Mike Florio, Peter King, and Paul Daugherty are trying to act like kids who think it’s cool to not do your homework. They’re part of the “you can’t grade a draft until years from now” club, and it’s nonsense. With that logic, why predict a season until after the year? Why have weekend picks? Why predict anything? The point is to know what you are talking about.
You may not know the impact of a draft class on a team, but you can grade a draft. Here is a breakdown of the 2012 Pro Bowl rosters, courtesy of Dan Kadar with SB Nation.
"44 first-round picks, 10 second-round picks, seven third-round picks, five fourth-round picks, three sixth-round picks, two seventh-round picks and eight undrafted players."
This tells me that the rankings and evaluations do matter. The best players get fully evaluated, and if they are deemed worthy, they are selected in the first round. You will always have busts. A measurement for heart has not been developed yet (Belichick would be the first to find it). There will always be a Wes Welker that rises to the top and excels, but the top draft picks whose effort matches the skill will do well in the NFL. If you look at the Pro Bowl wide receivers, seven of the eight were drafted. (Cruz was an alternate).
The whole idea that scouts and evaluators travel the country, watch endless film, meet with coaches and players, only to throw a dart at the board on draft day is ridiculous. It is a science.
Now I understand these guys may be too busy to really evaluate a draft. Florio is the Harvey Levin of the NFL, Peter King seems like the kind of guy who refers to himself in third person, and Paul Daugherty……. God bless his heart, has been beaten into eternal pessimism by the pre-Dalton era Bengals. Would rather focus on Ohio’s heated world of beer league softball than devote one more sentence to Mike Browns Bengals, but come on guys! We love draft grades!
Especially when the grade is a resounding A! That is the general consensus among working draft experts like Mike Mayock and Mel Kiper Jr. in regards to the Bengals draft. We’ll get a sneak preview of the Bengals rookie class next weekend.
The Bengal fan base is looking at these youngsters to be the final pillars in a modern NFL dynasty. I can’t wait to see if the guys who are giving the grades are correct.
Want more Bengals news? Like Stripe Hype on Facebook, follower us on Twitter, or grab our RSS feed. And don’t for give to show the author some love on his twitter: walzav31@twitter.com