JD_KaPow
jimnabby
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So I noted when I posted Football Outsiders' "Draft Report Card Report" that they go back and look after 6 years. A couple weeks ago they posted the look back at 2014. It's long and it's all great reading, but I'll put a very few highlights here. There's much more detail on each position in the article. Good lord, look at that WR class.
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-draft/2020/2014-nfl-draft-six-years-later
Actually, 2014 was an incredibly strong class at the top. Seventeen first-round picks have made the Pro Bowl, compared to 12 from 2013 and 10 from 2015....That's a hit rate most draft classes would kill to have...
And yet, ... at least four of the teams in the top 10 would give their right arms to be able to go back and re-do their selections.
Look away now, Cleveland Browns fans.
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Quarterbacks
Highest Pick: Blake Bortles
Biggest Bust: Yeah, those Ryan Leaf comparisons weren't miles away for Johnny Manziel....
Wide Receivers
Conventional Wisdom: The best class since 1996. Four surefire, can't-miss prospects, with plenty of promising targets below them. A stunning array of talent.
Highest Pick: Sammy Watkins, fourth overall
Best Player: You're going to make me choose between Mike Evans, Odell Beckham and Brandin Cooks? You monster.
Best Value: Davante Adams (53rd) or Jarvis Landry (63rd)
Offensive Linemen
Highest Pick: Greg Robinson, second overall
Best Player: Zack Martin ended up going 16th to Dallas, and yes, he did end up kicking inside to guard. It was apparently down to him or Johnny Manziel for the Cowboys, and I think it's safe to say that Dallas made the right choice here. Martin became the starting right guard on Day 1 of OTAs and immediately became an All-Pro as a rookie, one of four such nods he has earned. He has made the Pro Bowl in all six seasons while only missing two games. Yeah, Martin was a pretty safe pick. The best tackle goes to Jake Matthews, drafted sixth overall by Atlanta, while Missouri's Justin Britt (drafted 64th by Seattle) ended up as the best center.
Biggest Bust: It's Greg Robinson again. You have to be a pretty big bust to out-bust Johnny Manziel, but darn it, Robinson pulled it off.
Best Value: Really, it's Zack Martin -- anyone who becomes a perennial All-Pro is a value no matter when you draft them. But there were a lot of solid values on the line in this draft; too many to mention them all. Day 3 alone saw North Carolina's Russell Bodine go to Cincinnati at No. 111, Ohio State's Corey Linsley go to Green Bay at No. 161, Tennessee's Zach Fulton go to Kansas City at No. 193, McGill's Laurent Duvernay-Tardif go to Kansas City at No. 200, Boise State's Matt Paradis go to Denver at No. 207, and Boise State's Charles Leno go to Chicago at no 246. That's not to mention Day 2 starters like Trai Turner, Morgan Moses, Justin Britt, Gabe Jackson, Michael Schofield, Joel Bitonio, or Weston Richberg, or covering how good Jake Matthews and Taylor Lewan have been as first-rounders. All that talent, and the Rams took Greg Robinson. Yikes.
Defensive Linemen
Best Player: Well, let me see here. Aaron Donald was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014, and that was his worst season in the league.
Best Value: If the Rams had used their second overall pick on Aaron Donald, he still would have been the best value in the draft.
Team Performance
Most of the graders were still willing to give Chip Kelly some of the benefit of the doubt as a talent evaluator. This was wrong. Jordan Matthews in the second round and maybe Beau Allen in the seventh are the only Eagle players from this draft to do anything of note, and neither are exactly world-shattering. When your draft includes Marcus Smith, Josh Huff, and Jaylen Watkins in the first 101 picks, you've not had a good time. Chip Kelly the coach was destroyed by Chip Kelly the talent evaluator.
....
But we have to close out by picking the best and worst drafts of the year. For the best one, honorable mentions go to Jacksonville for their non-Bortles selections and Dallas for the killer trio of Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Anthony Hitchens, but this one has to go to the Oakland Raiders. In the first round, they took the best edge rusher in the draft, Khalil Mack. In the second round, they took the best quarterback in the draft, Derek Carr. The third round brought Gabe Jackson. And T.J. Carrie in the seventh round is a decent pick, too! The only real ding you can give them is Keith McGill, a defensive back from Utah who started just three games in his career, but that's peanuts compared to the rest. The Raiders win the 2014 draft, even if their best player now plays for Chicago.
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-draft/2020/2014-nfl-draft-six-years-later
Actually, 2014 was an incredibly strong class at the top. Seventeen first-round picks have made the Pro Bowl, compared to 12 from 2013 and 10 from 2015....That's a hit rate most draft classes would kill to have...
And yet, ... at least four of the teams in the top 10 would give their right arms to be able to go back and re-do their selections.
Look away now, Cleveland Browns fans.
--------
Quarterbacks
Highest Pick: Blake Bortles
Biggest Bust: Yeah, those Ryan Leaf comparisons weren't miles away for Johnny Manziel....
Wide Receivers
Conventional Wisdom: The best class since 1996. Four surefire, can't-miss prospects, with plenty of promising targets below them. A stunning array of talent.
Highest Pick: Sammy Watkins, fourth overall
Best Player: You're going to make me choose between Mike Evans, Odell Beckham and Brandin Cooks? You monster.
Best Value: Davante Adams (53rd) or Jarvis Landry (63rd)
Offensive Linemen
Highest Pick: Greg Robinson, second overall
Best Player: Zack Martin ended up going 16th to Dallas, and yes, he did end up kicking inside to guard. It was apparently down to him or Johnny Manziel for the Cowboys, and I think it's safe to say that Dallas made the right choice here. Martin became the starting right guard on Day 1 of OTAs and immediately became an All-Pro as a rookie, one of four such nods he has earned. He has made the Pro Bowl in all six seasons while only missing two games. Yeah, Martin was a pretty safe pick. The best tackle goes to Jake Matthews, drafted sixth overall by Atlanta, while Missouri's Justin Britt (drafted 64th by Seattle) ended up as the best center.
Biggest Bust: It's Greg Robinson again. You have to be a pretty big bust to out-bust Johnny Manziel, but darn it, Robinson pulled it off.
Best Value: Really, it's Zack Martin -- anyone who becomes a perennial All-Pro is a value no matter when you draft them. But there were a lot of solid values on the line in this draft; too many to mention them all. Day 3 alone saw North Carolina's Russell Bodine go to Cincinnati at No. 111, Ohio State's Corey Linsley go to Green Bay at No. 161, Tennessee's Zach Fulton go to Kansas City at No. 193, McGill's Laurent Duvernay-Tardif go to Kansas City at No. 200, Boise State's Matt Paradis go to Denver at No. 207, and Boise State's Charles Leno go to Chicago at no 246. That's not to mention Day 2 starters like Trai Turner, Morgan Moses, Justin Britt, Gabe Jackson, Michael Schofield, Joel Bitonio, or Weston Richberg, or covering how good Jake Matthews and Taylor Lewan have been as first-rounders. All that talent, and the Rams took Greg Robinson. Yikes.
Defensive Linemen
Best Player: Well, let me see here. Aaron Donald was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014, and that was his worst season in the league.
Best Value: If the Rams had used their second overall pick on Aaron Donald, he still would have been the best value in the draft.
Team Performance
Most of the graders were still willing to give Chip Kelly some of the benefit of the doubt as a talent evaluator. This was wrong. Jordan Matthews in the second round and maybe Beau Allen in the seventh are the only Eagle players from this draft to do anything of note, and neither are exactly world-shattering. When your draft includes Marcus Smith, Josh Huff, and Jaylen Watkins in the first 101 picks, you've not had a good time. Chip Kelly the coach was destroyed by Chip Kelly the talent evaluator.
....
But we have to close out by picking the best and worst drafts of the year. For the best one, honorable mentions go to Jacksonville for their non-Bortles selections and Dallas for the killer trio of Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Anthony Hitchens, but this one has to go to the Oakland Raiders. In the first round, they took the best edge rusher in the draft, Khalil Mack. In the second round, they took the best quarterback in the draft, Derek Carr. The third round brought Gabe Jackson. And T.J. Carrie in the seventh round is a decent pick, too! The only real ding you can give them is Keith McGill, a defensive back from Utah who started just three games in his career, but that's peanuts compared to the rest. The Raiders win the 2014 draft, even if their best player now plays for Chicago.
