LaDarius Gunter another UDFA gem?

[TJV]

This is from McGinn's column about WRs and appears under "They played well" (at Pittsburg):

Cornerback LaDarius Gunter gained invaluable experience working against Pro Bowl wideout Antonio Brown for seven plays in the second quarter. Gunter was terrific breaking up a long ball to deep threat Martavis Bryant and smothering a crossing route to Shakim Phillips.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...ptions-at-receiver-b99562884z1-322774201.html

 

[SoonerPack]

Question is, is Gunter going to be our primary backup boundary corner? All signs point to yes so far.

I would say yes as of now. What's the deal with Micah? Is he specifically nickle/BU safety or what? Also, do you think they will have a package where both he (33) and Sean Richardson are on the field at the same time? This goes back to my last post speaking to the flexibility we appear to now have in the backend. Hyde is a really good football player and one would assume they will find a way to get him on the field.

 

[Carl]

I know this sounds stupid but........I`m assuming that wide receivers and cornerback have basically the same attributes given the nature of the positions, could Gunter or another fill the Nelson position short term at least ?

Corners also tend to be smaller and quicker as they have to be able to adjust more than run predetermined routes.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Corners also tend to be smaller and quicker as they have to be able to adjust more than run predetermined routes.

Thanks mate

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Question is, is Gunter going to be our primary backup boundary corner? All signs point to yes so far.

I don´t think so. Both Randall and Rollins get snaps ahead of him in practice.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I would say yes as of now. What's the deal with Micah? Is he specifically nickle/BU safety or what? Also, do you think they will have a package where both he (33) and Sean Richardson are on the field at the same time? This goes back to my last post speaking to the flexibility we appear to now have in the backend. Hyde is a really good football player and one would assume they will find a way to get him on the field.

It seems Hyde is the primary nickel corner as of now and the #3 on the depth chart at safety. The defense could use Richardson on obvious run plays but I don´t want to see him cover anybody out there.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Thanks mate

Anyone notice how much younger Buggy looks since he (his wife) had those eyebrows waxed and plucked?

 

[El Guapo]

I'm still a big believer that draft position (or lack of being drafted) is meaningless. Each offseason the GM goes out and gets 7 allocated opportunities to obtain players. They can parlay those seven picks into more or less picks, and then they can sign players that didn't get drafted. If it's only 7 players or 20 total, it's all about producing on the field after that. The GM has to pay out $*** to the rookie pool no matter what each season, so really the pressure is on landing as many contributors as possible....not making sure the top pick succeeds. If we draft 7 players and 6 don't make the roster but we get 6 solid contributors out of the UDFA process, it's all the same to me as long as they can make the team better.

Seeing Gunter do well reminds me of the 1999 season. Randy Moss took the league by storm in 1998 and made the Packers look bad. Wolf spent his top three picks on cornerbacks. Antoine Edwards and Fred Vinson were not good enough to play in the NFL (although I think one of them was traded to Seattle for Ahman Green - the only good that came out of it). Third round pick Mike McKenzie turned out to be the gem in the group and a starter. So damn the draft position, we got a starter. That was another year when Wolf had lots of late round success, picking up five starting-caliber players in the 3rd, 4th, and 7th rounds.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I'm still a big believer that draft position (or lack of being drafted) is meaningless. Each offseason the GM goes out and gets 7 allocated opportunities to obtain players. They can parlay those seven picks into more or less picks, and then they can sign players that didn't get drafted. If it's only 7 players or 20 total, it's all about producing on the field after that. The GM has to pay out $*** to the rookie pool no matter what each season, so really the pressure is on landing as many contributors as possible....not making sure the top pick succeeds. If we draft 7 players and 6 don't make the roster but we get 6 solid contributors out of the UDFA process, it's all the same to me as long as they can make the team better.

Draft position shouldn´t matter in deciding the starters or which players make the final roster. But teams missing on a lot of early round draft picks usually aren´t succesful.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Anyone notice how much younger Buggy looks since he (his wife) had those eyebrows waxed and plucked?

Be VERY careful young man

 

[Croak]

Anyone notice how much younger Buggy looks since he (his wife) had those eyebrows waxed and plucked?

I think we should contact her and let her know he's more handsome after waxing. Let's see how far she will go with it!

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

I think we should contact her and let her know he's more handsome after waxing. Let's see how far she will go with it!

She already knows I`m a studmuffin

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

She already knows I`m a studmuffin

Without the added "sprinkles"

 

[El Guapo]

Draft position shouldn´t matter in deciding the starters or which players make the final roster. But teams missing on a lot of early round draft picks usually aren´t succesful.

Why doesn't it matter which picks you miss on? The most important measurement is how many starters did you acquire that season.

 

[adambr2]

Why doesn't it matter which picks you miss on? The most important measurement is how many starters did you acquire that season.

In a vacuum it doesn't matter, but the vast majority of the time you're obviously picking from better players the earlier you are since you've got 32 teams taking turns with picks and each taking who they think is the next best player. You're investing more into your early round picks. More time, more money, more patience, more scouting, because you believe these 1st round picks will be successful. When they're not, it hurts.

Whereas 7th round picks and UDFAs are mostly fliers. You throw a bunch of darts and hope a couple off them hit the bullseye. Obviously you're still trying to count on your scouting, but these guys are a minimal investment and minimal blow if they don't pan out.

When they do, fantastic, but realistically, and certainly statistically, the earlier you go the more likely you'll stick. No coincidence that arguably our best 5 players, Rodgers, Matthews, Lacy, Nelson, and Cobb all came from the first 2 rounds.

 

[TJV]

Of course I agree draft position shouldn’t be the deciding factor in determining starters or which players make the roster. But IMO saying its meaningless is going too far. There’s a reason the Packers and other NFL teams spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours every year to identify the top talent in the draft. That it’s more an imperfect art than science is why I think the first sentence makes sense. To add to adambr2's first paragraph, there is a correlation between draft order and career success. And I’m sure this isn’t what El Guapo meant but if draft position really doesn’t mean anything at all, Thompson should trade all of his early picks to acquire picks in the later rounds.

 

[PikeBadger]

Of course I agree draft position shouldn’t be the deciding factor in determining starters or which players make the roster. But IMO saying its meaningless is going too far. There’s a reason the Packers and other NFL teams spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours every year to identify the top talent in the draft. That it’s more an imperfect art than science is why I think the first sentence makes sense. To add to adambr2's first paragraph, there is a correlation between draft order and career success. And I’m sure this isn’t what El Guapo meant but if draft position really doesn’t mean anything at all, Thompson should trade all of his early picks to acquire picks in the later rounds.

It hurts to miss on too many 1st round picks because generally, much of their contract is guaranteed so there is more of a time committment involved than with a late round pick. You're pretty much stuck with a busted 1st round pick for 4 years. I just don't think you can consistently get great value for picks 20-32 in the first round. I do think you get really good value for picks 35-55.

 

[TJV]

It hurts to miss on too many 1st round picks because generally, much of their contract is guaranteed so there is more of a time committment involved than with a late round pick.

Yes but it also hurts because there is a correlation between draft order and career success. When you miss on a first rounder you miss your best opportunity in that draft to acquire a difference-maker.

 

[jetfixer]

We hit on 4 big drafted players last year, that many this year would be nice. Hopefully we will add to last years total too, with Janis or some other surprise. The three CB's and Ty, oh and Ryan, that would be a huge windfall.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Why doesn't it matter which picks you miss on? The most important measurement is how many starters did you acquire that season.

While it´s possible to get a starter during the late round of the draft or even in undrafted free agency most difference makers are drafted early and missing out on them constantly results in declining team performance.

 

[Curly Calhoun]

While it´s possible to get a starter during the late round of the draft or even in undrafted free agency most difference makers are drafted early and missing out on them constantly results in declining team performance.

With Ted, it's possible almost every year.

 

[Vrill]

Getting starters and gems in the middle/late rounds and undrafted FA tells the tale of how well your front office scouts these College players......

Old saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Win the first half of the draft or win the middle/last half of the draft....either way you're going to be sitting pretty with future starters. Its the teams that don't draft well period and don't value their picks that historically suck and have to always upgrade via Free Agency instead.

 

[TJV]

Vrill, I’m glad to see you edited your post. I was about to respond to your posting something like ‘the middle and bottom of a draft tell the tale…’ IMO that's half true as you indicate above.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

With Ted, it's possible almost every year.

Win the first half of the draft or win the middle/last half of the draft....either way you're going to be sitting pretty with future starters. Its the teams that don't draft well period and don't value their picks that historically suck and have to always upgrade via Free Agency instead.

It's true that Thompson does a great job if finding starters in the late rounds of the draft or in undrafted free agency. But don't fool yourself the difference makers are mostly selected within the first two rounds.

 

[yooperpackfan]

It's true that Thompson does a great job if finding starters in the late rounds of the draft or in undrafted free agency. But don't fool yourself the difference makers are mostly selected within the first two rounds.

And Ted hasn't done real well, in that regard, on the defensive side of the ball.