4- Ellis
7- Phillips
10- Stewart
19- Clady
26- Mendenhall
28- Jackson
33- Balmer
47- Abidi
82- Okam
98- Dizon

It is a great time of year. You get so torn between what needs to address in the draft and which ones to address via free-agency. It’s so easy to criticize coaches and GM’s for failed draft picks, but when you see all of these guys in action, read about them and get to know them like a lot of fans across the country do this time of year, it’s so easy to see how a coach can buy into any of these guys out here.
The difference in Connor and Dizon for example, to most of us, we see them play, we look at their stats, read their interviews and there’s little or no difference in their potential and character as men. How do you tell if Connor’s better numbers are a result of his coach, the defensive system, the competition he played against, the surrounding players on his own team, his football smarts or his physical ability? It would be so easy for Sundquist and Shanahan to look at Dizon, see that maybe his numbers weren’t quite as great, but with the right coaching, the right system and a great d-line in front of him, that he could develope into an all-pro. Not only that, but if you can pick up Dizon in the 4th round, vs spending a first rounder on Connor, you’d be way ahead of the game.
It’s a pretty complicated thing really. The difference in the 1st round athletes vs. the 5th round athletes is so tiny and has so many other factors involved in it. Randy Moss would be a great example. If he didn’t go to Marshall, a very small and relatively unknown college, he’d have been the top pick in that years draft. Instead, he falls to what? 17th I believe. That was a great move by Minnesota to look beyond the obvious and see the potential. Shanahan did it just a few years ago with Dumervil. I’d bet if you look at Dumervil’s numbers vs. every other DE taken before him, that Dumervil’s would dwarf most of them.
That’s how you grade a draft 3 yrs later. Put the same players in the draft pool and see where they’d get picked after being in the league 3 yrs. If your player, say Dumervil, would be a 1st round pick after a 3 yr review, then Shanahan made a GREAT pick by getting him in the 3rd.

Maybe Javon…