2017 NFL Draft Grades: Mel Kiper Is Hung Up On The Value Of Drafting Taco Charlton At 28

[ABQCOWBOY]

Quite honestly there is an argument that Kiper is right. We could have drafted a top tier CB I the first round and still drafted a pass rusher with probably a second round grade in the second. No one knows what the relative values would have been, but probably close.

Keep in mind we didn't get a single player out of this draft with a first round grade. That's by our own admission. It's not the end of the world, but I think you guys are letting last years draft cloud your judgment a little bit.

I also think you guys are letting the fact we drafted for need cloud your judgment as well. Every year we have drafted for need it has blown up in our faces because we have drafted way too many misses. The only thing that may have saved us this year is that need semi-lined up with the draft.


I really think we reached on Taco. I hope he turns out to be all that and a bag of chips, but we drafted a second round talent in the first round, by our own admission. I'm not sure that we should be doing high fives and victory laps just yet.

I like Charlton. I liked him at the end of the season last year. I kinda got off him in the first round after the times he posted in the combine, thought he would be a little quicker but then again, he is still a lengthy guy who is going to get even bigger. If he plays at 290-295 and sill has the same agility, he can be a good player for us. I liked Chandler Jones, coming out of Syracuse, a few years ago and I see Charlton as a bigger slightly more athletic version of Jones. If you look at Charlton's pro day numbers, much superior to his combine numbers. The difference to me, way better 3-cone for Charlton. So if you project him as a bigger, stronger version, I think you have yourself a pretty nice player there.

The problem I have is that he still seems like a Strong Side DE and we have a bunch of those guys. Good players who fit a rotation and are productive in the run game but aren't real edge rushers. I think we projected on him and if that projection is accurate, then he could be a really good player for us but, he is not that quick twitch edge rush guy. That's what we all wanted and we didn't get that.

JMO

 

[BrassCowboy]

Quite honestly there is an argument that Kiper is right. We could have drafted a top tier CB I the first round and still drafted a pass rusher with probably a second round grade in the second. No one knows what the relative values would have been, but probably close.

Keep in mind we didn't get a single player out of this draft with a first round grade. That's by our own admission. It's not the end of the world, but I think you guys are letting last years draft cloud your judgment a little bit.

I also think you guys are letting the fact we drafted for need cloud your judgment as well. Every year we have drafted for need it has blown up in our faces because we have drafted way too many misses. The only thing that may have saved us this year is that need semi-lined up with the draft.


I really think we reached on Taco. I hope he turns out to be all that and a bag of chips, but we drafted a second round talent in the first round, by our own admission. I'm not sure that we should be doing high fives and victory laps just yet.

But again, we were a few picks away from second round so this whole argument is moot IMO. Everyone wants to find some kind of flaw and if this is all they can come up with, I am good with that.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Quite honestly there is an argument that Kiper is right. We could have drafted a top tier CB I the first round and still drafted a pass rusher with probably a second round grade in the second. No one knows what the relative values would have been, but probably close.

Keep in mind we didn't get a single player out of this draft with a first round grade. That's by our own admission. It's not the end of the world, but I think you guys are letting last years draft cloud your judgment a little bit.

I also think you guys are letting the fact we drafted for need cloud your judgment as well. Every year we have drafted for need it has blown up in our faces because we have drafted way too many misses. The only thing that may have saved us this year is that need semi-lined up with the draft.


I really think we reached on Taco. I hope he turns out to be all that and a bag of chips, but we drafted a second round talent in the first round, by our own admission. I'm not sure that we should be doing high fives and victory laps just yet.

When we got Fredrick we didn't have a first round grade on him. It's the nature of drafting late.

This is the ultimate question for people who say bpa without context... That would have meant Dalvin Cook at 28. Would that have pleased you?

Listen closely... Every single team every single year drafts for need. Its a nuanced process.

 

[Hardline]

Reuben Foster was there for the taking.
And they passed him up.

 

[DallasEast]

Mel Kiper stripping his gears slamming it in reverse now because the Cowboys took Charlton. Careful Mel, your hate is showing...

That's a fair assessment since he's contradicting himself unless he is willing to state he doesn't remember saying publicly that Charlton was a solid late first round pass rushing selection in the past. It's a shame that none of his peers doesn't confront him with what he has said before and after the draft about selecting Charlton.

 

[CyberB0b]

Does Kiper even watch the players tape anymore? now he is saying Taco is mostly a run defender.He could have watched atleast one game like the Ohio state game

You can tell by watching his games that his scheme required him to play heavy run support. Kind of the complete opposite of "rushmen".



I think that's why people get the initial impression that he isn't a pass rusher. You can see it the burst when he's allowed to scream off the edge. He isn't the quickest or fastest edge player, but he has plenty of burst and a nice frame.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Reuben Foster was there for the taking.
And they passed him up.

That's an argument that has some weight to it but I can see why the team didn't go that way. With the whole Gregory debacle and the situation we've seen with Rolando McClain, listen, McClain was a better prospect, all around. We have that guy and the issues surrounding him are really preventing him, IMO, from becoming the great player that his talent suggest he could and should be. I mean, I understand why the team did not go that way.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Reuben Foster was there for the taking.
And they passed him up.

We can always bring in for a workout when he gets cut in 3 years

 

[Stash]

That's a fair assessment since he's contradicting himself unless he is willing to state he doesn't remember saying publicly that Charlton was a solid late first round pass rushing selection in the past. It's a shame that none of his peers doesn't confront him with what he has said before and after the draft about selecting Charlton.

If he needs any evidence, all he has to do is ask.

Three weeks before the draft, Charlton could "really help" the Falcons at 31:

http://www.ajc.com/sports/football/...ugh-good-pass-rushers/Ou37P8GXI63M9aceK0eyjJ/

 

[Kaiser]

Kiper keeps harping we could taken King but personally, I have both Awuzie and Lewis graded ahead of King. Now, I'm obviously no scout nor do I work for the Cowboys, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did too by the corners they drafted, both of whom are technicians who are physical in the run game, which King is neither.

This kind of thing is one of many reasons I tuned Kiper out years ago. Not only does his think his board is sacrosanct but he also decides that a team has to fill a certain position and that their draft picks have to fill it in that order. So in his head, CB HAS TO BE the first round draft pick, ignoring that fact that Anthony Brown will likely give you better play next year than King and that there is plenty of reason to think Taco will be a better player than King over the long run.

The Cowboys clearly see Brown starting this year and Awusie starting down the road. But in Kiper's pea brain you have to take the highest rated CB at 28 no matter what. He has been like that for decades and never bothered to reevaluate how that works out long term.

 

[Kaiser]

I say this in all seriousness. I am better than Mel Kiper at draft analysis.

Sure but that isn't the point. Do you have hair that can't be tamed?

 

[mugsybows]

on Day 3 of the draft the other analysts were ragging on kiper because kiper guranteed Jimmy Clausen would be a stud for the Panthers and they went back to footage saying he would quit if he wasnt. Kiper also said Morris was the next deion.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Who the hell is Mel Kiper???? LOL

Seriously, Kiper says we shouldn't have drafted Charlton because he's more of a run stopper than a rush end, which is what he says we needed. Then he points to two CBs that we should've taken instead. That makes a lot of sense. We need a pass rusher so we should've taken one of two CBs. You can't make this stuff up.

 

[John813]

Who the hell is Mel Kiper???? LOL

Seriously, Kiper says we shouldn't have drafted Charlton because he's more of a run stopper than a rush end, which is what he says we needed. Then he points to two CBs that we should've taken instead. That makes a lot of sense. We need a pass rusher so we should've taken one of two CBs. You can't make this stuff up.

Probably was eluding to taking a pass rusher at 60 and instead taking a "higher ranked" player at 28, which in his opinion was those two CBs.
Obviously the Cowboys saw it differently.

Week after grades mean nothing. Don't mind different opinions on players as long as they have some merit to them.
Personally, I'm still digesting the pick. He has a high floor, but I'm not sure on where his ceiling is.
He had the measurables the Cowboys liked, so lets hope we hit on another first rounder.

 

[gmoney112]

Didn't he also give us a bad grade for 2016?

That worked out well for him.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Probably was eluding to taking a pass rusher at 60 and instead taking a "higher ranked" player at 28, which in his opinion was those two CBs.
Obviously the Cowboys saw it differently.

Week after grades mean nothing. Don't mind different opinions on players as long as they have some merit to them.
Personally, I'm still digesting the pick. He has a high floor, but I'm not sure on where his ceiling is.
He had the measurables the Cowboys liked, so lets hope we hit on another first rounder.

Yeah, but his logic just made no sense. We weren't going to get a better pass rusher at 60 than Charlton at 28. Also, I think the FO is more than pleased with the two CBs we ended up with. IMO, the FO made the correct decisions there.

 

[John813]

Yeah, but his logic just made no sense. We weren't going to get a better pass rusher at 60 than Charlton at 28. Also, I think the FO is more than pleased with the two CBs we ended up with. IMO, the FO made the correct decisions there.

Guess the only way I could see his logic was that a better pure pass rusher could of been there at 60, which is subjective, but overall not as good overall as a DE as Charlton. AKA someone who isn't polished enough to be an every down guy, but you throw him out there on 3rd down to get the QB. While Charlton you can have out there every down, at multiple spots.
And I agree, I valued a DE higher in round 1 than a DB. The way the draft fell nabbing Taco, Awuzie and Lewis in the first two days was excellent.

 

[Longboysfan]

Dell Kupper = Doofus.

 

[BourbonBalz]

Also, we've already got a situational pass rushing RDE in Mayowa (sp?). He's certainly a pass rushing specialist and came on strong late last year. Personally, I'm glad we took a big three down DE.

 

[AsthmaField]

Although I do wonder............. would we have been better off taking Kevin King and then Willis in the 2nd? I love Willis. But I think King is a completely overrated CB. I think I'd rather have Awuzie than King.

That's it for me. If I would have been running things and decided to go CB in round 1, I would have taken Awuzie. Then, I would have just ended up with a lesser player than Taco at pick 60.

So, it would have been Awuzie and maybe Bowser/Rivers or do what Dallas did and have Charlton and Awuzie.

Dallas unquestionably did the right thing.