Grade the Draft

To me, the draft was a solid B on paper........

now, you add in the players AJ added in free-agency (Atari Bigby....who was a starter on a solid Seahawks D until injury and is as good as as anyone besides Weddle at Safety...Demorrio Williams, solid ILB.....and maybe the biggest addition, aside from Ingram, Le'Ron McClain. He will make our run offense so much better it will be night and day)
and our off-season was as good as anyone....

They still have to do it on the field......but AJ, imho, had his best off-season since he's been here. We could be as tough a team to game plan against than anyone in the AFC. But that doesnt mean shit if we don't play tough, smart aggressive football.

BALANCE..................in all 3 phases is what will determine how 2012 plays out. If what AJ did since the end of the season hasn't impressed anyone, then your either lying or don't know football.

I'm glad to hear that I am not the only fan who hates having to wait that extra day to see the Bolts play at season's start. Here is to hoping they begin next year week one on Thursday at home. ;^)

Gonna give the entire off season a B for now if we're all just guessing, cause I feel like we used the free agency period to find "prospects" as much as we used the draft.

Besides McClain and Jarrett.......who are we sure about in free agency.....and anybody saying they already know about drafted players is full of it, cause the NFL is a beast of a league when it comes to sorting athletes....we have to wait, even if we believe!

I'm glad we did something bold though and brought in some guys to compete and push guys we have. It was just getting old watching us stand pat as teams got closer and closer then passed us in the division.

For once AJ was aggressive and as much as we might not want to admit it.....this was kind of a rebuilding year. It just didn't feel like that, cause we weren't looking for the marquee players on most NFL rosters. (QB and RB)

Remember all the question marks going into this off season.....WR, OLB, SS, LT, LG, FB, ILB....while addressing C and TE due to age and health concerns of 2 of our better players....and adding a presence at RB with Tolbert leaving and DT as we pretty much know Castillo isn't the future there.

I hate to say it this way, but the guys we let test the free agent waters were among some of the last to go, with the exception of VJ....if they went at all....meaning other teams didn't want them. We were really thin folks!

So I'm gonna be optimistic about this season as I usually am, but I remain worried and cautious, cause I just don't know if it was enough!

B-
Too many projects. Not enough slam dunks.

Ingram could be solid, but there are many things that scare me about him (too small as a DE, can he play pass coverage as OLB, small reach, etc.) I was/am in the DeCastro camp. I think picking him would have solved a ton of issues on offense.

I think Reyes is a project at DE.

I'm pretty high on the LSU safety. I think (hope) he will be a solid member on special teams and the secondary.

The TE is another project who needs work, but having Gates and McMichael will help him.

The Penn St. guard is another project. I don't know how long he sticks around, actually. The only redeeming factor for this guy is he used to be a defensive tackle and that makes me think of Kris Dielman.

I like Molk, but he is small. He does work his ass off, and that is a plus.

Baker is a steal in the 7th and could be the best pick of the draft for us.

And I drop my vote down to a B- (from a B) for the wasted 5th round pick. You telling me we couldn't sign him as a FA?

I'm dropping my B- to an F. Any fool can pick a highly ranked guy who fell to 18 and the nation's best center who is still there in the 7th. No other fool on the planet can do what AJ did in the fifth. Unheard of dumbfuckery (unless you count the kid in a coma he once drafted). Like you said, FA!

F

Draft goes to c plus now