Hostile
The Duke
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It is a question that has plagued Draft gurus for decades. There simply is no perfect formula. Teams and scouts get enamored with measurables and potential when they see these kids work out. Sometimes that bears fruit. Sometimes it's a fruitless endeavor.
Let's look at 2005 for one minute. 18 DTs were selected in that Draft by 15 different teams. A 19th DT was also selected in the Supplemental Draft by the Dolphins.
How did a DE out of Auburn move to DT for the Cowboys and out perform all of those guys? Jay Ratliff is a late round gem. How does a guy like him slip to round 7 and then change positions and become a true destructive force in the NFL?
223 players went ahead of Jay Ratliff. There is no way even 1/10th of those players are better football players than he is. So how does it happen?
How does a guy labeled as can't miss, like Ryan Leaf, end up being one of the biggest misses of all time, and a Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Bart Starr, or Johnny Unitas come from nowhere to become a star? Why didn't the scouts know Leaf was going to flop and Unitas was going to become a legend?
I wish I had the answers. I would be the world's richest football fan. No one knows the answer to that dilemma.
Every football expert in the country had Darrell Russell of USC being the top Defensive football player in the 1997 Draft and he was an absolute can't miss guy on character. Yet his NFL career was littered with brushes with the law, questionable character decisions, and up until his untimely death he was pretty much recognized as a huge flop.
How does a Jay Ratliff end up being a better football player than a guy like that with all that potential?
How does a Cornell Green never play a down of college football and end up being a 5 time Pro Bowl DB and a 3 time All Pro DB at 2 different positions?
How does every Draft service in the world have a Blair Thomas as the best back in the Draft and he not even come close to standing in Emmitt Smith's shadow? How does a 5'7" Warrick Dunn amass 10,000+ yards rushing in the NFL and a physical specimen like Antowain Smith barely even make a dent?
There is simply no way to measure heart. If a guy has it, you usually end up revering that player. Some players get the fat contract and go through the motions after that. They never live up to those measurables and all that potential. Injuries derail a lot of promising careers. Some simply make horrible choices or end up on bad teams only to revive their careers a little bit somewhere else. But it is beyond rare for a guy to flop somewhere where he was Drafted and then become a star somewhere else.
When someone finally figures out how to hit on 100% of their Draft choices every single time, the NFL will become a one team show and rather boring. Roll the dice, take your chances.
We always have hindsight for entertainment. "We should have taken _________ instead of __________." Hindsight is 20/20 vision every time. Where were these wonderful insights before the Draft? Why aren't they scouting in the NFL? To steal a line from Tootsie Pops, "the world may never know."
Let's look at 2005 for one minute. 18 DTs were selected in that Draft by 15 different teams. A 19th DT was also selected in the Supplemental Draft by the Dolphins.
How did a DE out of Auburn move to DT for the Cowboys and out perform all of those guys? Jay Ratliff is a late round gem. How does a guy like him slip to round 7 and then change positions and become a true destructive force in the NFL?
223 players went ahead of Jay Ratliff. There is no way even 1/10th of those players are better football players than he is. So how does it happen?
How does a guy labeled as can't miss, like Ryan Leaf, end up being one of the biggest misses of all time, and a Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Bart Starr, or Johnny Unitas come from nowhere to become a star? Why didn't the scouts know Leaf was going to flop and Unitas was going to become a legend?
I wish I had the answers. I would be the world's richest football fan. No one knows the answer to that dilemma.
Every football expert in the country had Darrell Russell of USC being the top Defensive football player in the 1997 Draft and he was an absolute can't miss guy on character. Yet his NFL career was littered with brushes with the law, questionable character decisions, and up until his untimely death he was pretty much recognized as a huge flop.
How does a Jay Ratliff end up being a better football player than a guy like that with all that potential?
How does a Cornell Green never play a down of college football and end up being a 5 time Pro Bowl DB and a 3 time All Pro DB at 2 different positions?
How does every Draft service in the world have a Blair Thomas as the best back in the Draft and he not even come close to standing in Emmitt Smith's shadow? How does a 5'7" Warrick Dunn amass 10,000+ yards rushing in the NFL and a physical specimen like Antowain Smith barely even make a dent?
There is simply no way to measure heart. If a guy has it, you usually end up revering that player. Some players get the fat contract and go through the motions after that. They never live up to those measurables and all that potential. Injuries derail a lot of promising careers. Some simply make horrible choices or end up on bad teams only to revive their careers a little bit somewhere else. But it is beyond rare for a guy to flop somewhere where he was Drafted and then become a star somewhere else.
When someone finally figures out how to hit on 100% of their Draft choices every single time, the NFL will become a one team show and rather boring. Roll the dice, take your chances.
We always have hindsight for entertainment. "We should have taken _________ instead of __________." Hindsight is 20/20 vision every time. Where were these wonderful insights before the Draft? Why aren't they scouting in the NFL? To steal a line from Tootsie Pops, "the world may never know."
