Sheldon Richardson is a very talented player, getting 4, 5, 8 sacks a year. Problem was, the year before we got him, his production dropped, Well we found out why, he was freelancing during games. That, and he came to a team with a disgruntled Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman, and discipline went out the window. We didn't make the playoffs.
The next year, Minnesota signed him for a 1 year deal, and while his stats went up, they didn't bring him back, and now he's a Brown. He's basically like Suh, made a lot of money, and now he's mailing it in.
Trading for him didn't pan out, but a move we made when Malik McDowell got injured on his three wheeler. Seemed like a good move at the time, after all, this was the 2013 Defensive Rookie of the Year as a DT, that followed that up with a beastly eight-sack 2014 Pro Bowl season.
I don't think that's one that anybody foresaw. Players in the final year of their contract usually play lights out in order to get a huge one next time.
Duane Brown has been a steal. Poor Deshaun Watson. Watching Brown play, how hard he plays, and how he plays to the whistle, has been refreshing.
And now with Fant getting experience on the end of the line while playing TE. George has all the size and talent needed to replace Duane Brown when he retires. Not bad for an UDFA.
We've got hidden gems all over this team, and that's down to Pete and John. And every NFL GM misses on players. You have to swing for the fences once in a while. Sometimes it pans out.
Having said all of that, Pete and John admitted that they got off track, and had to reset their draft profiles. But evaluating themselves is one of the things that makes them so good. Pete said the evaluate themselves at the end of every season and look for tendencies, and guidelines that have them going in the wrong direction.
People complain that Pete and John draft an unknown in the 1st round, but like Danny O'Neill said, the only reason people complain is because they've never heard a guy like LJ Collier mocked to Seattle. That is because John's team is so tight with their information that no one finds out where they're headed.
Why didn't we draft Montez Sweat? Maybe it was the medical. Sure a report came out saying that his heart was fine and that the doctors had made a mistake. But, that report came from his Agent, on the day of the draft. Go figure. And if the newest report was true, why didn't any other team pick him in the Top Ten like he was projected to go before the heart issue?
I love John Schneider, and to me, last year's draft proved just how good he can be.