When Your Team Drafted "Your Guy"

[fluhartz]

On 5/4/2023 at 9:33 AM, THE DUKE said:

2011: Woo hoo, AJ Green!

Yes sir... and I was so worried that they were going to draft freaking Blaine Gabbert. I knew he would suck

 

[THE DUKE]

31 minutes ago, fluhartz said:

Yes sir... and I was so worried that they were going to draft freaking Blaine Gabbert. I knew he would suck

 

I actually thought Gabbert was going to be decent, essentially what Dalton became, and that wasn't worth passing on AJ Green.  I was wrong, Gabbert did indeed suck quite badly.

[Daniel]

59 minutes ago, fluhartz said:

Yes sir... and I was so worried that they were going to draft freaking Blaine Gabbert. I knew he would suck

 

When the Titans were up that year, me and a buddy were chanting “not Blaine Gabbert, not Blaine Gabbert” over and over.

When Locker was picked, we were like, damn, I didn’t even know that was an option.

[fluhartz]

5 minutes ago, Daniel said:

When the Titans were up that year, me and a buddy were chanting “not Blaine Gabbert, not Blaine Gabbert” over and over.

When Locker was picked, we were like, damn, I didn’t even know that was an option.

ugh.. like dodging a bullet for a bullet.

It's crazy sometimes when a team really wants a QB.. just think..freaking JJ Watt went like a couple picks after that I think.. and I am sure they didn't need

d-line near as much, but it's just crazy how the draft works. 

[Daniel]

22 minutes ago, fluhartz said:

ugh.. like dodging a bullet for a bullet.

It's crazy sometimes when a team really wants a QB.. just think..freaking JJ Watt went like a couple picks after that I think.. and I am sure they didn't need

d-line near as much, but it's just crazy how the draft works. 

D line was supposed to be the pick. Fairley was the popular choice on mocks.

They also took Jurrell Casey that year, so the need was addressed, but yeah.

[Duluther]

The only time when we've drafted my #1 most wanted was LaQuon Treadwell. 

[ThatJerkDave]

It has actually happened quite a few times recently.  At least in terms of each draft there are 4 or 5 of "my guys" spread through the draft.  Just going back 10 years, these are the guys that I was pretty hyped up for entering the draft.  

2023 - Lukas Van Ness.  After running countless draft simulators, this just seems like the best option for the Packers without some kind of mega trade-up.  I was 50/50 between Van Ness and JSN with our first pick, but there was just a part of me that thought it was too rich for a WR at 15, or 13.  

2022 - Christian Watson, Zach Tom, Romeo Doubs.  All three were guys that I LOVED during the draft process.  Safe to say that I really, really liked the Packers' 2022 haul.  I 100% would have taken Christian Watson with pick 22 that year.  

2018 - Equanimeous St. Brown.  The name, the athletic profile, the idea of a 6'5 WR that can even kind of move, get in!  I think EQ is the Dave prototype WR.  

2014 - HaHa Clinton-Dix.  We needed a safety.  He was the best safety in the class, by far, but would he slip?

 

Overall, I do okay.  Usually my guys are:  Really fast small school CBs, EQ like WRs, big safeties that can run, OL with movement skills.

[brownie man]

Nick Chubb

 

[Danger]

Just assuming this as going off of who is available at the time that you wanted
Gonna do this in reverse order

2023 - Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown, Kelee Ringo
2022 - Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean
2021 - Devonta Smith
2020 - Jalen Reagor, K'Von Wallace
2019 - Andre Dillard
2018 - Dallas Goedert
2017 - Sydney Jones
2016 - Carson Wentz
2014 - Jordan Matthews
2012 - Fletcher Cox
2009 - LeSean McCoy
2008 - DeSean Jackson
 

[Scoundrel]

9 hours ago, Danger said:

Just assuming this as going off of who is available at the time that you wanted
Gonna do this in reverse order

2023 - Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown, Kelee Ringo
2022 - Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean
2021 - Devonta Smith
2020 - Jalen Reagor, K'Von Wallace
2019 - Andre Dillard
2018 - Dallas Goedert
2017 - Sydney Jones
2016 - Carson Wentz
2014 - Jordan Matthews
2012 - Fletcher Cox
2009 - LeSean McCoy
2008 - DeSean Jackson
 

It’s who you were high on going into the draft process. Who you would pound the table for and then they ended up going to your team. Not just who just happened to be available. Like if those were all your guys that’s cool but the odds your team actually took your guy each year would be crazy. 

I loved George Kittle and we took Jake Butt the pick before him. If Kittle would have gone to Denver then I would have gotten my guy for example…

[Danger]

7 hours ago, Scoundrel said:

It’s who you were high on going into the draft process. Who you would pound the table for and then they ended up going to your team. Not just who just happened to be available. Like if those were all your guys that’s cool but the odds your team actually took your guy each year would be crazy. 

I loved George Kittle and we took Jake Butt the pick before him. If Kittle would have gone to Denver then I would have gotten my guy for example…

Just assuming this as going off of who is available at the time that you wanted
Gonna do this in reverse order

2021 - Devonta Smith
2020 - Jalen Reagor, K'Von Wallace
2018 - Dallas Goedert
2016 - Carson Wentz
2014 - Jordan Matthews

Probably something like this then. Less than 50% hit rate LOL.

[Hunter2_1]

The only time my team have ever drafted “my guy” was Winovich. That’s like a C-, D. 
 

We either never had picks high enough to grab “my guys”, or we picked like drunken sailors. 

[Ty21]

It’s pretty seldom we draft my guy so these were my guys:

2007- Brady Quinn QB 1.22 bust. I think I was too young to start looking at guys as guys I wanted to draft, but Brady Quinn was the guy at ND when I first became a fan. I thought he was better than he ended up, who knows if he would’ve at least been average if he’d gotten drafted by an NFL team. I watched Calvin at GT but I bought into the “raw wrs are more often busts” narrative. 
2008- Matt Forte RB 2.44 hit. I was super excited for this pick. My favorite guys were Forte and Johnathan Stewart, so getting Forte in the 2nd after stewart went in the first was awesome. He ended up better than I expected. 
2009- Aaron Curry LB 1.4 bust. Bears traded their 1st. I was for some reason in love with Wake Forest this year, even applied to WF in hs. But I also thought WF was in illinois (mixed it up with Lake Forest lol). This was the year WF’s defense was hot, Curry looked like a guy and Alphonso Smith was almost a FRP too. Both whiffed and I did too. Honorable mention would be another bust, Hakeem Nicks. I was so annoyed when NYG took him. His goofy one handed catch where he tried to shove the ball up his butt captivated me. 
2010- Demaryius Thomas WR 1.22/Golden Tate WR 2.60 hit. Double faceted because I teared up when Golden entered the draft and I loved him, but if he’d gone elsewhere I don’t think he would’ve been my pick here. Thomas though was a more pure “my guy” pick. He was another raw wr with a high ceiling that I did like after Calvin panned out and I changed my thought process. Both good wrs that in some ways did it different. Rip DT

2011- Jonathan Baldwin WR 1.26 bust. Maybe I shouldn’t post this, it’s getting embarrassing. I loved Baldwin. Great size and radius. Went a few picks before us and I was leveled. So we didn’t get to draft that bust, but we got our own bust in Gabe Carimi at 29. I’d feel worse about having such terrible favs if the bears themselves weren’t history as bad at drafting. 
2012- Alshon Jeffery WR 2.45 hit. This was up there with my Forte pick. It didn’t make sense to me why he had fallen that far, but the nfl scouts players and values players differently than fans do. I knew Jeffery was a stud and it showed until he fizzled in PHI, but that was largely injuries. Michael Floyd and Harrison Smith were up there too, but I decided I’m not going to mention players from my favorite college because that’s just largely my own bias and I might not have liked them otherwise. Bears took McClellin this year. Woof. I think 49ers took AJ Jenkins too, who ended up getting traded for my bust pick Baldwin lol. 
2013- Keenan Allen WR 3.76 hit. He’s a guy I scouted since HS. Best route runner I’d seen to that point. Been one of the better wrs in the league since then but never elite, largely because he’s so often injured. I’m wrong about wrs relatively often, but when you’re interested in a wr due to route running prowess, it seems right more often than not. 
2014- Ha-Ha Clinton Dix S 1.20 bust. One of the few times I wasn’t on an offensive skill position guy and was in on a defender. Bears fans were pounding the table for Donald, who went right before us. I don’t remember having significant feelings about him but maybe it’s because he got sniped from us. I was disappointed in fuller, wanted haha bad. He had a few alright seasons here and there, including one with us that wasn’t horrendous. But ultimately fuller was a much better pick. I will say there is nothing worse than falling for a player and having the ****ing packers take him. 
2015- Edit: Tyler Lockett WR 3.69 hit. I scrolled a bit more and found the guy I liked more than Williams. Lockett to this day is probably my favorite route runner I’ve scoured in college and I wanted him possibly more than I’ve wanted anyone else on this list. I edited this part in after writing the Maxx Williams part, but I’ll keep that part in anyway. Maxx Williams TE 2.55 bust. I was starting to wonder if I didn’t even have a guy this year. I wanted to take Amari Cooper but I didn’t think he has an elite it factor. White wasn’t even on my radar. Maxx Williams had tremendous athleticism coming out of Min and he definitely impressed me. It’s hard to get TE to translate at the next level. A lot of the time, upper echelon guys were mid in college. Maxx entered the draft too early as a rs soph and it didn’t pan out for him, but I think he had a decently long career regardless. 
2016- N/A. I didn’t really have a guy this year. Jaylon Smith surely would’ve been it, but the devastating knee injury he had in the bowl before the draft made me not want him. He ended up having a few years better than I thought he would do, but ultimately ended up fizzling out. 
2017- Cooper Kupp WR 3.69. I thought I remembered him being later than this. Another cheat code: good route runner. Hits more often than not. I didn’t expect him to be as incredible as he was a few years ago but I was pretty confident he’d be good. This same logic made Zay Flowers my guy this year, so we’ll see how he does. This year I had a feeling we were taking a qb. I didn’t scout any because all 3 made me nervous. I didn’t assume Trubisky was even a contender. I didn’t want Mahomes, I didn’t like college system air raid qbs. In my defense, Chicago might’ve ruined him but yeah not a good read. 
2018- N/A. N/A is probably how most of these will go since this is when I started working full time again and the bears shipped off all their draft picks  

2019- DK Metcalf WR 2.64 hit. My draft scouting got way more casual, my interest in him was largely predicated on Terrance Metcalf being a former bear when I first started watching. 
2020-2022- N/A. I was familiar with prospects but had no personal thoughts or insights due to lack of draft capital and because my job made me miss entire seasons. 
2023- Zay Flowers WR 1.22. Until we traded for DJ Moore, WR was still one of our biggest holes. Zay reminds me of Antonio Brown and runs great routes, which is a recipe for success based on a few of my other guys. I’m happy how the draft turned out for us but Flowers was my golden goat for a time. Idk how he’ll work out in BAL since their offense is so weird for WRs but I’m hoping I’m right about him. 

[cp0k2]

The Lions have only taken "my guy" once.

2010 - Ndamukong Suh - He was really good, but not the generational player I thought he was going to be. His dirty play overshadowed everything else and Detroit let him walk as a Free Agent after his rookie deal.

 

[Scoundrel]

8 minutes ago, cp0k2 said:

The Lions have only taken "my guy" once.

2010 - Ndamukong Suh - He was really good, but not the generational player I thought he was going to be. His dirty play overshadowed everything else and Detroit let him walk as a Free Agent after his rookie deal.

 

You weren’t a Hutch guy?