Rationale for the Sample Pick

[THE PISTONS]

This is from Mike Potts, the Bengals’ college scouting director:

“Drew is a lot more well-rounded than just a run-blocking tight end,” Potts told Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Run blocking is the best thing that he does but what kept coming up in our draft meetings was do we want a guy that tested better that can take the top off the coverage or really stretch the seam and maybe you get two or three big plays a game out of that guy but you feel like you have to take him off the field in certain instances. We always talk about playtime percentages. Maybe that guy only ends up playing 30-40 percent of the snaps. Whereas, this guy, if you want to be in 11 or 12 personnel, whatever you want to be in, he conceivably doesn’t need to come off the field because he’s not a liability in the pass game.”

and...

“These first two picks were two of the smarter guys if not the smartest at their respective positions... The way (Washington staff) rave about him and then you go and watch the tape and fall in love with him as a player,” Potts said. “You just envision how he could fit in here and bring something unique other guys don’t bring in our tight end room. He’s an easy player to like when you watch him on tape, then when the character and toughness and intelligence all match up with it, he pretty much checks every box you can think of other than if you are looking at the stat sheet. He didn’t have 50-60 catches. But not a lot of these guys do that are in-line tight ends coming out of college.”

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/5/10/18531365/bengals-draft-2019-drew-sample-washington-huskies-football

[motoarch]

So where's everyone that supported this pick? I seem to remember there was a lot of them.

[Big Boss]

This draft as a whole has been horrible thus far.

[PDub80]

(10-28-2019, 01:04 PM)motoarch Wrote: So where's everyone that supported this pick?  I seem to remember there was a lot of them.

I supported and still support the Sample pick.

No TE on the Bengals is getting the ball very often, so it is tough to say if he should or shouldn't be producing more in that area.

No one on the O line is blocking the run well. So, it is hard to say what is or is not Sample's problem there or not.

Has he been a stud? No. Can he become one? Absolutely. There are a lot of things broken on the Bengals. Their 2nd or 3rd TE option isn't going to be the first, I don't know, 10 things I point my finger at this stage in the season.

Would a TE like Travice Kelce, for example, have the Bengals winning 5 games at this point? No way.

[CJD]

(10-28-2019, 01:04 PM)motoarch Wrote: So where's everyone that supported this pick?  I seem to remember there was a lot of them.

I don't think a single person supported the pick in that they would have made it themselves. Rather, many people supported the pick with the subtext of "if this guy is someone Zac will use to maximize his talents and fit his scheme, we can get behind the selection of player that we were personally surprised to see be drafted so early, based on other scouting websites."

Of course, those people have had their confidence in Zac shaken by the complete and utter failure that has been the first 8 weeks of the season.

So you won't see people supporting this pick very often anymore.

Not because they changed their minds on the player, but rather they changed their minds on the coaches.

The coaches are to blame here, not the player or the fans who initially had faith in their new head coach.

[Millhouse]

How was he well rounded when he caught only like 40-some balls in his entire college career? Was he a basketball player too? If he was, like Antonio Gates was before he played in the NFL, ok, I can get behind the reasoning to draft Simple that high up.

[fredtoast]

(10-28-2019, 01:04 PM)motoarch Wrote: So where's everyone that supported this pick?  I seem to remember there was a lot of them.

Anyone who labels a player a bust after just 8 games doesn't know much about NFL football.

I never said he would be a great player but it is silly to judge him this early.

[*Nately120*]

(10-28-2019, 01:32 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Anyone who labels a player a bust after just 8 games doesn't know much about NFL football.

I never said he would be a great player but it is silly to judge him this early.

Agreed.  My issue is the rationale for taking him seems so thin and odd.  We fell in love with his tape but the draft had almost no highlight film on him and he's an asset to the passing game but he didn't catch many passes in college?  Meh.

I guess we should be grateful they just didn't say they drafted him because you can't get a TE at Big Lots.

[THE PISTONS]

(10-28-2019, 01:15 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I don't think a single person supported the pick in that they would have made it themselves. Rather, many people supported the pick with the subtext of "if this guy is someone Zac will use to maximize his talents and fit his scheme, we can get behind the selection of player that we were personally surprised to see be drafted so early, based on other scouting websites."

Of course, those people have had their confidence in Zac shaken by the complete and utter failure that has been the first 8 weeks of the season.

So you won't see people supporting this pick very often anymore.

Not because they changed their minds on the player, but rather they changed their minds on the coaches.

The coaches are to blame here, not the player or the fans who initially had faith in their new head coach.

At the time of the pick, Zac was assumed to be a genius by some on here.

Now he's a guy that calls a 1 yard pass on 4th and goal from the 4.

[THE PISTONS]

(10-28-2019, 01:39 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Agreed.  My issue is the rationale for taking him seems so thin and odd.  We fell in love with his tape but the draft had almost no highlight film on him and he's an asset to the passing game but he didn't catch many passes in college?  Meh.

I guess we should be grateful they just didn't say they drafted him because you can't get a TE at Big Lots.

When your scout is like 'We don't want a TE that stretches the seam on passing plays for 2-3 big plays a game...IF we have to take him out to block. We'll take the blocking guy instead.' <-- That's weak. Especially because they use him mainly for blocking now and take him out on plays where the TE goes into the route.

Our offense is starved for big plays.

[BengalChris]

(10-28-2019, 12:52 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: This is from Mike Potts, the Bengals’ college scouting director:

“Drew is a lot more well-rounded than just a run-blocking tight end,” Potts told Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Run blocking is the best thing that he does but what kept coming up in our draft meetings was do we want a guy that tested better that can take the top off the coverage or really stretch the seam and maybe you get two or three big plays a game out of that guy but you feel like you have to take him off the field in certain instances. We always talk about playtime percentages. Maybe that guy only ends up playing 30-40 percent of the snaps. Whereas, this guy, if you want to be in 11 or 12 personnel, whatever you want to be in, he conceivably doesn’t need to come off the field because he’s not a liability in the pass game.”

and...

“These first two picks were two of the smarter guys if not the smartest at their respective positions... The way (Washington staff) rave about him and then you go and watch the tape and fall in love with him as a player,” Potts said. “You just envision how he could fit in here and bring something unique other guys don’t bring in our tight end room. He’s an easy player to like when you watch him on tape, then when the character and toughness and intelligence all match up with it, he pretty much checks every box you can think of other than if you are looking at the stat sheet. He didn’t have 50-60 catches. But not a lot of these guys do that are in-line tight ends coming out of college.”

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/5/10/18531365/bengals-draft-2019-drew-sample-washington-huskies-football

So ... they talked themselves into over drafting Sample. They must like hearing themselves sound smart.

In week 7 Sample played 12 offensive snaps or 17%. The odd thing is that he was listed as a starter, but Eifert played 47% of the snaps and Uzomah played 43%. That's not a starter. That's the 3rd string guy getting a few snaps.

Question: If Sample is a guy who conceivably doesn't need to come off the field then why is off the field so much?

Answer: Because Eifert and Uzomah are just better TEs.

 

[*bengalfan74*]

I think one of the things about the Sample pick like many others over the last several drafts, he probably could have been had at least a round later. He was a reach

Guys like Devon Still, and Margus Hunt in the 2nd come to mind. Will Clarke in the 3rd and John Ross in the 1st ! reaches

Having said that it's way, way to early to judge the Sample pick.

[RunKijanaRun]

I don't know why this is so ***** hard.

He's not a "bust," per se. He was a horrible pick because it was way, way, waaaay too early to take a TE who profiles, in a perfect world, to give you the production of someone you can get in the 5th or 6th rounds.

He was a horrible pick because he didn't make catches for his college team, a team that throws the ball around the yard at a pretty prodigious rate.

He was a horrible pick because of the opportunity cost. We needed help at sooo many more important places than The Drew Sample position.

He was a horrible pick because for a guy who is never supposed to have to leave the field, he's rarely on the ***** field. And when he is, you don't notice him.

He was a horrible pick because he's already rating terribly at the one thing he was supposed to be really good at (besides being DREW ***** SAMPLE) - blocking.

[RunKijanaRun]

(10-28-2019, 01:54 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I think one of the things about the Sample pick like many others over the last several drafts, he probably could have been had at least a round later. He was a reach

Guys like Devon Still, and Margus Hunt in the 2nd come to mind. Will Clarke in the 3rd and John Ross in the 1st ! reaches

Having said that it's way, way to early to judge the Sample pick.

5 seconds after they made that pick was early enough to judge it. 

[*ochocincos*]

(10-28-2019, 01:49 PM)BengalChris Wrote: So ... they talked themselves into over drafting Sample. They must like hearing themselves sound smart.

In week 7 Sample played 12 offensive snaps or 17%. The odd thing is that he was listed as a starter, but Eifert played 47% of the snaps and Uzomah played 43%. That's not a starter. That's the 3rd string guy getting a few snaps.

Question: If Sample is a guy who conceivably doesn't need to come off the field then why is off the field so much?

Answer: Because Eifert and Uzomah are just better TEs.

 

By definition, a starter is the one who takes the very first snap of the game.

What's frustrating is taking a guy in the 2nd round who is 3rd on the depth chart and only getting 20% of the offensive snaps.
The Bengals need better blocking, so shouldn't they be using Sample more often if that's his forte?
Sample is basically a worse version of Tyler Kroft but taken a round earlier. Difference is at least Kroft put up 70 receptions for 901 yards in college, so he had some receiving production whereas Sample was more on potential.

[Circleville Guy]

I voted the draft a C and was informed that I was probably really a Browns fan because of the low grade. The funny thing is that I was actually being optimistic with that grade. The whole thing with Sample is that the Bengals still could have landed him like 2 or 3 Rounds later. Some people don’t like it if you question new draft picks, new free agents or new coaches. I get that we shouldn’t be negative about everything but some moves seem questionable in real time.

[impactplaya]

If Sample Sunday had a season ending injury
Would the offense miss him.
The answer is no.
I will say it again.
He's made zero contribution this year
If you are a TE drafted in the top 64 players
You better be special and a match up issue
For defenses.
He isn't.
He's a bust

[THE PISTONS]

(10-28-2019, 02:22 PM)impactplaya Wrote: If Sample Sunday had a season ending injury
Would the offense miss him.
The answer is no.
I will say it again.
He's made zero contribution this year
If you are a TE drafted in the top 64 players
You better be special and a match up issue
For defenses.
He isn't.
He's a bust

'what kept coming up in our draft meetings was do we want a guy that tested better that can take the top off the coverage or really stretch the seam and maybe you get two or three big plays a game out of that guy but you feel like you have to take him off the field in certain instances.'

It's literally crazy that they actually discussed in their meetings IF they wanted a TE that could take the top off of coverage and get 2-3 big plays a game OR a guy that could block and play more...and they chose the blocker!

[fredtoast]

(10-28-2019, 02:03 PM)RunKijanaRun Wrote: 5 seconds after they made that pick was early enough to judge it. 

Wrong.

I can post dozens of examples of good players who looked bad as rookies. 

If you were really able to judge draft picks accurately on draft day you would be making millions for an NFL team.

[fredtoast]

(10-28-2019, 01:54 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I think one of the things about the Sample pick like many others over the last several drafts, he probably could have been had at least a round later. He was a reach

Guys like Devon Still, and Margus Hunt in the 2nd come to mind. Will Clarke in the 3rd and John Ross in the 1st ! reaches

Having said that it's way, way to early to judge the Sample pick.

You have no idea if any of those picks were a reach. The so called "experts" are wrong all the time.