dont get me wrong. i think we made a HUGE mistake not ending up with mallett. what im saying is it simply wasnt as simple as taking mallett in the second round for these guys. BECAUSE ireland wasnt convinced mallett would be better than henne THIS YEAR. thats what youre missing here. look how many holes this team has. they ABSOLUTELY HAD to get 2 players that could come in and start IMMEDIATELY in the first 2 rounds, and im sure they were hoping both gates and clay would see significant time on the field THIS YEAR.
the owner went shopping for a coach in the offseason!! that means sparano was in serious jeopardy!! and if ireland didnt have RESULTS from this draft that showed immediately, there was a very good chance he would be gone as well. NFL GMs and coaching positions - they dont come back around. its a one and done deal for these guys. i understand what youre saying, and i AGREE 100%. BUT, it just wasnt that simple, and they tried to move back up in the 3rd to get him and couldnt. youve got to put yourself in irelands shoes here. if it was HIS FIRST YEAR - OF COURSE he takes mallett. he didnt have that luxury. if this draft class didnt show promise he wasnt going to be around to see mallett develop anyways. to them that meant he wasnt worth more than a 3rd round pick, or at least he wasnt worth more than daniel thomas was worth because of the circumstances.