MSNBC Draft Grade

[r8rh8rmike]

A D+?? That's rediculous. They lost all legitimacy with me when they said Long was merely a "good" player. As far as their opinion on Avery, I guess stats on the field, Combine and Pro Day measurables and his Senior Bowl performance don't enter into their equation. Who'd they get to do their draft grades, the mailroom guy?? MSNBC needs to stick to screwing up news.

[HUbison]

Originally Posted by txramsfan

Yes, I do think the Rams would have selected someone different IF the WR group was stronger.

Ahh, ok. I give. Avery is a great route runner and will catch 10 TD's this season.

Come on, tx. Quitters never win; winners never quit.

How does a stronger class change what the Rams see in Avery? Unless the Rams saw something to trade up into the first round for in one of these hypothetical first rounders, Avery was the pick of the litter. They didn't trade up to get him; he fell to their laps at 33.

[txramsfan]

Originally Posted by HUbison

Come on, tx. Quitters never win; winners never quit.

How does a stronger class change what the Rams see in Avery? Unless the Rams saw something to trade up into the first round for in one of these hypothetical first rounders, Avery was the pick of the litter. They didn't trade up to get him; he fell to their laps at 33.

I guess my point is this, if he's the pick of this litter then everyone in the litter was a runt.

Ok, he ran good routes in the Senior Bowl but if you look at other scouting reports most say he's a third down WR right now who can only go long (which is what the Rams need at this time). He's not a precision route runner. Like I said, he's a Hakim clone which isn't bad but is it necessarily a 2nd round pick? Not sure.

However, this regime doesn't have a good track record with WR's......a.k.a....Bennett.

[txramsfan]

I've said he has talent, I've said he has great potential, I've said he has excellent speed.

What I haven't said or seen is what most of you have...that he isn't a project. That's your opinion. I'm not dogging the guy, just don't think he's going to be that productive his rookie year.

[HUbison]

What I haven't said or seen is what most of you have...that he isn't a project. That's your opinion. I'm not dogging the guy, just don't think he's going to be that productive his rookie year.

I can't speak for other Avery supporters, but I don't know that anybody has said he's not a project. In my mind, EVERY rookie is a project, and to that extent, Avery is no different.

But let's define productive. I'm betting he's around 20 receptions and 300 yards, maybe 2 scores. I'd call that a succesful rookie campaign.

Originally Posted by tx

I guess my point is this, if he's the pick of this litter then everyone in the litter was a runt.

Originally Posted by tx

I'm not dogging the guy

Please promise to never "not dog me". I don't think my feelings could take it.

[txramsfan]

Just don't label me an Avery hater. I'm not, by any stretch. This guy has mad speed. If he can become polished, he could be a stud WR. And your production area is exactly where I see him also so HUb, QUIT PICKING ON ME. I AGREE.

[AvengerRam]

All hail mighty Tx!!!

Lord and Ruler of the Naysayers!!!

[txramsfan]

Originally Posted by AvengerRam

All hail mighty Tx!!!

Lord and Ruler of the Naysayers!!!

Now how ironic is this.....coming from the founder of SLOP.



You my boy David, no matter what......

[ramsplaya16]

i think by "raw" they mean the term that kids like me use to mean awesome!!

look at number 4 and 5 Urban Dictionary: raw

[cfh128]

I knew it was going to be a bad grade before I even read this once I saw that Moloch posted it.

[Goldenfleece]

Originally Posted by HUbison

What's logical about it? It's rather specious, if you ask me.

Long - Went against their draft board? Apparently not since it was THEIR draft board, and THEY made the decision. Against "expert" draft boards? Maybe, but why should we give them credence?

Avery - Reached for a raw receiver? Again, how do we define reach? Because Kiper said so? If he was the best receiver on the Rams board, and consensus was that he wouldn't be there in the 3rd, it wasn't a reach at all. And raw? 210 receptions in college. Is Devin Thomas' 86 receptions make him raw too?

Avery was 3rd in receiving yards & the ONLY receiver in the top 35 (74+ receptions) to average 16 yards per reception.

Is Avery raw? No more than any other rookie wideout.

Burton - Injury prone? He's missed 1 game in the past two years. NEXT!

I think "specious" is an excellent way to sum this up. On the first pick, does anyone really think they would have praised us for sticking to the draft board and ignoring our most urgent need?

As far as Avery being a reach, I tend to define a "reach" as taking a player earlier than they deserve to because of a lack of other options. If our first choice of all the receivers in the draft is a reach, then logically every receiver in the draft would have been a reach at that point. The distinction in my mind is whether you take a player earlier than predicted because you feel you have no other choice or if you take a player earlier than predicted because you feel he's really a better prospect. You can blame the scouts if you want to for rating him so highly, but it isn't fair to fault the decision-makers for taking the guy highest on their draft board...especially after having just faulted them for straying from it.

I will concede that King is kind of a project, and I do seem to recall reading somewhere that Burton played through some injuries. Playing through injuries gets you points for toughness but doesn't change the concern that you may not be playing at full strength as often as other guys.

[Fat Pang]

I knew there was a reason why MSNBC had never featured on my favourites list under 'Sports'.

The Rams draft has attracted negative comment for two reasons it seems to me:

1. They took Long but had Dorsey rated higher.

2. They took Donnie Avery in round two.

Both ridiculous because in the case of #1, many teams had concerns surrouding Dorsey which were well aired prior to the draft, and Dorsey plays one of the few positions where the Rams appear reasonably well set. Furthermore, Dorsey being higher on the board would have meant he would have been picked ahead of Long presumably. No-one inside of the Rams organisation has or will comment on this so it remains press guff as far as I'm concerned.

In the case of #2, prior to the draft it was agreed that there was no clear #1 at the WR position. Its a case of placing measurables and Kiper rankings ahead of productin and team need. Its just daft. It's also funny to see a whole raft of draft picks devalued by a writer because they don't like one pick.

The thing that summed this whole draft ranking absurdity up for me was when Dr Z was dishing his out. In ranking the teams, quite often he would award a high grade merely for a team choosing according to HIS mock draft or according to his personal preferences. The Dolphins got an A because the players they picked were big and because it was Parcells picking them...

Now he may well have been tongue-in-cheek when he wrote all of this but if he was then it was no less a highlight of just how subjective this post-draft ranking business really is.

Add into all of this a perception that the Rams don't draft well and you have a recipe for journalistic lethargy as perfectly illustrated by MSNBC.

Complete Horlicks.

[Nick]

...I wasn't even aware MSNBC covered sports?

[Chris58]

I couldn't give a rats behind as to what MSNBC or any so called expert thinks of the Rams draft. The proof will be in the pudding. I have said before and will say it again, the Rams are 2-3 years into building a great team. This will be year one. If we go 8-8, we will have made great strides toward becoming a dominant team once again. The NFL is made up of great rags to riches stories so if the guys we have work hard and put in the time, we'll be okay.

[Bar-bq]

Originally Posted by Nick

...I wasn't even aware MSNBC covered sports?

If anything, I'd say this is testament to the fact that they don't.