Coming tomorrow - or tonight on line - a story on Danny Woodhead, the NCAA's all-time rushing leader whom the Jets signed as a rookie free agent Sunday night. He'll be at Hofstra this weekend - along with this year's draft class and other rookie free agents and the like - for the Jets rookie minicamp.
Now, for another grading-the-draft pet peeve: well, the overall pet peeve is the concept of dispensing grades before players have even given their introductory press conferences, but we've covered that previously. Today's pet peeve is more specific: the nice-picks-but.....grade. I'll explain.
Here's part of an evaluation of the Jets draft from elsewhere: The Jets got "the best" pass rusher in the entire draft and "the best" tight end in terms of pass-catching ability.
Well, that sounds good so far...
And of San Jose State's Dwight Lowery, he was one of the top "ballhawks," remaining. More complimentary stuff and then...
"Grade: C."
So to review, the Jets got the draft's "best" pass rusher, "best" pass-catching tight end and a real "ballhawk" of a defensive back...and grade out as a C.
Um, Ok.
This isn't to say the Jets hit a home run last weekend; they very well might have struck out. It's just these grades seem more and more ridiculous each year. It's also not to say drafts can't be evaluated immediately after. They can and should be. Just skip the grades.
Comments (5)
I agree. These draft grades are so ridiculous. Pleeeze. You can't honestly tell how good a particular draft is for years afterwards. I know it's said you have to wait three years until you decide a draft's potency, but there are several positions that take the college-to-pro transition better than three years to accomplish. QB, WR and even DB usually take time to acclimate.
All that being said: I give the Jets' 2008 draft a B.
: P
The Jets drafted guys who should contribute at some point in the season. Whether they "reached" or drafted carelessly is irrelevant, because the bottom line is that, the front office made the decision to commit to these players at the level of pay that their draft status commands. Whether it's warranted or not is irrelevant, but what matters most is whether they will help the team win now.
I think what the graders are really doing is to see if the team made the pick the grader guessed or thought they should or if they picked some one else. I doubt if they all have insight into the players the Jets needed or the ones they recently signed or the philosophy of the front office or in fact how good the players they picked were. It is all to do with what the "expert" expected.
By the way Erik, great blog. I suffered so much with that Rock dude and his cynicism that I hated reading his stuff. But you have a much better attitude. I don't think writers need to love the team or agree with the management of the team they cover but they shouldn't have contempt for the team and make the fans miserable by being overly negative and by mocking their team. Thanks for your good work.
Personally, I'm waiting for the end of this year before I grade the Ferguson and Mangold selections....
I believe the NYG draft graded out worse last year and if memory serves that turned out with 6 players contributing to the Super Bowl win.
That said ESPN did a 1983 flashback where the Jets explained that Ken O"Brien was a better pick that the "other QB" who would need too much work. What ever happened to Dan Marino?