GM talk draft picks, give each draft pick its due (even the late ones)

[top dawg]

As fans, it's easy to get caught up in all the media reports and rankings regarding those players that are expected to go in the first couple of rounds (and even the third to some extent).  I mean it's much more interesting, if not outright easier, to prognosticate about top prospects than it is to guess where and when the rank and file prospects are going.  The mid to late round prospects are but a footnote on many message boards, and you rarely ever hear them discussed on NFLN or ESPN. But after all the cards have been turned in and the auditorium lights turned out, and after all the un-drafted college free agents have been called and have chosen a new home, there is the real possibility that some of the guys that were hardly discussed on a football forum (if at all) will end up earning a starting spot and making their presence known.

 

Of course fans realize that all the draft picks are (or can be) important on an intellectual level, but saying it can easily be referred to as "fan-speak". GMs are extremely cognizant of this truth about the importance of all the picks, and so they look at the draft a little differently than most fans do as reported by Joe Menzer on Panthers.com. Dave Gettleman summed it up in a few words:

 

"When you're drafting, you can't look at any draft pick as a throwaway. They're all critical. Every pick is important. They're all like gold."

 

 

But Gettleman is not the only one who realizes the importance of all the picks, so does Bill Polian, Panthers' ex-GM and Hall-of-Famer: 

 

"I always viewed the draft as a continuum, where you wanted to come out with as many players for your team as you could, including college free agency...

 

"I always tell people at ESPN that all the focus is on the first round, but the guys who win championships for you come from the fourth round all the way through college free agency...

 

 

Polian went on to say that if you can get five or six guys from the draft that make your team, then you've done a "bang-up" job, but the goal according to Marty Hurney is to get three starters.

 

"The goal going into every draft is to try to get three starters," Hurney said. "Then you also want to add guys who compete and add depth and compete on special teams. And it really doesn't matter where they come from, as far as your team goes. Now perception-wise, it does. But it really doesn't change (for general managers).

 

"In the later rounds, some teams have different philosophies. Some teams go with measurables more, some teams go with needs more. But we always took the same approach in every round. We evaluated every guy the same in every round, as far as how he fit in that round, how he fit in that group of players, and how he fit us in the scheme that we were running and what we wanted to do...

 

 

 

Now looking at the general thought processes of these past and present football execs, you can see that they see each draft pick pretty much the same, at least in reference to the possibility of each pick playing a key part on the team. It's not just about the top of the draft. History has proven this, so instead of continually tossing the ball of contentiousness about top prospects over and over again, perhaps we should really pay attention to some of the other guys also.  

 

This draft season is coming to a close, but I will certainly be thinking about the "continuum" perspective of the draft when researching from now on, and I appreciate Menzer giving us something a little different to think about during perhaps our most anxious period as fans.

 

As noted by Menzer, Gman still believes in his way of going about the draft, and why shouldn't he considering that last year he probably did land his three starters, and maybe even more.

 

"Who doesn't want to be right all the time? You know what I'm saying?" said Gettleman, chuckling.  "I've said it, and I'm sure you've seen it printed, I have great confidence in our evaluation ability around here. I really do.

 

 

Though some of you hate the term, I love it and I'm going to say it: Swag! 

 

[Gin and Juice]

As a fan, repetitive use of the phrase "find our #2 WR" is a lot like "3 starters logic." Every pick should be about picking a guy that can be no.1 on the depth chart at their position. You naturally gain depth by just adding another player

[t96]

Good stuff, but while every pick is important, the earlier picks are more important.

[Mr. Scot]

Menzer has done two or three articles for the site of late, and they've been good stuff.

I was actually going to post this one myself before a quick search told me it was already done.

[Fidel Cashflow]

Btw, panthers pre-draft press conference will be next Tuesday.

[PntherPryd]

For first round perspective, loved a re-tweet by Jonathan Jones earlier today;

 

@jjones9 RT @MarkKaboly_Trib: 27 QBs have been selected in 1st round in past 10 years.  Only 28 playoff wins between them and Flacco has 10.

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

For first round perspective, loved a re-tweet by Jonathan Jones earlier today;

@jjones9 RT @MarkKaboly_Trib: 27 QBs have been selected in 1st round in past 10 years. Only 28 playoff wins between them and Flacco has 10.

Ouch.