chris98251":3kp2vt35 said:
Don't be surprised if many are gone as teams are adopting our draft philosophy, will get harder to find diamonds in the rough going forward.
It took a bit but Tex Schram broke through and within 5 years teams were using a lot of his system, I expect the same to happen with us.
Agreed on the point of other copycats in the league. We've already seen this for a couple years now. Overdrafting of corners of size and enforcer safeties/rangy free safeties has already started.
The options we had getting the likes of Maxwell in the 6th and Lane in the 7th are drying up. Meaning by process of overdrafting -- we'll have to get those same players in the 4th/5th.
But it's worth noting, that the players that used to be taken earlier are now going to drop further. DL talent has generally eluded us as teams traditionally build defenses from the front to back. With more teams focusing on the backfield, line talent is going to drop.
Also, the ZBS is kind of unique. It's been around a long time but there aren't a lot of teams to go all in on that. You still see guys like Laken Tomlinson, Morgan Moses, Gabe Jackson, Larry Warford etc who aren't fits for Seattle's ZBS that get taken in day 1 and day 2. The interior line is still well represented with big power OG candidates in that early range.
There are just a lot of guys in this draft in the day 4 range that should mostly still be there. I wouldn't worry too much about missing out on players. We've had that issue with OTs, which every team and every scheme is looking for athletic players to match edge rushers. The interior is one where we should still have great options year after year.
Lastly, it's important to understand that the single biggest attribute contributing to the success of our kinds of picks, is pro development. Few teams are as adept at developing talent as we are. Which means in a couple years' time, Seattle is going to have a new avenue for talent acquisition. Our kinds of prospects that flamed out on other teams who aren't as capable at developing talent. Those UFAs should be fairly cheap to acquire. Many of the guys we liked in 2013/2014 that got snatched up by copycats are likely to be guys who are allowed to walk by those same teams in 2017/2018 or earlier as simple cuts. I tend to think that Marcus Burley was one such player who we were able to acquire for a cheap price.
In fact, I would not rule out Seattle kind of returning to their strategy in 2010 in the draft. Trading back slightly for picks and 'throwaway' players. Guys we wanted in previous drafts. Only to acquire them a year or two later. Just because we don't get them on draft day doesn't mean there aren't attractive and cheap avenues to get them down the line.
