Official Senior Bowl Thread

[papabear]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Fair point.
Lot of guys went gah-gah eyed over Okoyes Senior Bowl performance a couple years ago (apparently including Smith & Kubiak),
and 2 years out in the NFL he's been a definite flop for a #10 overall.

I think that comment is ridiculous. Played well early in his rookie season before wearing down. Understandable for any rookie, not to mention one as young as him. He was a major disappointment this year without a doubt, but he was nicked up most of the year and was asked to play a lot of 2 gap type techniques. Not his strong suit. Will he ever be in same level at his position as AJ or Mario. I doubt it, but if your expectations for a first round pick are that he ends up being one of the top 3 or 4 guys at his position your going to be disappointed an awful lot. Hell even expecting multiple pro bowls from your first round pick is probably unrealistic.

[RunninRaven]

I think it is silly to use past player performance to plan drafting strategy for THIS year. Whether or not Travis Johnson or Okoye worked out has nothing to do with how good a player Everette Brown will be. How good of a player Everette Brown IS will determine how good a player Everette Brown will be. You look at that and that alone to determine his value and draft from there.

Does it suck that we have put so much money into the D-line over the years and really only had Mario to show for it? Yeah, it does, but that doesn't mean you give up on improving a weakness of the team's through the draft. I mean, this particular regime is really only responsible for Mario and Okoye anyway. Mario I think we can agree has worked out rather nicely. Okoye looks to be a disappointment but his story is far from over. If the team sees a guy at 15 that they really believe can help this team on the D-line, I sure as hell hope they don't avoid taking him just because Travis Johnson didn't work out like we'd hoped.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by papabear

but if your expectations for a first round pick are that he ends up being one of the top 3 or 4 guys at his position your going to be disappointed an awful lot. Hell even expecting multiple pro bowls from your first round pick is probably unrealistic.

For openers he's not just a first round pick, he's a top 10 pick which by definition means he was drafted in the top third of the first round. And my criteria for success for a player drafted that high would include a level of performance within his first 2 years which indicates he's a standout, a "star" or atleast demononstrates the potential to rise to that level. And I'm not talking about flashing, about making a play or 2 in a game and then disappearing for a couple weeks. Gotta have more consistancy than that by the end of the second year. And so far I haven't seen that, maybe you have ?

[papabear]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

For openers he's not just a first round pick, he's a top 10 pick which by definition means he was drafted in the top third of the first round. And my criteria for success for a player drafted that high would include a level of performance within his first 2 years which indicates he's a standout, a "star" or atleast demononstrates the potential to rise to that level. And I'm not talking about flashing, about making a play or 2 in a game and then disappearing for a couple weeks. Gotta have more consistancy than that by the end of the second year. And so far I haven't seen that, maybe you have ?

I would hope that any first round pick for us turns out to be a star, but the reality is that doesn't happen a majority of the time for any team. Think of how many top ten picks don't ever amount to much. We could argue over how much potential Okoye's demonstrated and probably never agree (although we're prob. not that far apart). I've just gotten to the point that I'm not that worried about where a guy was picked anymore. More draft picks fail than don't in the NFL. Picking at the top of the first round only slightly increases your chances of getting a star, if at all. I haven't done it, but I'm sure in the majority of drafts you could look at the first round (or top 10) and find far more guys who were only average, or worse, than standout players. It does matter when it comes to salary cap, but getting players who can contribute from later in the draft probably has as much if not more of an impact on making sure you're not towards the top of the round and forced to pay the high salary for a guy who's play likely won't match up.

I want all of our picks to be stars, but it's not going to happen. I would hope that we hit more than miss in the first round as well, but If all you get is a guy who is just an average starter...well you are probably still well ahead of the curve. Okoye did not have a good year at all. I doubt he'll ever be a star, but I still think he can play a big role on this team. He's still very young at a position that takes a while to grow into, so he might surprise us.