You're right, but he was addressing those counting guys besides Pouncey and Thomas.
gotcha. thank u. so lets address the other guys. because theyve already shown more early on than carroll or jones did. frank kearse was claimed by another team because sparano decided he wasnt good enough to keep. jimmy wilson has really flashed (IMO) shows some ball skills, and toughness (2 things carroll hasnt - u see that deer in the headlights look on opening night??). clay produced this week when he was in the game.
too early to say on the late round picks in this draft, but i can honestly say the guy im least impressed with is Gates. and i dont blame ireland for taking him given the lack of speed on this roster, hes just gonna take a lot of time to develop and personally i dont think he will. to me its common sense that you have to run your routes and position (and use) your body downfield in order to give your quarterback a window to throw the ball into. this guy has to be wide open to get the ball at this point in his career. ted ginn is a better receiver at this point than clyde gates (and always was).
the later picks in this draft class have shown more promise than the other guys mentioned. the truth is none of us know EXACTLY who is responsible for what but over time a couple things seem pretty clear.
1. parcells controlled personal decisions up through last years draft
2. pat white was parcells pick
3. jake long WAS parcells pick (he explained why NOT matt ryan - chad henne WAS CHEAPER - by parcell's OWN WORDS - shows you how much he valued the QB position)
4. john jerry was a sparano pick
5. bill parcells did NOT want DEMARCUS WARE. he wanted marcus spears. Ware has become perhaps the best pass rusher in the NFL. Ireland lobbied for the pick.
6. this years draft was jeff irelands draft and its the best one weve had since jimmy johnson. EVEN considering that it should be too soon to evaluate. even considering that ireland might have been somewhat handcuffed by the pressure for this draft to show immediate dividends (because if it didnt show immediate results both he and the coach could be on their way out - this means a guy like mallett, didnt have the priority he might have ordinarily)
it seems if you look objectively, with what we actually know about ireland and weed out the garbage - he MAY actually be a very good judge of talent. he also has NOTHING to do with player development and WHO PLAYS. lets look at 2 FACTS (guess i came up w 4 - sorry). cameron wake BARELY saw the field his first year EVEN THO to everybody but sparano he was the teams best pass rusher. ted ginn wasnt our return man sparanos first year - even tho he was already proven by his rookie campaign and we havent had a viable return man in ages. reggie bush continues to be misused and doesnt and not used in the return game. marc columbo continues to start at right guard even tho we have a better one in nate garner on the roster. perhaps sparano has no clue how to develop talent and where to position that talent. just a thought