DiscipleofTuna said:
Bingo Inman. Wouldnt Howard at say 29 in a trade down and adding a pick be more valuable than Carpenter @ 18?
A couple things. First, getting to pick 29 may not be easy. It takes two to tango as they say. And it all depends. The thing is that Howard is smaller than Carpenter and they are roughly the same speed (yes Howard timed better, but Carpenter still wasn't fully healthy according to reports).
DiscipleofTuna said:
How about Gocong,Hawkins,Mark Anderson,Mcclover and some others? Is there that big a difference from Carpenter than those guys? I love Carpenter but not at 18. I would rather go in another direction.
Wouldnt drafting a guy ahead of your rankings indicate a "reach"? Whose to say these rankings arent very close to teams' boards?
Well, you are assuming that the Dallas brain trust's board looks like all the ones that we are seeing. They could have Carpenter as the 10th best player in the draft for all we know. Remember, people like Kirwan and Kiper are making a general draft list. They list guys that wouldn't be a good fit in Dallas ahead of players that would. The Dallas draft board is all about players and how they will fit with our schemes. Every team in the NFL is the same way. So don't get too hung up on the player rankings. They aren't realistic.
Based on what you are saying, I'm assuming you follow fantasy football enough to know about value based drafting and average value drafting. Basically it states that while you may think that a player is the best player available, you try to take him a late as you can so you can still get the player. That would be like if Dallas really thought Gocong was the best prospect in the draft. They know it likely that he would still be there when they pick in round 2 and maybe round 3, so taking him in the first would be stupid. To that end I agree with your assessment. But BC is most likely a first round pick. If Dallas has him as the best player on their board at 18 and they can't find a trade partner, are you saying they should draft somebody else? They know they won't get him in round two.
The beauty of the real draft over fantasy football is that teams aren't all playing under the same circumstances. In fantasy football every participant is drafting players because they can score. In the NFL, teams are drafting players to put the team in a better position for success. Sometimes that will mean drafting a player who's job will be to make others better.
Your question about Carpenter versus Gocong, Anderson, etc. You'll have a hard time finding anybody that is more hopeful that we draft Gocong than me. The kid will be a very good one. I project him as an ILB instead of an OLB, but that's me. Carpenter is more NFL ready than any of the guys you mentioned. You know what you will get when you draft him. The other guys will have position changes, need a year in the weight room, maybe have some history of sporatic play or play against lesser competition. Basically, Carpenter is where he is because not only is he a big LB, but he's an easy grade with a low bust factor.
David Harrell - Pokes
dwh
