Grading the Draft

[hordman]

Check out this doofus from CBS sportsline on MIA's draft

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/rob-rang/18883125/grading-the-draft----afc-teams

his is Rob Rang, as in rhymes with Wang, which he must suck.

Miami Dolphins: C-

General manager Jeff Ireland has made a career of patiently looking for singles and doubles in the first round while waiting until the second to land quarterbacks, but by investing in Ryan Tannehill at No. 8 overall, the Dolphins swung for the fences. Clearly Tannehill is a gamble; he has limited experience, but his 19 career starts at quarterback came in new Miami offensive coordinator Mike Sherman's offense. Not even Andrew Luck can boast that familiarity with his NFL team's scheme. I do like the pick, but Tannehill had better be good, because the Dolphins didn't help he or incumbent starter Matt Moore much the rest of the way through the draft. Athletic front seven defenders Olivier Vernon and Josh Kaddu have upside but are raw. Stanford offensive tackle Jonathan Martin was a solid value selection in the second, as was Miami running back Lamar Miller in the fourth but for a team that traded away the only game-breaking receiver they had in Brandon Marshall, not enough was done to improve the Dolphins' receiving corps.

So you bust the Phins for taking Tannehill at No. 8, but you like the pick?!?!  Vernon and Josh Kaddu have upside but are raw (it's called building for the future, idiot).  You agreed that Martin was solid value in the 2nd and you liked Miller's speed and yet you gave the Dolphins a C-?

Wow, with expert analysis and writing like that, I guess I could get a job with CBS Sportline.

This guy's a clown.  I thought MIA did well and gave them solid B+

[MikeO]

Read one draft guru's mock draft from a week ago (Profootballweekly or something like that, can't remember). He had Tannehill, Martin and Miller all going in Rd 1. With Miller going to the Giants with the final pick of Rd 1.

Miami lands all 3 guys and he gave the Dolphins a "C" as well. Makes no sense, in YOUR mock you had all 3 guys going in Rd 1 and raved how they are great 1st round talents. Miami gets all 3 guys who YOU think are first round guys and its a "C"? 

It's just silly, it really is!

[EKnight]

It's because they are not great fits, nor did they fill the needs that Miami had. Drafting a starting Pro-Bowl caliber QB doesn't give you the same draft grade if you have Brady or Rodgers already but have other needs, as opposed to having Henne or Moore. Yes, Martin was a great "value" pick, as was Miller. The fact that they were taken ahead of safety and WR, when the pass coverage was near the bottom of the league last year, and Miami traded away their only legitimate receiving threat for some magic beans, is problematic. I've said that in several other threads. Nice to see I'm not the only one who sees this. Safety and WR should have been priorities over LB, RB, and TE, but they were not. Consequently, when Brady passes for 500+ yards on Miami again this year, or when the Phins shut down Houston's two headed running game, but Schaub and Johnson put up career stats against the weak secondary, and Miami STILL can't score to keep up with either team, I will be serving crow.

FWIW, Kiper gave Miami a C, as did the Palm Beach Post, Fox Sports.com. SportsNet.com gave them a C+, and SI.com gave them a B-. The only person I saw who gave them a truly "favorable" grade on the draft was Pete Prisco, who gave them a B+. The primary reason there were so many C's? Lack of addressing a WR until the 6th round, drafting Egnew in the third, and not getting anyone to replace Bell. This board may believe it was a great draft. The rest of the sports world appears not to. I think, personally, it was a "B"/"B-." Some issues were addressed in a great way, but I think the two things I've mentioned here are going to come back to bite the Phins in a bigger way than some of you guys realize. -EK

[miamid45]

Excuse me?  Have you not been watching the scoring explosions the past few seasons?  In this league, if you don't score, you don't win...period!

Miami upgrade their offense with the best possible players available....while we might not have picked a wideout early, the value was simply not there.....passing on a Miller or Egnew, would have been reckless and shortsighted.  This offense is being built for optimum production in 2 or 3 seasons.

Definitely a strong draft class with ALOT of upside....Miller could be a CJ type back and Egnew a Jimmy Graham..."...here's hoping that Tannehill pans out and becomes a star!

[MikeO]

Excuse me?  Have you not been watching the scoring explosions the past few seasons?  In this league, if you don't score, you don't win...period!

Miami upgrade their offense with the best possible players available....while we might not have picked a wideout early, the value was simply not there.....passing on a Miller or Egnew, would have been reckless and shortsighted.  This offense is being built for optimum production in 2 or 3 seasons.

Definitely a strong draft class with ALOT of upside....Miller could be a CJ type back and Egnew a Jimmy Graham..."...here's hoping that Tannehill pans out and becomes a star!

Yep and those that are upset with the draft are just haters and as I said earlier, haters hate and are never happy! They cried for months about Tannehill, now that Tannehill is in Miami they need to cry about the next thing. Never happy!

[masterfins]

Could it be that those who rate team's draft selection poorly, do so to support their own beliefs of who they predicted teams would pick??

[MikeO]

Could it be that those who rate team's draft selection poorly, do so to support their own beliefs of who they predicted teams would pick??

Bingo!

[EKnight]

Yes, the enitre sporting world is wrong, but members of ths board- who clearly show no bias whatsoever to the team- are correct. A+ draft. Playoffs, here we come! -EK

[MaineDolFan]

I'm sorry...

How is anyone rating a draft before any of these kids ever take a snap?

How did rating the draft the draft, the Monday after - that Leaf & Manning work out?

[Fins4ever]

[quote author=EKnight link=topic= The primary reason there were so many C's? Lack of addressing a WR until the 6th round, drafting Egnew in the third, and not getting anyone to replace Bell. This board may believe it was a great draft. The rest of the sports world appears not to. I think, personally, it was a "B"/"B-." Some issues were addressed in a great way, but I think the two things I've mentioned here are going to come back to bite the Phins in a bigger way than some of you guys realize. -EK
[/quote]
-------------------------
First, let me say it is a crap shoot to try and grade a draft for at least 2 yrs. As far as getting lower grades because of getting a WR in the late rounds, IMO, WR was not as big of a need as many people seem to think. There is plenty of talent on the roster.

At Safety the Fins will be counting on Jimmy Wilson, but the depth could be better. Keep in mind the DE's were flying of the board and it forced the Fins to grab one possibly earlier than they would have liked. I even thought they might have took a DE in rd. 2.   

[hordman]

I'm sorry...

How is anyone rating a draft before any of these kids ever take a snap?

How did rating the draft the draft, the Monday after - that Leaf & Manning work out?

^^^^^^THIS

Exactly right, you have to wait at least 2 years to see what these guys can do on the field and help their teams. 

[Phishfan]

At Safety the Fins will be counting on Jimmy Wilson,

I have not heard about him switching positions. Jimmy is a corner.

[EKnight]

So it's ok to grade the draft as long as it's a good grade, but if anyone points out the shortcomings it's invalid and a draft can't be assessed for 2-3 years. Ok. Sorry. Didn't realize this double standard was in place. Thank you for correcting me. -EK

[Sunstroke]

^^^ I haven't seen anyone differentiate between grading a good draft too early and grading a bad draft too early. If I missed that post, please point it out for me, please.  I believe that grading "any" draft before a couple of years have passed isn't really grading the quality of the players, it is grading your own personal feelings and confidence in the players drafted.

[EKnight]

Sunstroke- the entire point of this thread, as I interpreted it from the statements "You agreed that Martin was solid value in the 2nd and you liked Miller's speed and yet you gave the Dolphins a C-? This guy's a clown.  I thought MIA did well and gave them solid B+" and "Miami gets all 3 guys who YOU think are first round guys and its a "C"?  It's just silly, it really is!"- was that giving Miami the grade that the CBS SPorts guy did was too harsh and it was a "solid B+" draft, not that it is too early to grade them at all. It wasn't until I pointed out that they probably deserved somewhere in that range, that people started in with the "it's too early" stuff. -EK