Why draft focus mirrors free agency focus

by bonaire on Apr 25, 2009 7:45 PM MDT

OK. So we spend most of our free agent signings on running backs and defensive backs. I was assuming that McD didn't like any of the front 7 free agents that were available. It seemed odd that we didn't find anybody that would be considered an upgrade. It seemed the consensus here was that we would focus on the front 7 in the draft. The draft comes along and we focus on running backs and defensive backs again. I have never heard of such a strategy. I am a bit skeptical of this.... can anybody help justify the strategy?

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Most of the FA signings were short term. This looks like they are planning ahead for when those contracts end and looking for intelligent guys who can contribute early.

by Kfustud on Apr 25, 2009 7:49 PM MDT reply actions

so are our draft picks not going to start?

by purplesocks on Apr 25, 2009 8:02 PM MDT up reply actions

They will start on certain downs like Nickel but they will also share time.

by Kfustud on Apr 25, 2009 8:13 PM MDT up reply actions

My assumption too but...

It seems a good idea and a luxury to sign older free agents and in the same year draft younger guys to be groomed under them…but when our front 7 was historically abysmal, I think some more focus really needs to be there.

by bonaire on Apr 25, 2009 8:02 PM MDT up reply actions

Again the front seven from this year and last year are going to be very different. It is a new scheme, which takes advantage of the players in different ways, and we did bring in some new FA signings. I imagine at the minicamp they weren’t as concerned about it as the rest of the world.

by Kfustud on Apr 25, 2009 8:14 PM MDT up reply actions

You may be right

It does seem odd, but I’ve been posting that I believe that we do not have all of the information the coaches are using to evaluate current players and draft pick players. Yes our front seven has been horrid the last two years, but we’ve also had holes in other areas on our team.

A strong secondary makes the front seven that much more effective — if you look at yards per game given up, our pass defense ranked 26th, our run defense was 27th. Both areas obviously needed work, so it appears to me that the coaches picked players who could help improve the team, even though they weren’t what we expected.

Running backs make sense, given the horrible time we had with injuries last year, and the many different roles that running backs will be expected to fill this year. Someone pointed out that we only had 3 healthy running backs for the mini-camp.

This is all a long winded way to say that I believe we have to have all of the parts of our offense and defense functioning effectively at the same time to win games. It appears to me that the coaches are attempting to take the BPA at the moment of our pick to fill in where they’ve evaluated our greatest needs

by Brian Shrout on Apr 25, 2009 8:11 PM MDT reply actions

Perhaps they have decided where they see the value for lineman?

They’ve just traded out of the third, picked up an extra 4th. Some of the value players there are names like Terrance Taylor, Sammie Lee Hill.

Also Brinkley may be a possibility? Who knows but I’m just thinking that this seems like a draft where they’ve known all along who they want and they’re making it happen. And maybe the same will go for the D-line. They see players being there that they want and they’re willing to wait.

And perhaps they know that no matter which lineman they get, they’ll be a project. So why spend a high pick? Pay for some potential in the middle rounds?

I dunno mate. But there’s a few theories for you!

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by orange&blue_aussie on Apr 25, 2009 8:34 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs