Draft Grade

[vinsanity]

Please comment on this thread starting with "I give this year's draft (grade) because..." followed by your reason/logic. I'll start it off

 

I give this year's draft B+ because....

1. Thornton will start at RG from day 1
2. I believe Holmes will either be our starting C or #2 C from day 1
3. Werner will eventually beat out Walden for starting SAM LB to play alongside Mathis
4. I believe McKinney will be cut and we will be left with a rotation of Franklin, Hughes, and Chapman at NT with Chapman starting
5. Williams will be our return specialist and change of pace back from day 1
6. Pep Hamilton uses a ton of TE and some of em have to block … I think Cunningham makes the roster and becomes 3rd TE on the team

 

I think we had a very below the radar draft .. NOTHING flashy about it … BUT it was a necessity … Our trenches are now solidified!

 

[#BringBobBack]

Please comment on this thread starting with "I give this year's draft (grade) because..." followed by your reason/logic. I'll start it off

 

I give this year's draft B+ because....

1. Thornton will start at RG from day 1

2. I believe Holmes will either be our starting C or #2 C from day 1

3. Werner will eventually beat out Walden for starting SAM LB to play alongside Mathis

4. I believe McKinney will be cut and we will be left with a rotation of Franklin, Hughes, and Chapman at NT with Chapman starting

5. Williams will be our return specialist and change of pace back from day 1

6. Pep Hamilton uses a ton of TE and some of em have to block … I think Cunningham makes the roster and becomes 3rd TE on the team

 

I think we had a very below the radar draft .. NOTHING flashy about it … BUT it was a necessity … Our trenches are now solidified!

i actually believe McKinney is a great player doubt he'llbe cut if he recovers id choose him over others posted as starting NT

[Buck Showalter]

 

I think we had a very below the radar draft .. NOTHING flashy about it … BUT it was a necessity … Our trenches are now solidified!

If Werner pans out & either Thornton or Holmes can start & or be a solid upgrade on the line then I would give this draft a passing grade...

anything else will be icing...

[ztboiler]

i actually believe McKinney is a great player doubt he'llbe cut if he recovers id choose him over others posted as starting NT

 

McKinney just got lost in a numbers game.  Some pretty unusual events will have to occur for Chapman, Franklin and Tevaseu not to be in front of him.  M. Hughes projects as a DE/DT if I interpret the coaches comments correctly.

[John Waylon]

 

6. Pep Hamilton uses a ton of TE and some of em have to block … I think Cunningham makes the roster and becomes 3rd TE on the team

My question is why? I like Cunningham, but in all honesty, there is absolutely nothing he can offer us that Jones and Saunders don't already provide. 

[Warhorse]

All new draft specific threads should be posted in the draft section. Thanks for your understanding. i'm quoting so you know that it has been moved.

[NewColtsFan]

Please comment on this thread starting with "I give this year's draft (grade) because..." followed by your reason/logic. I'll start it off

 

I give this year's draft B+ because....

1. Thornton will start at RG from day 1

2. I believe Holmes will either be our starting C or #2 C from day 1

3. Werner will eventually beat out Walden for starting SAM LB to play alongside Mathis

4. I believe McKinney will be cut and we will be left with a rotation of Franklin, Hughes, and Chapman at NT with Chapman starting

5. Williams will be our return specialist and change of pace back from day 1

6. Pep Hamilton uses a ton of TE and some of em have to block … I think Cunningham makes the roster and becomes 3rd TE on the team

 

I think we had a very below the radar draft .. NOTHING flashy about it … BUT it was a necessity … Our trenches are now solidified!

 

I think it's more likely that Holmes will be the starter next year, 2014,  than this year.   Just not sure he'll be ready to step in from Day One.

 

As for Pep....  remember,  he used lots of TE's in large part because the TE's Stanford had were MUCH better than the WR's that Stanford had.

 

Their TE's were Fleener, picked at the top of R2,  Ertz picked at the top of R2 and Toilolo picked at the bottom of R4.   That's a lot of TE talent.    And their WR's have been 6th round picks or FA's....

 

Don't get me wrong,  I'm sure Pep will use lots of Allen and Fleener.   I'm already on record as saying the two of them will catch 100 passes total.   Last year they caught 71.    That's roughly 2 more catches together per game this year.   And I'd be good with that.

[ar1888]

I don't believe Holmes will ever play center. I think he will be a back up guard, and Shipley will be our center of something happens to Statele.

[Carl Dzienkiewicz]

great ufa signings----------swanson is very good---surprised by non-draft status

                                         sampson----speed guy who could make push as returner

                                         cleary---tough lineman--seen him play couple times--might be best of lot

[Mr. Blue]

I don't believe Holmes will ever play center. I think he will be a back up guard, and Shipley will be our center of something happens to Statele.

Well I think eventually Holmes will start at center (maybe, maybe not from day 1) but Shipley has been better than satele

[Gavin]

Mckinney played on skates in the pre season a few times prior to injury

[coltsfanatic24]

I would give it a B+ as well liked every pick but wanted a CB for depth.

[Hans Moleman]

For what I thought our needs were and how we addressed them, I'd give us an A-. The only thing I can nitpick is that a developmental WR may have made more sense than Cunningham, but Pep does love TE's. Other than that, the key areas I had for us to address going in were.

- a 3 down OLB who can play the run and rush the passer

- multiple interior linemen who fit our scheme perfectly

- a big, athletic DE with the ability to be a difference maker and command double teams

- a ball hawking S for ST and depth purposes. I rated S as a bigger need than CB for us.

- a viable return man who is also a big play threat as a 3rd down back

 

I also thought we acquired players with starter potential through the entire range of the draft and didn't take on an unnecessarily high level of risk to do so. That doesn't mean they'll all turn out, of course, but I'd be shocked if this draft produced more misses than hits. 

[HtownColt]

Bill Polian "I don't do draft grades. They would give me a C and I'd say, we'll C you in the playoffs."

[Gavin]

1.Bjoern Werner-LOLB/DE.......A- 92%.......He plays the run well, keeping eyes on the ball most of the time, is strong at the point of attack, Tackles well.....Questions about flexibility and motor sometimes runs cold if he is not directly involved in the action, Needs to develop his pass rush rep, Was the highest rated pass rusher left on the board and the 4th highest overall all player left on the board at our selection...The others being Cordarelle Patterson 90.6....John Cyprien 90.6......Arthur Brown 90.3......Larry Warford 90.3.....All of which will be very good or great players in the league for years to come But we already have two quality starting ILB's in Angerer and Freeman and there is not point in drafting a Jerrell Freeman type linebacker that Brown is when you already have Freeman on the roster (In terms of drag down tackling technique). As for Cyprien, great player for years to come I believe but we had just signed Landry and Bethea has one more year in his deal and the off year he had last year was largely overblown....He was the only secondary player that showed up most of the season up till late

3.Hugh Thornton-G-A bit of a mauler, strong, can get to the second level quickly, good at cut blocks, Bends at the waist to often and lunges, Hand placement is suspect at times and stops churning his feet to often......My Grade B- 82%........There was 67 other players after him with a better draft grade (2 Guards, Barrett Jones-71.1...Questions whether or not he would fit our scheme, General consensus on the board was no and.....Earl Watford 68.1....Same as Jones in terms of scheme fit questions also not as technically sound

4.Khaled Homes-C-Agile, quick O Lineman who is very good at making O Line calls, always pointing out the blitz or otherwise making adjustments, Lacks alot of strength and can play to high at times but he is very quick off the snap , My Grade 79% C+.......18 players after him had better draft grades

5.Montori Hughes, strong athletic player that can play both the NT and DE positions, Has a good motor.....Inconsistent with hand placement and activity and does not always get them straightened out to jolt his man backwards....strength needs to be built and questions about his stamina...Looks to be a fine rotational NT/DE who wont wow anyone but provides depth with some potential moving forward:My Grade C.....74%.......28 players with a higher draft grades after him

6.John Boyett-Has quite a bit of experience at playing single high Safety which our defense did quite a bit of last year, Not afraid to hit someone and out his body on the line, can come up and play the run if asked, Tenacious attitude plus good hands for the interception, History of of injury concerns including operations on both knees, goes for the big hit to often and does not wrap up as much as I would like.......My Grade: C....75%....12 Players with a better draft grades after him

7.Kerwynn Williams,-Blazing speed Back, Not afraid to run between the Tackles, secure ball handler, reliable pass catcher, Quick twitch, agile rb that has the ability to make quick and sharp cuts, Inconsistennt pass blocking skills, Taken down by a defender to easily on the 1st hit, However will make a very good change of pace Back......C+ 77%....14 players after him had better draft grades

 

7.(Comp pick)Justice Cunningham-Big tall TE. with some athleticism who can catch and get open as well as block well but not overly fast and needs to work on route running C- 70%

 

 

 

Grading Scale I used: 

 

 

Letter Grade Percentage 

Points 

A+ 100 – 97 

A 96.9 – 93 

A- 92.9 – 90 

B+ 89.9 – 87 

B 86.9 – 83 

B- 82.9 – 80 

C+ 79.9 – 77 

C 76.9 – 73 

C- 72.9 – 70 

D+ 69.9 – 67 

D 66.9 – 63 

D- 62.9 – 60 

F Below 60

[Gavin]

Overall Grade: C+

[Gavin]

Could tell Polian did not do draft grades lookin at some of his draft picks, he had some real good picks and then completely whiffed on a few draft classes all together

[dw49]

Could tell Polian did not do draft grades lookin at some of his draft picks, he had some real good picks and then completely whiffed on a few draft classes all together

 

 

 

I think maybe it was the "Chris Polian factor."

[Gavin]

I think maybe it was the "Chris Polian factor."

I dont believe he was all to blame or as much to blame as people think, He was hired in 2009 and was here through 2011, Polian blew the entire 2007 draft on every player with the exception of Clint Session who we let walk if I remember right after 4 seasons, How many players from lets say 2003 to 2008 are still with the team(the year prior to Chris coming aboard in 2009.....2. if you want to go back two more draft classes then you can add Wayne in there who was drafted in 2001