Cerrato Vaguely Explains Draft Strategy (with Questionable Evidence)

[GTripp0012]

For god sakes this doesn't have to be an either or kind of thing!

The fact that the Skins have ignored the lines for so long probably DOES say a lot about the grading process that Vinny does and that he generally looks for flaws in highly qualified line prospects that he doesn't see in lesser qualified receiver prospects. The fact that Devin Thomas is on the Skins is evidence of this.

And I don't disagree that this fuels a lot of the anger in the Fire Cerrato crowds.

But even if Vinny's draft grades come out flawed every year (not a good sign), he's STILL right to grab the highest player on his board at a position of relative need (anything but TE, FB, S, and QB on this team). It would be irresponsble for him to do otherwise.

Hopefully there will be a consensus BPA lineman when we pick in the first round. Problem is, since those guys tend to be significantly overvalued, you know there won't be.

[Eknox]

Cerrato is a hack, and should feel ashamed taking money for destroying a team....

[hagams]

"You don't draft for need", is that like swimming and not coming up for air? We've got to get fresh guys in their with some new talent.

[DynamiteRave]

Vinny Cerrato = The Peter Angelos (Baltimore Orioles owner) of the NFL?

[Dirtbag59]

I think GTripp said it best. The core philosophy of drafting the best player available is a very sound philosophy. However the problem is the guy creating the draft board (Mr Cerrato), either conciously or unconsiously, is constantly overvaluing skill players and undervaluing the guys up front.

Personally I don't believe in coincidences and I think the BPA available explanation for the three pass catchers is a PR stunt meant to justify the fact that the Redskins drafted for a weird combination of want and need rather then truly going after the BPA. To be honest if we had really gone after the BPA we probably would have ended up with at least a new linebacker and a center, as generally those are two positions that can see more talented players fall through the cracks.

The teams track record in going after recievers since Snyder got the team is a testement to how badly the team wants a Randy Moss, T.O., or god forbid an Ocho Cinco within their ranks. Yet I hope that with all the bitching from the fans this season the team will finally start to take the status of our front lines seriously, and right now I'm hoping that come April either Michael Oher, Terrance Cody, or Michael Johnson is a Redskin. Either way this obcession with finding skill players has to be put on hold till we get our priorities in order and right now that priority is our front lines.

[skinsfan1987]

You guys realize that this team isn't going to the promise land unless they fire Vinny, and hire a new president and GM. In other words, redoing the entire front office.

[bedlamVR]

I think GTripp said it better than me ... it is a combination of need and BPA .

If you draft soley on need then you run the real risk of reaching for players of not good value .

If you go solely off BPA then you have chance of being Matt Millen .

The trick comes how you grade the players . The grade should be based on the kinds of players and ages you have on your roster and the grades players have coming out of the draft .

If you have a pro bowl starter then the grade for any player has to start low... if you have an aging average injury plagued starter then the grade at that position should start higher .

Then you have to go about grading players from the draft and how each team does that is different . Remember Parcells for example graded Cooley as a 6/7th round pick but picked Frasno in the second round ..

Usiong this year as an example the highest rated players based on the roster probably included WR,DT, OG and LB .

Had Mayo or Branden Albert fallen in the fist to 21 or within reach I am pretty confident they would have been the guy, we had shown interest in both . I think it is interesting that of all the player Vinny singled out we Calais Campbell and Philip Merling which makes me think we were at least looking at them . The FO spent time with Merling when the scouted Kelly . It is possible that the Skins were looking at Campbell at 50 .

Another problem with the draft you can target a player think he would go around a specific part of the draft and then see him picked one place ahead of you whcih meens your assesment was right but is fustrating .

OL and DL are notoriously hard to draft because thier value varies from team to team depending on what they are asked to do and the system they ran in collage . Look around the league and you see a smattering of high round picks that turn to nothing ( Jacob Rodgers - taken in the 2nd round with Parcells out of the league in 2 years) and undrafted FAs who start for years (Saturday of the Colts for example) .

I don't think we were looking specifically for a RT, i think they thought they had a guy in Heyer who could come in and be solid ... he is a one dimesnional player however and his run blocking does not compare to his pass blocking skills . any OL prospects they were looking at were primarily guards with both Thomas and Kendell reaching the end of the line.

I also don't think draft picks would have helped the line right now . I think the problem lies in overcomplicated blocking schemes and injuries to key players on the line (Samuels) . If you loose a top 5 LT the rest of the line is going to look an awful lot worse no matter who comes in to replace him .

To answer your question though if a stud athletic WR is availble when we pick he must at least be considered . To dismiss the player out of hand is irresponsible, but you have to look at who is on the roster and if you think Thomas and Kelly are the guys for the future ..