2018 Draft Recap Thread

[drfrey13]

There is no way Townsend was the 173rd, or better, ranked player on our big board.  RM did not even follow his big board in round 1.  We need to stop saying people can not criticize because we do not know as much as the team or we do not know this or that.  If I want to critisize it is my choice and if you want to defend the team then that is yours but just saying do not because they are better or smarter or have more information is weak and unproductive.  I still do not believe one poster has defended the pick by saying they think it was good value in the 5th.  I feel this was a panic choice because they knew they wanted to get a punter and for some reason there was a run on punters in the 5th round.  A Lechler type punter in the 5th go ahead if you need one but Townsend is not that good.  He will be a good punter but will not play well enough to ever make me feel good about taking him in the 5th.  Now if all the players I wanted bust then I will feel good that we got lucky.

[true2form]

8 hours ago, drfrey13 said:

There is no way Townsend was the 173rd, or better, ranked player on our big board.  RM did not even follow his big board in round 1.  We need to stop saying people can not criticize because we do not know as much as the team or we do not know this or that.  If I want to critisize it is my choice and if you want to defend the team then that is yours but just saying do not because they are better or smarter or have more information is weak and unproductive.  I still do not believe one poster has defended the pick by saying they think it was good value in the 5th.  I feel this was a panic choice because they knew they wanted to get a punter and for some reason there was a run on punters in the 5th round.  A Lechler type punter in the 5th go ahead if you need one but Townsend is not that good.  He will be a good punter but will not play well enough to ever make me feel good about taking him in the 5th.  Now if all the players I wanted bust then I will feel good that we got lucky.

The only argument I could have for this is, you're always drafting for need when you draft a punter.

[Rich7sena]

I'm okay drafting for need in round 5.

[reddevil]

2 hours ago, Rich7sena said:

I'm okay drafting for need in round 5.

This. I can't quite understand why everyone is getting worked up over a late 5th round pick. The 173rd pick! Like numbers 174 through 178 are sure fire contributors. Oh no, we missed out on the 31st best corner of this year's draft! 

[holyghost]

Seems silly to me as well. I guess it all centers around cutting King, and who believes it was warranted. I for one absolutely do. That 3 mil is clearly being put to use elsewhere. We're going to be against the cap for a while with Mack, Carr, Cooper. For so long we had no players worth paying high salaries to. We had alot of money in our special teams guys. That has changed. The fact that King is a pain and gets penalties at punter, which is astounding, is just the icing on his release. It had to happen, for money.

Using a 5th on his replacement was necessary in light of that. The dropoff after Townsend is apparently real, because as far as I know no other punters were drafted. It was unfortunate Dickson wasn't there for us, but if you really want to complain about that then you can ruminate about the inefficiency we showed in getting max. draft value in all of our trades. If we had excess picks to get into the late 4th or be there in the early 5th, we could have at least grabbed the top punter who may or may not be well worth the 5th rounder. But when it comes to Townsend, the 5th was where we had to get him or we'd be shut out entirely. Then possibly spending a 6th on a guy who doesn't even merit being in the NFL at all.

Much ado about nothing in the end. There weren't any obvious Maurice Hursts left in the late 5th. Whoever else that was there was just a shot in the dark player 95% likely to be released after camp. Just like Ateman, Victor, and most of our UDFAs already are.

Also a note for those up in arms about Townsend. Would you rather Hurst or Dickson? 

[drfrey13]

42 minutes ago, holyghost said:

Seems silly to me as well. I guess it all centers around cutting King, and who believes it was warranted. I for one absolutely do. That 3 mil is clearly being put to use elsewhere. We're going to be against the cap for a while with Mack, Carr, Cooper. For so long we had no players worth paying high salaries to. We had alot of money in our special teams guys. That has changed. The fact that King is a pain and gets penalties at punter, which is astounding, is just the icing on his release. It had to happen, for money.

Using a 5th on his replacement was necessary in light of that. The dropoff after Townsend is apparently real, because as far as I know no other punters were drafted. It was unfortunate Dickson wasn't there for us, but if you really want to complain about that then you can ruminate about the inefficiency we showed in getting max. draft value in all of our trades. If we had excess picks to get into the late 4th or be there in the early 5th, we could have at least grabbed the top punter who may or may not be well worth the 5th rounder. But when it comes to Townsend, the 5th was where we had to get him or we'd be shut out entirely. Then possibly spending a 6th on a guy who doesn't even merit being in the NFL at all.

Much ado about nothing in the end. There weren't any obvious Maurice Hursts left in the late 5th. Whoever else that was there was just a shot in the dark player 95% likely to be released after camp. Just like Ateman, Victor, and most of our UDFAs already are.

Also a note for those up in arms about Townsend. Would you rather Hurst or Dickson? 

There was one other P taken in the 7th.  I was more upset that there were far better players still available and it appeared to be a panic decision.  Just watch some tape of Ejiofor and you will wish we had him playing inside on passing downs.  He has his faults (Injuries are what pushed him down from 2-3 round) but would love have loved to grab him in the late 5th.  His play in sub packages alone would be more valuable than having a top ten punter.

[NightTrainLane]

59 minutes ago, drfrey13 said:

There was one other P taken in the 7th.  I was more upset that there were far better players still available and it appeared to be a panic decision.  Just watch some tape of Ejiofor and you will wish we had him playing inside on passing downs.  He has his faults (Injuries are what pushed him down from 2-3 round) but would love have loved to grab him in the late 5th.  His play in sub packages alone would be more valuable than having a top ten punter.

I highly doubt that but it's relative at this point.

[drfrey13]

3 hours ago, NightTrainLane said:

I highly doubt that but it's relative at this point.

Here are the numbers between the 5th best punter and 20th best in each category.

Net Avg

5. Palardi - 42.4

20. Schmidt - 40.5

Inside 20

5. Lechler - 32

20. O'Donnell - 27

Return Yards Ave

5. Schimdt - 5.5

20. Martin - 8.3

 

King's numbers were 42.7, 28, and 6.4.  If you think it plays that big of a part in winning then we should have signed the Eagles punter from last year who is still a free agent.  If you have a great D and poor O then a good punter means more but we are suppose to be the opposite.  In the end I would rather have an inside pass rusher with ability to become a starting DE then a punter.  The sad part is that Duke's talents will be limited by the Texans D.  

 

[NightTrainLane]

3 minutes ago, drfrey13 said:

Here are the numbers between the 5th best punter and 20th best in each category.

Net Avg

5. Palardi - 42.4

20. Schmidt - 40.5

Inside 20

5. Lechler - 32

20. O'Donnell - 27

Return Yards Ave

5. Schimdt - 5.5

20. Martin - 8.3

 

King's numbers were 42.7, 28, and 6.4.  If you think it plays that big of a part in winning then we should have signed the Eagles punter from last year who is still a free agent.  If you have a great D and poor O then a good punter means more but we are suppose to be the opposite.  In the end I would rather have an inside pass rusher with ability to become a starting DE then a punter.  The sad part is that Duke's talents will be limited by the Texans D.  

 

We brought in a pretty good ST coach that know his stuff and has been around. I'm sure there is a reason the Eagles punter is still a free agent teams in camps, some with multiple punters on the roster.

But I respect your opinion on Duke. Maybe he is a gem and maybe not but it definitely is a mis-step not to draft him at that point imo. We can disagree.

And using punter avgs isn't a great convincer to me. I'm be happy we went for a kid with talent and a big leg that we control for pennies for 4-5 years that the coaches can mold.

[#39 Fan]

What’s up Raiders community!! Vegas Dweller here (Rams fan at heart), but I’m also on the PSL list to become a season ticket holder for Raiders football! I’ve been following the team more closely since the news of the team coming to Vegas, I’m sure one day in the future that my love for the Raiders will overtake my being a ‘Rams fan’. Looking forward to following along with you all, and to the coming seasons of Raiders football. Always had a soft spot for the Raiders in years past, a good friend of mine is die hard silver and Black, and through the bleak years we’d each watch the other sides games and share in the suffering.  I worked throughout most of this years draft, but followed as best as I could. I hope to attend a draft weekend here in Vegas in the not too distant future as the new Raiders stadium plays host to the weekends activities. 

 

Take care guys, and best of luck this season, I’ll be following along in the Ether. Go Rams, Go Raiders

[holyghost]

17 hours ago, drfrey13 said:

There was one other P taken in the 7th.  I was more upset that there were far better players still available and it appeared to be a panic decision.  Just watch some tape of Ejiofor and you will wish we had him playing inside on passing downs.  He has his faults (Injuries are what pushed him down from 2-3 round) but would love have loved to grab him in the late 5th.  His play in sub packages alone would be more valuable than having a top ten punter.

Panic, perhaps. It's not a great position to be in to have a pulsating need at any position going into the draft. But as for Ejiofor - we drafted 2 guys for the inside on passing downs. A 3rd guy doesn't do much for the team. If Hall and Hurst come as advertised it's unlikely he would have even made the team, so I'd dispute his sub package value on that alone. "Valuable" as you state it is bordering on the idea of "need", and that loops back to how we had a huge need at punter and a tiny or non-existent need at sub package inside rusher. 

[drfrey13]

4 hours ago, holyghost said:

Panic, perhaps. It's not a great position to be in to have a pulsating need at any position going into the draft. But as for Ejiofor - we drafted 2 guys for the inside on passing downs. A 3rd guy doesn't do much for the team. If Hall and Hurst come as advertised it's unlikely he would have even made the team, so I'd dispute his sub package value on that alone. "Valuable" as you state it is bordering on the idea of "need", and that loops back to how we had a huge need at punter and a tiny or non-existent need at sub package inside rusher. 

Hall and Hurst will not be inside at the same time on passing downs most of the time.  Ejiofor is also capable of becoming a starting DE in base formations.  The only reason why he was not taken were durability concerns.  We were OK with heart conditions but not a player who had 2 concussions and a torn labrum.  He played all year with the labrum issue and did not even miss a practice.  Had successful surgery in February and it is believed he will be 100% by the time training camp starts.  Kind of like Leonard Williams just not as good of a prospect.  He is a much better version of Denico Autry.  I will take that in the 5th every year.

[Rich7sena]

10 minutes ago, drfrey13 said:

Hall and Hurst will not be inside at the same time on passing downs most of the time.  Ejiofor is also capable of becoming a starting DE in base formations.  The only reason why he was not taken were durability concerns.  We were OK with heart conditions but not a player who had 2 concussions and a torn labrum.  He played all year with the labrum issue and did not even miss a practice.  Had successful surgery in February and it is believed he will be 100% by the time training camp starts.  Kind of like Leonard Williams just not as good of a prospect.  He is a much better version of Denico Autry.  I will take that in the 5th every year.

I imagine Townsend has a better chance of being an NFL starter than Ejiofor. I think it's a stretch to call him a better version of Denico Autry, let alone put him in the same sentence with Leonard Williams. It's unlikely Ejiofor would of made any impact in his first year, and I don't think he projects as an impact starter down the line. It seems like everything Ejiofor does is in slow motion. His get off, hand use, and motor are lethargic. 

[holyghost]

1 hour ago, drfrey13 said:

Hall and Hurst will not be inside at the same time on passing downs most of the time.  Ejiofor is also capable of becoming a starting DE in base formations.  The only reason why he was not taken were durability concerns.  We were OK with heart conditions but not a player who had 2 concussions and a torn labrum.  He played all year with the labrum issue and did not even miss a practice.  Had successful surgery in February and it is believed he will be 100% by the time training camp starts.  Kind of like Leonard Williams just not as good of a prospect.  He is a much better version of Denico Autry.  I will take that in the 5th every year.

I've no idea how the bolded statement is relevant when talking about Townsend and Ejiofor. You don't know that Hall won't be at the nose on passing downs. And if he isn't, well then it makes 2 guys we drafted at the slot you say Ejiofor fits in. Which makes it even less useful. And I think 2 rush DTs is all we carry, so if we already drafted 2 then are we going to draft a guy to literally trash can him? 

[drfrey13]

2 hours ago, Rich7sena said:

I imagine Townsend has a better chance of being an NFL starter than Ejiofor. I think it's a stretch to call him a better version of Denico Autry, let alone put him in the same sentence with Leonard Williams. It's unlikely Ejiofor would of made any impact in his first year, and I don't think he projects as an impact starter down the line. It seems like everything Ejiofor does is in slow motion. His get off, hand use, and motor are lethargic. 

Of course Townsend has a better chance of being a NFL starter.  He is a punter and that is the point.  Ejiofor could very easily duplicate Autry and the Williams comment was based on the torn labrum issue.  Ejiofor is lacking in the athletic category but his hand use and motor are fine.  He plays with game speed but does have plenty of areas to work on.  He is dominate rushing from the inside and could develop into a starting DE.  This argument is not about selecting the best player at their position.  It is about who is the best value at the pick.  A good punter in the 5th is bad value.  Lechler or Dickson types and I would not argue even though I would rather not do it.