2015 Mel Kiper Jr. Invitational Report Card....

[Risen Star]

I think you guys need to seriously look @ your grading system......Because something doesn't seem right

I'll look into it.

 

[Alexander]

I just know one thing.....there wasn't a single pick I made where @ least one person PM'ed me or said something in the chatter thread that said "I got their guy...and that it was a great pick".

Big difference between picking a good player and picking a player that is the best for the team you have and "fits".

Also, had you picked even one DL, I bet people would have felt differently about your draft.

I didn't have any problem with most of the players, except Holliman who is cannot tackle well enough to play in this defense. And yes, I hated your trade since it hurt a future draft.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I can't wait for 2 years...people are gonna be praising my genius!!!!!!

Trading a late 2nd to get 2 guys that I had 3rd round grades on.......Was a brilliant move. Who wouldn't trade a 2nd for 2 3rd round picks???????

People need to realize the Cowboys have issues beyond just filling the D-line. After free agency...this team is gonna be swiss cheese full of holes......and w/ this draft....I filled the majority of them

If this turns out bad...so be it. I'll take the heat. but right now.....I think I walked away w/ @ least 3 starters......if not 5...depending on FA.

How can you not like that????

1(27) Paul Dawson OLB TCU......Starter
2(60) Daryl Williams RT Oklahoma......Starter
3(91) Gerod Holliman FS Louisville......Starter
4(110) Justin Hardy WR East Carolina
4(116) Jacoby Glenn CB UCF (Possible......Starter)
4(124) Javorius Allen RB USC......Starter

Grading these mocks based on the BPA........vs filling team needs......something is missing from the equation

If I were to just go BPA according to CBS sports rankings.... my mock would have looked completely different......

1(27) Dorial Green-Beckham WR Oklahoma
2(60) Cedric Ogbuehi T Texas A&M
3(91) Brett Hundley QB UCLA
4(124) Javorius Allen RB USC

No trade of the 2nd round pick...........

so your saying this redo mock is better???????? I have a hard time believing that

And this team is still full of holes......

I just know one thing.....there wasn't a single pick I made where @ least one person PM'ed me or said something in the chatter thread that said "I got their guy...and that it was a great pick".

I think you guys need to seriously look @ your grading system......Because something doesn't seem right

Doesn't look good for being a 1st round selection Floaty...


"TCU’s Paul Dawson entered the Scouting Combine widely viewed as a very good prospect, and perhaps the best linebacker in the 2015 NFL draft. He’s leaving the Combine with some questions about his athleticism.

Dawson ran a 4.93-second 40-yard dash, far slower than expected, and he also had just a 28-inch vertical jump and 9-foot-1 broad jump. Those wouldn’t even be good numbers if Dawson were a big and powerful run-stuffer, but Dawson is only 230 pounds. If you want to play linebacker in the NFL and you only weigh 230 pounds, you’d better be fast. And now we know that Dawson isn’t fast."

 

[Alexander]

Doesn't look good for being a 1st round selection Floaty...


"TCU’s Paul Dawson entered the Scouting Combine widely viewed as a very good prospect, and perhaps the best linebacker in the 2015 NFL draft. He’s leaving the Combine with some questions about his athleticism.

Dawson ran a 4.93-second 40-yard dash, far slower than expected, and he also had just a 28-inch vertical jump and 9-foot-1 broad jump. Those wouldn’t even be good numbers if Dawson were a big and powerful run-stuffer, but Dawson is only 230 pounds. If you want to play linebacker in the NFL and you only weigh 230 pounds, you’d better be fast. And now we know that Dawson isn’t fast."

{Campo voice}

He's a football playa.

 

[TheDude]

I gave up alot, but Jalen Collins is moving up to mid first round in some mocks. I sense I will be heralded a guru

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Rough crowd this year. I knew that the Bengals draft was not going to be well liked by many. We didn't move and make a big splash or gain draft picks. However, we didn't lose any picks either. We sat tight and let the draft come to us. In the end I believe we were able to snag 2 1st round guys and 2 3rd round guys. Thought we were deserving of at least a B or B+

 

[Oh_Canada]

I gave up alot, but Jalen Collins is moving up to mid first round in some mocks. I sense I will be heralded a guru

I like Collins a lot. He may very well end up in the first and yes I bet the Cowboys would be interested especially if Carr walks.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Rough crowd this year. I knew that the Bengals draft was not going to be well liked by many. We didn't move and make a big splash or gain draft picks. However, we didn't lose any picks either. We sat tight and let the draft come to us. In the end I believe we were able to snag 2 1st round guys and 2 3rd round guys. Thought we were deserving of at least a B or B+

Yes it was a tough crowd, I was a fan of your draft as I am big on Brown and Lockett. White will be a tremendous slot corner and may eventual become a starter outside. Smith is decent value in the second.

 

[Tezz]

Some quick thoughts

Saw Texans drafting Danny Shelton caught a little grief, but there is some buzz they're looking for a NT in the draft. I see Shelton and a smaller chance for Bud Dupree as well going higher with a bunch of 3-4 teams drafting high

Randy Gregory not being the first pass rusher taken thought for sure he would be, but looks like the the site got this right with his size being the lightest among DL prospects

Tough grade on the Browns with the 1 score. They were bold and specifically targeted players like it.

Analysts are hedging their bets it seems there is no consensus at all. See this as the worst year for mockdrafts in quite a while

 

[TellerMorrow34]

First and foremost I'd like to apologize to Risen, and everyone else, as I did not get my draft grades in. My girlfriend has our baby early on Thursday morning so from Wednesday through Saturday night I simply didn't have the time to get to a computer and do anything with this draft grades. My apologies for that fellas.

Second I'd like to thank Risen for letting me part of this again this year. It was absolutely a blast. I had a great time. Looking at some of the grades I can see where some people are questioning some of the draft grades.

Im a little surprised Floaty wound up with the worst grade but I'm not totally shocked. I wouldn't have had him much higher than that. I hated the trade and I wasn't sold on Dawson as high as he went. And now after the combine and seeing how slow he ran I like that pick, that high, even less.

Of course there is the big factor that he did absolutely zilch for our D-Line and that hurt it as well. I still didn't think it was the worst draft either.


I am VERY pleased with my draft grade. I felt very good about it. I had a clear picture of what I wanted, and needed, for the Saints and I felt like I really filled things the way I wanted to. The only thing I might have changed is I think if re-did things I'd probably go for the best pass rusher available with my first pick and pick up a solid corner with my second pick. But honestly after my top 4 pass rushers went off the board prior to my pick I decided I had to get what I felt was the best corner.

And I can't lie I was really happy to see that I got the biggest steal. I was very pleased with where he fell to me at.

 

[Sifillest]

damn son. a D-? lol crazy considering most of my picks were made by the zone!

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Personally, I would like to thank XWalker for stepping in and taking over the Giants draft for me. Had some things come up that just would not allow for me to participate this year, after having committed to doing so, and X was good enough to step in and run with it. Many thanks to you Walker and nice job on the draft.

In fact, good job regardless of scores to those of you who put in time and effort. I know it can be a lot of work so good job to everybody, especially Risen, for continuing to put in the work it takes to do this thing every year. Well done everyone!

 

[Nation]

In the interest of grading accountability - I understand the way the first round of the draft played out, and where drafting Dawson would come across boring as a low-risk low-value pick. But I really can't stand the idea of losing a 2016 2nd rounder when Dawson was the pick. I don't like dealing future picks in general, but I hate the idea of doing it AND not using the future pick to move up for a defensive line asset. If you're not going to be conservative with those it needs to be in a manner that will disturb the opposing quarterback.

 

[DFWJC]

Missing on a 1st rounder is so much worse than missing on a later round pick. Over draft a guy by a round in the 6th and it's really no big deal. Take a guy with the 5th overall pick that should have gone in the 2nd round and you missed a massive opportunity.
We discussed this during the draft. At some point, I suspect they'll come up with a sliding scale to grade.

For now it's just an entertaining thing for us to do while we pass the time for the real draft.
Kudos to RS for doing tis every year.

 

[L-O-Jete]

The grading is all over the place, but that has also a lot to do with how each person grades, maybe some put more value on team needs, other on BPA, scheme fit, etc.

But I must say I agree with 1st place, I really liked that draft, was surprised I came in 3rd, there are a couple of "swing for the fences" picks there that when we review in 3 years my grade could be A+ or a big fat F...

 

[Risen Star]

I'm all eyes for anyone who has a better grading system. Sometimes I think people think this is my mock. It's not. It's the site's mock. I just run it. If there's a better way, let's do it.

IMO, you're never going to get 32 guys to agree on how a draft class should be graded. So I just figure collecting them all and averaging them out is the best.

As an aside, in combine hindsight, I made a mistake taking Lynden Trail where I did. I should have gone with D.J. Humphries. I still think Trail has a shot to turn into a nice player but I doubt he goes in the 3rd round being that raw and slow. That's going to kill my value score after the draft.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Personally, I think the value of this draft is to have fun with it and and just see if you can get to the point where you are able to draft the players you like. Heck, even in the NFL where you have entire staffs getting paid to live and breath this stuff, you don't get agreement. Have fun with it and if people like it, that's great. If they don't, who cares? You learn more from the work you put in and you are ultimately better off for it, with regards to our own draft when it's time for the Cowboys to pick.

As long as you had fun with it, that's really what's important.

 

[xwalker]

I'm all eyes for anyone who has a better grading system. Sometimes I think people think this is my mock. It's not. It's the site's mock. I just run it. If there's a better way, let's do it.

IMO, you're never going to get 32 guys to agree on how a draft class should be graded. So I just figure collecting them all and averaging them out is the best.

As an aside, in combine hindsight, I made a mistake taking Lynden Trail where I did. I should have gone with D.J. Humphries. I still think Trail has a shot to turn into a nice player but I doubt he goes in the 3rd round being that raw and slow. That's going to kill my value score after the draft.

I think the grading is OK as is. If there was a defined grading system, then people would just draft for a grade instead of drafting how they think they should draft for their team.

We'll get a definitive answer after the draft as to reaches and value picks; although, there should still be some consideration for how those players fit with that team.

In regards to Lynden Trail, I find him to be an interesting player with extreme length (6-7, 34-7/8). I'll be surprised if he does not improve his times at his Pro Day. He was bigger at 269 than I expected. Having said that, I don't see him going in the 3rd. I still don't know how Aaron Lynch ended up in the 5th last year.

 

[xwalker]

Personally, I would like to thank XWalker for stepping in and taking over the Giants draft for me. Had some things come up that just would not allow for me to participate this year, after having committed to doing so, and X was good enough to step in and run with it. Many thanks to you Walker and nice job on the draft.

In fact, good job regardless of scores to those of you who put in time and effort. I know it can be a lot of work so good job to everybody, especially Risen, for continuing to put in the work it takes to do this thing every year. Well done everyone!

It was fun. I should have joined originally so thanks for getting me involved.

Also, @Risen Star does a terrific job with this draft. I find it to be much more realistic than just a mock or mock simulation.

 

[Risen Star]

I think the grading is OK as is. If there was a defined grading system, then people would just draft for a grade instead of drafting how they think they should draft for their team.

We'll get a definitive answer after the draft as to reaches and value picks; although, there should still be some consideration for how those players fit with that team.

In regards to Lynden Trail, I find him to be an interesting player with extreme length (6-7, 34-7/8). I'll be surprised if he does not improve his times at his Pro Day. He was bigger at 269 than I expected. Having said that, I don't see him going in the 3rd. I still don't know how Aaron Lynch ended up in the 5th last year.

Trail prefers playing OLB in a 3-4. He was also taller than I expected. He was listed at 6'6" everywhere I looked. I think there's a point where you become too tall and lose agility.

We'll see at his pro day. Right now the entire league has him pegged at DE only.