[Double Trouble]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

I would argue that we have drafted better college DL than anywhere else in the past decade. We only had one minor whiff as Spears was a disappointment for a first rounder. Otherwise we have acquired:

Hits:
Ware (1st round)
Spencer (1st round)
Bowen (UDFA)
Canty (4th round)
Ratliff (7th round)
Lissemore (7th round)
Brent (7th round, supplemental)
Butler (4th round)
Crawford (3rd round)

Misses:
Spears (1st round)
Brandon Williams (4th round)

That looks like a pretty good record of finding talent to me. You could argue Ware and Spencer were drafted to be OLBs but they were essentially DLs in college and function as DEs in a 4-man line for more than half of their snaps.

[View Full Quote]So I happen to think whatever quirks we had in the 90s drafting DL have passed. OTOH, we seemed to be able to find great OL for cheap in the 90s but haven't been able to draft them nearly as well this millenium.

Crawford is a "hit"? He's barely seen the field.

Most of those guys were acquired when Parcells was here or are unproven. Regardless, you'd think the team that you deem "best" in drafting DL would therefore have a great DL. Do we?

Pretty obvious, isn't it?