the draft is about getting the best player over the long term imo. "projects" as you call them are chosen EVERY year by every team
how many second round picks significantly produced last year? im sure you can point to many that did, but many did not.
Gerlad Everet - 16 passes
adam shaheen - 12 passes
Obi Melifonwu - 7 tackles.
Tanoh Kpassagnon - 13 tackles
Curtis Samuel - 15 passes
Teez Tabor - 14 tackles
Tyus Bowser - 11 tackles
Ryan Anderson- 15 tackles
are these guys all "unwise" picks, especially the small school guys? im sure some are. but im also sure some will turn out to be just fine. whose the "proven" talent you wanted to draft? even proven guys turn into busts. i simple dont know what hignee or evertt will be yet and this team has other more pressing needs in 2018 imo.
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jemach
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"everett is from south alabama who didnt even have a football program until 2009. its the epitome of a small school program. Do you really think a guy coming out of this program is going to come in and light the nfl on fire? and yes, despite is horrendous game on sunday, everett did flash at times during the season, particularly early imo. im not saying hes a sure fire future pro bowler, but i would like to see what mcvay can do with him with at least 1 off season before you dump a second rounder. not to mention i would like to see what hemingway can do under mcvay as well."
why in the heck did we draft a project at this point in the draft? A project to develop vs. a proven talent to develop are different things.
If that is the case, it was an unwise pick.
When will Snead get off draft projects in rounds 1 and 2?
So...if you're right, I feel it's even a worse "sin". We could have had a journeyman TE dropped off another team to do what Everett did/didn't do. He was undersized at only 6'3" and if I remember correctly, did raise any eyebrows when we drafted him. It was 'ho-hum".
He caught three deep balls. There wasn't one breakout game where you can say, "This guy is going to be really good!" Well...I never saw it.
I didn't say dump him...I said to go find a real difference maker. Everett will not be that. Higbee will not be that. They could be good back ups...supplemental types.
After a bit of research, I noticed many of the great TEs in the league are drafted in round 2. If Alyo is right, and there are 3 great TE prospects (not projects) out there, then one will be available in round 2. The problem is we don't have a #2.
Let's compare Everett's first year to top TE's in the league...
Rookie results
Player Round Drafted Receptions Targets
Ertz 2 36 56
Olsen 1 39 66
Kelce 3 67 87
Gronk 2 42 59
Henry 2 36 54
Rudolph 2 26 39
Everett 2 16 32
The worst was Rudolph who had Donovan McNabb at QB...and Christian Ponder to backup. Visanthe Shiancoe was the starter and caught 36 balls on 71 targets. So Rudolph, as a back up, outperformed both Higbee and Everett on a weaker offense.
Also, notice the difference in completion percentage to the individual player. Everett is at 50%.
Everett's competition...Higbee...let's look at his 2017...2nd year and 2016...1st year:
Higbee 4 25 45 Year 2
Higbee 4 11 28 Year 1
I just don't see where these two will make a difference. Higbee probably has a bigger upside because he has better size. And based on his size, he should be a better blocker.
I didn't know these stats but you can get a feel just watching the games. I'm not feeling good about Everett.