<u>Dr. Z: Lions get B+</u> Dr. Z gives the Lions one of his top grades in the draft this year. May 2, SI.com: LIONS: I see Rod Marinelli, the new coach, surrounded by some good, tough guy types; LB Ernie Sims, a punishing hitter, ditto Nebraska SS Daniel Bullocks, and G Fred Matua from the USC line. And I really like the highly productive RB, Brian Calhoun, despite what the Pro Football Weekly special draft publication said about him. Here's what it said. Under Positives: "Runs hard and competes hard to pick up extra yardage." Under Negatives: "Not a powerful runner who is going to pick up much yardage after contact." http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...t.grades/1.html
I was pretty sad that the Lions picked up Calhoun before the Packers could grab him. This draft does seem a bit better than Millen's last four, though. Even if I do generally think that "Dr. Z" is a bozo...
Draft grades while fascinating are totally worthless until 3 years down the road. Dr. Z writes for SI and that alone speaks volumes about his credibility. That is one periodical that is all about hype. I think less of SI than I do of the Fox News Channel and that is saying something.
Draft grades are pretty much useless. What happens with draft grades is that someone (like Dr Z) looks at a teams draft, judges it against his personal opinion which he formed before the draft, and gives it a grade based on how closely the team matches his opinion. In other words, a draft grade is as predictable as a mock draft. It would be interesting to create draft grades for the draft 3 years ago to see where teams actually fall.
Matt Millen gets a B+ from someone and they're a Bozo, Worthless and Useless. How did I know that was the response I'd get with that post? lol That fact is, you can't really judge a draft for 3-5 years after the fact. Maybe we should be judging the 2001 draft? For the record I like Dr. Z's grades, the Lion's had the best draft in the NFC North and Nick Saban got a stinken C. Priceless!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zackman)</div><div class='quotemain'>Matt Millen gets a B+ from someone and they're a Bozo, Worthless and Useless. How did I know that was the response I'd get with that post? lol That fact is, you can't really judge a draft for 3-5 years after the fact. Maybe we should be judging the 2001 draft? For the record I like Dr. Z's grades, the Lion's had the best draft in the NFC North and Nick Saban got a stinken C. Priceless!</div> Whoa there chief - I didn't say Dr. Z was useless, I said that draft grades were useless. Sure, they are fun to look at, but they really don't tell us anything of real value. Personally I think that we should be judging the 2001 draft, and the 2002 draft, etc. A scout's real value is properly determining a player's talent and potential. It is rare that we know that information the day after the draft, it takes a few years of the player playing and trying to fit in the NFL before we can know that information. Good for the Lions for having a good draft according to Dr. Z - evidently they drafted close to how he would have drafted if he were in the war room. FWIW, I think the Lions had a good draft in terms of what we know now and the perceived value of players.
I said that Dr. Z was a bozo, but I also agreed that the Lions' draft this year was pretty good. I don't generally agree with much he has to say, but I agree with him this time. And I also agree with the above assessments that the draft can't be truly "graded" for another two or three years. Today, I'm agreeing with almost everything.
Dr. Z's opinion is just that - his opinion. Its my opinion that his & other grades are nothing more than filler for their respective publications, networks, websites, etc...
Dont worry guys, the season will start soon and we wont hear from Zack for 6 months....the cycle of life continues
well after all that i agree draft grades are useless to look at but they certainly are cool to see how other people think of your teams draft... like i'm happy the Jets got a A-
