Sgt. Largent":26a4rygo said:
Obviously the pick was a mistake, but the McDowell pick was no different than the Frank Clark or Bruce Irvin picks.............top 10 talent but available in the middle or bottom of the round because of character issues or trouble in the past.
You couldn't be MORE WRONG about the McDowell pick vs. the Clark and Irvin picks... night and day. Just lumping them altogether if they got any bad press pre-draft.
Clark was clearly a solid pick, and the Seahawks vetted him thoroughly and discounted the politicized bad press Clark was getting. Yes, Clark did some dumb stuff his freshman year at UM, but learned the lesson and paid the price. The DV stuff was a politicized mess that had more to do with Clark having bad judgment in women than any character flaw. By all reports, Clark was a team leader, a hard worker, full-motor guy.
The Irvin pick was a slightly less-solid pick than Clark, but in the end it worked out well for the team and Irvin made key plays in the run to the SB48 win and SB49 appearance. Irvin also had the reputation for being a very hard worker, high-motor guy, and a good teammate. He didn't have quite the rep Clark did as a team leader, but Irvin was very green as a college player. Also on Irvin's side were the circumstances he had to overcome. Pete did his due diligence.
With McDowell, honestly, I got a different vibe, that he took plays off, but was such a tremendous physical talent with motivation and character questions, where Pete and John decided to roll the dice and bet on the Seahawks culture to reach him.
I don't know that we've ever gotten the full story on McDowell's head injury and exactly what happened; if the full story ever came out, I hope someone shares it here.
Not all "troubled young men" are alike, and Pete and John have, I believe, put process in place for the team to improve their evaluation of this type of player, and how much "capital" to bet on such projects. The Percy Harvin fiasco was educational for them; I expect the team now quietly and routinely does psych profiles/evaluations that screen potential acquisitions for Cluster B personality disorders and sociopathy. Based on his past history and behavior, Harvin checked many boxes for Borderline Personality Disorder with a high degree of sociopathy.
WR Brandon Marshall is the only all-star athlete/celebrity I know of who has publicly come out acknowledging he has Borderline Personality Disorder. I salute and admire Marshall; having the courage to "come out" and become an advocate, where nobody else ever has, despite it being a widespread condition. Marshall sure tore up the Hawks when he played for the Bears and Dolphins in his All-Pro years.
