# Skins reportedly give up 3 1st rd & 1 2nd rd picks for #2 this year. Thoughts? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 10, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skins-reportedly-give-up-3-1st-rd-1-2nd-rd-picks-for-2-this-year-thoughts/615362 "2012-03-10T03:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 91
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skins-reportedly-give-up-3-1st-rd-1-2nd-rd-picks-for-2-this-year-thoughts/615362/91 "2012-03-16T19:56:28Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Ryan Tannehill will likely be on the board at #7. Matt Flynn is available as a free agent. Both have a real chance to be viable starters, and both would have cost much, much less. True, but they are trying to hit a homerun, not a double. As I said before, mediocrity, is more a burden to improving in certain circumstances than sucking is. There is freedom in not being able to get much worse. > [@What value does a college really offer?!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-value-does-a-college-really-offer/615928/27): > > If they didn’t like either one of them, David Garrard or some other functional veteran could be obtained, and Matt Barkley, Aaron Murray and Landry Jones are all coming out next year. For the price they paid for Griffin, they could have drafted Tannehill AND signed Flynn, and had them compete, AND taken Barkley next year (and yes, it can be done; c.f. Aikman and Walsh). And then people would be botching for them signing 3 QBs instead of getting other positions. Not to mention all those other guys still in college may not even pan out for one reason or another. > [@What value does a college really offer?!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-value-does-a-college-really-offer/615928/27): > > So … what? We should only play high-pedigree players? Or we should play lots of unheralded young guys, because there’s absolutely no way of knowing which will be good until they do, just like Bill Belichick was shocked and stunned to see Tom Brady play well? What exactly are you proposing as a course of action here? If you are trying to tell me Belichick expected Brady to be Brady, I think you are full of shit. My point was that in the alternate universe where Bledsoe doesn’t go down, you likely think of Brady as an average QB on some shitty team that overpaid him (eg. Matt Cassel). My point was that there are only 16 games, you can start one person, and if your #1 is decent, the backup will never see the field. Because, they never see the field, they often don’t develop. I am of the belief that their are a few people as talented as Brady that never got any time, or were in a bad situation. I don’t say that as a knock on Brady, as I think he is a spectacular player. I just think opportunities for guy’s who had his draft spot are few and far between regardless of talent. > [@What value does a college really offer?!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-value-does-a-college-really-offer/615928/27): > > This is akin to saying I should go out and buy a million-dollar house that I can’t really afford … because then my hand will be forced and I’ll _have_ to get a better job! No, it’s recognizing that if you are going to spend a million dollars, do it in a way that has greater upside. Your argument is like saying its better to buy 6 food trucks than to buy one franchise restaurant. Yeah, your food truck might be very successful, but the upside is not like owning a McDonald’s or BK. Or alternatively, a regular guy is more likely to take a double or nothing bet if he is 30MM in the hole as opposed to 10K in the hole. Why? Because the functional difference between 30MM and 60MM is small. The Skins can’t get much worse, and being GOOD in their division doesn’t even guarantee them a playoff spot. > [@What value does a college really offer?!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-value-does-a-college-really-offer/615928/27): > > A quality supporting cast does not appear just because you need one. Dan Marino spent most of his career on teams that needed a running game and a defense, but he never got either. John Elway never did get top-flight receiver, nor a RB until the very end. Archie Manning never got much of anything. As the man says, “Nor does the being hungry prove that we have bread.” Right, but you can get better at most positions via free agency or draft development. The rarity of an elite QB means you need to either get really lucky or smart, or draft them. As we know, the Skins are neither lucky nor smart. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skins-reportedly-give-up-3-1st-rd-1-2nd-rd-picks-for-2-this-year-thoughts/615362)._