Draft Grades

[daves]

Dane Brugler of the Athletic posted his team draft rankings, "Favorite pick", and "Day 3 pick who could surprise". Of note, in his introductory paragraph he wrote:

[F]uture picks or veteran players do not factor into these rankings. For example, I think the Arizona Cardinals did an outstanding job adding 2024 draft picks and positioning themselves to build through next year’s draft, but these rankings are based strictly on the prospects drafted and the values of where they were selected.

1. Eagles
2. Colts
...

17. Arizona Cardinals​

Favorite pick: Paris Johnson Jr., OT, Ohio State

The story of the Cardinals’ 2023 draft is the future draft capital gained, but they also landed the top offensive tackle available. Though Johnson needs continued seasoning with his technique and steps, he has outstanding body control and fluidity for a man his size — his 36-plus-inch arms don’t hurt. With their character and talent, Johnson and second-rounder BJ Ojulari were smart targets for a rebuilding team in the first year of a new regime.

Day 3 pick who could surprise: Jon Gaines II, G, UCLA

The Cardinals may have found two starting linemen in the draft: Johnson early, then Gaines in the middle rounds. One of the most athletic blockers in the class, Gaines’ 7.31 three-cone and 4.45 short shuttle led all offensive linemen at the combine, and those times are reflected on tape. Gaines offers the center-guard versatility to give Arizona options.

...
31. Vikings
32. 49ers

Nice to see the positivity about Gaines and his center-guard versatility!

 

[Goldfield]

My best skill in life is not having a strong opinion one way or another regarding day-3 picks. However I can’t wrap my head around the Wilson pick in the 3rd rd. It comes off as a very Brandon Williams-ish smart guy pick. I’ll be happy to eat crow if he ever becomes a top-4 pass-catching option.

The Wilson pick was def unexpected, not sure I would compare it to drafting a RB in the third round to convert him to DB. That was completely dumb Kiem.

 

[Goldfield]

Ok

I was thinking more Ryan Swope.

this is a better comp. But I hope not lol

 

[football karma]

This is an excerpt from the Ringer; https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2023/...iots-falcons-wide-receiver-class-quarterbacks

I had made a comment in one of the draft threads that the Cards had an Eagles like draft -- below is the Ringer on the Eagles approach:



The Eagles also constantly invest in offensive and defensive linemen, giving them another advantage in the trenches. The Eagles walked into this year’s draft with needs at safety, linebacker, and running back—the same positions where they’ve had needs for the last five seasons. Other general managers would have tried to fill those holes, yet the Eagles took a defensive tackle, defensive end, and offensive lineman to start the draft, because that’s where their edge is. That’s why they took Josh Sweat in the fourth round a year after taking Derek Barnett in the first—and now, Sweat’s the very starter holding Smith out of a starting job. It’s why Philly took Milton Williams in the third round in 2021, a pick that was famously debated by members of the Eagles front office, and now he and Carter will step into the roles left behind by Javon Hargrave and Ndamukong Suh. Jordan Mailata in Round 7, Jack Driscoll in Round 5, Landon Dickerson in Round 2, Cam Jurgens in Round 2, and Andre Dillard in Round 1 complete an entire starting offensive line; all were taken by the Eagles in the four drafts immediately preceding this one; and still, Philly took Tyler Steen in Round 3.

 

[gmabel830]

The lowest Kiper gave any team was a B-, which I think shows that no one has any idea how these guys will pan out. Kiper likely thinks that rating a draft class as a D or F that ends up really good will stick with him a lot longer than rating a draft class an A or B that doesn't end up being very good.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

The lowest Kiper gave any team was a B-, which I think shows that no one has any idea how these guys will pan out. Kiper likely thinks that rating a draft class as a D or F that ends up really good will stick with him a lot longer than rating a draft class an A or B that doesn't end up being very good.

Agree

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

A lot of them rate the capital gained from trade backs highly in their draft grades.

I think draftsnlike this need to be graded in two ways:

Overall: talent acquired and assets acquired

Pure talent addition: how good were the selections at their draft slot and taking into consideration team needs.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I think if you go back and look, many of Keim’s drafts were graded highly as well.

That’s been on my mind throughout the draft. I kept thinking, “didn’t we always win the post-draft grades?” Glad to see my memory wasn’t off.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Who am I supposed to believe about the Cardinals draft? The people you just listed who get paid to do this, and should know a little about what they are talking about; or Cardinal fans that seem to disagree with the above quote a bit, sometimes quite a bit?

Lol both end up wrong most of the time!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

The Wilson pick was def unexpected, not sure I would compare it to drafting a RB in the third round to convert him to DB. That was completely dumb Kiem.

That’s not what happened. The kid converted his senior year.

 

[gmabel830]

The Wilson pick was def unexpected, not sure I would compare it to drafting a RB in the third round to convert him to DB. That was completely dumb Kiem.

One was a huge risk based on lack of experience at the position, the other was a huge risk based on injury history. I think the huge risk for a 3rd rounder is the comparison point.

 

[football karma]

I think draftsnlike this need to be graded in two ways:

Overall: talent acquired and assets acquired

Pure talent addition: how good were the selections at their draft slot and taking into consideration team needs.

agree -- i think of it this way:

1. Did you add good players? cant be judged for 2 years.

2. Did you work the draft efficiently? Meaning -- were your trades good ones, and overall, did you get bargains or did you reach relative to expectations? That can be judged today. I think Monti gets an A+ for trades, and an "average" for reach vs bargain

could have been worse: one of the best drafting teams of the last 5 years took a place kicker in round 3 (when they had a dearth of picks to begin with).

 

[Goodyear Card]

Ranking every team's 2023 NFL Draft class: Packers, Steelers among best; several playoff teams raise questions

Keep reading to see how your team did, everything from our favorite picks to best values to most surprising selections

www.cbssports.com

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

Ranking every team's 2023 NFL Draft class: Packers, Steelers among best; several playoff teams raise questions

Keep reading to see how your team did, everything from our favorite picks to best values to most surprising selections

www.cbssports.com

At least they ranked the teams as opposed to Mel Kiper who literally gave almost every team in the league a B+ or B grade.

 

[oaken1]

Wow! Cant believe they gave us a D

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

Wow! Cant believe they gave us a D

If you take out the value obtained for next year’s picks, then I consider a D an accurate grade. Everything after round 1 was a reach in my opinion

 

[Harry]

If you take out the value obtained for next year’s picks, then I consider a D an accurate grade. Everything after round 1 was a reach in my opinion

That may be a little harsh but with a Deep pool the lack of immediate impact players was surprising.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Hard to take any draft rankings that placed the Niners 3rd very seriously.

 

[Goodyear Card]

Does anyone know what these numbers mean?

PFF grades for all the Cardinals’ draft picks

Check out how each player graded out by Pro Football Focus.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Krangodnzr]

Does anyone know what these numbers mean?

PFF grades for all the Cardinals’ draft picks

Check out how each player graded out by Pro Football Focus.

sports.yahoo.com

For their ranking system, 60 is about an average player. 70 is a fairly good player. 80 would be very good, pretty much Pro Bowl level.

 

[Goodyear Card]

For their ranking system, 60 is about an average player. 70 is a fairly good player. 80 would be very good, pretty much Pro Bowl level.

So we have 3 Pro Bowl level players.

 

[Dayman]

So we have 3 Pro Bowl level players.

And one surefire Hall of Famer in Clayton Tune, who has a grade of 92.

 

[CardNots]

And one surefire Hall of Famer in Clayton Tune, who has a grade of 92.

The last jersey purchased, Rolle

i said it would be my last

Tune, I luv this kid but I really don’t know why

the rolle jersey needs company I guess

 

[Harry]

Does anyone know what these numbers mean?

PFF grades for all the Cardinals’ draft picks

Check out how each player graded out by Pro Football Focus.

sports.yahoo.com

This is a relative rating system for comparing players. You look at the highest rated players at a position and this tells you how they compare. The top NFL tackle, Trent Williams, rated 96.9.

 

[SissyBoyFloyd]

It's next year's draft we need to get an A in. It will be hard to blow it, but one never knows with the Cards.