Please help ... Ireland quote ... THIS player should go in THIS round ..

igtmfo

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Jeff Ireland, and probably every other GM :) is thinking the same thing:

To quote Ireland on the Ticket: "You'd like to always say you'll draft the BPA, but sometimes that doesn't always work. We don't work on a vertical board -- we work on a horizontal board. You look at players based on where they're in the same area, as in where they'll go in the draft. "

This is the most weird, absolutely CRAZY ... Nowadays, what is Ireland thinking? It's like a dog chasing its tail ... hey Jeff YOU determine where they'll go in the draft because YOU draft them where you want, not where any other teams hint that they'll beat you to them ..

OK I understand if a few years ago you ran the 3-4 defense and no one went after those players/size/speed/talent mix. You hung around and got the hefty immobile NT you wanted in the 6th round or something ...

What bothers me is passing on a great athlete, a guy you want because, to paraphrase Ireland (and so it was in the bull-crap Lacewell days and before too ..) .. "we can get him in the 6th round" or "he will be undrafted and we can sign him as a free agent"

So why play "chicken" with other teams, and just not draft this guy where he deserves to be drafted, at this talent / projected level ???

Of course we all think of Colston and others .. did the Saints have him as their 3rd round guy and just hold their breath ??? (yes I think ..)

OK I'll present a scenario .. a certain player had a bad day at combine, or wasn't there, a ... or had 2 teams give him a private workout ... a P. Crayton for example ...

I remember from listening from Norm Hitzges ... (this would be tampering I guess) that teams don't GRILL the player asking "who else has contacted you" ... surprisingly bunches of teams tell the player "if you're there in the 4th round (that upcoming round) .. we're going to draft you" and nothing more (they don't inquire of the player anyway any details ...) ... so there's a kind of "gentleman's agreement" among NFL teams ... That is, they're not grilling the agent or the player asking "what other teams have said they're going to draft you in the nth round ..... "

Otherwise, there would be trades in the 6th round or something based on just agents' rumors, the word of the player whose told them what they know ... ...Ireland's (for example) calls to agents who have told him "Titans will sign him if he's undrafted if you don't draft him in this round " ... etc.

But say the Cowboys saw that the 2 teams that had given Crayton a private workout, had already drafted receivers in the previous rounds ... so they think he may last into UDFA and they don't think anybody else will draft him ... so they hold out ..

Man it seems almost kind a gentleman's agreement on day 2. "OK you can have this guy in this round. ...."

This points to almost a "shadow draft" in rounds maybe 4-7 where prospects almost go to the teams that have targeted them, with little interference from other teams.

Thnx for reading ... to me this is the most amazing facet of the draft .. back to Ireland and others saying "this guy is too high to take in this round ..."

***? If he's that good, take him. Kickers, I understand not taking ... but N. England puts a lie to that with kicker last year etc. ..
 

the kid 05

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i thought Summer excuse me Bob Sacamando put a ban on Drunk posting?
 

Spectre

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The point is trying to figure out where a player will be drafted by other teams so that you can wait until the last possible opportunity to get him. Thereby, getting the most value for your selection.
 

igtmfo

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Hey guys not drinking ..

Better to ask Ireland:

Quote: "You look at players based on where they're in the same area, AS IN WHERE THEY'LL GO IN THE DRAFT "

The only thing Ireland could be saying is ....."Where will other teams draft him."

It's because of this that we knew N. England had private workouts with Canty, and they scouted him like mad, and the the gracious Tuna knew Belichek's interest in him also .. we traded up to get him ... but Belichek probably knew we would.

I'm crazy but .. if I'm not please explain the intrigue of rounds 3-7. The first cupla rounds any cretin can talk about ..

By about the first of Feb. prolly before the combine even, each team's board is done. After that it's the crazy BS sheeat that I'm talking about..

I'm sure I'm being obvious, but it's about value .. value across the board meaning IS THIS PLAYER WORTH THE PICK IN THIS ROUND. If not, hold your breath and pick him in the next round. ... this is the fun thing about the late rounds. McQuistan's twin brother is still available at 4 p.m. day 2 in the draft??? Dang it take him!

I just say all this because listening to Norm Hitzges' draft coverage, there are picks 2 minutes at a time late rounds second day and there must be huge drama behind the scenes when we are on the board on round 5 etc. and the readers here are kind of yawning though the draft is winding down ... we ain't picking out of the Street & Smiths catalog buddy ..

My point is that it's so well-defined now that you can't hold your breath. Take that player ..

OK NOW I'll drink some (????)
 

FuzzyLumpkins

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I think its moere liek this guy is good at top ten, top twenty, top thirty and so forth. instead of straight up 1, 2 , 3, 4. i think the OP is missing the boat here.
 

blindzebra

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A horizontal draft board just means that you have several possible players slotted at each spot...they are in groupings, not individual rankings.

What Ireland was saying...and I have been arguing this for years...is BPA isn't how teams draft. Teams group players around their picks and then select the best player that fits a need and not necessarily the top guy left.
 

CrazyCowboy

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ZONERS: in IRELAND we must trust ........he done a great job thus far.
 
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