Thread: JA Draft History

Originally Posted by dabears54

Agreed. it was obvious the "plan" on the o-line early was Free Agents and build the "D" in Draft.. And nothing wrong with that. Just Dont like how because whether agree or not, the "o-line" was addressed, but because successfully addressed with tait/r brown/miller/garza, they didn't also use draft picks, people 'forget" about the Free agents and try and "pretend" the GM just an idiot and never addressed the line because didn't have top picks- and to me that is very faulty thinking and more a bias and silly 'score mentality" stuff

Think Angelo failed and went "back to the F/A well" in 2009 and unlike 2003-06 where worked, it did not the 2nd time and now we are paying for that Failure. And do think we will be Going Draft this time around in 2011 for the Oline and "maybe" one top F/A, because will be alot of the RFA's back on Market after season.

While I don't think JA is an idiot, I'm souring on his ability to draft. As I looked through the players while compiling the numbers, I cringed at how many players are no longer with the team. I know it's very hard to draft players and only a few GM's are consistently good at it, so I don't do a lot of hindsight stuff. IMO, Polian with the Colts is one of the best, if not the best at drafting. He built the Bills teams that went to 4 straight SB's, then built the Carolina team from it's infancy, then went to Indy and built that team. And yet, he's made mistakes too.

I sure hope we spend a lot of time and effort in both the 2011 draft and FA to fix this O line problem.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

Angelo was hired AFTER the draft in 2001, so you can pull Gandy off that list, and the other Offensive draft picks that year, FWIW.

Tait was a great move. I did and will always applaud that move and the way the deal was structured. Best offensive move he's ever made, IMO.
R. Brown and F. Miller were on the downslope of their careers. They held on well for a year or two, but their best days were behind them.
Pace was already gone. We all had hopes that the Rams were partially to blame for his play in his last year there, but those hopes were dashed when he stepped on the field.
Garza and Omiyale were the only free agent moves on OL that had any possible long term benefit for the franchise. Garza, while I have bashed him lots, I think worked out very well considering the costs. Omiyale has never shown any consistency, perhaps because of the moving of spots on the line, but he doesn't appear to be too promising right now.

Thanks, wasn't sure about 2001. It changes to the numbers more in favor with the defense than the offense. 2001 draft: 5 offensive and 1 defensive player. 3 top picks were offense (Terrell, Thomas, Gandy).

Originally Posted by dabears54

best Gm to me will always be Jim Finks, who did it on vikes, then bears and most shocking Saints- no one can come Close to that record. And even on Polian, look at his last 6 drafts- esp from rounds 3-7 from indy. not pretty. Not sure if the "game changed" or the money changed the Players, but the percentage of "busts" much higher now on all 32 teams, than even a decade ago. Some get the check and never play again, something they couldn't do before.And seems more have career ending injuries now. So again if trying to be 'fair and even handed"-take a hard look around at even the 'top" Gm's for how much they also are failing.

Loved Jim Finks. He's the reason we won Super Bowl XX.

Johnny Knox - 5th rounder. I'd add him to the "top 5"