What is your draft philosophy?

[Doomsday101]

That is exactly why you draft the best players. You never know when injury strikes. Drafting Barber in the 4th saved our season for the most part keeping the productivity alive while JJ was shelved. Whose to say that Bledsoe gets a Palmer like injury and is in serious question about his future. Romo decides not to sign, and you go into 2007 with Henson as number one. Would passing on Cutler at 18 make sense?

But other than Jones Dallas had no other RB, we were releasing George so there was nothing behind Jones to speak of. Drafting the BPA does not do you much good if the guy never gets out of the field because he is stuck behind a Pro Bowl player which goes back to the theory of BPA that fits a need on your team.

 

[Longboysfan]

If I have a middle of the road team that is poised to take the next step and become a real contender (like the Cowboys are now) then I try to get the best player available to fill one of my holes and best bolster the team. A trade down is still a possibility since a team like this will still have several holes. A trade up would still be a possibility if the right player fell far enough in the draft. There are all sorts of possibilities with this type team because mostly I am looking for one or two guys who can step in and play now and help the team.

I would stand by this comment for this year.
Fill a hole with a player that can come in and start.
If someone falls and you can trade down - do it.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Take the best player on your board.

 

[Famous Star]

Make no mistake that Lawson and Wimbley will play in their first year and contribute a lot. Just look at what SD did with Merriman. He didn't play full time, they put him in pass rush sitations and he contributed ten sacks. Nothing wrong with having Al Singleton start and bringing in the tweener on passing downs. And putting Ware on the strong side isn't a bad idea either.

I think both will play this year, but having a vet there to groom and allow them to learn on the job is not a bad idea.

 

[Famous Star]

I see what you are asking; do we get the player who is the most polished right now or do we get the guy with the most upside?

To answer your question; I will take the guy who will be BPA 2 years down the road IF and only IF he is good enough to play well for me NOW. I want the guy with the most upside in the long term but only if he can do a serviceable job in the short term.

Certainly Ware would be BPA two years into the deal but Ware was also good enough to step in and play well for us last year. Lawson and Wimbley are that type of players; they could help us now and will be huge in the future. Again we would have to live with some rookie mistakes but they would both be upgrades and I would rather have them be serviceable this year and be beast two years from now than to have Carpenter be merely serviceable for the rest of his career.

I agree 100%. I take the BPA two years down the road.

 

[Famous Star]

Only problem with that is no one know how any of these players will do next year let alone 2 or 3 years down the road. All a team can do is judge a draft choice by his play in college and the things they see during the workouts.

Thats why the draft is a crap shoot. Nothing is 100%, but Ireland gets paid to make those calls. I can't do it, b/c I don't do it for a living. No team is ever 100% on picks no matter what the draft philosophy is.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Mine has always been take the BPA that fills a need. Even more so today where these rookies will be FA 3 to 4 years down the line so sitting for a year or 2 is not in the cards.

I would agree with that.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

But other than Jones Dallas had no other RB, we were releasing George so there was nothing behind Jones to speak of. Drafting the BPA does not do you much good if the guy never gets out of the field because he is stuck behind a Pro Bowl player which goes back to the theory of BPA that fits a need on your team.

Exactly.

Your #1 needs to be able to see the field in year 1. I can live with #2 & #3 not seeing much action.

 

[Typhus]

Its not uncommon to hear the following from fans in general.. "I dont care what posistion we take at 18, as long as its the best player on the board."

I've said the exact same thing a few times.

I just dont see that the "BPA" theory really holds water, and by that I mean that every team has special needs and time frames inorder to get the best and most complete team together inorder to compete in their short window of opportunity.

For instance, we all know that BP isnt going to be around forever, maybe 2 more years tops. So he is going to live or die with Bledsoe and if Cutler were to somehow be there at 18, would they take him?

Whos draft would this be if that happened? Jerrys' or Bills'?

I pray that the draft belongs to Bill, and not Jerry, it is clear that Jerry has his two cents during free agency, but lets all pray together now collectively, that the draft belongs to the Tuna.

Assuming that it does, there is no way that Bill takes Cutler, what would likey ensue would be a virtul onslaught of working the phones in the war room, fielding offers from other teams trying to move up to take the Vanderbilt prize.

No, If this is truly Bills day, he will be drafting for need, and hopefully not reaching in doing so, but that can still happen, and usually does.

So alot of us in here, including myself, might need to check ourselves when our number finally comes up with the first pick, because a player that all the experts wont be overly excited about, just might be the name on the card when Tags reads it off.

 

[Doomsday101]

Thats why the draft is a crap shoot. Nothing is 100%, but Ireland gets paid to make those calls. I can't do it, b/c I don't do it for a living. No team is ever 100% on picks no matter what the draft philosophy is.

I understand that but it is hard enough to figure out who is going to cut it tomorrow let alone 2 years down the road. There is no way to predict that. I also agree no team hits on every pick, I figure if you can get 3 or 5 solid players out of a draft you did well and out of that 3 to 5 players if 1 or 2 turn into Pro Bowl caliber players then you did great.

 

[baj1dallas]

Take a guy that will be able to contribute to your team. Now or later.

And also, I believe it is a law of nature that whoever Detroit drafts, is going to suck, so there's no use getting excited about it.

 

[Tricky-22]

In a nutshell, my draft philosophy is to draft pro-bowlers in every round of the draft.

Yep, that's about it.

 

[morasp]

High Character Leader Type.

Must have the physical requirements size, height, speed.

Productivity in college, no players with lots of "potential" but no production.

Pick for needs but don't reach. If you need OL help but all the OL available is 2nd round or later talent, don't pick them in the first round.

 

[kartr]

Mine is to trade down and get extra picks, use them wisely to build depth; and after you've built a solid but unspectacular group that plays consistently well, then go for the big ticket players to put you over the hump.
In general, build your D-line first so that know one can run all over you, then add pass rushers
Secondly, build your O-line and a RB to consistently move the chains and then worry about the receivers and the qb last.

But the main point is to stay away from safetys and tight ends in the first three rounds, unless you have everything else you need.

 

[JackMagist]

Only problem with that is no one know how any of these players will do next year let alone 2 or 3 years down the road. All a team can do is judge a draft choice by his play in college and the things they see during the workouts.

The truth be told you never know how any of these players will do THIS year much less 2 or 3 years down the road. What you have to do is judge things like athleticism, instincts and coachability when trying to figure how they will do 2 or 3 years down the road. You look for those signs of upside just like you look for the signs of how they played the position in college. It just requires a better scouting department and more research to dig a little deeper to find out these things.

 

[Billy Bullocks]

YOu usually can just go with BPA and be fine. If you are a really bad team, chances are alot of players are at a positon of need, so that works out.

 

[Cochese]

OLB, OLB, OLB.

There are tons of them, I think we can get a rediculous playmaker to go along side of Ware whether it be Lawson or Carpenter.