Grade Our Rookie's 2016 Class

[kidhawk]

Definitely WAY too early to grade the 2016 draft class. Only early round players are expected to even play right off the bat, the rest are meant to be long term project players who need to develop. You just can't do that in their rookie year. 2 years is even pushing it a bit to give a fair grade. Realistically if we want to grade a draft class, it should be the 2014 draft class...

Pick # | Player | Grade | Notes

45 | Paul Richardson | B- | Injury prone player with bursts of talent.

64 | Justin Britt | B | Has played tackle and guard before finding his sweet spot at center

108 | Cassius Marsh | C+ | Has filled a few roles on the front 7 and has been a solid contributor

123 | Kevin Norwood | D- | Played a handful of games his rookie year before being traded for a 7th Rd

132 | Kevin Pierre-Louis | C+ | Has been a solid backup and done well when starting

172 | Jimmy Staten | F | Waived before his second season

199 | Garrett Scott | F | Never played a snap as he was diagnosed with a Rare Heart Condition

208 | Eric Pinkins | F | On and off the Practice squad eventually waived injured

227 | Kiero Small | F | Never made the roster


Undrafted players still with the team today: Gary Gilliam and Brock Coyle

The early rounds were solid and we still have 4 of the first 5 on our roster. For that alone I'd give us a B-....sadly, after that we whiffed on every drafted player. We got two backup quality players signed as undrafted free agents, so overall I'd give this draft a solid C

 

[HawkFan72]

Reed was really good for what he was brought in to do. I don't know what you guys were expecting, but Reed performed exactly how he was supposed to when he was drafted. He was a B at least.

 

[nwHawk]

Round 3, Pick No. 97: Rees Odhiambo, OG, Boise State. D Another highly drafted interior OL who could barely crack being active.

&

Round 5, Pick No. 171: Alex Collins, RB, Arkansas. B- He's a 5th round RB who got better over the season and contributed pretty well. Can't ask for much more.

I'd argue that Rees looked like he improved a ton from Training Camp. It would not surprise me if he earns a starting spot next year. Think back to the handle of time he got playing time, he showed that he's got potential that we didn't get to see early on.

In any event, giving Rees a D and Collins a B seems odd. They both improved, and at the start of the season I wasn't sold on either sticking with the team long term - I was probably wrong.

 

[Seymour]

The sky has definitely fallen. Too early to give a grade. Give it 2 more years.

Well that is a pretty lazy reply. You are grading his first season, not his entire career.

 

[kidhawk]

The sky has definitely fallen. Too early to give a grade. Give it 2 more years.

Well that is a pretty lazy reply. You are grading his first season, not his entire career.

It's not "lazy", it's smart. There are tons of reasons why it's best to grade drafts after 3 years instead of after the 1st season.

 

[Jville]

This is always a humorous topic. Because ..... there are huge differences between how fans and media define grading criterion and how each NFL team defines their individual grading criterion.

For example, consider the rookie who became their #6 lineman in his first season .... Rees Odhiambo. Rees stepped in at tackle and guard. He helped out on both the left side and the right side. And, he contributed some snaps as the #3 tightend on a few occasions. That's five different protection spots. That's a remarkable NFL accomplishment for any rookie.

John Schneider identified the need to replace Alvin Bailey asap as a off season priority and the consensus nailed it with the selection of Rees Odiambo. Tom Cable got the best in 1st year versatility and performance out of a rookie at five unique spots. And, from my point of observation, the best is yet to come from Odhiambo.

Understand ...... I'm not taking issue with grades handed out by fans and media. What I am acknowledging is that the grading criterion and assigned grades at the VMAC is very different than here at dot net. I'm certain that 1st year VMAC grades on Odhiambo and his scout and his coach are much .... much higher than here at dot net.

 

[mrt144]

The sky has definitely fallen. Too early to give a grade. Give it 2 more years.

Well that is a pretty lazy reply. You are grading his first season, not his entire career.

It's not "lazy", it's smart. There are tons of reasons why it's best to grade drafts after 3 years instead of after the 1st season.

This is charlatan time buying garbage. The investment's soundness can only be determined years out? Even if you need to survive on the investment's yield in the interim?

 

[Bigpumpkin]

Ifedi feels like Carpenter. He'll finally start to figure out how to play in the last year of his rookie deal, and then he'll go somewhere else in free agency and play well.

That sentiment is probably shared by a lot of NFL fans as they evaluate their team's performance this year.
I still can't believe that we snagged Russ Wilson in the 3rd Round!!!

 

[Seymour]

The sky has definitely fallen. Too early to give a grade. Give it 2 more years.

Well that is a pretty lazy reply. You are grading his first season, not his entire career.

It's not "lazy", it's smart. There are tons of reasons why it's best to grade drafts after 3 years instead of after the 1st season.

Or...you could do all 3 and evaluate his progress which is useful information for most people.
People are acting like this is a keep em / cut em grade. Why?

 

[bighawk]

In general I give the class a B based off its potential Ifedi and Reed. To come in and start from the start is a good sign. The rookie I think can take off and be a difference maker is Jefferson I was impressed with his preseason but once he got hurt we are all waiting to see can he take off and gives us interior pass rush.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

The sky has definitely fallen. Too early to give a grade. Give it 2 more years.

Well that is a pretty lazy reply. You are grading his first season, not his entire career.

It's not "lazy", it's smart. There are tons of reasons why it's best to grade drafts after 3 years instead of after the 1st season.

This is charlatan time buying garbage. The investment's soundness can only be determined years out? Even if you need to survive on the investment's yield in the interim?

That's why you get 21 other players involved.

 

[Hawks46]

The sky has definitely fallen. Too early to give a grade. Give it 2 more years.

Well that is a pretty lazy reply. You are grading his first season, not his entire career.

It's not "lazy", it's smart. There are tons of reasons why it's best to grade drafts after 3 years instead of after the 1st season.

This is charlatan time buying garbage. The investment's soundness can only be determined years out? Even if you need to survive on the investment's yield in the interim?

That's the problem right there...fan perspective.

Yes, at many positions "the investment's soundness can only be determined years out". Go look at our roster the last 10 years; there are a ton of guys that panned out and played very well, but didn't have spectacular rookie years. There are certain positions, like the OL, where you can't expect an immediate impact the first year. Schneider and Cable have even come out and said so. The problem isn't the player, it's the process that we can inject 4 new players at their positions and expect immediate results. Blame the coaching staff and FO, not the players for that.

Grading almost anyone after their first year leads to calls of "bust!". It patently ridiculous to completely disregard player development and expect miracles out of college.