Last month I wrote about the Kansas City Chiefs' draft dilemma. Now I am noticing the same parody around the league.
Teams such as the Jaguars, Cowboys, and Chargers need little to improve their rosters. The decision they face is whether to take the best player or draft in positions of need.
On the other hand, teams like the Chiefs, Raiders, Vikings, and Dolphins need to fill many holes and are struggling to decide what position to draft first.
For example, the San Diego Chargers have a very complete, young team. Their only key offseason loss was Michael Turner, but they hope Darren Sproles will be able to fill the backup role at running back this year.
No matter how they choose to draft, there will most likely be some sort of controversy in that position. If San Diego were to draft a quarterback to assume a number two position behind Phillip Rivers, it could have the same effect Philadelphia saw by drafting Kevin Kolb last year.
No one in their right mind believes Kolb is a better quarterback than McNabb, but every player feels threatened when a new young player comes in to the locker room. Every player knows they are one blind side block, low ankle tackle, or helmet to helmet hit away from watching from the sidelines, so I understand a player's concern with being replaced.
It is this attitude from players that stops a team from being great.
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A few years ago in San Diego, Phillip Rivers was drafted to take over for the still-young Drew Brees. Brees felt the pressure, stepped his game up, and became one of the league's top passers.
I understand every player wants to be a starter and, in the Chargers' case, both QBs were good enough to start. Consider this: If Brees had stayed in San Diego and Rivers was still the backup, we may be talking about the Chargers as Super Bowl champs instead of the Giants.
When Rivers was injured Brees could have taken the starting role and gotten them over the hump. Instead, as soon as Rivers came to San Diego it was a battle for the starting position that eventually led to Brees' departure.
As mentioned earlier, there is another side to this problem: teams that need too much. These teams can actually strike gold. Unfortunately it is sometimes fool's gold.
In the case of the Dolphins, I think they would rather trade out of the number one draft position than pick a player who is only worthy of that pick because of lack of talent pool. Jake Long will be a good lineman, maybe even great. Chris Long will be just as good on the other side of the ball. The problem is they are not number one overall caliber players.
One of the latest mock drafts I have seen has Kansas City taking Matt Ryan at number five. While I do believe Kansas City needs a quarterback, I am not so sure Matt Ryan is much better than Brodie Coryle.
On top of that no one really knows what Croyle has to offer. He played about a half a year last year where they allowed him to throw short to intermediate passes. Croyle's strength is in throwing the long ball, as was made evident on almost every deep pass he threw.
Most teams want to pick a player they want rather than the best player available, especially this year. Unfortunately for teams like the Dolphins, they will stick with the trend of picking the best available, which basically means you have a good player on a bad team.
Ryan Leaf is a great example of this. Leaf was a great college quarterback, but unfortunately he was not used to losing. When he made it to San Diego he looked good in his first couple of games. Shortly thereafter, when the losing began, he broke down mentally.
Part of that is poor coaching. If someone were to really look after Leaf we may still be seeing him play today. The other part is poor player management. San Diego had more needs than just a quarterback. If you do not believe me try to name a receiver, the running back, or for that matter anyone not named Seau on that team.
In closing, just remember it is great to get excited when your team picks a great college player, but do not get too excited before you look at his surroundings.
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5 months ago
I too think the Tuna wants to trade out of the first pick and stockpile young first day players. The question is who would be his potential trade partner? Is there a player in this class worth giving up so much for ? Jerry Jones moving up to grab McFadden? My take is Tuna wants to move out of #1, but he won't be able to without the perception that he didn't get enough for the pick.
5 months ago
The issue is there is no "sure" number one pick. A team might be able to get a player they want by sitting and waiting. I am a firm believer that Aquib Talib may be the player to make the quickest impact on a team. McFadden has the ability to be great but I think someone will take him expecting to get an Adrian Peterson type player, which he is not. McFadden is good in his own right, but I consider him to be a taller Reggie Bush.
5 months ago
No one wants the number 1 pick. It costs too much money and if you mess up, your cap gets screwed for years and years.
from 5 months ago
I think a lot of teams would like to have a number one pick (minus the losing season that comes with it) they just want a player worth the pick to be there. This year it does not seem there are any stand out number ones.
5 months ago
Who will the saints make the 10th pick Leodis or Dominique?
5 months ago
If by Dominique you mean Rogers-Cromartie I think he may be the big bust of this draft. No one would know who he is if the Chargers Antonio Cromartie had not stepped up and played well this year.
from 5 months ago
Cayce...you are way off on the Rodgers-Cromartie. His last name ispretty well known, as you suggest, and for a while that was an oddity that would have made for good Chris Berman fodder on Draft Day. Then he was among the most impressive players at the Senior Bowl and blew it out at the Combine. He's for real, at least skills-wise, and now the name is more than an interesting irony....
5 months ago
Cayce...interesting analysis...there certainly are teams that can be seen as largely complete and therefore have more options in the draft. Other teams, especially at the top, have more opportunities but also more risk. Interesting that the Chargers are in the former category this year. I was looking at their draft history and it's easy to see how whiffing on a couple drafts can set a team back. I would also agree that this draft seems to lack a true #1 player that seems worthy of the kind of money that he will demand. That's a business proposition that may not be too appetizing, but the only thing a team can do is draft the player that best fits and go from there (especially since options for trading down are also limited in these situations).
The only part I would disagree with is that there is bound to be controversy when a new player is drafted on a team, like the Chargers, that has set starters nearly everywhere. Certainly, the addition of new talent at a position is intended to drive competition and motivate players to the best possible performance. Despite two young starters at ILB last year, the Chargers drafted two players that were highly productive and well-regarded in college. That's great for depth and reminds starters not to get lackadaisical (see Olivea, Shane).
The ONLY way I could see a "controversy" arising from this draft is if the Chargers drafted a highly regarded QB. With only one first day pick that seems highly unlikely. Anyone from the 3rd round on really will not create any kind of buzz (i.e. a Josh Johnson pick late on Day Two could be a good roll of the dice without causing questions about who the starter is). One more point on this...the Kolb pick last year came in the midst of a LOT of questions about McNabb's future. Coming off the injury, not getting any younger, unrest among the fans. I recall speculation well before the Kolb pick about what the Eagles might do. Even though no one really suspected it would be that early, or that it would be Kolb, something was in the air. Despite all of Rivers' faults, I would say that his status is a bit more solidified at this juncture in his career.
from 5 months ago
I agree that Rivers is a very solid QB. His gutsy call in the playoffs to play while needing surgery definitely shows improved leadership, and the way he played was impressive with or without injury. Having said that if you were to draft a Matt Ryan or a Brian Brohm who would be coming in healthy and might possibly shine in the preseason, it would make for quite the interesting scenario if Rivers was not 100%. I agree that McNabb does have questions surrounding him, but lets not forget that four years in a row, he had the Eagles in the NFC Championship game. The man can play football, yes he is getting older and he is not the scrambler he once was, but look back at Randall Cunningham when he played for the Vikings. His running days were through and he still produced. Teams are too quick to push the old bull out to the pasture when there is still some fight left in him. Perfect example is Brett Favre, very few people thought he had anything left in him two years ago, everyone thought he was playing on borrowed time. Last year he came out and shocked the football world and almost made it to the Superbowl.
from 5 months ago
Cayce...
I think we are on the same page on the McNabb situation. I could not agree more that the talk of him needing replacement last year was somewhat premature....though I would also add that in the NFL it's best to act earlier rather than later in grooming successors. My point was not that McNabb was justifiably questioned and the Rivers is rightfully NOT being questioned. Rather I think there are two points that differentiate the McNabb situation last year from the Rivers situation this year:
1. Age - Heading into the draft last year, McNabb had 8 1/2 years of starting (plus playoffs) under his belt, and had struggled with injuries that were a result of that wear and tear. Rivers heads into this year with only two years as a starting QB, and while he did have surgery on the knee, if you watch the play on which he got hurt it really seemed like almost a freak thing. I'm not saying that Rivers is an ironman, but at his age and relative mileage, it's not like the organization needs to start thinking about the future.
2. Organizational philosophy - In this case, I don't really think there's much difference between the two clubs, but it should be noted that AJ Smith has established quite a reputation for standing by "his" guys. He gave Rivers a HUGE vote of confidence after the playoffs and before the surgery. The team is soundly behind him too. And while some fans (even me at times) would love it if he kept his mouth shut a little more often, we're pretty confident that he's the right guy to lead this team.
These were the factors I considered in making my comment. To reiterate, I agree with you that if Ryan or Brohm was drafted (and as an aside, I think there's a good chance that at least Brohm will be available at #27), the Chargers would have a QB controversy much as we saw in Philly last year. I just don't think that it is remotely likely given the circumstances (Rivers, other needs, lack of picks).
5 months ago
Ryan is better than Croyle, but not to the extent that they should burn a high #1 on him
from 5 months ago
Well I agree with what Herm Edwards said about the subject. It was something to the effect of the Chiefs dont know what they have in Croyle yet, so why would they draft a guy that is relatively unproven when he might not be much better. The Chiefs must find a way to protect the QB before they find their franchise QB. Croyle is underrated to me, he reminds me of when Gannon played for the Chiefs....except Gannon won some games.
5 months ago
Rich Gannon was only good on my Oakland Raiders. Brodie Croyle couldn't even have a dream about being Rich Gannon. Croyle sucks! The Chiefs suck! And Rich Gannon threw for over 4000 yrds in 2002 for the Raiders. And 3500 every year before that. Went to the Super Bowl(lost) and pro-bowls. He even got the MVP in the pro-bowl. ALL WITH THE OAKLAND RAIDERS.
from 5 months ago
I couldnt agree with you more, I am saying that the Chiefs were stupid for not keeping Rich Gannon. I dont think Croyle is as good as Gannon but I dont know how good he is, I havent seen enough of him.
5 months ago
Matt Ryan? More like Ryan Leaf to me.
5 months ago
Matt Ryan will surely be no Ryan Leaf look what Ryan did last year at B.C. on a bad team and he nearly led them to the acc title the sign of a great player is how good he can be without a top notch supporting cast and Matt Ryan has proven he can win with only average players he will be a great pro qb. i also think Brian Brohm and Joe Flacco will as well. Also big news on the draft front NFL Networks Adam Scheffer reported that the St.Louis Rams may be interested in Darren Mcfadden that could be huge if he goes #2 overall it will change the entire outlook of the draft.
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