Scott Pioli gave me sort of what I expected. He picked lots of players I didn't know much about, and only one player that didn't surprise me -- kick returner/wideout Quinten Lawrence. Pioli has never been known for fireworks. Spying perhaps. Not fireworks. Pioli has made his bread-and-butter by finding guys that were not splashy - often in the late rounds - who quietly become pro-bowlers. So, for now, I'm willing to give this draft class the benefit of the doubt.
What did they get? Let's start with need areas:
Defensive end was a clear need - Check - first two picks are huge, Richard Seymour-style DE's
Offensive line was a need - Got one of them, too. A big fat, slow, white one.
Kick returner - You betcha. Possibly one of the best values in this draft.
Receiving tight end - Consider it done. Tony G he ain't, but who is?
Mr. Irrelevant - Found maybe the most irrelevant guy on the board! In fact, when interviewed after the draft, his mom said, "Ryan who?"
(You all recall the last "Mr. Irrelevant" to wear the red and gold? That's right - the ONLY Mr. Irrelevant to ever play in a Pro Bowl - and the finest woman in the history of the NFL - Ms. Bill Kenney.)
And you can't look at this draft without including the second round, where they got Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel in trade for that pick.
Was it splashy? No. Did they wheel-and-deal, and pick up 20 more picks? No. But they did a competent job of filling a few of the myriad holes shot in the hull of this sinking ship, by the previous administration.
And they still have a lot of cash to shop the free-agent market.
Overall, the Dogg says, it looks like a B- effort. But there's no real way to know until you see these guys don the pads and start making contact.
More changes to come? With the new defensive scheme I am wondering if Glenn Dorsey will still be around a year from now. His rookie year was sure lackluster (then again what COULD you say about the entire team after a season like that?) He doesn't really fit into the new scheme does he?
ReplyDeleteGood question, Willie. I'm not sure if he can play nose tackle or not. But I'm betting with the money they have tied up in him, he'll get a good look.
ReplyDeleteWell he and Tyson were teammates at LSU (weren't they?) so hopefully they can rework this situation. Dorsey had so much promise and he was kind of a flop last year but who knows maybe he just had a bad case of "Hermes".
ReplyDeleteWell put. Yes, they were teammates and roommates at LSU. Dorsey is too small to play in a 4-3. As a pure nose tackle, if he can use his leverage, and has trees either side of him, he should be better - at both stuffing the run, and tying up the inside of the line for a LB blitz.
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