Everyone Reading This Could Get an "A" Draft Grade Post-Draft

I used to wonder why certain teams always seemed to get the best draft grades every year, teams like the Bengals and the Cardinals, while other teams like the Seahawks and Patriots could not draft worth beans. The Bengals would also seem to get the best "value" and draft well known players, while the Seahawks would draft "reaches" that no one was familiar with. And yet, despite always owning the draft the Bengals and the Cardinals never really got a lot better, while the Seahawks and the Patriots maintained solid football teams. I don't know about the Cardinals, but I later learned that the Bengals had the smallest scouting staff and the smallest budget for evaluating players.

I submit that the least knowledgeable person on this forum (i.e., me), armed with a PFF subscription or access to ESPN.com, could conduct an NFL draft and get an "A" in the post draft assessments of all the pundits. Think about that. In my experience, it forebodes neither an excellent draft class nor a poor draft class. Which is why everyone agrees these grades are pointless, and yet we still lament the absence of positive feedback on our team's newest crop of players.

Last year illustrates my point. The Rams' pick that got the highest marks for "steal" value was Terrell Lewis, while the Jordan Fuller pick (who was seen as too slow, lacked range, etc.) garnered nary a whisper. Yet during the year, Fuller played a key role and looks to be a core defensive piece while Lewis remains a huge question mark.

I think two things I have read about the Rams' draft that are absolutely false are: (1) The Rams "panicked" and (2) We miss Brad Holmes. The Rams, like every other team, run through hundreds of simulations and mock scenarios in the weeks leading up to the draft. I assure you that they were not "caught off guard" by any preceding pick and "panicked into picking a player." That's just now how all of this works. As for Brad Holmes role, he was part of a team that used the same scouts who picked last year's players that also scouted this year's players. He does not change the philosophy of Sean McVay or Raheem Morris.

I think the one thing I can take issue with is that the Rams appear to know who they are going to take before the draft begins. At least the first two picks hinted that they expected the Rams to pick them. I wonder if this is a product of managing the resources of the team, but it is worrisome that this doesn't account for falling players with exceptional value. But that merely goes back to the concept of perceived "value", something the Rams appear not to care about at all.

Isiah 58