There is a lot of would have should have could have's when it comes to the draft. I doubt the Ravens would have taken Boller with the 10th they probabley would have traded down and then selected Boller. But the reason everyone liked the Ravens is there ability to be lucky and get Suggs to fall to them and then haveing the ability to pull off a deal so they could still grab the Qb they were looking for. Then they snagged a very solid Musa Smith in the third.
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Arlo makes a great point about the Vikings' draft strategy (or apparent lack of) but I have to disagree that you'll see much of it.
Most of the teams operate from a paranoia paradigm and draft experts probably wake up in cold sweats from nightmares about missing the next Joe Montana or Jerry Rice because they let a player slip one or two places in the draft. Even in this draft we saw quite a bit of reaching on picks, even in the first round. Some teams are simply going to grab the best available talent at their draft position (as many do in fantasy live drafts) and they don't really have to give alot of thoughts to their picks once the draft starts. I'd say that the majority of teams, however, are second-guessing themselves and everyone around them. Noone wants to be the next guy to let a Dan Marino slide past him.
I think the Bungles were fools to grab a QB in the first round. He doesn't address an immediate need, and if you're going to take the time to develop a guy at QB, there are guys even in the latest rounds who could be solid NFL QBs. It's great that the Bungles are willing to develop a guy, but in their present situation it doesn't make much sense to use a 1st round pick on someone who will warm the bench.
I also question how well you can develop a QB if you don't have the right role model and the right coaching staff. Doghouse teams would be better off trading for a great team's #2 ... look how many teams that Steve Young could have started for but he waited for his chance in San Fran. That situation still exists in the NFL, where some 2nd string and probably a few third string QBs from well coached teams would make better starters than some of the "franchise" QBs on lesser teams.
Sorry Bungles but the truth is that guys who were available this season, like Jim Miller and Shane Matthews, may all ready be better than Palmer will ever become, and they are hardly the cream of the crop. Most NFL QBs never get a legitimate shot at becoming a starter for their teams. It's not like WR where you will have 3 or 4 of them on the field in a game, and can afford to rotate various guys into the weekly lineup without too adversely affecting your team's effectiveness.
I hope that Palmer works out; I really do. But even if he's Elway, Marino, Montana, etc. all rolled into one, I'll still say he wasn't worth a first round pick this year by this team. There are teams that would've given an arm and a leg for the first pick, and the Bengals are missing several limbs.
Obviously I'll sound like a broken record here, but the Ravens seemed to have the best 1st round.
A couple of things though:
Suggs: Yeah he was a great college player but he's not a big DE. He's a little on the light side. He schooled a lot of college tackles, but now he's going to be going up against guys who are bigger, more likely faster, and definitely stronger than him. I don't know if he'll be the impact player everyone thinks he will be. Can anybody say Courtney Brown?
I think the Bengals had the best draft, and I know it may sound like a bit of a "homer" pick. THey ended up getting their qb of the future, who in my opinion was the absolute best option as the first pick. And DD, to say he doesn't have good people to mentor him, I totally disagree. Kitna has the perfect mentor and leadership abilities for a young qb to study under. They also brought in qb's coach Ken Zampese (from St. Louis) in the offseason who is extremely respected around the league, and who really wanted Palmer after evaluating him for the last couple of months. But, I'm most happy with the picks following Palmer's. Their first 4 picks (rd. 1-4) were all on most lists' slotted for the 1st round. I've never seen anything like that before. I think teams took alot of DL's and reached too early for some of them in the 1st round. That helped leave alot of these guys after the 1st, which benefited the Bengals and some other teams.
I also liked the Raven's picks too, but Boller and Suggs both have some question marks surrounding them. I still think they were the right picks though, and the Raven's D looks nasty for opposing offenses with the addition of Suggs and a healthy Ray Lewis.
I also liked Detroit's draft, and think they replaced Claiborne nicely at LB, and also landed their game breaker reciever w/ Rogers.
thx C-hawk. Yes, I was impressed by Detroit's draft. They could easily go to 9-7 this year with the changes, the new coach, and the new excitement generated here. I'd probably rank them only behind Balt. and Cincy draft wise, but I also like what the Seabirds did. Getting Trufant should shore up that secondary real good.
First: How will Harrington do now that he has an improved team and Rogers?
Second: Anyone else itching to see the Steelers D this year. They were better then average last year and they took 3 straight D players in the draft. Safety, D line and CB. OOOOOOOOOOO
Okay DUKE, you convinced me ... the Bengals CAN develop Palmer. Was he worth a #1 spot though? In October he was ranked only fifth among QBs who would be eligible for the draft, with Leftwich ranked 1st and Simms 4th. The ranking was by Frank Coyle, a pro scout and publisher of Draft Insiders' Digest, an NFL Draft and Free Agency publication for the past 11 years.
Sometimes we get so used to being down on an organization (or a person) that we don't notice or give credit when they start turning themselves around. It's a tricky process, and as we've seen with teams like Denver and Minnesota over the years, your offense can rise as your defense is falling, and your defense can improve as your offense is declining.
Palmer is good news for the Bengals. He's just not good fantasy news for this year.
Last edited by DraftDodger on Mon Apr 28, 2003 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by hayesb26 » Sun Apr 27, 2003 7:54 pm 
