Risk, ceilings, floors & draft strategy

[mayoclinic]

Ummm. If his projected ceiling was a Walter Jones franchise LT, he would be taken up there with Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe. Projected franchise players aren't options to be taken with the 23rd pick of the draft. At best, he'll be the third OT taken...and could easily be the 6th.

He could be a 10 year all-pro, sure. But for that matter so could Curtis Painter or Joaquin Iglesias. Most things are possible.

I like Beatty, quite a bit. I think he's capable of starting at LT for the Pats. But to say his ceiling is Walter Jones and his floor isn't much lower is borderline delusional.

I didn't say that Beatty's floor probably isn't much lower than Walter Jones, I said it probably isn't much lower than how D'Brickashaw Ferguson has turned out so far: a talented footwork guy who is too soft and weak to be effective and gets pushed around a lot, but steadily develops into a solid starter at LT. That's a lot lower than Walter Jones. Comparing his ceiling to
Walter Jones is an obvious stretch, but there aren't too many LT prospects with Beatty's kind of agility and footwork, which is reminiscent of Jones.

I think that with another year of experience and conditioning Beatty could have been a top 10 guy. So I think his ceiling is quite high. He'll go in the 20's or 30's because of his lack of readiness, but that doesn't impact on his ceiling.