What are you most pleased with about this draft?

BRSaintsFan · 05-03-2007, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by saintsmissile

Jason David. I will go off the subject a tad here. Young and Jones have talent. That I'm sure of. However, much has been made that Young started X amount of games at Kent. The problem with that is IT WAS KENT! How many NFL caliber wr's was he going against in both practice and games. An example of this would be J.Wade from Tenn. Wade had almost identical measurables as Young and Jones. The big difference in my mind: competition. Wade went against Meachem, Dallas Baker from UF, Dwayne Bowe and Buster Davis from LSU, S.Rice from Arkansas, Courtney Taylor from Auburn etc. Does the MAC or whatever conference Young and Jones play in have anywhere NEAR this kind of talent? Doubt it. I'm not saying that either is not worthy of being picked, but my point here is that the jump to NFL caliber wr's is a big one. The fact that Wade etc have played against NFL caliber receiver's in college gives them a bit of advantage. Basically, the learning curve for small school cb's is a bit greater.

You are correct. Just as hard as it is to make the transition to NFL for a WR, its just as hard if not harder for CBs. Where I think that Young especially and Jones as well have more potential thatn Jon Wade, I agree that the learning curve will be much more for them. In Wade's case, you also have to consider not only the guys he faced this season but in season's past. Its not unrealistic to say that a guy who has played 4 years for an SEC school could have possibly faced 10 NFL starters or regular contributers at wideout. Thus, I think if you are looking for someone who can come in on defense immediately and be able to contribute either in a partial/split time role or as a nickel back, you are better off drafting a big school player. However, we drafted our CBs this season based on potential and Young and Jones potential is much greater than Wades. No corner we drafted was cracking the starting lineup and probably not the nickel or even dime back cases either. They may get some spot duty here and there and will be expected to contribute on special teams. In the mean time, you will be grooming them and instead of them facing Bowe, and Rice and Davis in college practice, they will be facing Colston, MEachem, Patten. Also they will have the guidance of Frddy T, Craft, McKenzie which will also be big for them catching the learning curve.

Thus, with some big school prospects, you can argue that because they played against so much good competition, that while they are battle tested and likely more NFL ready, you might never get any more out of them than you already have. These small school guys havent played against that type of competition so you dont know what the possibilities are. I would have rather selected Wade or Bennett or another corner from a strong conference with one of the CB picks that way we have a guy who is battle tested and played against the best in case we do need him to contribute a fair amount of defensive snaps during the season and one CB who is more of a project but whose upside is limitless. But it is what it is.

05-03-2007, 08:53 AM	#21
BRSaintsFan 100th Post Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 449	Originally Posted by saintsmissile Jason David. I will go off the subject a tad here. Young and Jones have talent. That I'm sure of. However, much has been made that Young started X amount of games at Kent. The problem with that is IT WAS KENT! How many NFL caliber wr's was he going against in both practice and games. An example of this would be J.Wade from Tenn. Wade had almost identical measurables as Young and Jones. The big difference in my mind: competition. Wade went against Meachem, Dallas Baker from UF, Dwayne Bowe and Buster Davis from LSU, S.Rice from Arkansas, Courtney Taylor from Auburn etc. Does the MAC or whatever conference Young and Jones play in have anywhere NEAR this kind of talent? Doubt it. I'm not saying that either is not worthy of being picked, but my point here is that the jump to NFL caliber wr's is a big one. The fact that Wade etc have played against NFL caliber receiver's in college gives them a bit of advantage. Basically, the learning curve for small school cb's is a bit greater. You are correct. Just as hard as it is to make the transition to NFL for a WR, its just as hard if not harder for CBs. Where I think that Young especially and Jones as well have more potential thatn Jon Wade, I agree that the learning curve will be much more for them. In Wade's case, you also have to consider not only the guys he faced this season but in season's past. Its not unrealistic to say that a guy who has played 4 years for an SEC school could have possibly faced 10 NFL starters or regular contributers at wideout. Thus, I think if you are looking for someone who can come in on defense immediately and be able to contribute either in a partial/split time role or as a nickel back, you are better off drafting a big school player. However, we drafted our CBs this season based on potential and Young and Jones potential is much greater than Wades. No corner we drafted was cracking the starting lineup and probably not the nickel or even dime back cases either. They may get some spot duty here and there and will be expected to contribute on special teams. In the mean time, you will be grooming them and instead of them facing Bowe, and Rice and Davis in college practice, they will be facing Colston, MEachem, Patten. Also they will have the guidance of Frddy T, Craft, McKenzie which will also be big for them catching the learning curve. Thus, with some big school prospects, you can argue that because they played against so much good competition, that while they are battle tested and likely more NFL ready, you might never get any more out of them than you already have. These small school guys havent played against that type of competition so you dont know what the possibilities are. I would have rather selected Wade or Bennett or another corner from a strong conference with one of the CB picks that way we have a guy who is battle tested and played against the best in case we do need him to contribute a fair amount of defensive snaps during the season and one CB who is more of a project but whose upside is limitless. But it is what it is.