I know it's a bit off topic and a dead issue, but I just want to give my revised opinion of the whole Michael Sam on the practice squad issue. You probably don't remember but I was a big supporter of Sam and I thought he wasn't being given a fair chance (both in St. Louis and in Dallas). Mind you, this was coming early in the season, after we had a poor preseason and a pathetic beating by San Fran in the opener, and a lot of people were not happy with the direction the team was going. My opinion was that, given the fact that we were likely in rebuilding mode (at least defensively) and that it was the perfect season to give some young experience and build for the future, I thought Sam should have been elevated to the active rookie and given a chance to compete for the SDE job.
Well, in hindsight, I still think he may have been and still may be a decent reserve pass rusher in this league (and 3rd/4th DEs are usually 6th/7th round draft picks), but I understand why he wasn't given a chance this season and I think it was for the best. If you look at our situation, Marinelli was given an untalented group of guys and was supposed to get them to play above their ability. If you noticed (not only on defense, but on offense too), we don't tend to play a lot of rookies unless they're high drafted guys who we feel are NFL ready. And if we don't have any veteran superstars/stars on the team, we'll go with the veteran who is a hard worker, humble, and a team player. That's why guys like Hayden have been on the roster for so long while everyone complains every year that they should be gone.
Let me ask you this. If you still feel that Sam was given a raw deal because of 'you know what,' then what was the excuse for Ken Bishop? They were both 7th round picks and you could argue that 1-tech was a bigger need this year than SDE. Hayden was literally the only guy we played until Brent came back. And Bishop played for the first time in the playoffs because of injuries to other guys. The fact that Bishop wasn't given a chance either is proof that Marinelli wasn't willing to rely on a 7th round rookie this year. I think it's a good call. And that's how it usually winds up. You shouldn't expect more than 2 rookies to come in and play a regular role on the team. Last year it was Frederick and T. Williams. This year it was Martin and Hitchens. So for everyone expecting our defense to get turned around this year in the draft, think again. It'll likely be one impact rookie, guys currently on the roster, and a few free agents.
