The 2009 NFL Draft - My Opinion

[AussieChiefsFan]

This is what I give each Pick:


Round #1 - I feel that our first pick was not thought through properly. Tyson Jackson is a good player and all but IMO we needed Aaron Curry a lot more. He was available but we didn't seize the moment! My grade for our first pick is "D-".


Round #3 - I unfortunately don't know all that much about Alex Magee so I'll give our 2nd round pick a grade of "C".


Round #4 - To be completely honest with you guys I am quite fond of Donald Washington. He is a good player in my eyes. The only problem is that IMO we don't really need a CB, we needed a safety, which I would have been happier to have drafted. My Grade for this pick is “B+”.


Round #5 – Colin Brown I think was an alright choice. We needed An Offensive Lineman and we got one. Although I think instead of Drafting Alex Magee, instead we should’ve drafted an O-Lineman then instead of in round 4. My grade for this pick is “B”.


Round #6 – Quinten Lawrence IMO was a bit unnecessary. I don’t see the point of drafting a Wide Receiver when we already have 9 others. And only recently we had 10 Wide Receivers! My grade for this pick is “C-”.

Round #7 – Personally I can’t actually make up my mind about Javarris Williams. Not for the how well he plays, but for the fact of “How much do we actually need him?”. If Larry Johnson gets cut, we will need a RB unless Jamaal Charles can become a star player. Personally I think he can, I like him as a player and he played very well in 2008 IMO. He is also my favorite rookie for 2008. My grade for this pick is “C+”.


Round #8 – Another Wide Receiver. My opinion on this pick is the same as the one on Round #5. My grade for this pick is “C-“


Round #9 – This pick was a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting for us to draft a Kicker at all. It wasn’t an unpleasant one though. I DO hope he develops into a great kicker that can smash the ball for over 50 yards though! I don’t see what’s wrong with our current kicker though. My grade for this pick is “B”.


Well now you guys know what I think of this year’s NFL Draft. Can’t wait until the Pre-season commences!

[yashi]

I see what he's saying though. Our team, particular our defense, is going to be full of guys who have never played together, new coach, new defensive scheme. I think we will be competitive, but I don't think it's out of the question that our defense could still be pretty poor for a while until everyone gets the hang of things.

On offense, Cassel's having to learn a new (but somewhat similar) system in 6 months or so. He had 4 years to learn the Pats offense before he had to start a game.

I think 4-12 is pretty unlikely, as is making the playoffs, this year anyway. I would put money on us being somewhere in between.

[jmlamerson]

I see what he's saying though. Our team, particular our defense, is going to be full of guys who have never played together, new coach, new defensive scheme. I think we will be competitive, but I don't think it's out of the question that our defense could still be pretty poor for a while until everyone gets the hang of things.

On offense, Cassel's having to learn a new (but somewhat similar) system in 6 months or so. He had 4 years to learn the Pats offense before he had to start a game.

I think 4-12 is pretty unlikely, as is making the playoffs, this year anyway. I would put money on us being somewhere in between.

I agree. A six-win season is acceptable. An eight win season would be great. Anything more than that would be gravy. I'm not going to declare the Haley/Pioli era a failure if we don't win six games, but I'll certainly say that they failed the fans in 2009.

But given that Denver has imploded, the Raiders are the Raiders, San Diego and us should split, and the Jags, Bills, Bengals, and Browns all have major problems, if we don't win six games, new personnel/schemes notwithstanding, it isn't a good year. We should beat bad teams and be competitive with good teams.

That being said, as we have better personnel across the board in 2009 as opposed to 2008 (except, *sob*, at TE) and better coaches, I expect us to hve a pretty good season, new schemes or not.

[NWA Chief]

We were competitive last year, we just could not finish games. The thing is, we can't just build on last year because everything we ran scheme wise is changing. we have to find a new way to stay competitive and for pioli, thats putting really young guys up front on defense and letting the vets take care of the middle. as for the offense, i have little questions we can compete. haley's teams can move the ball. hope chan gailey and haley can work together to form a scheme of our O and their O from last year. it seems to baffle me how good LJ will be. If he will be the next edgerrin james or not. Defensively, we had to draft DE's because no one on our team was serviceable to play right now and compete at a high level. Will i call this year a failure if we get ran up and down all season, no because it takes time and unfortunately every fan wants to see us pull the dolphins or the falcons season next year. if we win 6 or 7, i will like it. it we win 4 or 5 but show a lot of potential i will STILL like it. Right now we have no person on defense that is the face of that D. We need a leader, or a captain and go from there. I see your point jmlamerson, those teams suck, honestly. but last year we lost to the bengals when they sucked. anything can happen, but we need to learn the final part of winning, which is in the 4th quarter.

[Bike]

We were competitive last year, we just could not finish games. The thing is, we can't just build on last year because everything we ran scheme wise is changing. we have to find a new way to stay competitive and for pioli, thats putting really young guys up front on defense and letting the vets take care of the middle. as for the offense, i have little questions we can compete. haley's teams can move the ball. hope chan gailey and haley can work together to form a scheme of our O and their O from last year. it seems to baffle me how good LJ will be. If he will be the next edgerrin james or not. Defensively, we had to draft DE's because no one on our team was serviceable to play right now and compete at a high level. Will i call this year a failure if we get ran up and down all season, no because it takes time and unfortunately every fan wants to see us pull the dolphins or the falcons season next year. if we win 6 or 7, i will like it. it we win 4 or 5 but show a lot of potential i will STILL like it. Right now we have no person on defense that is the face of that D. We need a leader, or a captain and go from there. I see your point jmlamerson, those teams suck, honestly. but last year we lost to the bengals when they sucked. anything can happen, but we need to learn the final part of winning, which is in the 4th quarter.

Vrabel is qualified to take on that role.

[NWA Chief]

is that all you got out of my whole post? yes vrable is a face we need but he wont be the one for the next 7 years. hes already 34, im talkin about a guy that plays lights out that we can look forward to every year. this is a first to have an experienced vet come in like this for us. I can't use Donnie Edwards because last year he did nothing.

[Bike]

is that all you got out of my whole post? yes vrable is a face we need but he wont be the one for the next 7 years. hes already 34, im talkin about a guy that plays lights out that we can look forward to every year. this is a first to have an experienced vet come in like this for us. I can't use Donnie Edwards because last year he did nothing.

Well, thats all I felt compelled to respond to.
BTW, we ain't gonna rebuild this entire team in one season. Vrabel will work for a year or two.

[jmlamerson]

Vrabel is qualified to take on that role.

I agree. Vrabel and Thomas will be expected to be our defensive leaders. Really, we are suddenly pretty good on defense. I think we have a solid young nucleus of Jackson, Magee, Dorsey (assuming he can make the transition to DE), Pollard, Carr, DJ (I think he'll be rejuvinated playing with real LBs in a real scheme again), and Flowers. We have good vets in Beisel, Thomas, and Vrabel.

I think we're a FS, LB (please, sign Foote), and a NT away from any real contention, but there's only so much you can do in one offseason.

If nothing else, our defense has improved for the first time since 2006.

EDIT: As for long term leader, watch Pollard step up this year. He should thrive in the 3-4.

[jmlamerson]

We were competitive last year, we just could not finish games. The thing is, we can't just build on last year because everything we ran scheme wise is changing. we have to find a new way to stay competitive and for pioli, thats putting really young guys up front on defense and letting the vets take care of the middle. as for the offense, i have little questions we can compete. haley's teams can move the ball. hope chan gailey and haley can work together to form a scheme of our O and their O from last year. it seems to baffle me how good LJ will be. If he will be the next edgerrin james or not. Defensively, we had to draft DE's because no one on our team was serviceable to play right now and compete at a high level. Will i call this year a failure if we get ran up and down all season, no because it takes time and unfortunately every fan wants to see us pull the dolphins or the falcons season next year. if we win 6 or 7, i will like it. it we win 4 or 5 but show a lot of potential i will STILL like it. Right now we have no person on defense that is the face of that D. We need a leader, or a captain and go from there. I see your point jmlamerson, those teams suck, honestly. but last year we lost to the bengals when they sucked. anything can happen, but we need to learn the final part of winning, which is in the 4th quarter.

I understand what you're saying. The thing is, I think we would have won five games last year if our HC wasn't completely incompetent (the two we won, plus the Bucs, Jets, and Chargers games). If we can't win more than that with upgraded personnel and a coach who is minimally competent (i.e. don't put Bowe in on onside recoveries until he stops dropping balls!), then I don't think we can call the season a success.

And as I stated above, I think you'll see Pollard thrive in the 3-4. Like Polamalu thrive.

[Bike]

I agree. Vrabel and Thomas will be expected to be our defensive leaders. Really, we are suddenly pretty good on defense. I think we have a solid young nucleus of Jackson, Magee, Dorsey (assuming he can make the transition to DE), Pollard, Carr, DJ (I think he'll be rejuvinated playing with real LBs in a real scheme again), and Flowers. We have good vets in Beisel, Thomas, and Vrabel.

I think we're a FS, LB (please, sign Foote), and a NT away from any real contention, but there's only so much you can do in one offseason.

If nothing else, our defense has improved for the first time since 2006.

EDIT: As for long term leader, watch Pollard step up this year. He should thrive in the 3-4.

I really thought we should have found a replacement for Page THIS year. Hell, he can't get out of the way of his own teammates, is always out of position, and consistently misses tackles. Page needs to go.

[Bike]

I understand what you're saying. The thing is, I think we would have won five games last year if our HC wasn't completely incompetent (the two we won, plus the Bucs, Jets, and Chargers games). If we can't win more than that with upgraded personnel and a coach who is minimally competent (i.e. don't put Bowe in on onside recoveries until he stops dropping balls!), then I don't think we can call the season a success.

And as I stated above, I think you'll see Pollard thrive in the 3-4. Like Polamalu thrive.

I hope you're right about Pollard. Maybe pair him up with Morgan.