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

[Verdict]

There were no "top tier" CBs left to draft at 28. By admission, they only handed out 18 1st round grades, so do the math on their odds of getting one at 28. The only remaining 1st round grade was a RB, so BPA says take him, right? Nonsense.

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.

You are holding too much weight in the admission of drafting a 2nd rounder at 28. Like I already said, they only gave out 18 1st round grades, so if Taco was their 19th ranked player, which would technically be a 2nd rounder on their board but got him at 28 (9 spot value on ranking), is that really a reach?

The way I interpret what the Cowboys have said is that Taco wasn't at the top of the draft board and was ranked below other players, not just the first round graded running back. They reached. It might turn out ok, or even favorably. It just didn't match their draft board.

 

[Verdict]

I really think need should almost be irrelevant in draft grades. It should be about value vs draft position.

 

[Sydla]

The way I interpret what the Cowboys have said is that Taco wasn't at the top of the draft board and was ranked below other players, not just the first round graded running back. They reached. It might turn out ok, or even favorably. It just didn't match their draft board.

You are interpreting it how you want to interpret it. I don't recall the Cowboys really suggesting anything about where Charlton was ranked.......... only that they didn't have a first round grade on him but the only player left with a first round grade was a TB.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Time will tell one way or the other. None of these guys are always right or even close to it. Maybe he is this time, maybe not.

fwiw, here was Kiper's top 10 from his final rankings (not draft prediction but actual rankings) last year

1. Tunsil
2. Bosa
3. Ramsey
4. Conklin
5. Goff
6. Staley
7. Wentz
8. Elliott
9. Buckner
10. Jack

So, strictly value-wise he had us over-drafting Elliott by a whopping 400 points on a value chart...and he had Jared Goff and others (again not as draft prediction but actual player ranking) as better prospects than Elliott.

There were still 4 players remaining on his board ranked higher than Elliott when Dallas chose him. That's a lot when your picking 4th overall.
Eye the beholder, I guess.

Hey bro. Did he have Byron jones rated higher than Landon Collins?

 

[ksg811]

The way I interpret what the Cowboys have said is that Taco wasn't at the top of the draft board and was ranked below other players, not just the first round graded running back. They reached. It might turn out ok, or even favorably. It just didn't match their draft board.

I'm not sure how your interpretation came to that conclusion. All they said was that they had a second round grade and they only had 1 of their 18 1st round grades left on the board, but it was at a position they weren't going to fill in the first, later revealed to be a running back. There was no indication of their second round tiers, never mind anything to interpret, so how you came to your conclusion that they reached even on their own board is beyond me.

 

[stilltheguru88]

Well reports there was no first round rated CB on the board at that time. Fisher keeps claiming it (using idiotic logic) but the Cowboys said the only top rated kid on their board left was a TB. So it's possible there was no first round rated player left on our board when we picked.

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.

I would've rathered that combo.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Jason La Canfora has been the best at mock drafts in the last three years
Todd McShay is 4th, and kiper is 10th

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2017...k-drafts-judgment-day-for-kiper-mcshay-mayock

 

[DFWJC]

Hey bro. Did he have Byron jones rated higher than Landon Collins?

28) Byron Jones
33) Landon Collins

 

[Sydla]

I admit, I liked the Jones pick over Collins. I thought Jones was the better athlete and more flexible player. I didn't think Collins could be the playmaker he ended up being. I assumed Collins' ceiling was a Barry Church type - good, in the box, safety.

 

[LocimusPrime]

28) Byron Jones
33) Landon Collins

Wow...........but to fair I think jones is a better sparq athlete and Collins benefits from a better overall defensive line

 

[Verdict]

I'm not sure how your interpretation came to that conclusion. All they said was that they had a second round grade and they only had 1 of their 18 1st round grades left on the board, but it was at a position they weren't going to fill in the first, later revealed to be a running back. There was no indication of their second round tiers, never mind anything to interpret, so how you came to your conclusion that they reached even on their own board is beyond me.

The fact that Stephen Jones that they only took Taco because they didn't think there would be one at 60 is a pretty strong indication he wasn't second on the list behind the RB. They also never said Taco was the highest player on their board, excluding the RB. They said it about both of the DBs and the safety.

 

[Sydla]

The fact that Stephen Jones that they only took Taco because they didn't think there would be one at 60 is a pretty strong indication he wasn't second on the list behind the RB. They also never said Taco was the highest player on their board, excluding the RB. They said it about both of the DBs and the safety.

They never said Taco wasn't one of their highest rated 2nd round grades either.

 

[ksg811]

The fact that Stephen Jones that they only took Taco because they didn't think there would be one at 60 is a pretty strong indication he wasn't second on the list behind the RB. They also never said Taco was the highest player on their board, excluding the RB. They said it about both of the DBs and the safety.

No it doesn't. They very well could have had Taco and King in the same tier at the top of the 2nd round, but the depth at corner led to Taco being the pick at 28. At no time did Stephen Jones indicate in any manner where Taco or King or anyone else for that matter ranked on their board (specifically within the second). When there is no clear BPA and both are team needs, value, in this case versus other prospects on the board is the tiebreaker. If they had 2 pass rusher graded as second rounders and 6 corners, you take your chance that one of the 6 corners is there at 60 as opposed to 1 of 2 pass rushers.

 

[tyke1doe]

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

That can't be tamed. Heh!

 

[xwalker]

Mel Kiper of ESPN has posted his grades for the 2017 NFL draft, and he doesn't join the chorus of mostly positive feedback the Cowboys have received for their draft.

In his ranking of teams, Kiper has the Cowboys ranked 21st with a "B-" grade, which is due in large part to the value (or lack thereof) he places on Taco Charlton.

Here is part of what Kiper had to say about the Cowboys draft:

I thought they missed an opportunity at pick No. 28 to get a first-round talent -- Kevin King and Budda Baker were still on the board -- and instead chose Taco Charlton, a 6-foot-6, 277-pound defensive end who is a much better run defender than pass-rusher. Yes, Dallas needed an end after DeMarcus Lawrence underwhelmed last season and Randy Gregory was suspended for at least the 2017 season, but a premier pass-rusher made more sense. I don't think that's Charlton, who is No. 46 on my board.

Like many draft analysts who take their own big board as the one single gold standard, Kiper grades the pick relative to his own evaluation of each draft prospect, without considering either team needs, scheme fit, or the distribution of talent in the draft.

link/ http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2017...value-taco-charlton-at-28-kevin-king-t-j-watt

The comedy is that team get a good grade if they agreed with Kiper's ranking and a bad grade if they disagreed with Kiper's rankings.

I'll give everyone here an A+ if they agree with me on everything, and then I'll lower the grade each time they disagree with me.

 

[kumizi]

That's his opinion and you can't fault him too much for it. I would say around 70% of the Cowboys fanbase between this site and the other one felt similarly about the Taco pick.

 

[drawandstrike]

Here why you have to laugh at people like Kiper. I know Risen worships him as the godfather of mocks but even Kiper is prone to show idiocy from time to time.

On April 6th, he talked to the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the Falcons and said this:



So apparently, on April 6th, Charlton is a pass rusher that can possibly be had in the late first round and would fill a need for Atlanta at the 31st pick.

On April 28th, Charlton isn't really a pass rusher but is more of an edge-setting run defender and not a good pick for the Cowboys at 28.

Like a lot of 'experts' Kiper is fixated on the fact that Dallas 'needed' to take a DB at #28 to restock that depleted secondary. He says we should have taken Baker or King, DB's, instead of a 4/3 DE like Charlton. But the fact is, this draft was deep in DB's and not so deep in DE's, and if you pass up Charleton at #28 to take a DB, your chances at a quality DE at #60 are virtually nil.

McClay knows his job and he made the right call. He got us a blue chip big body for the DLine and still managed to find 4 guys for the secondary who were great values.

 

[drawandstrike]

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.

It takes awhile for some guys to change the way they play, from 'read and react' where they stay home and hold their ground until they recognize where the ball is going on a run and don't start their rush until they see it's a pass, to 'rush from the snap', don't worry where the ball is going, trust the LBers behind you if you overshoot a ball carrier.

Hopefully Taco picks it up quick.

 

[drawandstrike]

Switzer is better then Butt not only that but Switzer is ready to practice this weekend and will be on the field ready to play......Butt won't be, not only that Butt would have been a reach as he was still available a round later

Gonna take people actually seeing it on the field to realize why we took Switzer. The Pats just won another Super Bowl with a Smurf set of Amendola and Edelman, short possession receiving game that nobody could stop. This is a copycat league.

I think the Pats only had Gronk and Hernandez out there together for like 2 seasons. Then Hernandez turned out to be a murderer and Gronk can't stay healthy, so they switched from dominating the NFL with a 2 Big TE set to dominating the NFL with a 2 WR Smurf set.

If it works, it works. We're going to try it with Beasley and Switzer.

 

[CaptainCreed]

I'm sure Charlton will be a fine player, let's just have reasonable expectations and let him develop. I think they liked King more than the other rushers available (Watt) who they didn't see as the same type of scheme fit as Taco. Will be interesting to watch Taco vs. King in a Sharif Floyd vs Frederick kind of way and see who turns out to be the better pro.