ckparrothead
Premium Member
cltchperf said:
There I believe that you can't draft scared of the past trends. You analyze those trends but it's important to note that the trends have to be statistically strong and have to have a reason for existence in order to be considered worthy of note.
Otherwise, I (and the scouts) feel stronger about Calvin Johnson than about any other receiver that has come out of the draft aside from maybe Larry Fitzgerald, and maybe Braylon Edwards. I think people like to bring up guys like David Terrell, Troy Williamson and Mike Williams, but I think it's plain that everyone evaluates Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, and Braylon Edwards to be on a different level from guys like Mike Williams and David Terrell.
Charles Rogers and Andre Johnson were almost at that level but not quite at the same level as those three.
On the other hand, Peter Warrick was also considered *that* good. As was Keyshawn Johnson.
But keep in mind that Keyshawn was traded by the Jets to the Bucs for two 1st round picks. And, before that, he helped the Jets win a lot of ball games (against us) by catching 31 TDs in his first four years with the Jets, and averaging 5 catches for 66 yards, 0.5 TDs a game over his first four seasons (equates out to 79 catches for 1,060 yards and 8 TDs a season). This is impressive since typically the first two years a receiver is in the league, he is developing and is not generally expected to become an 1100+ yard guy right away.
Keyshawn is a great example of why you draft a player instead of a position...because really, no Keyshawn has not turned out to be some hall of famer although he's been very good throughout his career. BUT, the Jets returned value for the investment. He not only produced for them for four years, but they spent a #1 overall pick on him and four years later got two 1st rounders for him. It's a fantastic example of how even if you end up with different position priorities down the line, drafting a talent instead of a position helps you keep that value within the team structure instead of pissing it away.
The Jets turned those two first round picks into John Abraham and Anthony Becht. Becht may have fizzled out (I'm not a big fan of first round TEs unless they are Vernon Davis types)...but they got a lot of plays from Abraham on that defense, and now they traded him to the Falcons in exchange for a first round pick from the Broncos (3-way trade) and now that pick turned into Nick Mangold. So Keyshawn Johnson has really proved to be the pick that keeps on giving...from four years of Keyshawn's production (305 catches, 4,108 yards and 31 TDs) to 6 years of John Abraham's production (283 tackles, 53.5 sacks, 19 FFums), and now on to Nick Mangold.
