Poll Question: Do you feel this draft was different than past drafts under Tomlin?

I want to get a board's concensus of the draft this year. Do you think it was same old same old vote no, slight difference without Lebeau and Tomlin and Butler working on a new vision vote yes and comment why. If other state that as well.

 

I think that lebeau never put a huge priority on cb. I think he thought his system was good enough to over come some bad play. I think butler likes speed and high football IQ guys and that's what they got.

I think tomlin yielded some to lebeau even though his job is on the line too. I think this draft shows that they are gonna look at tape and get some guys who can make plays on both sides of the ball. I LOVE IT!

 

I voted no, mostly due to the Golson pick. I feel like every other pick is one that I would have seen any other year...

-Dupree fell to us without our trading up. Normal.
-Sammie Coates was NOT a position of need but they thought he was great value. Normal. Plus he's a 3rd round WR. Normal.
-Grant is a mid round CB. Great tackler. Normal.
-And the rest seemed average, too.

But with Golson it felt like they were sliding the scale more towards need and less towards value. I don't say that purely because I thought Golson was more likely to go sometime in the 3rd. That's part of it, but the other part was Colbert's comment, "We were getting a cornerback in that 2nd round one way or another." That doesn't mean they abandoned BPA altogether though, because that 2nd round had a lot of good CBs in it, and waiting would be a bad idea since we wanted another CB in one of the next two rounds. Also, not everyone thinks Golson was a reach. That was the trend on websites, but all three "experts" on the televised draft (Kiper, McShay, Mayock) all loved the pick. All of them said it was either the perfect spot for Golson or a bit of a steal. It all depends how much you care about height and length, because no one has ever accused Golson of lacking anything else.

Also different was the style of defensive back they selected. Small or average in size, not long, and ball skills, ball skills, ball skills. We drafted a guy with 10 INTs last year, a guy with 5 INTs last year, and a guy with 14 INTs last year. The last guy can't even tackle!

But I like that approach. We obviously needed to do something different, because the same old stuff wasn't working. Draft some guys who get turnovers, and if they need help turning into a tackler, we should be able to teach them. We can't teach Golson to be taller, but we can make sure he doesn't cover the skyscrapers of the league, and he can make up for a lot with proper positioning and coordination.

I liked it. It was different where we needed a change, and the same where stuff was still working.

EDIT: I stand by all that, but I guess I read the question wrong. I should have voted "Yes."

 

I voted yes.

It seemed like in years past we would draft some guys and we'd be like "who?"

This draft it seemed like everyone they drafted was being talked about in the draft forum and in all the national draft media articles. I think Dupree and Grant get drafted in years past, and probably Coates and James, but Holliman and Golson, and maybe even Chickillo? I doubt it.

 

I voted yes. I feel like this was a "swing for the fence" draft year for Tomlin. Like he knows how close we are and truly feels that these are THE pieces for #7...I was very happy with this draft all-around

 

Obviously!!!! with the 6-2 shift, Butler was presented the tools to get this train back on it's wheels.

 

I voted other, simply because every team in the league had a different approach this year. Teams didn't really go for the sexy pick, they went with more need and scheme fit this year. Pat kirwan and Jim Miller stated that same exact thing yesterday on the radio.

 

We won't know. How many times have we raved about a draft, and the talent didn't pan out? I remember big Frank Summers, and how everyone was gushing about this kid and his ability to steamroll defenders. What happened to him? Just sayin'.

 

I went with other. it's not so much the positions but who. as I said in another thread they always talked about players that have shown playmaking ability throughout their careers and then pick guys that they say had a good year last year only. very confusing. which is it?

 

My thought process when starting the poll was that I think we saw a shift away from the type of players that would fit the scheme under Lebeau to ones that will do what Tomlin and Butler are trying to do with the defense moving forward. The draft felt different to me, so it isn't so much about how they guys will do in their careers but rather where they fit in the puzzle

 

Voted yes as well. This draft seemed to have less input of tomlin. Of course that could simply be because DL is gone...

Perhaps someone had more input than we are giving them credit for. Could be the Rooneys are just sick of watching our defense get torn up and made some demands of our coaching staff. And Dan Rooney selects Bud Depree

 

exactly what leads you to believe there was less input by Tomlin? Are you saying he didn't contribute to ranking players on the board? Are you saying he didn't push for or agree with a mostly defensive draft? What are you saying?
might I add

, Mel Kiper's top 5 when the Bengals were picking had Dupree at the top and included 5 wr's. As someone with little draft knowledge, even I predicted they would take Dupree if the Bengals didn't and I didn't even know the guy

 

HugeSnack, you're going to eat crow on Goldson, I hope
I voted yes because I think FINALLY we drafted for need. Not best player out there
Kendrell Bell comes to mind

 

Because we seem to have chosen picks based on need and not necessarily BPA. We went after a draft based for the most part on the defensive side of the ball.

 

I voted yes. It's obviously tough to say as an outside observer but I feel they had some more pre-conceived notions on what positions they were targeting. This is partly based on the comments KC said afterward. If those notions coincided with need, then all the better. I think Bud Dupree fell to them, but if it was different and KJ fell to them and Bud was already chosen, then I think they would have absolutely gone OLB in the 2nd.

Secondly, I think they were more specific on the players chosen. OLB were bigger guys and DBs were turnover centric.

bottom line they seemed to narrow their bullseye on certain positions instead of strictly BPA.

 

I don't think the DC made a difference in their drafting, the defense needed to be addressed regardless of who the DC is.

 

Drafting BPA is a myth, no team does that and never have done it in the early rounds especially, because no team goes into the draft that doesnt have at least two positions that need attention, drafting a BPA just to have an extra player for camp is a sure fired way for a coach to get fired, wasting a draft pick for a player you dont need just doesnt even make sense....The Cards said they was going to draft BPA because they didnt need a specific position filled, and what did they do, they drafted for need, yeah they can say it, but they never do it...

 

Huh? Yes they do. How do you make a claim like that?

There are so many examples it's overwhelming. Saying teams don't draft BPA and never have is like saying "cats don't exist." I don't even know how else to say it besides, "Yes they do." They just do.

 

BPA is kind of misleading. now BPA at a position of need is more like it. that would be like us drafting a qb #1 if that kid was the BPA at the time, not going to happen.

 

Really, since there is so many examples of that give us a few, teams draft BPA at a position of need, if a team needs a center do they draft a RB or TE they dont need when they have the center they want on their board when they go on the clock, the draft is always about position of need, why would any team draft a player they dont need when there are players on their board they desperately need, and no team goes into draft day without holes they need to fill, the cards proved it on draft day making a claim they didnt need certain positions when it was well known they lost their best pass rusher to the niners, and thats why they tried to trade up to get Dupree. Drafting an uneeded BPA is a myth......

 

I voted no because at this point in the year it feels about like it has the last several years at this same time of year. Looking back after next season, who knows, I might look at this draft completely differently.

 

I voted no. Quite simply put half the players we drafted came in for visits which is about par.we also doubled dipped on positions of need as done before. We stayed the course in the 1st rd, drafted a tiny quick productive player and made sure a Ohio St player makes it to camp......

Same as always.........

Cajun