Quote:
Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan
You're beating that Cooper drum so hard it's about to make my ears bleed. There is absolutely no guarantee that he will become a better NFL player than the other players you named. In the end, drafting is still a SWAG.
Wasn't J.J. Watt drafted 11th, or something like that? Ten NFL GM's who are paid to draft the right player in the 1st Round passed on him because they thought they were drafting players who would be better than him in the NFL. They were wrong.
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Of course it's all a crapshoot. All the more reason to pick the guy you believe to be the best available player. Sure, there are no guarantees but that doesn't mean you ignore reality either. If McC has Fowler ranked higher than or in the same tier as Cooper - great. A clear top tier guy in an area of need - no brainer.
My
only point with Cooper is that every evaluation I have seen on him says there are no obvious flaws in his game, that he has terrific measurable, that his college production was excellent, he's a great character guy, and that his comparables in the NFL are all pro-bowl caliber players (Tory Holt and AJ Green are the names most often mentioned). Given those factors, you shouldn't bypass him - b/c he doesn't fill an area of immediate need - to select players who do not have those factors working for them and, thus, are not in his talent tier. None of the top four OLB's have
all those factors working in their favor and each has a pretty glaring hole (Fowler-production, Ray/Beasley - measurables, Gregory - character).
As to JJ Watt. Sure - he was the 11th picked. Have you looked at who else was picked in the top 10 that year? Here they are (in order):
Cam Newton (Offensive Rookie of the year, 2 pro bowls)
Von Miller (3 x pro bowl, 3 x all pro)
Marcell Dareus (2 x pro bowl, 1 x all pro)
A.J. Green (4 x pro bowl, 1 x all pro)
Patrick Peterson (4 x pro bowl, 2 x all pro)
Julio Jones (2 x pro bowl)
Aldon Smith (1 x pro bowl, 1 x all pro)
Jake Locker
Tyron Smith (2 x pro bowl, 2 x all pro)
Blaine Gabbert
Other than Locker & Gabbert, that is not a shoddy bunch - pro bowlers (and all pros) all through the list. Unlike this year, it was a deep draft all through the top 10 BUT the two teams (Tenn & Jax) that bypassed Watt and drafted for need got burned. I imagine everybody else on that list is pretty pleased with their pick (okay, maybe SF would like to switch it out).
[EDIT: added pro bowl/all pro awards. Yes, JJ Watt has out performed them all to date (3 PB, 3 AP, 2 x Def. Player of the year; MVP Runner-up 2014). At the same time, if we get someone the equivalent to any of the other position players by going BPA regardless of immediate need, I will be very happy and not complain that someone else struck gold by picking this year's JJ Watt.]
As I said, if you forego a guy you believe to be the better talent because he does not fill an immediate need, than you are consciously choosing players of lesser talent and that just is not a good plan for a long term build.