The Draft Grades Begin to Roll In..

[scout]

After the last Superbowl, I vaguely recall a media member saying the majority of Patriots starters were late draft choices or underrated free agents. Consider how many times BB traded out of the first round. That says a lot about the most successful team in sports....hands down.

 

[BTTA]

Plus, remember how the media, including the SB announcers, kept talking about how young the Atlanta team was? The reality is that the Pats were younger (average age being the metric). But nobody notices that.

 

[jimnance]

Didn't read the whole thread,so mea culpa if someone already posted this, but you can't rate the Pats draft w/o including the players they gave up their draft picks FOR.

In reality,Pats took Cooks at #32- and he could easily be the best player in the entire draft this year. Flat-out steal.

Not in order, but now add Ealy,Allen and Gillislee to their actual picks and this was a great easy-A draft.

 

[Deus Irae]

IMO complete nonsense. Nobody can accurately and precisely evaluate this. Huge complicating factors are individual team needs, the ability of individual players to "make it" at the NFL level, and the ability for a team to "coach up" the rookies leading up to the season and beyond. Does anybody really care what these dweebs' opinions are? Just more click bait to ignore.

Gotta wonder what "grade" the mediots would give to THIS use of draft picks...

1st round (#32) - experienced, elite WR

2nd round (#64) - very good, experienced rotational DE

3rd round (#83) - DE/OLB, potential rookie contributor - DEREK RIVERS
3rd round (#85) - OT, potential 2nd-year starter - ANTONIO GARCIA

4th round (#137) - solid, experienced #2 move-TE
4th round (#131) - DE/3-TECH potential rotational/backup - DEATRICH WISE

5th round (#163) - solid, experienced RB
5th round (#183) - experienced #3 TE/proven special-teamer

6th round (during 2016) - Van Noy, experienced starting LB
6th round (during 2016) - experienced #3 TE, Michael Williams

7th round (#211) - potential backup OT - CONNOR McDERMOTT

Grading a team's "draft" exclusively based on which (still) untested college prospects they selected is totally effing meaningless. Yet another in a long list of reasons to ignore media opinions.

We know. We hear the same thing every year.
Later, you'll change the argument to "Hindsight is 20/20".

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

It's Not the best exercise but it provides some context from the days and months leading up to the draft.

Problem is, all teams aren't created as equals and what's good for us, might be terrible for Jacksonville etc.

The Patriots roster, as it is now, is absolutely outrageous with few spots open.

The picks and trades have only improved and strengthened this roster.

I can honestly say without bias or be that this is the most balanced, talented and deepest team in the league. It's special. And around here that's saying something.

Btw Rivers was my #5 RUSH, Wise Jr #21, Garcia #T and McDermott #5.

I couldn't be happier.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Well, at least SI was intelligent enough to say that it would have been an A- if you consider the trades for Cooks and Ealy.

Otherwise, wow, talk about a dimwitted effort. by the dimwitted and for the dimwitted.

And, BTW, did any of them rate the 199th pick as part of their "evaluation?"

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Speaking of stuff like this, the NFL Draft Trade Chart [(you know, it's the Chart that "values" all the picks in the draft from #1 (3,000 points) to the last (two points)] was developed by Jimmy Johnson while he was coaching the Cowboys, way back in the 1990's. It's still used today.

Does anyone know if anyone has ever tried to update it based on how the picks actually did in the League?

 

[tasmlab]

What a waste of time to grade drafts a day after they finish.

It's probably too soon to even grade the 2016 draft.

 

[BobDigital]

First we need to grade eah pick before an overall grade

Derek Rivers @83 - Great value here. Got one of the last legit DEs in the draft at the end of the DE run. Could have easily been Walker or Hall or Basham at this spot but turns out Rivers is the guy and I think BB is happy he was. I will not sit here and tell you he is better then the guys taken before him but he certainly has a good chance to be. At least they are in the same tier meaning this is the best value of any DE in the draft in the 3rd round and maybe the 2nd. There was a clear tier of DEs above this that went in the first and I do feel after the Taco the DEs were all fairly close together in ability. Overall besides maybe Taco Cnarlton or Carl Lawson the best DE value in the draft. Grade: A+

Antonio Garcia @85 - Great value again. It was unfortunate they had to trade up but I understand why. Almost everyone agreed going in the top 3 OTs were clear and in a tier of their own. After that there was debate over who was next but a few of those guys were hybrid OL man but Garcia was probably the best pure OT in this group. A small school guy but not allowing a sack all year and doing well at the senior bowl show he is worth this pick and maybe more. OT is a premium position and they got good value on a fairly small risk. Grade A-

Deatrich Wise @131 - Okay value here. Personally I felt they had better options on the board at this spot. He obviously has a good amount of physical tools and is a guy they particularly wanted. That being said though i get why they made the pick I just don't think it is particularly good or bad value. More like par for the course. Grade C.

Conor McDermott @211 - Good value here. Obviously at this range you pick STs guys or upside projects and they got a good project here. He is a long way from being NFL ready but has the text book physical profile you want in an LT. I think the fact a guy like this way there is surprising. Grade A

Overall draft grade? A-

 

[scott99]

When you look at who the Pats got for the picks they traded AND who they drafted, you have to be excited about this draft. I'd give it a B+, maybe an A.

3 pass rushers (Ealy, Rivers, Deatrich)
3 TE's (Allen, O'Shaunessy, Williams)
1 elite WR
2 OLinemen
1 good RB

Pretty damned good haul. Plus a stellar UDFA period with 2 guys considered in the top 10 UDFAs (according to PFF). WR Austin Carr (#7) and TE Jacob Hollister (#5).

 

[long distance]

What a waste of time to grade drafts a day after they finish.

Ironically, much more time is wasted on grade discussions than the “production“ of the grades. Easy win for media&mediots no matter how meaningless and inevitably wrong they are..

 

[long distance]

Not sure even Kony Ealy's mom would describe his NFL career to this point as 'very good.'

She would, c'mon, she's a good mom (i guess).

 

[Joker]

My grade for SI and Diaper Sniper Kiper? They can both ES&D.

Seriously want to smash Kiper's face in...complete fraud full of bullshyt who has always hated the Pats

 

[Deus Irae]

Grading is very simple:

"I like/don't like the player(s) for the team, and I like/don't like where that/those player(s) were picked in the draft, based upon my knowledge base and any inherent prejudices."

I don't see any reason for people to get worked up about it, one way or the other.

 

[zimmy]

These draft grades are pointless. They just give high grades to teams that picked the players that correspond with the media's big boards and low grades to those that didn't. They also always give high grades to teams that have loads of high picks.

You can't really grade until 3 years after the draft. Look at players like James White, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon, Trey Flowers, Marcus Cannon, Julian Edelman etc. All players that have taken time to develop but became key contributors.

 

[n6249c]

definitely agree that

Grading is very simple:

"I like/don't like the player(s) for the team, and I like/don't like where that/those player(s) were picked in the draft, based upon my knowledge base and any inherent prejudices."

I don't see any reason for people to get worked up about it, one way or the other.

definitely agree that draft grades are meaningless until about three years out. But with that said, Deus made a good point, they reflect some evaluation by some more or less knowledgeable observers. Can be interesting to see how they analyze and justify their grade.

Bleacher Report came out with theirs. Pats got an A.
NFL1000: Final Team-by-Team Grades for the 2017 NFL Draft

 

[Deus Irae]

These draft grades are pointless. They just give high grades to teams that picked the players that correspond with the media's big boards and low grades to those that didn't. They also always give high grades to teams that have loads of high picks.

You can't really grade until 3 years after the draft. Look at players like James White, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon, Trey Flowers, Marcus Cannon, Julian Edelman etc. All players that have taken time to develop but became key contributors.

1. They aren't pointless, though they don't mean much beyond being data points.
2. You can often grade in less than 3 years. Who needed 3 years to evaluate the Patriots 2007+2008 drafts, at least for the most part?
   
3. If you don't grade early, you're told that you're only commenting in hindsight, later on.

 

[long distance]

Once on the roster everyone is pretty much in the same boat anyways - all fighting for a spot on the final 53

My thought today was that BB would probably have success even if he'd let us making the picks. Our draft board knows that he wants grown up, smart, tough players who are passionate about studying and playing football. As long as he has 90 players ready to work - he's “happy“.
__

Here's Vollmer on the wider subject of gradings:


@nfl have the stats of the players and they draft according to the numbers. At the end only the will for hard work counts.
__

Not too hard to see BB's success ”despite“ poor “grades“..

 

[zimmy]

1. They aren't pointless, though they don't mean much beyond being data points.
2. You can often grade in less than 3 years. Who needed 3 years to evaluate the Patriots 2007+2008 drafts, at least for the most part?
   
3. If you don't grade early, you're told that you're only commenting in hindsight, later on.

I completely disagree. Of course they are pointless. The truth is that no one has any idea who had the best draft right now. That's because development and coaching are much more important than simply picking a good college player. It's about what happens after the draft.

Of course you can come to a conclusion quicker on some players than others. But the general point is that it takes time to evaluate.

 

[Wordsmyth]

F- for Mel Kiper, Jr.

His pompadour: D-.