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Dust has settled and another draft is in the books. Like many of you most likely spent Sunday finding out everything could on recent picks and read everyone's early dradft grades on teams. What always find humourous is that teams get graded low or high and yet these players have yet to play a down in the NFL. The true grades won't be known until 3 years from now.
Before grading the picks think it is also important to remember what have been the thorns in our side the past 2 years. On Defense in playoff loses it has been player breakdowns on assignments and poor tackling. On Offense last year was Receivers not getting open and dropped balls. Overall team depth was also a big concern as we found out the hard way when starters went down. When healthy this is one of the better teams in the NFL and can compete with anyone.
This draft class was considered one of the weakest in years. And even players that were considered possible impact players had either either character risks or medical questions surrounding them. So while teams that selected these type of players got higher draft grades, Thompson took the safe route.
Let's face it, Thompson has had a couple of bad drafts seemed to hit on his class last year. For a team that doesn't use free agency, the draft is even more important.
Also one needs to consider all factors in when looking at this draft class. Thompson places a high priority on intangibles. Team chemistry and locker room is just as important as is football intelligence. Wonderlic scores aren't as important to him as football intelligence is. Yes there is also the move to biggert and faster players, but those intangibles must be there.
So overall scores? Well most seem to give us a "B". Think our draft can be summed up in two words: Safe and Solid. When considering what issues have been on this team, isn't this just what we needed? Like previously said, when healthy this team is very good with few holes.
Worth noting. A big problem has been lack of a coverage LB outside of anyone named Matthews. Thompson basically double dipped there by drafting OLB Fackrell and ILB Martinez. Our O-Line is one of the best but suffered when injury hit plus 3 will be free agents next year. The two we took are both considered upgrades to current back ups and future starters..
Overall in weak draft class wasn't maybe as exciting as other years, but finding solid players, assignment sure and sound tackling sounds just like what was needed. Time will tell if indeed Thompson was the smartest guy in the room or out smarted himself.
One thought. Our first 2 picks were both in consideration on many boards as 1st rd picks. Had they been picked in reversed many of these guys handing out grades would given us a higher grade. I'm just glad we got both and upgraded both lines hopefully.
Before grading the picks think it is also important to remember what have been the thorns in our side the past 2 years. On Defense in playoff loses it has been player breakdowns on assignments and poor tackling. On Offense last year was Receivers not getting open and dropped balls. Overall team depth was also a big concern as we found out the hard way when starters went down. When healthy this is one of the better teams in the NFL and can compete with anyone.
This draft class was considered one of the weakest in years. And even players that were considered possible impact players had either either character risks or medical questions surrounding them. So while teams that selected these type of players got higher draft grades, Thompson took the safe route.
Let's face it, Thompson has had a couple of bad drafts seemed to hit on his class last year. For a team that doesn't use free agency, the draft is even more important.
Also one needs to consider all factors in when looking at this draft class. Thompson places a high priority on intangibles. Team chemistry and locker room is just as important as is football intelligence. Wonderlic scores aren't as important to him as football intelligence is. Yes there is also the move to biggert and faster players, but those intangibles must be there.
So overall scores? Well most seem to give us a "B". Think our draft can be summed up in two words: Safe and Solid. When considering what issues have been on this team, isn't this just what we needed? Like previously said, when healthy this team is very good with few holes.
Worth noting. A big problem has been lack of a coverage LB outside of anyone named Matthews. Thompson basically double dipped there by drafting OLB Fackrell and ILB Martinez. Our O-Line is one of the best but suffered when injury hit plus 3 will be free agents next year. The two we took are both considered upgrades to current back ups and future starters..
Overall in weak draft class wasn't maybe as exciting as other years, but finding solid players, assignment sure and sound tackling sounds just like what was needed. Time will tell if indeed Thompson was the smartest guy in the room or out smarted himself.
One thought. Our first 2 picks were both in consideration on many boards as 1st rd picks. Had they been picked in reversed many of these guys handing out grades would given us a higher grade. I'm just glad we got both and upgraded both lines hopefully.
