My overall initial impression of the Panthers’ draft is… disappointing. With many defensive holes to fill, and no third rounder (hey, they have Armani Edwards!), they could have done better. While I like Kuechly and think he’ll be a great player, LB was not their top need. Yes, there are health concerns with Davis and Beason, and Dan Connor moved on, but they took BPA to bolster a position that wasn’t their biggest concern. And, while I understand and approve of their desire to add protection for Cam (and Otah’s health is a mystery), Silatolu seems like a bit of a reach in 2. Then they traded away another 3rd from next year to move to pick a 4th round DE? Who does that? I think they will be a better team this year if their returning players are healthy, but they missed some good opportunities to add immediate help to the secondary and D line.
Did you mean this in the “Ha-ha, silly Bengals and their criminal players” sense or in the “damn, the Bengals get yet another former first round projected talent, what a draft they have had” sense?
Because if its the former, first of all, it isn’t 2006 anymore and Chris Henry is dead, and second of all, Burfict is an UDFA. Super low risk, potential high reward. He fucks up or sucks then they just cut him and have lost nothing. If however, he manages to make something of himself, then the Bengals get a lot for very little investment.
If you meant the latter, then please by all means continue to praise/be jealous of the Bengals killer draft!
But… they just signed Vontaze Burfict in 2012.
Burfict’s personal issues aren’t criminal, I don’t think. It’s his on-field mental control problems and locker-room-disrupting, blaming personality. And he’s slow.
He’s an undrafted free agent that was formerly slated as a first round pick in the top ten! If he sucks or does anything stupid, they cut him. No big deal. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
My fear would be that he keeps it together long enough to earn a roster spot, then later commits a string of 15-yard penalties and blows up the locker room.
In additon to James Brown, who Kiper had as the 54th best player in the draft, the Bears added these UDFAs.
None of those guys really have much of an impact for me other than Ronnie Cameron. I have a feeling Cameron will make the team. They added a pair of LBs who will be special teams guys and might develop in to something, they aren’t as physically limited as say DiCicco is but lack instincts. Alvester Alexander is a RB with nice measurables but mediocre production at Wyoming.
I anyone is interested this site seems to have up to date lists of undrafted free agent signings.
I’ll get started on my post-draft spewing of opinions that no one wants to hear sometime tomorrow. For now, I’m tentatively happy with the Packers draft, I’m thrilled with the Jets draft, and I hope Jeff Fishers’ Team-O-Thugs technique bites him hard in the ass.
Good to see a few Michigan guys getting a look. But the last few years actual draft results show just how dry the well had gotten under the Rich-Rod era. One of his main qualities was that he was supposed to be a great recruiter. I guess a guy who is great at selling used Pintos sometimes sucks trying to sell Roles-Royces 
I don’t know if the corps of players on defense they have now, guys like Domata Peko, Leon Hall and Thomas Howard would let that happen. Nor would Mike Zimmer, who really does excel at reclamation projects. The Bengals defense may resemble the Island Of Misfit Toys on the surface, but they are a tight-knit group under Zimmer.
Here’s an interesting article I found on Burfict from ESPN, worth a read: NFL - ASU linebacker Vontaze Burfict is draft's most misunderstood player - ESPN The Magazine - ESPN
I hear there’s a pretty decent tight end in San Diego named Antonio Gates that was a UDFA too.
Some mistakes on that one.
Here’s the Official NFL List of UDFAs. Some unofficial stuff isn’t on there yet, but you can probably take what’s here as gospel.
Here’s another list, it’s more current than the NFL one and more accurate than Hamlet’s but it’s still unofficial to take it with a grain of salt.
So after a few days, I’m okay with the Weeden thing.
My primary concern wasn’t even necesarily that Weeden was bad, or old, but that I wanted the Browns to invest in a top tier QB prospect finally and stop trying to find a hidden gem later in the draft. And my main concern with Weeden is that he’s not a top prospect, and yet it’s enough of an investment that they’re going to have to stick with him for at least 2 years. Which means no Barkley/Jones/Whoever. The team sinks or swims for several more years with Weeden, who is not the sort of prospect you can bank on.
On the other hand, my strategy basically requires the Browns to just give up on 2012 entirely, and that’s a shit sandwich. I’d already prepared to eat it, though. With this, if Weeden can somehow develop really quickly, it could pay off this year. It’s not that Weeden necesarily has to be all that good - he just needs to present a real NFL QB threat to the defense. Defenses know they can stack the box, cover the short routes, blitz at will and McCoy isn’t going to punish them for it - that cripples the rest of the offense when a defense can scheme like that. Just having a guy back there who can beat a blitz and throw anywhere on the field makes the defense play entirely differently. Weeden can at least be that.
But still - some people act like his age has an upside - as if he’s smarter and more mature and more NFL ready, so he’ll get up to speed sooner. But quite the opposite - I’m sure he’s smart but all he’s done in football is a gimmick scheme that doesn’t prepare him to be NFL ready at all, and quite frankly 20-22 year olds learn and adapt better to things than 28 year olds. If anything, his learning curve will be pretty slow. So then are we back to scrapping 2012 anyway?
If Weeden can start early and not be a disaster, with an already pretty good defense, and what should be a massively better running game, the Browns should be able to win 7 or 8 games.
Is that necessarily true? Seems kinda arbitrary.
It’s pretty much necesary that everyone’s brain becomes less and less plastic and able to learn new things as you get older. Now you may say the dropoff from 20 to 28 is negligible but I’m not so sure. In any case, just being older, but no less experienced at something, doesn’t allow you to learn it quicker - and people seem to be saying “well, he’s older and more mature, so he should be able to pick up the offense quicker and be NFL ready quicker than a younger player” but I have no reason to suspect that’s true.
Now the AFC North has 2 gingers at QB. WTF is that? At least they’re not rapists.
While I think the discussion of age with respect to learning is accurate, that doesn’t capture everything that goes into a QB being more mature and “ready”. A 22 year old’s brain might be more spongy, but I’m much more willing to hang my hat on the work ethic and lower “knucklehead factor” of a 28 year old adult than a 22 year old kid. When it comes to being successful as a NFL QB I don’t think the burden is in the ability to study, pick up the nuances of a play book and memorize things. The complexity of that is often overstated. It’s more about growing into your body, developing the work ethic to stay in shape, study tape and focus on fundamentals. Weeden theoretically has already grown into his body and based on already having a career in professional sports knows what goes into maintaining ones body in the offseason and from Monday-Saturday. He’s also gotten out of his system any urges to be a prima donna or party boy.
So yeah, I suspect a 22 year old is more apt to pick up calculus or German, but I doubt that learning a playbook and the language of an offense is a barrier of entry for many prospective NFL QBs.
Also, considering Weeden is older, the Browns should be prepared to make a decision on him quickly. Get him working in camp, unless McCoy makes a tremendous leap get him starting games and if he’s not adapting immediately be prepared to ditch him for Barkley next year. That’s a benefit of taking a 28 year old, you don’t run the risk of talking yourself into that 22 year old outgrowing the laziness or attitude issues that might get in the way.
I tend to agree with this. As much as I’ve said you can’t overreact to a slow start with a young QB … well, Weeden isn’t a young QB. If he doesn’t look promising this year, they should not be afraid to move on sooner rather than later.
Though, as a practical matter, I really doubt they’d have the nerve to draft first-round QBs two years in a row; it’s be a major admission of error by Holmgren and Shurmur, who I have to think will be on a hot seat this time next year if the team isn’t improved.
I suspect Weeden gets a two-year shot, and if he fails, a new coach/GM will bring in a new QB.
I dunno. They invested a first round pick on him, a pick they might have been able to make with their second rounder, if they stood pat. Why cut him loose after a year, even if he is 28 years old? It’s not like he’s Chris Weinke and wasn’t really a good prospect to begin with. A fourth rounder, I can see cutting off after a year. A first rounder needs to get more return.
I think Holmgren is in a tough spot, because though I think the fans generally understand that the team is rebuilding, the utter ineptitude of the offense and the coaching really pissed everyone off. I think he looked at how fast Cincy turned things around and decided to take a chance on a potentially decent QB who understands that he’s going to get the starting job this season, and an elite RB even though this is a passing league. The fans loved Hillis in his one good year, so they should embrace Richardson if he performs like a star. But they’re going to hear about it if Weeden doesn’t show us anything this season.
Personally, I thought John Hughes in the 3rd round was a way more questionable pick than Weeden (the 3rd round in general had lots of head scratchers). Seems like everyone grabbed at least one D-lineman, but I liked Billy Winn in the 6th more than Hughes. I guess they’ll address WR next year? I also though James-Michael Johnson was a good pick for D’Qwell Jackson injury insurance, and Emmanuel Acho was first team All Big 12 and was the Longhorns’ leading tackler.
I hadn’t really noticed till now, but linebackers seem to be going the way of the running back. Teams seem much more focused on the D-line and the secondary.
With the wealth of tight ends in the game, teams can’t quite overlook the linebacker, but yeah, it does seem like teams are trying to emulate the Giants and just get to the quarterback with their line.