T1B

Five years later.

I've got a few minutes to kill, so I'll piss on Al's grave a little by grading one of his typically weak late-years drafts.



2009

1. Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland - Fair player for a few years, but terrible as a #7 overall pick
2. Mike Mitchell, S, Ohio University - Fair contributor for a couple of years, then went to Carolina last year and played like a stud
3. Matt Shaughnessy, DE Wisconsin - Decent player for a few years
4a. Louis Murphy, WR, Florida - Modest contributor for a couple of years
4b. Slade Norris, LB, Oregon State - nothing
6a. Stryker Sulak, DE, Missouri - nothing
6b. Brandon Myers, TE, Iowa - Decent pick for a 6th rounder. Played well in Oakland last year. Now with the Bucs.



Summary:

Al reached hard with his first and second round picks ---> and it was a fail.

With Bey, he was trying to give huge-armed JaWalrus Russell a legit deep threat, and Bey has good size to go along with his speed, but unfortunately, he can't catch the ball well enough.

Classic DHB clip here.
Guy must have been reamed out HARD in the film room by his mates as they watched this ridiculous shit.



HE RUNS FAST!!!





Nobody had Mitchell going as a 2nd round pick -- and Al surely had visions of Jack Tatum, because MM has a lot of energy and he can lay the wood sometimes.
But he never found his his place in Oakland.
Went away to have a good year with the Panthers last year.

Shaughnessy was ok here and there and Myers was solid in 2012, but the rest is nothing - and overall, this draft was just not good.


D+

Do we have to?

Chargers 2009

1 (16) Larry English: Total bust. Barely serviceable rotation slappy.

2 (47) Traded to New England

3 (78) Louis Vasquez: Decent value for the pick. A steady but unspectacular player. With Denver now.

4 (113) Vaughn Martin: Just a guy in the rotation. Signed with Miami last year, got hurt, got cut. With Detroit this year.

4 (133) Tyronne Green: Back up on a shitty O line. Left after 2012. Struggling to hold a roster spot with New England.

4 (134) Gartrell Johnson: Who? Never heard of this guy. He didn't make the team. Had 23 career rushing attempts for the Giants and Falcons and is out of football.

5 (148) Brandon Hughes: Blew out his knee in preseason. Cut at the end of 2009. Signed with Cleveland this year.

6 (189) Kevin Ellison: Got a couple starts out of him. Total mental case/doper. Cut during training camp 2010. Out of the NFL.

7 (224) Demetrius Byrd: Fucked up in a car wreck just before the draft. Took a flyer here to see if he might recover...he didn't. Never played pro ball.

Only one player is still with the team and he isn't very good, the best player is merely decent and three of them are not in the NFL.

Grade: Shit Sandwich

1 32 Ziggy Hood DT Missouri
3 79 Kraig Urbik T Wisconsin
3 84 Mike Wallace WR Mississippi
3 96 Keenan Lewis DB Oregon State
5 168 Joe Burnett DB Central Florida
5 169 Frank Summers RB Nevada-Las Vegas
6 205 Ra'Shon Harris DT Oregon
7 226 A.Q. Shipley C Penn State
7 241 David Johnson TE Arkansas State

Hood - Relegated to the 2nd string. Showing no signs of progress. D+
Urbik - Never started, not on the team. F
Wallace - Effective but gone. B+
Lewis - A quality corner just coming into his prime. Too bad he'll be doing that with the Saints. B+
Burnet - Shipley - Washed out - D
Johnson - Was somewhat useful when he's not injured. Now in San Diego. Not too bad for a 7th rounder. B-

Overall: This draft wold have been far more useful had they been able to keep Lewis and Wallace. Since they did not, I have to give it a C-

1st Round - Jeremy Maclin
2nd Round - Shady McCoy
5th Round - Cornelius Ingram
5th Round - Macho Harris
5th Round - Fenuki Tupou
6th Round - Brandon Gibson
7th Round - Paul Fanakia
7th Round - Moise Foku

Maclin has shown potential before getting hurt. The Eagles must think highly of him to resign him despite the knee injury. He was probably drafted correctly but his grade is incomplete at this point.

'Shady was picked in the latter half of the 2nd round. He is the very definition of a draft day steal given his career thus far.

Ingram never got on the field because of injuries but at the time he was consider a steal given his talent level. Turned out to be a paper tiger.

Harris, Tupou never developed
Gibson showed promise but hasn't developed.
Fanakia has yet to make an NFL team.
Foku is still on the roster. Decent LB.. a good pick in the 7th round but it's not like he's playing at a high level.

B+ given where Shady was picked and his results. If Maclin flourishes with Kelly after the injury I might elevate to an A.

jiminphilly wrote:B+ given where Shady was picked and his results. If Maclin flourishes with Kelly after the injury I might elevate to an A.

You've got to be kidding. You are joking...right?

Ball sucking homer much?

mvscal wrote:

jiminphilly wrote:B+ given where Shady was picked and his results. If Maclin flourishes with Kelly after the injury I might elevate to an A.

You've got to be kidding. You are joking...right?

Ball sucking homer much?

What do you disagree with? The potential for the grade to improve or the B+? There is no denial that McCoy was a draft day steal.

One good player and you give the draft an A? No, he wasn't a steal in the 2nd round. That's probably where he should have been taken. Arian Foster was the steal of 2009.

Detroit Lions: F

ESPN's Michael Rothstein gives the Lions a B for the '09 draft.

http://espn.go.com/blog/detroit-lions/p ... 2009-draft

2009 Rams:

•Round 1, 2nd overall, Jason Smith, OT Baylor
•Round 2, 35th overall, James Laurinaitis, LB Ohio State
•Round 3, 66th overall Bradley Fletcher CB Iowa
•Round 4, 103rd overall Dorell Scott DT Clemson
•Round 5, 160th overall Brooks Foster WR UNC
•Round 6, 196th overall Keith Null QB Texas A&M
•Round 7, 211th overall Chris Ogbonnaya RB Texas

In reality, only one truly solid player in Laurinaitis. The rest are no longer on the roster.

Grade: Meh. Give 'em a D at best.

1. Josh Freeman - QB - Kansas State: lol
3. Roy Miller - DT - Texas: average DT at best, now a Jag
4. Kyle Moore - DE - USC: very meh, released after 2 years
5. Xavier Fulton - T- Illinois: IR all of '09, released after, now in CFL
7. E.J. Biggers - CB - Western Michigan: a perpetual backup that saw PT due to injuries, average player, now a Skin
7. Sammie Stroughter - WR - Oregon State: one of the few Bucs to return a kickoff for a TD...that's about all, now a FA

Line-up speaks for itself, Freeman had 1 good year with the team. Hardly makes a dent in the grade for this draft.

F+

Broncos
1 Knowshon Moreno (turned out to be a good pick although he was a classic underachiever for the first few years)
1 Robert Ayers (this was the pick Denver got from Chicago for Jay Cuntler-even though he's underachieved I have no doubt that Denver still got the better end of the deal)
2 Alphonso Smith (they gave up on him too soon, but the guy isn't a second round quality player)
2 Darcel McBath (who?)
2 Richard Quinn (who?)
4 David Bruton (still on the team, but mainly serves as a desperation type back-up) "is he the only one we've got left? okay, send him out.....
4 Seth Olsen (total bust)
5 Kenny McKinley (ended up killing himself so I'd say he was a bust)
6 Tom Brandstater (I watched Brandstater play at Fresno State and never once did I ever think "there's a pro caliber QB" total bust)
7 Blake Schlueter (total bust)

D+

Damn, look at all the shit grades.

Al wasn't the only fool, after all.

Can a 7th rounder really be a "total bust?" Chances are much greater he won't turn out to be anything.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Can a 7th rounder really be a "total bust?"

Yes.

7 (224) Demetrius Byrd: Fucked up in a car wreck just before the draft. Took a flyer here to see if he might recover...he didn't. Never played pro ball.

Arian Foster, Michael Bennet and Dannell Ellerbe all went undrafted in 2009.

I always assumed "bust" to be a term used for guys who came into the league with hype/high expectations, but didn't pan out. Typically, 1st and 2nd rounders.