2011 NFL Draft

This was a bit hastily thrown together, so it probably will change a lot. It's info-packed, but probably not as accurate as I like and relies on conventional wisdom/common opinion more than I usually do since I've had about half as much time as last year to look at film cutups.

The Post Combine Mega-NFL Draft Post, Players by Round « LiveBall Sports (http://liveballsports.com/2011/03/05/the-post-combine-mega-nfl-draft-post-players-by-round/)

Good stuff. Got me thinking that the Oline has some talent in there that not getting talked about. If you pulled a Vinny-Zorn special and had 3 2nd round picks, instead of getting all recievers, you could probably walk away 3 high-ceiling potential starters up front.

I will say this. The QB class is ALWAYS weak. We need to get used to it. In fact in retrospect it's usually the guy that no one expected to be succeed that ends up being the bell of the ball.

Some perspective.

The weakest class in recent memory was 2000, where Chad Pennington was the top ranked QB. He was picked 17th overall yet when healthy was among the leagues top QB's including a season where he led the 1-15 Dolphins to 11-5.

In 2005 people also labeled the QB class as weak. The only reason Alex Smith was picked number one overall was because San Fran was desperate to do something at the QB position. Aaron Rodgers then proceeded to drop to the 24th spot. "Teams must have passed him up for a reason." Turns out the reason was that no one knew how to evaluate QB's that year except Green Bay.

Few people thought Matt Ryan was that great of a pick. His college stats were underwhelming and he was labeled as having accuracy issues. Everyone knows you build in the trenches and the Falcons were foolishly passing on Glenn Dorsey. Ryan was going to a team that gave up over 50 sacks the year before. He is now the only QB in franchise history to lead the Falcons to back to back winning seasons.

On draft day most of you thought that Joe Flacco would take years to "develop" and why not, he came from a shotgun spread attack at an FCS school. Today is among the most highly respected young QB's in the game.

Josh Freeman. What a wasted pick right? Tampa was drafting Jason Campbell 2.0. Look at this guy. Best season is 20 TD's and 8 Ints. Never led his team to anything big. Career completion percentage under 60%. Man terrible pick. "Oh but his arm is strong." Big whoop. He'll be a bust.

2004 was a strong class, but that was if you were in position to get Rivers or Manning. The Steelers got the left overs in Big Ben, who has gone on to be the most prestigious QB of the class.

2006. Well as long as you could get Young or Leinart you were able to talk about how strong the class was as you had two remarkable college QB's. One with outrageous physical talent that was able to show clutch on college football's biggest stage. And another who played in a pro style offense for a national championship team. But wait, now those two are off the board? Is the class still strong? All I see is Jay Cutler? He played at Vanderbilt, and wasn't able to do much stat wise. He has a strong arm but how many times have we've seen that mean nothing?

People please repeat it with me. "THE QB CLASS IS NEVER STRONG ON DRAFT DAY." Scouts poke and prod these guys left and right and find virtually every reason why they won't succeed. The fact of the matter is we have no idea how most of them will turn out. If we had drafted most of the above guys on draft day (particularly guys like Freeman or Flacco) most of you would have had a cow.

Forget the strong class concept. We're not building a QB stable. We need one guy to throw the ball. That's it. No one is running a two or three QB offense. If we find that guy that can give us stability at the games most important position we have to take him, even if it means taking the rest of you kicking and screaming.

Next years class is always stronger then this years class when it comes speculation. It's the new Vet min. The funny thing is the guys that people are looking at next year when labeling a class are the guys we're never in position to draft (*read Andrew Luck*).

*End Rant*

This is no "rant", it's an armchair scout/GM's coming of age! Great post, probably the best I've read about QBs in the draft. Better points & reserch than any no. of media articles on the subject.

The case or A. Rodgers is really compelling; it was as if a bunch of teams just got scared to pick the kid. We could've had him at #9!

Thanks. TigerBlood is flowing pretty strong today #winning.

Speaking of which, you know who's not winning? Von freaking Miller.


Also I think Mel Kiper just won himself a couple more fans in DC.

I'd love to get Dalton in the 2nd. Here's hoping Kiper is right.

Dirtbag, it's amazing what sense will do for you.

Dirtbag, it's amazing what sense will do for you.

what kind of "sense" you talkin bout?

I would love to have Julio Jones in the 1st round & Ryan Malett in the 2nd

Mallett absolutely would not fit our system, and I think Shanahan knows that, but he's the guy at the quarterback position who is now likely undervalued. In the second round, he's a steal.

Mallett absolutely would not fit our system, and I think Shanahan knows that, but he's the guy at the quarterback position who is now likely undervalued. In the second round, he's a steal.

I've come around to this same opinion. I worry about the immaturity rumors, but until you hear something substantiated, he seems like a great prospect, albeit one who has extremely limited mobility. Still, if I have to choose between a guy who runs a 4.5 but is scattershot and a guy who is a statue but has a golden arm, the dude with the arm wins every time.

One would like to believe that our coaches are flexible enough to adapt their system to a less than system-ideal prospect. (I know, we didn't adapt to McNabb, but I don't know how you adapt to a qb throwing bounce passes.)

The limited mobility is my biggest concern about Mallett, because I think it hinders development and sets a guy up initially for failure in the NFL.

But that's why you wouldn't take a guy with otherwise top ten ability in the the top ten: because he's missing something from the complete package. Love his value in the second round though, even if he doesn't pan out.

I like Gabbert a lot, and at the end of the day, Gabbert and Mallett have draft profiles that are more similar than they are different. All of the small things say: draft Gabbert, but after the 20th pick, Gabbert won't be there, and Mallett likely still will be.

The limited mobility is my biggest concern about Mallett, because I think it hinders development and sets a guy up initially for failure in the NFL.

But that's why you wouldn't take a guy with otherwise top ten ability in the the top ten: because he's missing something from the complete package. Love his value in the second round though, even if he doesn't pan out.

I like Gabbert a lot, and at the end of the day, Gabbert and Mallett have draft profiles that are more similar than they are different. All of the small things say: draft Gabbert, but after the 20th pick, Gabbert won't be there, and Mallett likely still will be.

From what I've watched of Mallet, which is more than any of the other big name prospects, his delivery doesn't seem to fit the west coat O - too slow. He has that classic 7-step drop deep ball look. Seems to me it would be like trying the JC in W Coast O experiment all over again.