02-04-2022, 12:04 AM
(02-03-2022, 05:56 PM)tms Wrote: I'm one who believes we give waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much credit (and blame) to coaches for their drafts.
Here's Zach's 2019:
1 - Jonah Williams, OT
2 - Drew Sample, TE
3 - Germaine Pratt, LB
4 - Ryan Finley, QB
4 - Renell Wren, DT
4 - Michael Jordan, OL
6 - Trayveon Williams, RB
6 - Deshaun Davis, LB
6 - Rodney Anderson, RB
7 - Jordan Brown, DB
*5 of the 10 are gone. Wren is basically PS fodder and Trayveon doesn't see the field. Which leaves Jonah, Sample and Pratt. To his credit Pratt has emerged recently but he was never a game-breaker before. Sample's seen as one of the worst second-round picks in history. Jonah is... well... he's the kind of LT around whom three years into his career we still wonder whether he's even playing the right position. Best case, he's a serviceable blindside protector who stays in his lane. Worst case, he's the leader (by default) of a line that tops the league in sacks allowed.
But how many players taken after the fourth round do you really expect to stick each year? For the most part they're practice squad fodder and you hope to get one or two that can eventually make the active roster and contribute. Going through the list from recent years, it's pretty uncommon for 5th+ round picks to stick around and contribute for long and rare to get more than one.
2017 - Jordan Evans, Brandon Wilson, Mason Schreck - three backups
2012 - Marvin Jones, George Iloka - two decent starters
2009 - Kevin Huber, Bernard Scott - two role players
On the topic of high round whiffs, don't forget Fisher in the second round the same year as Ogbuehi. That double whiff on our "bookend tackles of the future" combined with letting Whitworth go was really the death of the Marvin Lewis era.
