MizzouHawkGal":ygkb1ahd said:
he was a 1st round talent no question.
He was a solid 2nd round talent who may have gone as high as the late 1st, but ended up going in the 5th because his knee issues are/were believed to be chronic. He was slated as a second rounder because while he's good at what he does, he's very one-dimensional, and what he does is increasingly less valued in the NFL.
Overall, in the 5th round I loved the pick. If the knee issue proves not to be chronic and if he pans out as a player he'll be a great replacement for Bryant. If these things end up not being true, it was only a 5th round pick so who cares.
By the 5th you're hoping for solid, long-term backups and spot starters and guys with ST potential. There are a ton of guys like this in the league, and you can regularly find older versions of them (who are more short term solutions, for obvious reasons) for the vet minimum at the end of FA each off-season.
All to say that I really love high risk/high reward picks from the late 4th through the early 6th because in the grand scheme of things the risks are really low. The flyer, even if it doesn't pan out, is totally worth it, IMO.