Draft Grades - Great quote from Polian

by MonkeyBusiness on Apr 14, 2008 9:15 AM EDT

From this morning's MMQB:

"If you give out the report cards the day after the draft, it's completely devoid of reason. How can you possibly give a student a grade the day he is admitted to college and enrolls in class? Draft report cards are the same thing. I used to get mad at those things, but now I say, 'Fine. Give us a C every year, and we'll just keep making the playoffs.' ''

--Indianapolis GM Bill Polian.

I loved that last line. "Ho hum, the Colts have another great draft, let's give them a C." I'm willing to bet that most of the teams in the league would kill for our drafting success.

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speaking of just handing the Colts a C

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/news/story?id=3333998

my blog <http://shakennbaken.blogspot.com>

by shake n bake on Apr 14, 2008 9:22 AM EDT reply actions

I saw that

That's kind of a tough grade. When I looked at the draft that year, I wasn't sure if I agreed or not. With the first 2 picks, the colts got Marlin and Hayden, their starting CBs. These 2 make up what looks to be the best tandem of CBs in the Dungy era. Also, in the 4th round, the Colts picked up Giordono and Gandy. Gandy has a chance to start this year, and Giordono has been an excellent back up, but neither have had tremendous impacts on the team at this point. Also, Hagler in the 5th round, who is also a starter (who is good and all, but doesn't blow you away or anything.)

Bad whiffs on Sweet Pea Burns in the 3rd, Johnathan Welsh and Robert Hunt in the 5th, and complete throw away picks in the 6th and 7th with Dave Rayner and Anthony Davis respectively.

So, half the picks either start or contribute regularly. The other half aren't even on the team anymore. I haven't ever analyzed the success rates for other teams (i.e. how many players drafted by the team end up contributing to their team) but a strong 50% success rate on picks for a year seems pretty decent to me. Maybe worth more like a B- or something. But, people still don't really know how good Marlin and Kelvin are yet.

All in all, it maybe wasn't Polian's absolute best year, but still seems strong to me.

The Shogun of Harlem

by shonuff on Apr 14, 2008 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions

Starters

I think if you get two starters a year, you're okay. Think about it: 2 starters a year, every year. 11 on offense, 11 on defense, 6 on special teams. That's 28 guys. 12 drafts. Less if you consider that ST guys double up, and that the 11 on offense includes a fullback (replace with a 3rd WR for the Colts). Like I said, most teams would kill for our draft record.

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by MonkeyBusiness on Apr 14, 2008 10:47 AM EDT reply actions

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