My Easy Chair "Evaluation" thus far...
 

Reading up on the Patriots, they were one of 4 teams in the NFL to do all their own scouting, not using a service. They graded using their own criteria, and picked accordingly.
So, knowing that, I don't know why the first couple of picks surprised me so much. Pioli and Belichick didn't give a damn what the experts thought, they drafted guys that fit their very narrow profile. They wanted their guys, and got them wherever.

Now, clearly they should have traded down for a couple of these guys. But that assumes two things.
A) There was a partner to trade down with.
and
B) Their guy would still be available at that pick.

As Petro often says, it only takes one team to like a guy for him to be gone. And as evidenced by the Cleveland/Jets trade, trading down was either not an option, or not worth doing.

So nothing about this draft sparkles. Not like last year, where we were all euphoric after nearly every pick. However, I'm not saying we should all just blindly trust in Pioli, but we should realize he goes about this deal a lot differently that most other teams, and we should come to grips with that.


All that said, my evaluation really is no evaluation. The picks confuse me and baffle me. But I think this guy knows what he's doing. So a couple of years down the line, if these guys suck, and the team hasn't improved...I'll be right along with you dog-cussing this regime. I just can't bring myself to do it, yet. That's not a cry to not discuss opinions, just an attempt to bring us back to rationality with all this. We don't know...not one of us, whether this is going to be good or bad. We don't know how these guys will be used, and how they will be asked to contribute. We don't know if they are expected to be stars, or role players.

JMO

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SOLID, solid take

:clap:

You can not praise, say meh, or bitch about the draft and still expect people to take you seriously. It takes 3-4 years to get a really good grasp of how this draft succeeded or failed.

I don't have a problem with discussing what you think. But it has gotten a little overboard.
But it's also been interesting.

We had what was universally agreed upon as the best draft last year. Now everyone's saying it was awful with the exception of Flowers.

I was not insinuating that you disapproved of opinions being exchanged. I was just saying that opinions are just opinions, no matter what side of the spectrum that they are on. It will take 3-4 years to see who was correct and who was wrong.

I keep thinking back to how much I loathed Ryan Clady.
I thought he'd be awful.
...but so far he's been pretty good.

So none of us are really experts. It's fun to have an opinion, but we all take ourselves too seriously.

I didn't want Clady at #5, but I thought he had the athletic ability to play at a high level.

I also pegged Branden Albert as a LT prospect at least 3 months before the draft.

Peeps were ecstatic about Herm's first draft, too, Mr. MoreLemonPledge. Look how that turned out.

Personally, I would love to draft some guaranteed superstar rookie at some point ... it's been a while. Nevertheless, we have a far better team running the draft now ... compared to CP and his merry band of knuckleheads. I think all good fans should be patient with Pioli. He may be one of the best NFL executives out there, but he's like everyone else ... it will take time to get in a groove and this was, after all, his first draft for the Chiefs.

FAX

the draft will rise and fall on Cassel...

assume we got 3 starters with our first 3 picks, a QB and two players who were essential to our switch to a 3-4.....that would be an A draft...


now, assume Cassel flames out and is never a top 10 QB....we will have wasted probably 3 years and the success of our other picks won't seem to offer much consolation....grade D

there won't be any middle ground judgment on this

I don't necessarily agree that Cassel's future depends on whether or not he's a top 10 QB. Top 20 is fine with me as long as we're winning.

I thought it was a pretty solid draft.

We have an entirely new starting DL now, and it's hard to complain about Magee and Jackson as bookends. They are the best pure 3-4 DEs in this draft, and "retraining" them to their position will be very minimal. I like Magee in particular, as I think he's a great character guy.

I really like Lawrence in the 6th and Williams in the 7th. I think both of those picks have the potential to develop and be major contributors. Lawrence in particular has a high ceiling. Washington was great value in the 4th round and it's hard to complain about Succop wrapping up the draft. He'll push Barth, and rightly so.

RT Colin Brown and TE Jake O'Connell were head-scratchers that made no ****ing sense.

we aren't winning crap with a top 20 QB, and he is certainly expected by Halioli to be better than that.....

I don't think Cassell is making Top 10 money. I think he'll always be on the better end of the QB rankings but I doubt he'll ever crack Top 5.