ESPN gave us a B draft grade. Does that make the pessimist happier?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by ChiefRon

I think we also have to understand this.

The Pats org have scouting setup differently than we do, and our scouts have been taught/trained how to do some things differently than Pioli + Haley expected.

They referenced this in the pre-draft conference.

I expect we'll be making changes in the scouting dept and next years draft will be much different in approach and it will show on draft day.

I think our FO was put together so late in the process, the changes could not have been practically accomplished in the amount of time remaining before the draft.

Dimitroff was the Patriots DIRECTOR of scouting and look at how he conducted his first offseason:

Franchise QB
Franchise LT
Get a RB to protect the QB

next year

Pass Catching Red Zone threat to help QBs development


Offense is set.

So what do we do?

Penetrating DT
Ball hawking safety
pass rusher
road grader


Nowhere in there did I see Dimitroff needing to completely revamp their scouting department, or taking a pure Patriot approach to drafting. He also didn't scrap what talent he had on D to put a square peg into a round hole and then spent an entire draft burning picks to fit the scheme when the value was elsewhere.

That scouting department excuse is just CYA for Pioli.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Dimitroff was the Patriots DIRECTOR of scouting and look at how he conducted his first offseason:

Franchise QB
Franchise LT
Get a RB to protect the QB

next year

Pass Catching Red Zone threat to help QBs development


Offense is set.

So what do we do?

Penetrating DT
Ball hawking safety
pass rusher
road grader


Nowhere in there did I see Dimitroff needing to completely revamp their scouting department, or taking a pure Patriot approach to drafting. He also didn't scrap what talent he had on D to put a square peg into a round hole and then spent an entire draft burning picks to fit the scheme when the value was elsewhere.

That scouting department excuse is just CYA for Pioli.

He also didn't shoehorn them into a 3-4 or some variation of it.

[ChiefRon]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Dimitroff was the Patriots DIRECTOR of scouting and look at how he conducted his first offseason:

Franchise QB
Franchise LT
Get a RB to protect the QB

next year

Pass Catching Red Zone threat to help QBs development


Offense is set.

So what do we do?

Penetrating DT
Ball hawking safety
pass rusher
road grader


Nowhere in there did I see Dimitroff needing to completely revamp their scouting department, or taking a pure Patriot approach to drafting. He also didn't scrap what talent he had on D to put a square peg into a round hole and then spent an entire draft burning picks to fit the scheme when the value was elsewhere.

That scouting department excuse is just CYA for Pioli.

Well, that's a good point. I really like what the Falcons are doing.

[BigRock]

Holding up Thomas Dimitroff as the model for all first-year GMs makes for incredible irony when you consider that he was absolutely getting KILLED a year ago in Atlanta for his first Falcons draft. Hardly any of their fans were sold on Ryan, most of them thought Sam Baker was a reach, and even the ones who liked him hated what they gave up to move up for him.

There was a post earlier going "Wouldn't you rather have Sanchez and Rey instead of who we drafted", and I know for a absolute 100% certain fact I can find posts from Falcons fans going "Wouldn't you rather have Dorsey and Brohm and those high picks we traded away instead of Ryan and Baker". We won't even get into what they thought about their new coach.

The national reaction to their draft wasn't as bad, but most of their grades were in the B or C range. ESPN said they only had the 3rd best draft of their division. It was hardly a widely-praised effort.

Shockingly, though, when things actually got to play out, it became clear that Atlanta had gotten some good players. And now Dimitroff is a genius.

[ChiefRon]

Originally Posted by BigRock

Holding up Thomas Dimitroff as the model for all first-year GMs makes for incredible irony when you consider that he was absolutely getting KILLED a year ago in Atlanta for his first Falcons draft. Hardly any of their fans were sold on Ryan, most of them thought Sam Baker was a reach, and even the ones who liked him hated what they gave up to move up for him.

There was a post earlier going "Wouldn't you rather have Sanchez and Rey instead of who we drafted", and I know for a absolute 100% certain fact I can find posts from Falcons fans going "Wouldn't you rather have Dorsey and Brohm and those high picks we traded away instead of Ryan and Baker". We won't even get into what they thought about their new coach.

The national reaction to their draft wasn't as bad, but most of their grades were in the B or C range. ESPN said they only had the 3rd best draft of their division. It was hardly a widely-praised effort.

Shockingly, though, when things actually got to play out, it became clear that Atlanta had gotten some good players. And now Dimitroff is a genius.

That's a nice post.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Originally Posted by BigRock

Holding up Thomas Dimitroff as the model for all first-year GMs makes for incredible irony when you consider that he was absolutely getting KILLED a year ago in Atlanta for his first Falcons draft. Hardly any of their fans were sold on Ryan, most of them thought Sam Baker was a reach, and even the ones who liked him hated what they gave up to move up for him.

There was a post earlier going "Wouldn't you rather have Sanchez and Rey instead of who we drafted", and I know for a absolute 100% certain fact I can find posts from Falcons fans going "Wouldn't you rather have Dorsey and Brohm and those high picks we traded away instead of Ryan and Baker". We won't even get into what they thought about their new coach.

The national reaction to their draft wasn't as bad, but most of their grades were in the B or C range. ESPN said they only had the 3rd best draft of their division. It was hardly a widely-praised effort.

Shockingly, though, when things actually got to play out, it became clear that Atlanta had gotten some good players. And now Dimitroff is a genius.

I would JIMP for days if we could recreate that ****ing mojo.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by BigRock

Holding up Thomas Dimitroff as the model for all first-year GMs makes for incredible irony when you consider that he was absolutely getting KILLED a year ago in Atlanta for his first Falcons draft. Hardly any of their fans were sold on Ryan, most of them thought Sam Baker was a reach, and even the ones who liked him hated what they gave up to move up for him.

There was a post earlier going "Wouldn't you rather have Sanchez and Rey instead of who we drafted", and I know for a absolute 100% certain fact I can find posts from Falcons fans going "Wouldn't you rather have Dorsey and Brohm and those high picks we traded away instead of Ryan and Baker". We won't even get into what they thought about their new coach.

The national reaction to their draft wasn't as bad, but most of their grades were in the B or C range. ESPN said they only had the 3rd best draft of their division. It was hardly a widely-praised effort.

Shockingly, though, when things actually got to play out, it became clear that Atlanta had gotten some good players. And now Dimitroff is a genius.

In all fairness, we're talking about a fanbase that has defended Michael Vick to the hilt.

Just because Falcons fans are ****ing stupid doesn't invalidate the argument.

[BigRock]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

In all fairness, we're talking about a fanbase that has defended Michael Vick to the hilt.

Just because Falcons fans are ****ing stupid doesn't invalidate the argument.

You're a Chiefs fan, so you clearly longed for more Tyler Thigpen, cried when Sippio got cut, and are mad they didn't draft Aaron Curry.

By no means are the Falcons bereft of intelligent, informed fans. You can't lump everyone into one group.