2013 Comprehensive NFL Draft Database

[stevemcqueen1]

Anyone else notice this team has been built mostly through free agency? Either vets or UDFAs.

We've had a bad reputation for building through FA in the past. But we built through FA this time and have a good team. The difference is we used FA effectively and we got our playmakers at the most important (and expensive) positions in the draft:

Starters on offense:

Griffin - draft pick 2012 (22)
Morris - draft pick 2012 (24)
Young - UDFA in 2009 (25)
Garcon - FA in 2012 (26)
Moss - trade in 2005 (33)
Morgan - FA in 2012 (27)
Paulsen - UDFA in 2010 (25)
Trent - draft pick in 2010 (24)
Kory - FA in 2010 (27)
Monty - FA in 2008 (29)
Chester - FA in 2011 (29)
Polumbus - FA in 2011 (27)

Defense

Bowen - FA in 2011 (28)
Cofield - FA in 2011 (28)
Jenkins - draft pick in 2011 (24)
Orakpo - draft pick in 2009 (26)
Kerrigan - draft pick in 2011 (24)
London - FA in 2007 (37)
Riley - draft pick in 2010 (24)
Hall - FA in 2008 (29)
Wilson - FA in 2011 (27)
Williams - FA in 2012 (31)
Doughty - draft pick in 2006 (30)

So only 8 of our current starters/main guys were draft picks. Meanwhile 14 of them were acquired through free agency and one through a trade.

A couple of implications can be drawn from that:

- We got good faster by using FA, but our window is going to be smaller with this group of guys because they're older. Most of the team is currently in their prime years of 27-30.

- We've had unusual flexibility to be successful in FA because we had no big contracts worth keeping. Deangelo is the only big deal that's been a holdover from the Zorn era. Moss and London have always had surprisingly cheap contracts and Cooley got cut. Most of everything else from before has come from reasonable rookie deals.

But we've got big contract extensions coming up which will limit our ability to build through FA in the future. Trent, Orakpo, and Kerrigan are all going to require expensive deals and RGIII will probably set the record for largest contract once his rookie deal is up.

- There are only three draft picks starting right now on offense. That's a demonstration of how much longer it takes to teach offensive players our system IMO. Mike Holmgren once said something to the effect of "draft your defenders and sign your offensive players" for this very reason.

If we're looking for early impact from draft picks, more likely to come on the defensive side of the ball.

- We've been able to contend in 2012 despite having a pretty disastrous 2010 offseason largely because our 2011 free agency class and 2012 draft class have been unbelievably successful. They are the core of the roster.

[Laron Burgundy]

I thought I replied to this earlier. On Davis I have no way of knowing what type of person Davis is but I have no reason to believe anything negative about his team/locker room standing. He was smoked some pot like Trent Williams, but came into camp in shape and played good football prior to his injury. Davis has been one of our top pass catchers the past couple years. I think Davis is a very underrated TE and player.

I think Paulsen has the potential to be a good TE also but they're differnt style TEs.

Davis coming out of college had that infamous sleeping in incident, but beyond that he has never seemed to play the part of a leader despite his statistical success. Take a look at his demeanor on the field, or how he is never mentioned in articles for his intangibles. We all knew Cooley was well loved as the team clown, even Trent has stepped up as the leader of the offensive line, but I don't see that in Davis at all. He was playing well and perhaps he deserves more credit than I give him, but I have a feeling he's going the way of Laron.

[Dukes and Skins]

Wow...so true. I actually went back and looked at how terrible a QB class that was.

2012 is up there with the best....if not THE best.

You'll know 1983 2004 and 2012 as THE QB Classes when its all said and done IMO

---------- Post added December-18th-2012 at 03:43 PM ----------

Davis coming out of college had that infamous sleeping in incident, but beyond that he has never seemed to play the part of a leader despite his statistical success. Take a look at his demeanor on the field, or how he is never mentioned in articles for his intangibles. We all knew Cooley was well loved as the team clown, even Trent has stepped up as the leader of the offensive line, but I don't see that in Davis at all. He was playing well and perhaps he deserves more credit than I give him, but I have a feeling he's going the way of Laron.

Thats not true at all with Davis. He's actually a lot like Trent after that incident. I wouldn't even worry about him being back because i'll be more stunned if he isn't resigned

[darrelgreenie]

A couple of implications can be drawn from that:

- There are only three draft picks starting right now on offense. That's a demonstration of how much longer it takes to teach offensive players our system IMO. Mike Holmgren once said something to the effect of "draft your defenders and sign your offensive players" for this very reason.

If we're looking for early impact from draft picks, more likely to come on the defensive side of the ball.

Another possibility: There are only 3 starters on offense because the previous FO that didn't draft a lot of offensive talent and many of the ones they drafted failed (Malcomb Kelly, Devin Thomas, Chad Rinehart,Durant Brooks) and a couple failing from the current FO (losing a 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounder)

[Laron Burgundy]

- There are only three draft picks starting right now on offense. That's a demonstration of how much longer it takes to teach offensive players our system IMO. Mike Holmgren once said something to the effect of "draft your defenders and sign your offensive players" for this very reason.

Holmgren was a terrific coach, but he wasn't much of a personnel guy. I don't know if I'd take his word on those matters. Offensive players do catch on just as fast as defenders, look no further than our own rookie qb, or players like Julio Jones, AJ Green, Gronk, Joe Thomas, etc. All of them were up to an all-pro level by year 2, but were solid contributors in year 1. If anything defenders need more time to adjust to how other players on their team play, as it seems to me few defensive FA acquisitions work out, especially immediately (think Mario Williams/Nnamdi Asomugha/Haynesworth compared to Peyton Manning/Vincent Jackson/Wes Welker/Randy Moss).

That said, I think the reason we haven't seen that many starters from the draft is that we needed quick FA acquisitions to fit the scheme changes and now we're still developing our later picks. Overall we've seen a lot of contribution from the later picks in the past two draft classes, the later guys from 2010 seem like mostly misses however. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of our later picks became starters in the next 2 years. And to be fair UDFA might as well be considered more drafted than free agency, because it isn't like we were buying known commodities, which would put our offensive drafted/UDFA starters at 5 rather than 3.

[stevemcqueen1]

Holmgren was a terrific coach, but he wasn't much of a personnel guy. I don't know if I'd take his word on those matters. Offensive players do catch on just as fast as defenders, look no further than our own rookie qb, or players like Julio Jones, AJ Green, Gronk, Joe Thomas, etc. All of them were up to an all-pro level by year 2, but were solid contributors in year 1. If anything defenders need more time to adjust to how other players on their team play, as it seems to me few defensive FA acquisitions work out, especially immediately (think Mario Williams/Nnamdi Asomugha/Haynesworth compared to Peyton Manning/Vincent Jackson/Wes Welker/Randy Moss).

That said, I think the reason we haven't seen that many starters from the draft is that we needed quick FA acquisitions to fit the scheme changes and now we're still developing our later picks. Overall we've seen a lot of contribution from the later picks in the past two draft classes, the later guys from 2010 seem like mostly misses however. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of our later picks became starters in the next 2 years. And to be fair UDFA might as well be considered more drafted than free agency, because it isn't like we were buying known commodities, which would put our offensive drafted/UDFA starters at 5 rather than 3.

Holmgren built a Superbowl contender in Seattle and built a nice talent base in Cleveland. He understood how to build a west coast offense.

You're talking about the exceptions when you bring up guys like RGIII, Green, Thomas, etc. Those are the elite of the elite and just as many guys show up like them on the defensive end, JJ Watt, Aldon Smith, Von Miller, Pat Willis, Darrelle Revis, Joe Haden, Clay Matthews, Brian Orakpo, Brian Cushing, etc.

In general, I think defensive players get into the game faster, all the way down to the average players. They play on instinct and athleticism so much more than offensive players do.

---------- Post added December-18th-2012 at 10:50 PM ----------

Another possibility: There are only 3 starters on offense because the previous FO that didn't draft a lot of offensive talent and many of the ones they drafted failed (Malcomb Kelly, Devin Thomas, Chad Rinehart,Durant Brooks) and a couple failing from the current FO (losing a 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounder)

That's definitely a factor. The offensive cupboard was very bare when Zorn got fired. No QB. No RB. A PS FB. One WR and two TEs. Only offensive linemen worth keeping and he was a PS guy I think (Monty). We only added two or three worthwhile offensive players in that 2010 offseason in Trent, Kory, and I believe Paulsen. They're each starting now.

We made offensive draft picks in 2011 but those guys have not stepped into starting roles like you would have hoped. Hankerson got injured and has developed slowly. Robinson was a bit of a long shot. Niles Paul just doesn't have a position. Helu and Royster have been a bit disappointing. It's troubling that we haven't been able to get an OL to start outside of a fourth overall pick. We need to get some young blood and some talent on the OL and I'd like to see it happen sooner rather than later.

But I also think offensive players are more vulnerable to scheme changes because of how specialized their roles get on that side of the ball and how complicated offensive systems are compared to defensive ones. Again I think it goes back to defensive players getting to go out and play ball more often, one on one with their offensive matchup and make a lot of plays on instinct.

[Dukes and Skins]

I think next year is when you'll see LeRibeus, Gettis and maybe even Compton take over spots on the OL. Shanny wanted to keep the continuity he had early with the OL during TC and kept it.

[Chump Bailey]

I think next year is when you'll see LeRibeus, Gettis and maybe even Compton take over spots on the OL. Shanny wanted to keep the continuity he had early with the OL during TC and kept it.

I'd really like to see Compton nail down the RT spot. What's your impression of Gettis? Does he look like he can handle things?

[stevemcqueen1]

I'd really like to see Compton nail down the RT spot. What's your impression of Gettis? Does he look like he can handle things?

Have we seen him at all? I haven't heard of him getting in games.

[Chump Bailey]

Have we seen him at all? I haven't heard of him getting in games.

I thought I read on here he saw some action, but I personally don't recall seeing him play.

[skinzwiz]

I actually like the idea of Tebow being a TE in this offense. His value should be next to nothing. What I don't like is all the press and media attention that follows him for no apparent reason though.

[acuratl1984]

I'd really like to see Compton nail down the RT spot. What's your impression of Gettis? Does he look like he can handle things?

Personally, I would like that, then we dont have to spend a pick on a RT. However... RG3's health is most important. And I think that with the deep class of OT in this year's draft.
We should pick a RT in the second round. Compton, if he performs well can be our swing tackle.

[Chump Bailey]

Personally, I would like that, then we dont have to spend a pick on a RT. However... RG3's health is most important. And I think that with the deep class of OT in this year's draft.
We should pick a RT in the second round. Compton, if he performs well can be our swing tackle.

Agree with that. RT's been a problem since Jansen and it's oviously a critical need.

[Laron Burgundy]

I actually like the idea of Tebow being a TE in this offense. His value should be next to nothing. What I don't like is all the press and media attention that follows him for no apparent reason though.

Lol c'mon man! He wants to play qb, and likely will for the Jaguars. It's a shame, he could be a very good tight end, fullback or h-back, but I don't think that is what he wants. Another qb who could be a dominant tight end: Logan Thomas. Chances of him demanding to be a qb over a position change: 100%.

[Alcoholic Zebra]

I actually like the idea of Tebow being a TE in this offense. His value should be next to nothing. What I don't like is all the press and media attention that follows him for no apparent reason though.

Has he shown any blocking ability or technique before? As far as I know, the Jets trick plays with Tebow at TE have all failed. We know he can run when scrambling from the pocket, or a QB draw, but can he run well from a FB dive? If he can't block, then he'd be a terrible TE.

Honestly? I'd rather just switch Lorenzo Alexander to TE/FB, at least we know he's willing to do whatever for the team.