Originally posted by DerwinBosa
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In that scenario, my simple suggestion is this. In cases where there is substantial divergence between the GM's ranking and the consensus ranking, take the consensus round 5 player at or near his consensus ranked value. If he ends being what the GM thought he was, then the GM has produced great value for the pick. If everyone else was right and the player is not as good as believed by the GM, then the pick is either no loss or a minimal loss.
I want to be clear that that general concept, plus the missed opportunity to get Jones are my concerns about what we did/failed to do in round 3 of the draft. And then, the issue was absolutely highlighted when we deliberately drafted (reached for) a player virtually identical in size as Jones (size that Staley specifically emphasized), but less athletic in Ogbonnia (while simultaneously passing on a chance to select a much need punter).
In response to your "fair question", Jones was a top 50 prospect, so I studied him. I saw the UConn versus Clemson game and the Senior Bowl. His presence was very noticeable. I saw his Senior Bowl practice reps where he dominated against soon to be drafted NFL players. One of those players he did well against was some guy named Zion Johnson. I read about Jones and saw highlights as well.
I did not get a chance to study Woods as carefully. By coincidence, I did see a couple of Baylor games, but it was not for the purpose of studying Woods. And, honestly, Woods did not stand out or "catch my eye". I did read about Woods before the draft, but did not study him to the degree I studied Jones. He did not make much an impression on me before the draft.
Even after I saw his highlights, which I think I may have seen before the draft as well some time ago, what I saw was a lot of plays that were bad opponent plays, not great Woods plays. Just look at his highlight video and let me know what you think. He did not strike me as quite the ballhawk that Staley gives him credit for being. Another poster first raised the comparison, but it really was like Cromartie 2007 where opponents just happened to throw the ball right to him (save and except for one totally awesome one handed INT against the Colts by Cromartie). And the problem, of course, is that those kinds of results are generally not sustainable from season to season as Cromartie proved as after he had the 10 INTs in 2007, he never topped 4 in any other season.
Also, for anyone giving Woods a lot of credit for the long scoop and score fumble recovery TD, did you give Tevaughn Campbell that same level of credit when completed his scoop and score against the Bengals? With people having a generally poor view of Campbell on this forum, my recollection is that people downplayed that play as being more of a "Johnny on the spot" lucky play. However, one counts the Campbell play, I think the Woods play has to be counted the same way.
The one good INT I saw from Woods was when he anticipated the out route, undercut it, made a nice catch and ran it in for a pick 6. He deserves full credit for creating that turnover and producing the pick 6.
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