Re: Wow Kiper Misses the Point
Cameron Jordan. One of the reasons that our defense sux, besides the garbage at Safety
(aside from the just OK so far Chung - who was awful vs the jints) is the utter lack of athleticism on the DL. Jordan could've helped as a 40-front interior sub-rusher, 30-front end sub-rusher in the prevent,
and at 40-front end, esp. vs. the run. I would've either waited until 28 for Solder, or done a trade-up after both Carimi & Castonzo were gone, whichever came first.
WOW You couldn't be more wrong in this first comment. Solder has arguably been the best OLman taken in the draft. He's been more consistent than the kid from Dallas who was also good, but much more versatile. To think he was goiung to be around at 28 is just plain stupid.
As for Jordan, who was one of my binkies, the Pats added TWENTY sacks at the position that Jordan played. What more would he have added. Is he THAT much more "athletic" than Anderson or Carter....if at all. I would hate having him, but he was never going to be where we could take him
As for the rest of the picks:
Glas-IR Dowling was a bad pick then, and an even worse pick now. Jabaal Sheard or Brooks Reed
were the obvious choices.
You could be right about Dowling's ability to stay healthy, but you couldn't be more wrong about his ability ON the field. IF he can stay healthy he will turn out to be a hugely successful pick
I liked Sheard, but again, how much more would he have added to what we got from Anderson and Carter. Reed is a one trick pony who will never be more than a situatiional pass rusher and was picked too high as it was. Bottom line, as it has been shown, Sheard was a legit target at 33, but the need, as it has been shown, was in the DB, and that's where we went.
Vereen was over-drafted by almost a full round, and did not fill a position of top-100 need.
Ridley has been OK so far (though I worry about his fumble vs Buffalo), but again was over-drafted and did not fill a position of top-100 need.
That over drafted crap is meaningless in the real world. Was Mankins over drafted, was Volmer over drafted. BS. Ridley has been the 2nd best rookie RB in the league this year. AND BOTH those guys filled in a huge need at RB
Mallett provides value as hopefully a future 2nd-round pick.
Cannon is Bill's best pick of the entire draft, when value, performance & need are all considered.
I understand this pick better. Now don't hate it, but I still don't LIKE it, since we won't see the value for another 3 years
By contrast, Lee Smith was Bill's worst pick, for the same reasons that Cannon was Bill's best pick.
Fresno State OLB Chris Carter, CB Chykie Brown, DE Pernell McPhee, OC Scott Fusco & FB Charles Clay all would've made much more sense. Who knows, Ridley might still have been available
Now you are getting into the world of pure guess and smug 20-20 hindsight. Its always easy for every fan to criticize picks that don't work out down here. There are certainly enough of them
BB hit a home run on his first pick - His second showed well but gets an injury incomplete - ditto for the 3rd. His 4th has out played expectations and could be a HR. Mallet will back up Brady for the next 3 years and could be very good at it. Cannon could be another HR in the next year or two. He certainly outplayed expectations this year.
If you stop right there that's 6 picks that will likely play significant roles during their rookie contracts, and 4 will likely end up being starters. That's a pretty good draft regardless of how you look at it.
