2001 Draft Grades

[MDH]

Wowee.  Talk about a reach.  Spoken like a true fantasy football manager. 

 

Why in the world would a team use a first round draft pick on a versatile star RB, when they have a sulking head case dope fiend RB in the lockerroom?  Would you imagine that Hasslett knew something more about Ricky than what showed up in the stat pages on Mondays, when they made the Deuce pick?

 

Yeah, picking Deuce was a disaster for NO, especially when counted against the eventual trade of ganja boy to Dolphins.

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Fantasy football? Actually your line of thinking is more in the line of FF, not mine. You think it's a good pick because the guy has racked up a lot of yards and gotten a lot of press. I'm talking about drafting areas of need, not consistently using high round picks on a position that doesn't warrant it. Head case or not Ricky was productive and even if NO wanted to get rid of him they didn't need to go spend another 1st round pick on a RB to replace him.

 

How successful has NO been with Duece there? This pick is a lot like the McGahee pick. Sure it looks like a good pick because the player ends up being good but the other areas of your team that could have used help get ignored. Parts of the team that will help your team win a lot more than a top 10 RB like the OL, DL and LB.

[GG]

Fantasy football?  Actually your line of thinking is more in the line of FF, not mine.  You think it's a good pick because the guy has racked up a lot of yards and gotten a lot of press.  I'm talking about drafting areas of need, not consistently using high round picks on a position that doesn't warrant it.  Head case or not Ricky was productive and even if NO wanted to get rid of him they didn't need to go spend another 1st round pick on a RB to replace him.

 

How successful has NO been with Duece there?  This pick is a lot like the McGahee pick.  Sure it looks like a good pick because the player ends up being good but the other areas of your team that could have used help get ignored.  Parts of the team that will help your team win a lot more than a top 10 RB like the OL, DL and LB.

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Excuse me? How can you NOT define that as a major need for a real GM who knows that his star RB is a head case, and that he's one toke away from a season suspension?

 

Thanks for bring up the Travis Henry example. Could you imagine that Bills, maybe, perhaps, possibly knew that Travis would violate the substance abuse policy in a very near term, and suddenly RB became a big area of need?

 

Sometimes it's not a coincidence when things "work out" for NFL teams that draft for needs that Mel Kiper doesn't see.

[stuckincincy]

Two quick points.....

 

I am amazed at how little respect is given to Schobel by so many posters. Yes, he is a little small, but he gets better vs. the run each year imo.

Please, don't point out team stats. Last season, there was barely a DT who was able to make a tackle vs. the run, and Spikes was out.

As Schobel ages, he appears to be getting stronger and smarter. He had very good games against some very good LTs. The man, because of his great speed, is able to make pursuit tackles and apply consistent pressure.

We were VERY lucky to re-sign him!

No offense, but what are some of you guys looking at?

 

Also, I think that Hutch was a pretty good pick in 01, wouldn't you say? 

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Regarding stats, Schoebel compares well with the 2001 #4 overall pick, DE Justin Smith. In fact, Schoebel shows 46.5 career sacks vs. Smith's 34.

[Orton's Arm]

Furthermore.....

Should what Marv & Co. do effect how we grade TDs drafts?

i.e. if one of last years draftees come on strong(future HOFer) & Marv stuffs it up letting him go with no compensation, should that downgrade TDs 2005 draft?

I guess I see this as more an exercise in assessing the players talents(& talent evaluators evaluations) rather than the managements managerial abilities.

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To my mind, talent evaluation and managerial abilities go hand-in-hand. Back in 2001, it was TD's responsibility to evaluate the talent not just of Travis Henry, but of Antowain Smith. Based on those two evaluations, he concluded Henry's next few years would be so much better than Smith's that it was worth giving up a 2nd round pick to move from Smith to Henry. Was he right?

 

Granted, Antowain Smith didn't play at the level you'd expect from a first round pick like him. But he did have a long career; playing at about the level you'd expect from maybe a third round pick. You have to give Butler a little bit of credit for finding a guy that was decent; and you have to take credit away from TD for later negating the value Butler had found. In my mind, the negative points TD gets for getting rid of Antowain Smith pretty much cancel out the positive points he gets for Henry's success; leaving him with a net score of zero for that particular pick.

 

Suppose Marv cuts TD draft choices who go on to have successful careers elsewhere. I'd likewise give Marv negative points for doing that; and these points would count against whatever positive things he achieves.

[Dibs]

To my mind, talent evaluation and managerial abilities go hand-in-hand.  Back in 2001, it was TD's responsibility to evaluate the talent not just of Travis Henry, but of Antowain Smith.  Based on those two evaluations, he concluded Henry's next few years would be so much better than Smith's that it was worth giving up a 2nd round pick to move from Smith to Henry.  Was he right?

 

Granted, Antowain Smith didn't play at the level you'd expect from a first round pick like him.  But he did have a long career; playing at about the level you'd expect from maybe a third round pick.  You have to give Butler a little bit of credit for finding a guy that was decent; and you have to take credit away from TD for later negating the value Butler had found.  In my mind, the negative points TD gets for getting rid of Antowain Smith pretty much cancel out the positive points he gets for Henry's success; leaving him with a net score of zero for that particular pick.

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Um...that's exactly correct....

evaluation & managerial abilities do go hand-in-hand.

However....

Most would see that this thread is about grading the first part...the evaluation side.

After one has reached a grade on the talent drafted, one can then grade the managerial side of things...combine the two & come up with an overall assessment.

 

Suppose Marv cuts TD draft choices who go on to have successful careers elsewhere.  I'd likewise give Marv negative points for doing that; and these points would count against whatever positive things he achieves.

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Here you are (yet again) talking about the grading of the Management.

As I said...to assess the management, we at some stage need a grading for the talent choices in the draft.

[Orton's Arm]

Um...that's exactly correct....

evaluation & managerial abilities do go hand-in-hand.

However....

Most would see that this thread is about grading the first part...the evaluation side. 

After one has reached a grade on the talent drafted, one can then grade the managerial side of things...combine the two & come up with an overall assessment.

Here you are (yet again) talking about the grading of the Management.

As I said...to assess the management, we at some stage need a grading for the talent choices in the draft.

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You feel I've veered off-topic? The original post referenced an article which had the following to say:

 

(Buffalo's worst pick was) RB Travis Henry. He indeed has second-round talent, but is he really an upgrade over what the Bills already have?

Darin's original point was that people who hand out draft grades can sometimes make huge mistakes. I agree with that. But in the case of Travis Henry, the author hit the nail on the head. This wasn't just about assessing Travis's talent. It was a comparison between Travis and the Bills' other backs. Based on that comparison, the Sporting News author correctly concluded Travis was a poor choice.