My problem with Mel Kiper etc

Discussion in 'NFL Draft' started by Carpy, May 1, 2007.

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  1. Carpy

    Carpy Disgruntled foreign veteran

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    This probably should be a blog or something, but I just wanted to vent.

    Firstly the facts - I didn't love our draft. I am concerned that we haven't done enough this offseason to address our run D (I think I've made that point a few times). I'm not into giving grades, nor am I a proffesional analyst of college football talent, but I have question marks on a couple of the players we did draft. Chris Henry looks to me like he doesn't seek out contact like someone his size should. His highlights film has lots of footage of him running around slower players, but very little footage of him braking tackles or being a tough inside runner.

    That said, our team's philosophy (particularly on offense) is clear to every man and his dog.

    Build a dominant O-line and a run heavy offense. Use the QB's athleticism and penchant for the big play to capatilise on worn down defenses and control the clock. Classic Fisherball and it wins us games - no doubt. It's an offensive philosophy that I think serves our team perfectly. We need some dependable receivers, and if Givens comes back in full fitness I am not overly concerned about our receiving corps. Our O-Line is set and if Henry pans out we have the RBs to execute.

    On defense, it's a little less clear (you can put some of that down to the co-ordinator). We are obviously looking at athletic playmakers in the back 7 (this is the way we have drafted/used Free agency for the last 3 years - Pac, Hill, Hope, Finnegan, Thornton, Tulloch etc) and hard working effort guys in the d-line who can rotate in and out. We are going to play a lot of zone and hope our secondary can make some plays on the ball in the air and force turnovers. Sometimes that will work (see Jacksonville game) and sometimes it won't (see New England game). What that does, however is put a lot of stress on our D-Line in defending the run. Our LBs are not overly big or physical, nor are our corners (by design), so teams may have more success running on us as a result.

    So our needs in the draft were guys that could help this team get better, and fit the system. Griffin does that without a doubt. On reflection I REALLY like this pick. He fits the system, and he helps our Run D. We also have a tandem of intelligent, athletic safeties that hopefully will reduce the number of big plays we gave up in the passing game last year.

    But I digress. Back to my issue with Mel Kiper. When did he turn from some pompous git who made a living out of evaluating college football talent, as it will translate to the NFL to an NFL General Manager?

    He gives the Titans a C-. Fair enough. But his explanation is that they needed to get more weapons for Vince Young and Griffin was a luxury pick. What a load of ****. Has he seen Lamont Thompson play for the last 3 years!!! Luxury, my arse.

    If he had criticised us for not being aggresive enough and trading out of picks, or for mis-evaluating talent (in his opinion) I'd cop it - that's his job. But he obviously had a look at a list of players we lost, knows we have a guy called Vince on our team, and made his mind up that if we select a WR with the first pick, we'll get an A, and if we didn't we'll get a C. I would have been much more dissapointed with the draft if we had chosen Ginn or Jarrett with the first pick, but I can guarantee we would have got a much higher grade from Mel Kiper if we had of.

    I've decided that the NFL Networks draft coverage, both pre-draft, draft and post-draft is much better. Jamie Dukes, Jesse Palmer and Bobbie Beathard are 1,000 times more insightful and nowhere near as annoying to listen to as the ESPN crew, who just love the sound of their own voices.
     
  2. The Playmaker

    The Playmaker pineapple pizza party

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    Well I totally agree with you. The only thing we can do though is just not to listen to Kiper. Which gets pretty hard around the draft. We actually have helped Young though. We go 3 WR's who have good hands and long extension. So that will help with Young's passing. Then we get Chris Henry who is a power back to take pressure off White and Young in short yardage needs. Then has it changed that defense wins. I'm sorry but I didn't know that having a good Defense means nothing to a QB.
     
  3. I hear some ''experts'' still think Lamont is underated...
     
  4. GoTitans3801

    GoTitans3801 Forward Progress!

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    I forget where I heard it, but I've heard several times that Kiper is on his way out, at least sometime in the next couple of years, and that ESPN is grooming someone else to fill in the major draft role.

    I'd be happy.
     
  5. RollTide

    RollTide All-Pro

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    Kiper was wrong here..

    He obviously thought we should have gone WR earlier. Nobody can say we didn't help the offense after all we used a 2nd on a RB and a 3rd and 4th on wrs and another 6th on wr.

    from kiper's point of view we needed WR help and we had our pick of several good Wrs like meachem, bowe and jarrett and should have taken one. I think we did great with williams and davis from a value perspective.
     
  6. Chris Henry is not a powerback at all, if u watch the tapes he just runs around people because he is soooo fast
     
  7. MJTitans

    MJTitans Chris Whitley look him up

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    Absolutely. The funny thing about all the "expert analysis" is this - everyone jumped on the Titans for not picking a WR to help Vince this year. The same experts who all agree that it takes 3 years for most receivers to really make an impact. So if a WR draft pick is a work in process anyway, how were williams and davis not excellent picks? I like our offense right now - not that there aren't players out there that could be an upgrade, but we've got a star QB, some decent receivers (not "stars" but they can be productive), we've got 2 or 3 very good tight ends, an excellent FB, and a set of young running backs. Everyone still needs to improve, but what team can't say that?

    I agree with Carpy that we didn't do enough to upgrade the run D. Although I look at the talent we have on the line and wonder how in the world we were so bad last year. But we did pick up Antonio Johnson who is solid against the run... Fowler and Scott should be an upgrade for us.

    Looking at the moves they made, I think they feel like we've got enough playmakers to win games for us, and the problem is that our backups were losing games for us. No one is excited about some of the no-name signings, but I do buy into the philosophy that the top 5 players on your roster win games for you but the bottom 5 can lose them. Bring up the rear with solid guys and you've got a team. We'll know by October.
     
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