wackywabbit

James is worth so much to you that you (personally) would endure 3 more years of Flacco? That might be the single best evidence of people overvaluing him.

You saw a better player in coverage than I did this year (both deep and close). Not about quantity, I don't see elite quality, yet.

You dropped out pick 152 which turned into Bozeman and Lasley

Agree to disagree. If you say a player is overrated and most people agree, then he wasn't overrated. In short, I think a safety needs to show he can play in deep coverage space before I consider the e-word. He hasn't shown that ability YET. If he's up on the line, we just saw what a quick slot WR can do opposite him.

I only mentioned the sliding down the draft because I think that fuels his hype; the opposite of what you suggest in your last sentence. To the media (i.e. the people that vote on all-pro). He's the top 5 talent that inexplicably fell down the draft and so everyone labels him inderrated. But what happens when every single person says X is that they become overrated. The media coverage of him is entirely positive and his missed assignments aren't highlighted because they dont fit that narrative. The biggest reason I belive James fell in the draft was that people aren't sure he perfectly fits the safety position in a base defense. I've yet to see him show that he can hold up in coverage a that spot. They are using him as a disruptor closer to the LoS. And not to say that he's the same player, but when we do the same thing with Tony Jefferson, what does that really mean? Regardless of where he was drafted, I think, with the all pro recognition and all, I think James is a but overrated right now. Shades of early Honey Badger to me. I think it's far from a given that he will be the guy we really regret passing on.

First of all your pick tracking is way wrong. We traded back twice in the first and got a LOT more than the 125th pick. Like I said, Andrew's and Young were sourced completely from our original 1st. Part of the capital went to Lamar, too, but I didn't count that since the main capital there was the 2 seconds, not involved in any trade. And the idea that we would be better off with James over Lamar, forget the other players is laughable. Wouldn't even consider moving our QBoTF for an in the box safety. That is quite the terrible value prop.

I like Collinsworth a LOT more than others seem to. I guess it's the pretentiousness? that turns people, but I care more about awareness of the game happening in the moment and football insight and he's at the top level for both. I can deal with the rest. And Romo, duh

James has been an impact player, no doubt. But everyone knew he was a playmaker and elite athlete before the draft and he still fell to 17. The media never figured out why. That's probably why I believe there is a disconnect on him and he may not be quite as good as the hype. I still think he has to prove that he can be an elite safety. I agree with your second paragraph, we need stars and James certainly had the potential to be one.

Do you know already? Again, I may be less confident about James' stardom than some, but TBH I'd take James (or LVE or Leonard) if I was replaying the draft today. My point was just that this is a very different and closer question than "I can't believe the FO chose Hayden Hurst over Derwin James". The latter is a flat out disengenuous statement.

All-pro, probably for the question you asked. Not sure if that simplification will match this. When talking about rookies there's a lot of variance still in their careers after 1 season. The Ravens approach was like taking 3 lottery tickets over 1 more sure fire bet. Honestly, I think Derwin James is overrated right now. I think he's very good, especially for a rookie at a hard position to learn, but it remains to be seen if he's a particularly good coverage safety yet. I say overrated because people act like he is already an elite player or something, while I think guys like Chubb, LVE, and Leonard were better at their position. Derwin is definitely disruptive, but at this point, he looks more like what he hoped Tony Jefferson would be, than some of the top safeties we've seen. But again, safety is a harder position for a rookie, so we'll see.

Every single Ravens' fan on this thread is too football-smart for how often someone makes a Hayden Hurst - Derwin James 1 on 1. The Ravens FO had James over Hurst (they literally said as much immediately after day 1 of the draft), but that was NOT the choice. The picks we got from trading back between the James and Hurst pick we're involved in too many trades to come away with a true comparison list, but we can definitively say that Mark Andrews and Kenny Young (we like them right?) came along with Hurst, sourced completely from the draft capital we got got in from the James trade I'm not saying the Ravens made the right choice (I would have been happier on draft day if they just took James) but pose the question correctly.

Does 12 regular season wins AND a playoff victory mean that a coach can't be fired?

Not even taking timeouts to save time for another possession...

They were so good at stopping the Ravens' one offensive play though...

This is a great point. The rookie deal in the NFL is the worst draw for players in all of sports. However, the problem is that no one in the negotiations is looking after the interests of incoming players signing new rookie deals. The teams are happy to under pay them and the players union is representing players who have either already signed or are finished their rookie deals. The % that goes to all players as a whole is always going to be that 50% or whatever share, and both parties involved in making the CBA are in their best interests to leave a smaller share of the pie for players not yet represented by the union.