My Complete thoughts on the draft. Each player will be addressed in terms of value, need filled and overall grade for selection.
1) Mendenhall- While RB wasn't the teams top priority, it was certainly on the short list of needs. Probably a secondary need, but, a need, nonetheless. After having Willie Parker go down and the team limping into the playoffs, it became a necessity to have an insurance policy in case the starter went down.
My honest expectation was that both Mendenhall and Stewart would be gone, causing the team to fill this need with a mid-round player.
The team had bigger needs, like finding players on both lines, but, there simply wasn't anyone on the board who was good enough to make the team pass on a top 10-15 talent. This guy might well be the best RB in this entire draft.
Grade - A+ - Honestly, had they taken any other player at this point, I might have kicked a hole in my TV. That being the case, I have to give an A+.
2) Sweed- Some may say that WR wasn't a priority for this team. Those people would be wrong. Much in the way that RB was a nice proactive selection, so was selecting a WR. Hines Ward is in the twilight of his career, the team just released Ced and Nate Washington is in the final year of his contract. Beyond those guys, we're looking at Dallas Baker (who was on the PS, but, could pan out) and Willie Reid.
Again, we're talking about a guy who just might prove to be the best player at his position, being selected after others at his position. At one point, I thought Quinten Groves might be the selection here, but, when Jacksonville traded up, this pick was as simple as the 1st rounder.
Grade - A+ - Again, had they taken any other player at this point, I might have kicked a hole in my TV.
3) Davis- Coming into day 2, I must admit that this draft seemed "perfect". So much so, that I said, "this is going to be hard to mess up".
Davis was the first "who" selection to many people. It certainly caught me off guard. And I watch a LOT of college football, and it took SFL's reminder of his USC game to make me remember who he was.
Many, many people expected Cliff Avril at this point. Heck, I did, too. His speed is hard to overlook. But then, too, is his lack of production.
While I can only recall seeing Davis once, it was an impressive outing. His numbers make me skeptical. His attitude endears him to me. My biggest problem is that the team spent a 3rd rounder with the intentions of making him a backup (behind Woodley and Harrison). Plus, this was a good spot to get help in the trenches (Anthony Collins, Oniel Cousins, Red Bryant all on the board). My personal favorite selection was snapped up by the Browns (Beau Bell).
Grade - B- - I like him enough that I can't penalize the team for taking him. And while they may have considered him BPA at this point, unlike the 1st two rounds, he wasn't
significantly better than the positions of need that they passed on.
4) Hills- Hills is a great find this far down in the draft. The team needed o-line help and quite possibly should have spent a pick in the 3rd round to get one. But, by this point, you are where you are.
Hills might turn out to be a Kris Farris. Seems to have all the tools, but, just doesn't have the attitude to become the player that his skillset says he should be.
He was the first selection of the day where I thought, "Good pick... BUT..." In other words, I was torn. I knew that by this point, they needed an O-lineman... and that before his injury, he would have easily gone a round or two earlier. But, there was another guy on the board that intrigued me more. With the very next selection, the Eagles took him - Jack Ikegwuonu. Understand that even myself, I was torn on the idea of selecting Jack. For all of our DB struggles, here was a guy who would have tested well, and also could have been a round or two earlier. But, I digress...
Grade - A - Considering what they had selected to this point in the draft, what the team needs were AND what was available, Hills was actually a good selection in my estimation.
5) Dixon- I saw Dixon in college. He was a very good college QB. Quite possibly the the most valuable to his team in all of college football. If that's what the Heisman award is for, he should have won it.
Having said that. Meh. I'm not convinced that his skills translate into a good pro QB. He's certainly fast for a QB and has the potential to be a good Slash, if they choose to do that with him.
My problem is that realistically, what does he do for the team? IIRC, the team kept only Ben and Batch last year. His goal is to simply make the active roster. My problem with that is in the next few picks, Roy Schuening, Trae Williams, Owen Schmitt and Carl Nicks went off the board.
Grade - C- - This is the first selection of the draft that I actually dislike. Dixon might well turn out to be a good QB; becoming the #2 to Ben for some time would make him a worthy selection, I guess. But, from what I've seen of him, that's not what I expect.
6A) Humpal- I know what I've read. Sounds like a 2-down LB who might actually be a respectable backup because of effort. And because of that effort, he might well be a pretty good special teamer. I only hope that he was selected based on ability, not on his possible special teams contributions as the draft talking heads suggested.
Grade - B- - Not a bad pick. Not a sexy pick
6B) Mundy- Sounds like an intriguing guy. Another good effort guy that might contribute to special teams. I wonder with all the safety help this team has why they would make this selection. Are they down on Syracuse? Are they planning to dump Clark? Is Carter's brother finally out of jail?
Grade - B- - I'm guessing he'll just be another in the mix.
All in all, the first 2 picks were OUTSTANDING, the next 2 were "solid". The next 3, I didn't like, but, you know how it goes... we all find guys that we like and want to see them.
Overall Grade is somewhere in the B+ range. I thought they could have done more with the last 3 picks...
If this were DeVille's draft
1. Rashard Mendenhall
2. Limas Sweed
3. Beau Bell
4. Jack Ikegwuonu
5. Roy Schuening
The two 6th rounders would have been either Ahtyba Rubin, Andre Woodson or Brian Johnston
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