My draft grades

[Rat]

Even the GMs and scouts who make big money from billion dollar franchises get it wrong more often than not. Nothing wrong with making projections.

 

[Appyhawk]

View attachment 66088

Nice job capturing this to post.

 

[Hawkinaz]

I feel the way a lot of people do about the first two picks versus the rest of the draft. Like a lot of us, I had been hoping for Murphy from the start and was ecstatic as all those QBs and offensive draft picks pushed the top defensive players onto our lap. (And thank god it wasn't Laiatu Latu!)

As for Christian Haynes, he was the number one ranked guard in the draft (nfldraftbuzz.com) and predicted by many to go in the top 50 and even as early as the first round (profootballnetwork.com called him a "fringe first rounder"). He would have been a good pick as the best available player, but he also filled a huge need.

As for the rest of the draft, I didn't see that much to get excited about. I'm hoping that the Michigan connection (remember, Jay Harbaugh was the Michigan TE coach in 2021) provided some insight into AJ Barner that others didn't have. Like everyone else, I feel that Tyrese Knight may have been a reach. Why pick the 18th ranked linebacker at that point when only 7 linebackers had been taken? Obviously someone in the front office/scouting department felt strongly about this guy, and I hope that whoever it was is right.

Don’t get caught up in pre draft rankings thinking did we draft a certain player at a time that people outside the Seahawks says we should

as far as the Knight selection I am pretty sure it was MM‘s hand picked selection he knows what he wants in a LB

 

[ivotuk]

Whether or not I personally agree with your every assessment is not important to me. Differing opinions are healthy and thought-provoking. I appreciate the effort you put into your posts and I like that you're unafraid to be a contrarian in staying true to your belief system. Thanks.

Couldn't have said it better. I'd love for Mael to agree with me all of the time, but then that would make him dumb.

 

[Jerhawk]

One thing to bear in mind regarding draft grades is that communication is massive in regards to picking a player. There are maybe 5% of the draft "experts" that are the basis for most of these grades that have actually spoken to any of these players. In regards to Knight, Macdonald said that when they talked he was impressed with how he sees the game. That Knight was moving where the ball was going before anyone else on the field. I doubt anyone remembers my post after the Ravens game, but one of the things that stood out the most to me was Roquan was always going to where the ball was going even when everything was misdirection and blowing up a promising play. Knight does not have the physical gifts of Roquan, but if he has that ability, as our own Lofa did, he will be a hell of a player. When Lofa was paired with a really good DT from Texas, we rode that defensive improvement to the Super Bowl. Could lightning strike twice with Murphy playing Tubbs?

Excellent post as always! I completely agree.

I don't know enough about Knight to make an educated statement on him, but one thing that's always bothered me with our defensive players the last few years is how easily and how many of them were consistently fooled on misdirection. If Knight has the IQ and ability to follow the ball like you've said, then he'll thrive in this system.

 

[toffee]

Even the GMs and scouts who make big money from billion dollar franchises get it wrong more often than not. Nothing wrong with making projections.

Words of wisdom!

 

[toffee]

One thing to bear in mind regarding draft grades is that communication is massive in regards to picking a player. There are maybe 5% of the draft "experts" that are the basis for most of these grades that have actually spoken to any of these players. In regards to Knight, Macdonald said that when they talked he was impressed with how he sees the game. That Knight was moving where the ball was going before anyone else on the field. I doubt anyone remembers my post after the Ravens game, but one of the things that stood out the most to me was Roquan was always going to where the ball was going even when everything was misdirection and blowing up a promising play. Knight does not have the physical gifts of Roquan, but if he has that ability, as our own Lofa did, he will be a hell of a player. When Lofa was paired with a really good DT from Texas, we rode that defensive improvement to the Super Bowl. Could lightning strike twice with Murphy playing Tubbs?

When it comes to that quickness or first step, what separates the best 10-yard split from the worst could be less than 0.2sec. If the 'slow' guy can start moving 0.2 sec before the quick guy due to quicker decision-making, they are essentially equal.

Ole Miss's Deantre Prince led all prospects this year when he ran the 10 yards split in just 1.47 seconds, mean 10 yards split for linebacker is 1.617 sec. That's 0.147 sec, less than 0.15 sec. Our Knight? 1.54 sec, dude is pretty quick, although his 3 cone and 20 yards shuffles are both subpar.

 

[nwHawk]

I feel the way a lot of people do about the first two picks versus the rest of the draft. Like a lot of us, I had been hoping for Murphy from the start and was ecstatic as all those QBs and offensive draft picks pushed the top defensive players onto our lap. (And thank god it wasn't Laiatu Latu!)

As for Christian Haynes, he was the number one ranked guard in the draft (nfldraftbuzz.com) and predicted by many to go in the top 50 and even as early as the first round (profootballnetwork.com called him a "fringe first rounder"). He would have been a good pick as the best available player, but he also filled a huge need.

As for the rest of the draft, I didn't see that much to get excited about. I'm hoping that the Michigan connection (remember, Jay Harbaugh was the Michigan TE coach in 2021) provided some insight into AJ Barner that others didn't have. Like everyone else, I feel that Tyrese Knight may have been a reach. Why pick the 18th ranked linebacker at that point when only 7 linebackers had been taken? Obviously someone in the front office/scouting department felt strongly about this guy, and I hope that whoever it was is right.

Hawks head coach was a linebacker coach in Baltimore. They had him in for a top-30 visit. If the head coach wants him, that’s good enough for me.