFL Draft notebook on Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, more - Don Banks - SI.com

Yup.

MOST people don't have any 1st Round grades for Seniors at:

RB
TE ~ Kyle Rudolph is borderline
WR

...to which you can add:

OG
FS
SS
MF ~ ILB, to you Earthlings!!
FB ~ but that's a given, as are K + P + LS!!
OC ~ Steve Wisniewski is borderline

...and you can make an argument for:

DT ~ Stephen Paea is borderline

It is a WILDLY weak Senior Class!!

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Yup.

MOST people don't have any 1st Round grades for Seniors at:

RB
TE ~ Kyle Rudolph is borderline
WR

...to which you can add:

OG
FS
SS
MF ~ ILB, to you Earthlings!!
FB ~ but that's a given, as are K + P + LS!!
OC ~ Steve Wisniewski is borderline

...and you can make an argument for:

DT ~ Stephen Paea is borderline

It is a WILDLY weak Senior Class!!

Will BB's success in taking a junior like Gronkowski alter his draft strategy to include more juniors early?

 

[mcsully]

Also find the OP statement about Mike Mayock quite a bit farfetched. Weak Senior class - fine. But NO seniors rated as first rounders - crazy.

Here is what he said about the first round seniors in a very good article by Don Banks of CNNSI:

"• Draft lacking in senior talent. The draft has seemingly gotten more junior-dominated every year, but NFL talent evaluators believe this is one of the weakest senior classes in memory. Mayock said he doesn't have a single first-round grade on a senior running back, receiver or tight end at the moment, with the quarterback position being an open question. While the depth of last year's draft was outstanding, in part because the fear of the unknown prompted a lot of juniors to enter the league before a rookie wage scale is adopted as part of a new CBA in 2011, the draft isn't expected to be as deep, top to bottom, this time around."


Read more: 2011 NFL Draft notebook on Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, more - Don Banks - SI.com

like i said don't shoot the messanger

Mayock mentioned this on PFT and I'm basically repeating what he said. From what I'm reading on what you posted, this seems to be a fairly accurate account. Again he said, its crazy to have draft boards up at this time of year and things can change.

That being said, I don't see trading down, I see trading out of this year..

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I think it IS fair to say that this will be an underclassmen-dominated draft, which makes the whole thing chancier. There have been some good analyses here recently showing how heavily BB has leaned toward experienced draftees. This year is bound to change that.

Though even last year, he did trade up at the top of the 2nd for a 20-year-old with only 2 college seasons behind him....

Was Gronkowski that special or was he the start of a new trend for BB?

 

[patfanken]

All we basically need is 33 guys who have first round grades, REGARDLESS of what class they are from. I read today that there are now 53 Juniors who have officially declared. Who knows if 33 of the are first round worthy. Then it won't matter about the senior class.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Was Gronkowski that special or was he the start of a new trend for BB?

Gronk is special enough, but note he was a second round pick. Mayo and Wilfork were also early declarations, it would seem players coming out early need to have the production and maturity - which both of these players presented - to be considered for NE in the first. I think it also applies for the other rounds, but BB will take more of a risk (see Jackson, Chad - second round selection) with underclassmen.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

All we basically need is 33 guys who have first round grades, REGARDLESS of what class they are from. I read today that there are now 53 Juniors who have officially declared. Who knows if 33 of the are first round worthy. Then it won't matter about the senior class.

Okay, who knows what the record is for early declarations?

 

[Off The Grid]

Yup.

MOST people don't have any 1st Round grades for Seniors at:

RB
TE ~ Kyle Rudolph is borderline
WR

...to which you can add:

OG
FS
SS
MF ~ ILB, to you Earthlings!!
FB ~ but that's a given, as are K + P + LS!!
OC ~ Steve Wisniewski is borderline

...and you can make an argument for:

DT ~ Stephen Paea is borderline

It is a WILDLY weak Senior Class!!

Will BB's success in taking a junior like Gronkowski alter his draft strategy to include more juniors early?

I think so, Brother Jones: Seems to me that, while Coach Bill has some strong tendencies, he doesn't tie himself down to "absolutes", and tends to Play The Ball As It Lies: Given a particular Draft Class with an HISTORIC dearth of Senior talent ~ and some exceptional Junior and Sophomore talent ~ I would expect he will alter his approach...somewhat.

I certainly don't think he'll shrink away from pulling the trigger on a better prospect if the all around Value ~ including the increased risk inherent in a thinner resume ~ is superior...And while I'd be tempted to predict he'd be even more aggressive that usual in Trading Back, due to the spectacular mediocrity of the Seniors, this year, it seems to me that the next few years are going to be likewise thin, as the "Market" recovers from last year's Stampede For The Exits, and that we'll see a thin Senior crew for the next few years.

What's your take on it?

 

[reflexblue]

Mike Mayock says...Put your hands on your hips. Please just start the game.