johngarryvo
The Voice
good plan, good plan; still would rather he play Jack/Joker in a 34 set
For someone who wasnt going negative, you sure did include a lot of negative.
You are, of course, wrong. Theoretically, rookies arent suppose to start period. Teams are suppose to have enough good veteran players on their roster and rookies are "suppose" to work their way into the snap count and gain experience and lessons from the older guys. When they are ready, they eventually knock off the starter and the cycle continues.
For example: Jarvis Jones was the first Steelers 1st round pick to start week 1 for them since Heath Miller(2003). In that time span they went to 3 superbowls, winning 2 of them. That's how successful organizations are run, they dont depend on college players to make dominate contributions. They dont let inexperienced kids make or break their entire season.
This notion that "the 3rd overall pick needs to immediately be awesome" is more Jeff Ireland bull****. Ireland did a phenomenal job moving the goalposts when it comes to peoples views on what is normal. Had he been more successful when building this roster during his first few years on the job, our young players would have been riding the bench every year and routinely been worked in. Instead, every single year we had to throw the young guys to the wolves and watch them get eaten alive. We grew used to it.
Ironically, this attitude has worked against Ireland in this singular case. He did his job when it came to defense ends. We had experienced, productive players at defensive end. Jordan couldnt knock off Wake and Vernon. The veterans won the starting job and the rookie sat back and gained knowledge. Which is exactly how it should be.
No one has been able to explain this to me, so perhaps you can: why is Dion Jordan's rookie year more important than the following 10 years?
While its nice to read that. The fact still remains that he is a project in the works and was taken way too early in draft. While he may never be worth what we gave to get him. Hopefully he can be a starter and the valuable player everyone wants him to be.
If his production matches his potential (The physical tools are there) and great character (at least with how he has carried himself so far), he could be a nightmare for offenses, rare talent, and one of the top players in the league at his position....you don't think that would be worth it, and taking a player that early would be worth it?