When was the last time we had a truly productive rookie draft class?
A lot of teams with great success do so because they are able to bring their rookies along faster. Often this means they are role players. They are asked to fulfill a role, and they do just that. I keep feeling as though we don't play rookies at all unless we have no choice, because a starter is injured. And when this happen we expect them to do everything. This isn't conducive to success, especially since they haven't received much playing time or snaps in practice.
Something has got to change fundamentally in the way we bring rookies, 2nd and 3rd year players along on this team.
If you're drafted within the first 3 rounds, you're supposed to be seeing some significant playing time. 1st round draft picks are supposed to be starters, maybe even 2nd round draft picks. 3rd round draft picks? They should be getting some serious playing time.
Where was Tyrone Crawford this year? Wilber was a 4th round draft pick, but where was he? Matt Johnson has a lot to make up for due to his injuries, but I definitely think he should be given a shot to make a difference on this team. Same with Danny Coale.
I think a lot of that has do with being in 3-4. When you ask a college player to learn a completely new position, it's going to set their progress back significantly.
When you make players like Albright learn a new position, then switch them to another position, and then back... You aren't going to get much out of them. At least not early.