kearly
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Draft grades the day after the draft are stupid, they might as well be palm readings in most cases. But hey, sometimes stupid stuff can be fun, and sometimes it's useful to create a snapshot of what people thought at the time to refer to it later when we see how things actually turn out.
What does a draft grade mean right now? It can't mean how good the player will be, that's impossible to know. What it basically means is "do we like the players taken?", "do we like the decisions to address certain areas and not others?", "did we feel that players we drafted were very fortunate to reach our picks or did we feel we could have gotten someone comparable later?"
So, please don't take this deathly serious, it's just my opinion right now, and opinions will change really quick when players start showing improvement.
Paul Richardson
I didn't think much of Richardson before the draft. His top end speed is elite, but his playing weight (161 pounds) put an asterisk on it. He's not an explosive guy, more of a gradual accelerator similar to Leon Washington. As you would expect at his weight, he was poor blocker. I watched a few of his games and it seemed he was generally a non-factor when the game was in doubt, then would make some huge plays for TDs against backups when CU was already down by five touchdowns.
Sometimes it is hard to gauge competitiveness, but Richardson seemed to have a passive personality to me. In interviews he was super chill, in contrast to the always pissed Sherman and Baldwin. He would get shoved around running routes sometimes and didn't get mad or fight back, he'd just try to run around them next time. Definitely seemed like a finesse player to me, though in fairness to him it's not easy being a badass against Division I players when you live in a 161 pound body. He's since added a great deal of weight.
Richardson is very dangerous when he gets behind defenders and this is why Seattle drafted him. Seattle is adept at drafting bland players at certain positions (LB, WR, TE) and turning them into solid, even good starters. This pick actually reminds me of Bobby Wagner because he was super boring on tape but had some very rare qualities that it was obvious Seattle could make use of.
I was a little surprised Seattle had him rated so highly with bigger, SPARQ-ier WRs still on the board, the best way to explain it is to think Seattle must have really wanted elite speed at all costs. Maybe they have plans to use Richardson on end around plays like Harvin? If they view Richardson as Harvin insurance, the pick makes a lot of sense, but he will also compliment Harvin nicely too because Harvin's presence will open up the deep ball for other targets.
I think if we view Richardson as a mid-2nd round pick instead of our first pick, expectations would be set more fairly. I do not love this pick yet, but I get it. Richardson's route running is very good, and our offense is very simple, and what we ask of him will be very little. It is not hard to see Richardson having an immediate impact similar to what Marlon Brown did for deep ball obsessed Joe Flacco as a rookie last season.
Justin Britt
I didn't know about this guy before he was drafted. All-American left tackle, high end measurables, and despite being a lightfooted finesse guy, the way he shoves guys around in the run game is highly reminiscent of the guy he's replacing, Breno Giacomini.
As has been pointed out, his light feet can be exploited by nasty bull rushers, which is really surprising because normally 325 pound lineman do not have anchoring issues. This is a significant problem because he'll face even stronger lineman if he moves inside to guard. That said, if Cable can fix this issue with his coaching, Britt has everything else he needs to be one of the better right tackles in the league.
Cassius Marsh
Really good upper body strength and good technique, his ability to shed blocks inside is impressive. In nickle packages he could be a badass at the 3-tech. Unfortunately, he's horrible versus the run, a guy who consistently gets blown back a few yards off the line. He might fit at LEO, but the guy ran only a 4.89 forty with a sub-par 10 yard split. He repped 14 on the bench press, the guy is not a workout warrior. It's worth noting that Raheem Brock had similar speed and skills to Marsh, and Brock gave us a very nice season in 2010 as a situational outside pass rusher.
Marsh has a high motor and has a reputation for being dirty. He's almost like a trailer park version of Craig Terrill, the kind of guy you envision slamming beers while watching NASCAR rather than strumming his hippie guitar notes like Terrill did. Personality wise, there is a bit of a Justin Smith vibe to this guy.
This pick puzzles me because we already have Jordan Hill and Michael Brooks, who both kind of fit that situational pass rush mold. Competition purely for the sake of competition is fine, but an early fourth was a steep price for it, IMO. For this pick to pan out, Marsh will need to get the absolute most out of his pass rush opportunities.
Kevin Norwood
Super productive per catch, super clutch, super consistent. The only knock on him is that his playing speed is nowhere near as good as his 4.48 forty indicates, and he seems like a guy who just barely makes a lot of plays. I didn't think this pick was a steal, I think 4th round is about right for Norwood given his tools and production. But this was a really solid pick. We all love Doug Baldwin, but Baldwin gets injured often and now Seattle has a very similar receiver in Norwood added to the fold in case anything happens to ADB.
Kevin Pierre-Louis
His athleticism is a bit overstated, his 4.61 forty makes him quite a bit slower than most of our LB group, and he doesn't play especially fast either (edit: he ran a very impressive 4.46- at the combine no less- though I still didn't think he looked terribly fast on tape). I think rather than compare him to guys like Wagner or Smith, he's more like KJ Wright, or perhaps Bruce Irvin with less "truck factor". Tough, physical, decently fast. Not amazingly instinctive, but easy to mold. Pete seems to like targeting LBs who still have a lot to learn, so this pick feels like we should have seen it coming.
I think this pick will turn out pretty much exactly the same way KJ Wright did. Within a couple years Pierre-Lewis will be a solid starter who adds physicality to the defense. Not an amazing pick, but good for a 4th rounder.
...
As far as the rest, there isn't much out there for anyone but the fullback Kiero Small. I'm just going to wait until the preseason before forming any initial opinions on those guys.
Dion Bailey and Keith Price were nice additions in UDFA.
...
Overall, this draft is a lot like 2011. It's probably a C- or D+ type grade right now, but will go up a grade for each player that Pete works his magic on. Obviously, the 2011 draft is now an easy A in retrospect, with Sherman alone having multiple first round pick value, and three other players turning into good starters.
What does a draft grade mean right now? It can't mean how good the player will be, that's impossible to know. What it basically means is "do we like the players taken?", "do we like the decisions to address certain areas and not others?", "did we feel that players we drafted were very fortunate to reach our picks or did we feel we could have gotten someone comparable later?"
So, please don't take this deathly serious, it's just my opinion right now, and opinions will change really quick when players start showing improvement.
Paul Richardson
I didn't think much of Richardson before the draft. His top end speed is elite, but his playing weight (161 pounds) put an asterisk on it. He's not an explosive guy, more of a gradual accelerator similar to Leon Washington. As you would expect at his weight, he was poor blocker. I watched a few of his games and it seemed he was generally a non-factor when the game was in doubt, then would make some huge plays for TDs against backups when CU was already down by five touchdowns.
Sometimes it is hard to gauge competitiveness, but Richardson seemed to have a passive personality to me. In interviews he was super chill, in contrast to the always pissed Sherman and Baldwin. He would get shoved around running routes sometimes and didn't get mad or fight back, he'd just try to run around them next time. Definitely seemed like a finesse player to me, though in fairness to him it's not easy being a badass against Division I players when you live in a 161 pound body. He's since added a great deal of weight.
Richardson is very dangerous when he gets behind defenders and this is why Seattle drafted him. Seattle is adept at drafting bland players at certain positions (LB, WR, TE) and turning them into solid, even good starters. This pick actually reminds me of Bobby Wagner because he was super boring on tape but had some very rare qualities that it was obvious Seattle could make use of.
I was a little surprised Seattle had him rated so highly with bigger, SPARQ-ier WRs still on the board, the best way to explain it is to think Seattle must have really wanted elite speed at all costs. Maybe they have plans to use Richardson on end around plays like Harvin? If they view Richardson as Harvin insurance, the pick makes a lot of sense, but he will also compliment Harvin nicely too because Harvin's presence will open up the deep ball for other targets.
I think if we view Richardson as a mid-2nd round pick instead of our first pick, expectations would be set more fairly. I do not love this pick yet, but I get it. Richardson's route running is very good, and our offense is very simple, and what we ask of him will be very little. It is not hard to see Richardson having an immediate impact similar to what Marlon Brown did for deep ball obsessed Joe Flacco as a rookie last season.
Justin Britt
I didn't know about this guy before he was drafted. All-American left tackle, high end measurables, and despite being a lightfooted finesse guy, the way he shoves guys around in the run game is highly reminiscent of the guy he's replacing, Breno Giacomini.
As has been pointed out, his light feet can be exploited by nasty bull rushers, which is really surprising because normally 325 pound lineman do not have anchoring issues. This is a significant problem because he'll face even stronger lineman if he moves inside to guard. That said, if Cable can fix this issue with his coaching, Britt has everything else he needs to be one of the better right tackles in the league.
Cassius Marsh
Really good upper body strength and good technique, his ability to shed blocks inside is impressive. In nickle packages he could be a badass at the 3-tech. Unfortunately, he's horrible versus the run, a guy who consistently gets blown back a few yards off the line. He might fit at LEO, but the guy ran only a 4.89 forty with a sub-par 10 yard split. He repped 14 on the bench press, the guy is not a workout warrior. It's worth noting that Raheem Brock had similar speed and skills to Marsh, and Brock gave us a very nice season in 2010 as a situational outside pass rusher.
Marsh has a high motor and has a reputation for being dirty. He's almost like a trailer park version of Craig Terrill, the kind of guy you envision slamming beers while watching NASCAR rather than strumming his hippie guitar notes like Terrill did. Personality wise, there is a bit of a Justin Smith vibe to this guy.
This pick puzzles me because we already have Jordan Hill and Michael Brooks, who both kind of fit that situational pass rush mold. Competition purely for the sake of competition is fine, but an early fourth was a steep price for it, IMO. For this pick to pan out, Marsh will need to get the absolute most out of his pass rush opportunities.
Kevin Norwood
Super productive per catch, super clutch, super consistent. The only knock on him is that his playing speed is nowhere near as good as his 4.48 forty indicates, and he seems like a guy who just barely makes a lot of plays. I didn't think this pick was a steal, I think 4th round is about right for Norwood given his tools and production. But this was a really solid pick. We all love Doug Baldwin, but Baldwin gets injured often and now Seattle has a very similar receiver in Norwood added to the fold in case anything happens to ADB.
Kevin Pierre-Louis
His athleticism is a bit overstated, his 4.61 forty makes him quite a bit slower than most of our LB group, and he doesn't play especially fast either (edit: he ran a very impressive 4.46- at the combine no less- though I still didn't think he looked terribly fast on tape). I think rather than compare him to guys like Wagner or Smith, he's more like KJ Wright, or perhaps Bruce Irvin with less "truck factor". Tough, physical, decently fast. Not amazingly instinctive, but easy to mold. Pete seems to like targeting LBs who still have a lot to learn, so this pick feels like we should have seen it coming.
I think this pick will turn out pretty much exactly the same way KJ Wright did. Within a couple years Pierre-Lewis will be a solid starter who adds physicality to the defense. Not an amazing pick, but good for a 4th rounder.
...
As far as the rest, there isn't much out there for anyone but the fullback Kiero Small. I'm just going to wait until the preseason before forming any initial opinions on those guys.
Dion Bailey and Keith Price were nice additions in UDFA.
...
Overall, this draft is a lot like 2011. It's probably a C- or D+ type grade right now, but will go up a grade for each player that Pete works his magic on. Obviously, the 2011 draft is now an easy A in retrospect, with Sherman alone having multiple first round pick value, and three other players turning into good starters.