I always thought post-draft grades were pointless, teams know what they're looking for and rate players differently. A lot of draftnik sites that like to do these post draft grades do them solely based off whether they thought a player was a reach or a good value according to their personal board... but you can't properly analyze a draft class until a few years down the line when we see what these players turn out to be in the NFL.
That being said, I am still thrilled we made the move to go get Claiborne. He has a chance to be a Champ Bailey kind of lockdown corner, and pairing him up with Carr on the outside who is another physical up in your face press man CB is a terrific combo. Those 2 moves make this defense an entirely different unit and now that he has the horses on the backend to do it I am pumped to finally get to see a true Rob Ryan attacking scheme.
Crawford and Wilbur are athletic, scheme diverse front 7 players who also fit in perfectly with what Rob is trying to do here. I think they both contribute early in special packages and open up Rob's playbook even more, with both possessing some intriguing upside that we can tap into. Really like those picks.
I was a little lost with the Matt Johnson pick because he was totally off the radar to most draftniks, but that's why the Cowboys pay big money to their scouts. I'll reserve judgement on that one, but I do like the 17 career INTs. There were some good players on the board when we took him so I hope he pans out.
Danny Coale was a refreshing choice in Round 5, I enjoyed watching his career at VaTech from a far. This is a tough receiver who plays his heart out and has a very reliable set of hands. Wes Welker comparisions have been thrown out, but I see a little Hines Ward fearlessness to his game too (minus the blocking). We needed some receiver depth and Coale could find a nice niche in our offense as a potential inside guy.
Hanna is intriguing with that speed for the position. I like John Phillips more than most but we did need a 3rd TE, he's another guy who can push for a roster spot.
I wish we addressed the interior OL and DL but for the most part I thought we did a good job of getting good value and selecting guys who fit what we're trying to do. Like I said, our top 3 picks are perfect fits for Rob's D and tell me that we're committed to making life hell for offenses on 3rd and long. Can't wait for TC to get here.
