Re-picking the first round of the 2015 NFL draft

I thought this was interesting since it shows again what an incredible job our FO does in evaluating talent in the draft.

Our 3rd round pick Lockett and undrafted free agent Rawls getting 1st round grades. The future looks bright indeed.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/02/23/2015-nfl-draft-redo-jameis-winston-todd-gurley

It's way too early, but still a fun exercise. Since the author brought up the topic of alternate NFL story lines, imagine what the NFL would look like if Luck entered the 2011 draft. The Panthers would have Luck, the Broncos might have taken Newton 2nd overall (depending on their satisfaction with Tebow at the time), and Peyton Manning would have played somewhere else to finish his career, possibly winning a championship with the Texans in 2012. RG3 would probably be a Colt, and the Rams wouldn't have had all those extra 1st round picks.

I blew up Scotte and Zeb when we landed TLock...I was excited.

Rawls I thought was JAG though. Dumb.

Well to be fair I broke the news on Lockett before any combination of you goofballs decided it was a good pick.

I also wasn't excited about Rawls even after seeing him in the preseason. I fully admit I was wrong and Cannot wait to see him play this year. Guy is a stud.

Erebus":1ghjgjbs said:

It's way too early, but still a fun exercise. Since the author brought up the topic of alternate NFL story lines, imagine what the NFL would look like if Luck entered the 2011 draft. The Panthers would have Luck, the Broncos might have taken Newton 2nd overall (depending on their satisfaction with Tebow at the time), and Peyton Manning would have played somewhere else to finish his career, possibly winning a championship with the Texans in 2012. RG3 would probably be a Colt, and the Rams wouldn't have had all those extra 1st round picks.

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Peyton Manning might have been a Seahawk, and we might not have picked Wilson in that scenario . . .

Erebus":3dxf76eq said:

It's way too early, but still a fun exercise. Since the author brought up the topic of alternate NFL story lines, imagine what the NFL would look like if Luck entered the 2011 draft. The Panthers would have Luck, the Broncos might have taken Newton 2nd overall (depending on their satisfaction with Tebow at the time), and Peyton Manning would have played somewhere else to finish his career, possibly winning a championship with the Texans in 2012. RG3 would probably be a Colt, and the Rams wouldn't have had all those extra 1st round picks.

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Good stuff.

pehawk":lr6pks96 said:

I blew up Scotte and Zeb when we landed TLock...I was excited.

Rawls I thought was JAG though. Dumb.

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I liked Rawls in the preseason but we always have a RB I like in the preseason (hell, I liked Rod Smith too), didn't think there was a chance in holy hell we'd drop Michael & Turbin for him. Though I'm sure glad we did.

Zebulon Dak":b89zgygh said:

pehawk":b89zgygh said:

I blew up Scotte and Zeb when we landed TLock...I was excited.

Rawls I thought was JAG though. Dumb.

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I liked Rawls in the preseason but we always have a RB I like in the preseason (hell, I liked Rod Smith too), didn't think there was a chance in holy hell we'd drop Michael & Turbin for him. Though I'm sure glad we did.

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If anything Smith was more appealing.

pehawk":3o69eynm said:

Zebulon Dak":3o69eynm said:

pehawk":3o69eynm said:

I blew up Scotte and Zeb when we landed TLock...I was excited.

Rawls I thought was JAG though. Dumb.

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I liked Rawls in the preseason but we always have a RB I like in the preseason (hell, I liked Rod Smith too), didn't think there was a chance in holy hell we'd drop Michael & Turbin for him. Though I'm sure glad we did.

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If anything Smith was more appealing.

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Yeah. No.

Our third round pick being valued as a top 10 selection and our undrafted RB as a late first rounder. This once again proves just how great the talent evaluation of the Hawks is right now.

Overseasfan":3w1224kh said:

Our third round pick being valued as a top 10 selection and our undrafted RB as a late first rounder. This once again proves just how great the talent evaluation of the Hawks is right now.

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It's too bad so few of our 1st round picks end up as 1st round picks in these redrafts. :twisted:

I did like the Lockett pick though. I had a feeling we were moving up for him, and I knew he'd be a good WR.

The Hawks definitely hit on Lockett, but it is incorrect to give them credit for UDFA.

If Schneider thought Rawls would be HALF the rb he was last year, he would have used a pick on him.

If you want to use Rawls in terms of talent evaluation then Schneider MISSED because he failed to properly evaluate him.


I absolutely love having Rawls, but anytime a UDFA becomes successful it means all 32 teams failed.

bjornanderson21":329wmrag said:

The Hawks definitely hit on Lockett, but it is incorrect to give them credit for UDFA.

If Schneider thought Rawls would be HALF the rb he was last year, he would have used a pick on him.

If you want to use Rawls in terms of talent evaluation then Schneider MISSED because he failed to properly evaluate him.


I absolutely love having Rawls, but anytime a UDFA becomes successful it means all 32 teams failed.

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That's some oversimplification. Some guys don't get it right away. And also, he had some off the field issues that probably put some teams off. And a lot of it is market value. Perhaps Seattle would have drafted him if that was his market, but they took a chance they'd be able to get him as an UDFA.

bjornanderson21":2tq5fdb5 said:

The Hawks definitely hit on Lockett, but it is incorrect to give them credit for UDFA.

If Schneider thought Rawls would be HALF the rb he was last year, he would have used a pick on him.

If you want to use Rawls in terms of talent evaluation then Schneider MISSED because he failed to properly evaluate him.


I absolutely love having Rawls, but anytime a UDFA becomes successful it means all 32 teams failed.

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That's mostly true, but doesn't necessarily apply to all UDFAs. Schneider has admitted to having a strategy with who to draft and who to try to get in undrafted free agency. When he wants more players than he can pick, and has a fairly good idea of which ones will go undrafted, he'll draft the ones at positions less likely to earn much playing time because they will be harder to sign as free agents. I don't know if that's what happened with Rawls, but he would've been a much better pick than Terry Poole.

bjornanderson21":3i12qhgz said:

The Hawks definitely hit on Lockett, but it is incorrect to give them credit for UDFA.

If Schneider thought Rawls would be HALF the rb he was last year, he would have used a pick on him.

If you want to use Rawls in terms of talent evaluation then Schneider MISSED because he failed to properly evaluate him.


I absolutely love having Rawls, but anytime a UDFA becomes successful it means all 32 teams failed.

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I don't agree with this sentiment. It's not like Rawls lit it up in the preseason to distance himself from Rod Smith. Yet the Hawks were willing to part with both Turbin and Michael and not risk putting Rawls on the PS. That is good talent evaluation. They saw something we didn't and weren't willing to part with him.

The draft is about accumulating as much talent as you can and before an opponent can. Did the Hawks fail by drafting Sherman in the 5th? Wilson in the 3rd? I don't see how it's different with UDFA like Baldwin or Rawls. They got a talented player for great value and held on to them.

I thought DJ Humphries was the best OT in the draft, according to exec of the year Steve Keim. Too bad it's not an "inactive" re-draft. Take DJ over Shaq while Shaq shuts down Fitz in the NFCCG. Smooth move Steve-O.

McGruff":13md72rg said:

Erebus":13md72rg said:

It's way too early, but still a fun exercise. Since the author brought up the topic of alternate NFL story lines, imagine what the NFL would look like if Luck entered the 2011 draft. The Panthers would have Luck, the Broncos might have taken Newton 2nd overall (depending on their satisfaction with Tebow at the time), and Peyton Manning would have played somewhere else to finish his career, possibly winning a championship with the Texans in 2012. RG3 would probably be a Colt, and the Rams wouldn't have had all those extra 1st round picks.

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Peyton Manning might have been a Seahawk, and we might not have picked Wilson in that scenario . . .

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Doubt it, he didn't give us the time of day

He was probably headed to SF or Tennessee.

ctrcat":26d2uka9 said:

I thought DJ Humphries was the best OT in the draft, according to exec of the year Steve Keim. Too bad it's not an "inactive" re-draft. Take DJ over Shaq while Shaq shuts down Fitz in the NFCCG. Smooth move Steve-O.

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Shaq was one of my favorite players in the draft. I had high hopes the perennial "irrational drop of a talented UDub player" would last another round. You bastards stole him.

bjornanderson21":3f3c70vd said:

The Hawks definitely hit on Lockett, but it is incorrect to give them credit for UDFA.

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Disagree. You still have to identify him, recruit him, convince him to sign, and coach him up.

It's not like he just walked up and knocked on the door of the vmac a ready made pro bowl caliber rb.

...not to take anything away from the Front Office, but I give as much credit to the Always Compete mentality. It doesn't surprise me that earlier picks (that have spent a year preparing for the draft and may consider getting picked early a "win") don't pan out as well as the later round picks that are given an opportunity they may not be allowed elsewhere. Perhaps some of the jewels found in late rounds weren't as much finding the player as allowing the player to compete. Maybe there are a higher % of late round players that can actually be stars but never get the chance because so much is invested in earlier picks. In Seattle an UDFA does compete with an early rounder for playtime. Does that mean the FO found the late round player, or does it mean the team gave them more of a chance? ... probably both...