DirtyDez Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) Everyone can play hindsight but did those two slipping in the draft feel silly in the moment? Watt #11 in 2011 Donald #13 in 2014 Edited April 22, 2023 by DirtyDez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgers0821 Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 I don’t really think you could count Watt as slipping, most people weren’t high on him coming out of school. Just ask Ozzy, I’m sure he had him as an UDFA. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 No. A lot of people were worried about Donald's size. And most people didn't think Watt would become the dominant force he did. It's like Patrick Mahomes. The man will go down as one of the GOAT QBs, but there weren't many on this forum who thought he'd be a star. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teen Girl Squad Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 Watt was a classic case of the predraft narrative overshadowing the data. He was the typical "solid but limited upside" prospect but then destroyed the combine. People didn't adjust their evals enough (though he did go pretty high all things considered). Donald was more the case that people thought his power/speed wouldn't translate to the NFL as he was undersized. Turned out he was indeed that strong/fast/technically proficient. He was less a missed eval and more best case scenario (probably better than best case scenario). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 2 minutes ago, jrry32 said: No. A lot of people were worried about Donald's size. And most people didn't think Watt would become the dominant force he did. It's like Patrick Mahomes. The man will go down as one of the GOAT QBs, but there weren't many on this forum who thought he'd be a star. Watt was also in an absolutely stacked edge rusher class that somehow managed to live up to the hype and look even better than was thought. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 3 minutes ago, Forge said: Watt was also in an absolutely stacked edge rusher class that somehow managed to live up to the hype and look even better than was thought. True. If Aldon didn't destroy his career, it's possible you could have five HOFers in that first round (Von, Aldon, Watt, Cam Jordan, and Cam Heyward) along with Hall of Very Good guys like Kerrigan and Robert Quinn and guys like Dareus and Wilkerson who had some dominant years during uneven careers. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 Watt was mocked to the Texans at that spot pretty heavily before the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoundrel Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 1 hour ago, jrry32 said: Wilkerson Forgot all about him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetana34 Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 I remember Waldo's formula absolutely loved Watt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfishwars Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 No. Although Donald was a beloved prospect, he was thought of as a second round pick prior to the Combine and was a late 'riser' throughout the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterCallSaul Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 I have had plenty of egg on my face with prospects. These two were not those instances. Aaron Donald was my #2 overall prospect (Clowney 1) in his draft. Watt was my #2 overall prospect (Pat Peterson 1). I was weirdly low on Von Miller in Watt’s draft. I just remember watching Watt absolutely decimate OSU like they were a middle school football team & falling in love. I have never been a size queen, so naturally I loved Donald. He beat the crap out of pretty much every team & because of where I live, I watch a ton of Pitt football, as it’s aways the noon game. He was awesome in college and if you didn’t care about his size, you would have been in love too. His technique as a pass rusher got so much better, but his speed and power were unreal in college. Humble brag over. Because I liked several pieces of 💩 too 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texansfan713 Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 12 hours ago, Daniel said: Watt was mocked to the Texans at that spot pretty heavily before the draft. I dont recall that. I recall Aldon Smith, and Prince Amukamara being the most mocked to the Texans that draft. Watt was being linked to the Packers round 1 mostly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 24 minutes ago, Texansfan713 said: I dont recall that. I recall Aldon Smith, and Prince Amukamara being the most mocked to the Texans that draft. Watt was being linked to the Packers round 1 mostly. It was 12 years ago, so I could be misremembering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soko Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 Watt, definitely no. That class was stacked and Watt wasn’t viewed as an elite pass rusher/elite athlete coming out. Donald, debatable. Some people had him very high, but some did knock him a decent amount for his size. I’d say Donald slipping felt wrong to me, but not in an unbelievable way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INbengalfan Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 16 hours ago, jrry32 said: No. A lot of people were worried about Donald's size. And most people didn't think Watt would become the dominant force he did. It's like Patrick Mahomes. The man will go down as one of the GOAT QBs, but there weren't many on this forum who thought he'd be a star. I distinctly remember Bengals fans loving him as a player much like Geno Atkins. But more than half the fanbase wanted to pass anyway since we still had Geno in his prime. Don't remember who liked him or didn't, but I do remember the debates on here and in other Bengals sites. Watt was a combine freak in a very loaded class at the top of that draft, especially the non-QBs. Julio, AJ Green, Patrick Peterson, Watt, Von Miller, Alson Smith, Cam Newton plus other QBs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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