The Draft---My Take

[frankeegee1]

--21 and 11, baby.^^

 

[Cheesebeef]

Hahaha-------I gotta love all you nay sayers who are ragging on Keim for his terrible drafts. I will just say this, then let you alone to think about it for awhile.

Cardfaninfla had been doing his homework on this thing-------and he is dead on here. Chuck Knoll was the big reason for the success of those great Steelers teams of the 70's. He totally changed the culture of that, (up to that point TERRIBLE) franchise. He not only cleaned the slate of the dead weight in that franchise---but he changed type of player that they brought in at that time.

These weren't all world talented and nationally known and accepted college joes who were all over every GM's draft boards at that time. What they were though, were capable and under the radar players who worked hard at their craft, and who loved the game enough, and were mentally and physically tough enough to not only stand up to Knoll's coaching, but to form a real (TEAM), of guys who just refused to give up, AND they were quick and fast.

Those of you who believe Keim to be this bumbling, below average draft manager, and so-so, front office guy who is forever tied to a franchise who couldn't get it done----take a look at some comparisons.

who the hell is saying this? NO ONE. Good grief man. If you want to have an honest convo here, stop projecting complete idiotic positions on to others.

All of you are laughing at our QB situation, especially Keim's selection for fixing that terrible problem that Whiz and Co. left us in. Hahaha, saddling us with some big tough cannon armed, (and not so smart), kid in the draft who nobody ever heard of---who couldn't even beat out Ryan Lindley to lead us into the playoffs last year when Palmer and Stanton went down with injuries. Have any of you ever heard of Terry Bradshaw? Can any of you remember that not even Lynn Swann or John Stalworth, Franco Harris could out run his long arm when he fired one of his laser shots down the field.

Is it any wonder that Michael Floyd and John Brown are two of the 5 most under-thrown WR's in the NFL right now. Yet here we are adding even more speed to that equation in this year's draft----with a great receiving back out of the backfield who can take it the distance, and the fastest WR/KR in the draft this year. Who is going to get the ball to them if Palmer can't do it you ask? Well---- it sure isn't Stanton I am thinking. Could it just maybe happen to be Logan Thomas, (that slow learning, big, tough, bumbling fire-baller) that Keim drafted last year? The kid that Arians didn't want to expose to failure right out of the starting gate in his career, (as Whiz was prone to do while creating the
QB wasteland in his wake)?

Now, I am not predicting that Thomas is our Terry Bradshaw------but don't you think that the similarities are certainly tantalizing between what Chuck Knoll did then-----and what BA and SK are doing now? Those of you who are lamenting Keim's failure to address our QBOF-----isn't there even a little bit of a chance that Thomas might be that guy, and that Keim already has him on our roster, and he will have had a year and a half to learn BA's complicated play book before he is ever subjected to real combat in the NFL. Isn't there even the slightest chance that Bobby Massie, Johnathon Cooper, and D J Humphries might actually be the drafted part of our (new) O-line to match with Veldheer, Iupati, and the two C/G's ( Larsen and Shipley) that he brought in through free agency. Why do all of you feel that Keim is such a wizard in free-agency, and such a dolt when it comes to the draft?

simple... we've seen MAJOR results from our FA pick ups and we haven't seen nearly as much from the draft. How in the world is that so difficult to understand?!

I am willing to give these guys a shot at having been right all along with their FA and their Draft selections. I will give them time to prove that the players that they have brought in from BOTH pools of prospects are going to work for us. I still believe that their W/L record gives them more than enough CRED to allow them the benefit of the doubt anyway. Let just see how things pay out before we ALL saddle Keim with the failure term when it comes to drafting. Honey Badger, Buchannan, John and Juron Brown, and even Darren Fells seem to be good draft picks for them. I am willing to see how Humphries and Cooper, and Massie, and David Johnson pan out before I call Keim a failure when it comes to drafting.

cheese and rice Cat! No one's called Keim a failure. I just think the credit for our record the last two years has been because of what he did in FA, not the draft. Things don't have to be BLACK AND WHITE ALL THE TIME. Saying his drafts haven't been a major factor in our record doesn't mean he's a failure... just means that area hasn't been a main reason for success yet.

seriously... your inability to debate ANY kind of minute criticism of the guy without stuffing ridiculous crap in other people's positions is incredibly annoying and to be honest, flat out stupid.

 

[Catfish]

who the hell is saying this? NO ONE. Good grief man. If you want to have an honest convo here, stop projecting complete idiotic positions on to others.



simple... we've seen MAJOR results from our FA pick ups and we haven't seen nearly as much from the draft. How in the world is that so difficult to understand?!



cheese and rice Cat! No one's called Keim a failure. I just think the credit for our record the last two years has been because of what he did in FA, not the draft. Things don't have to be BLACK AND WHITE ALL THE TIME. Saying his drafts haven't been a major factor in our record doesn't mean he's a failure... just means that area hasn't been a main reason for success yet.

seriously... your inability to debate ANY kind of minute criticism of the guy without stuffing ridiculous crap in other people's positions is incredibly annoying and to be honest, flat out stupid.

You are certainly able to put me on ignore if you believe that I am a stupid poster. I am only laying out argument here for those who believe that Keim has not achieved as a draft master------either during the previous regime or in this one, and there are those here who have done that-----some all along. The term 'bust' has been used frequently with the likes of Cooper, Massie, Minter, Thomas and several edge rushers that Keim has brought in along the way. That is simply not disputable.

 

[Cardiac]

SK grades from me thus far:

FA = A+
I'm sure there was a miss or two in there but they are few and far between. The number of hits far outweigh the misses.

CAP = B
Yes he inherited the Fitz contract and a CAP that wasn't healthy to begin with. He has brought in a CAP expert (Disner IIRC) and they have been able to make enough moves to field a very competitive team. The can has been kicked down the road some but most if not every team does that.

Draft = B-

I love that he will trade up and back in the draft to acquire more value and the players he covets. The value he gets for these trades is typically fair. I also am a fan of taking the small school players that the scouts uncover. Our success rate on those players is better than the league overall avg. in the entire draft (I have not stats to back this up )
As several posters have pointed out SK's draft picks haven't panned out as well as one should expect. At least at this point because we have a lot of TBD grades still out there.

At this point and time I wouldn't trade SK for any other GM in football, not because I know he is the best but because I know he is the best GM the Cards have ever had and he's basically home grown. In addition to that he has been awarded Executive of the Year award so if he isn't the best GM in the league he is one of the best.