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2014 NFL Draft
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A quick compare and contrast for the stack of picks that Atlanta sent to Cleveland when they traded up for Julio Jones. Saw it on another message board
2011 - 27th pick traded back up (using the 70th pick) to 21st to select Phil Taylor (KC selected Justin Houston at #70)
2011 - 59th pick for Greg Little
2011 - 124th pick for Owen Marecic
2012 - 22nd pick for Brandon Weeden
2012 - 118th pick used to move up one spot from #4 to #3 to select Trent Richardson (Vikings selected Jarius Wright at #118)
The only player left in Cleveland is Phil Taylor. Such a waste of picks0 -
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It looks ugly when lined out like that since the Rams traded down and ended up with so many players but if I'm the Redskins I would still do it all over again. You need a QB in today's NFL and the Rams are still without one which can win them games on his own back. When healthy, RG3 can do that.
I think a lot of people have forgotten that if he didn't go down injured, RG3 was leading the Skins to a win against the Seahawks in the wild-card game in his first year. They would have been a win against the Atlanta Falcons away from being in the Conference Championship game. That is territory that Washington hasn't seen for a long time.
People calling him a bust after one underwhelming season where he wasn't 100% healthy are getting carried away with themselves.
Got to be favourite to win Comeback Player of the Year this year.
Far too early to be making a verdict over a trade where players are a max of 2 years into their playing careers.0 -
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Morrison J wrote: »Mostly fair comments on the RG3 trade guys but I just think a lot of people will be altering their opinions once again come the end of the season. Bottom line for me is that the Skins hadn't won the NFC East for 13 years until RG3 was drafted. Without him that streak would still be ongoing.
It probably came across as if I was aiming the comment at posters on here but I meant in general that RG3 is already being touted as a bust by many. Far too early for that.
Just something I would note: RG3's upside is not even comparable to Sam Bradford and its not like RG3 had a tonne of help in his rookie year either. No legit no.1 WR with Garcon injured for most of the year. Making do with a past it Santana Moss, Josh Morgan and Leonard Hankerson for large parts. He put the team on his back and won, simple as.
I will happily have this comment bumped at the end of the season but I've supreme confidence he'll be proving many a doubter wrong this year.
For what it's worth, I lean towards your side of the argument on RGIII. I too think he will prove to be a franchise QB. I just also really like Sam Bradford and feel that if he can stay healthy, with the help the Rams are finally giving him, he'll prove to be a good NFL QB
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Rivals.com documented how their rankings of players fared during the draft a few weeks ago:
https://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1645320Earlier this month, the life goals of 256 men were realized when they were selected in the NFL Draft. For some, such as Jadeveon Clowney, getting drafted had always been a forgone conclusion, simply the next step in their illustrious careers. But many, such as Khalil Mack, rose from humble beginnings to earn their selection.
Given the choice, almost every player would choose Clowney's path -- the defensive end was the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2011 class, a rock star from the first day he set foot on South Carolina's campus. Mack, meanwhile, was a two-star in the 2009 class whose only offers were from Buffalo and Liberty.
Yet on May 8, they were selected within half an hour of one another -- Clowney went No. 1 overall to the Texans while the Raiders scooped up Mack with the No. 5 pick. Despite their vastly different Rivals rankings, the two start their NFL careers in similar situations.
Needless to say, each year there are talented high school prospects who slip through the cracks, just as there are big-name players who never quite put it all together. But for the most part, getting a higher ranking from Rivals gives a player a stronger shot at an NFL career. Here's the breakdown from the 2014 draft:
Of the 64 players selected in the first two rounds, a whopping 35 (56.4 percent) were ranked as either four or five-star prospects coming out of high school. Just 10 two-star or unranked players (15.6 percent) were picked in those rounds. Of the top 15 picks, 60 percent were four- or five-stars.
Over the past 10 seasons, Rivals has given a five-star ranking to an average of 29.8 players per year. With 14 such players being selected in 2014, earning five-star status gave those players nearly a 50 percent chance of eventually getting drafted.
This isn't to say that a low ranking coming out of high school means the end of a player's NFL dreams. A total of 73 players who ranked as two-stars or lower were picked in the 2014 draft. But they made up just 28.5 percent of the draft class, as opposed to 92 (35.9 percent) former four and five-star players, and there are far, far more lower ranked players in each years' recruiting class.
There are several factors that can cause a lower-ranked player's profile to rise dramatically between high school and the draft.
Players simply get better in college
This seems like a no-brainer, but it's the simple truth. Take Mack. He was more interested in basketball in high school until suffering a torn patella his sophomore year. He didn't break out on the football field until he was a senior. Mack had 140 tackles as a senior, but few teams saw his game film and only two offers materialized.
Players' bodies are drastically reshaped in college
Mack weighed 220 pounds during his senior season at Westwood HS in Fort Pierce, Fla. He's now 251 pounds, and most of the new weight is muscle. While weight gain in college isn't exactly unexpected, that dramatic of a change altered Mack's professional career.
Here are a few other players who saw their NFL futures affected by great college weight gains:
Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota (2nd round): gained 60 pounds
Spencer Long, Nebraska (3rd round): gained 60 pounds
Jimmy Staten, Middle Tennessee State (5th round): gained 86 pounds
This list could go on and on. Maybe the best example is Eric Fisher, the offensive tackle taken No. 1 overall by the Chiefs in the 2013 draft. A two-star prospect, Fisher weighed 240 pounds in high school before beefing up to 305 while at Central Michigan. That gain, much of which was muscle, changed Fisher's career in a way no one predicted while he was in high school.
Injuries
Aaron Murray tore his ACL in the final game of his college career.
Georgia's Aaron Murray and LSU's Zach Mettenberger were both four-star prospects who fell in the draft because of ACL injuries sustained during their senior seasons. Both likely would have been selected higher had they managed to stay healthy. Injuries are nearly impossible to predict, but they can drastically alter a player's fate on draft day.
Some players are better suited for the college game
AJ McCarron was a four-star prospect in the 2009 class, and nothing about his Alabama career suggests that rating was inaccurate. He won two national titles and became the Crimson Tide's all-time leader in passing yards. But he wasn't picked until late in the fifth round by the Bengals because teams question whether his arm strength is NFL-caliber. Dozens of players each year submit tremendous college careers, but their skills don't translate well to the next level.
The devaluing of running backs
Of the combined 52 five-star players in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes, 10 were running backs. But the NFL simply doesn't value the position like it used to -- this was the second straight draft in which no backs were picked in the first round. Former five-stars such as Lache Seastrunk (No. 186 overall pick), De'Anthony Thomas (No. 124) and James Wilder Jr. (undrafted) all fell in the draft as more teams use multiple running backs or gamble that they can find productive ones late in the draft.
Trouble in college
Unfortunately, there are players every year that submarine their draft stock by making poor decisions in college. The two poster boys for this group in this year's draft are former five-stars Colt Lyerla and Isaiah Crowell, both of whom went undrafted. Lyerla was suspended and ended up quitting Oregon's team during the 2013 season, and Crowell was arrested and dismissed from Georgia before the 2012 season, when he transferred to Alabama State.
Needless to say, there are a ton of factors that affect the status of a player between high school and the NFL draft. And while there are no guarantees, one thing is certain: the more stars a player has attached to his name coming out of high school, the better his chances are of hearing his name called on draft weekend.0 -
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#2 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Greg Robinson, was a healthy scratch this evening and to say he has been awful for the Rams since being drafted is putting it mildly.
A massive bust.
I much preferred Jake Matthews as the top LT in this draft (but still thought Robinson would be a success) but I don't think anyone could have predicted just how bad a pick Robinson would end up being.
https://twitter.com/Alden_Gonzalez/status/803022744631640065
:pac: 0
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