2011 Draft Grades (1 Viewer)

[The Hank]

Patriots1-Nate Solder: A-2-Ras I Dowling: C-2-Shane Vereen:C-3-Stevan Ridley: B+3-Ryan Mallett: N/A5-Marcus Cannon: B5-Lee Smith: F6-Markell Carter: D7-Malcolm Williams: DOverall grade: CI'l add comments to each player a little later.

Solder (A-)-Looks like a high-quality LT for the next decade...Dowling (C-)-Looked good in limited play...the issue is he had an injury-prone label coming out of UVA and ended the year on the IR...Vereen (D)-This grade can go up in a big way next year because you can see a lot of talent in his brief moments...that being said they got almost nothing out of a second round pick...Ridley (B-)-I like this kid a lot...a lot of upside here but you can only grade him so high with the amount of touches they gave him...Mallett (B)-I give him this grade because I didn't hear one bad thing about him this year and attitude was the biggest knock on him...in reality it's tough to really grade him since he didn't see the field...it will be interesting to see if he moves up to the #2 role next year...Cannon (B)-Gotta give this kid a high grade...in a year where he wasn't expected to play due to a serious illness he's playing and not looking out of place at all...there's a good chance he becomes a starter in the not so distant future...Smith (F)-Looked out of place from day 1...Carter (D-)-Drafted as a project and still on practice-squad...Williams (D-)-Was cut but now on the 53 man roster...the fact he's in uniform during the playoffs (at least as of today) means he doesn't get a F...This really is a draft for the future as Solder, Cannon and Dowling could all be starting next year and it wouldn't surpise anyone if Vereen and Ridley were on top of the RB depth as well...looking at it that way this could be a very productive draft (they also obtained a 2012 #1 and #2)...the issue with this draft is it didn't help a poor D at all and since Brady isn't getting any younger it would have been nice to get a little more bang for the buck in 2011 since they had about 35 draft picks going into the draft...

I loved the Marcus Cannon pick, he had a 2nd rd grade before being diagnosed with cancer.I wish the Steelers grabbed him late, but the Patriots got him in the 5th/6th rd for a complete steal...

 

[r0llin_game]

Minnesota Vikings - Overall: C-

Round 1, Pick 12 (12) Christian Ponder QB - B-

I liked the pick then and I still like it now. It remains to be seen if his decision making gets better. I believe it will if he was given even a second of time behind a better line.

Round 2, Pick 11 (43) Kyle Rudolph TE - B+

They didn't use him right, but if they had I think we'd be talking about him as one of the new dynamic performers at the TE position.

Round 4, Pick 9 (106) Christian Ballard DL - C

Didn't get a chance to show what he can do. Gave them decent depth.

Round 5, Pick 8 (139) Brandon Burton DB - D

Had a lot of buzz coming out of college but couldn't see the field even with the Vikings' woes in the defensive backfield.

Round 6, Pick 3 (168) (From Broncos through Browns) Demarcus Love - D

D is for developmental. If he had talent at all he'd have been given a shot to replace the awful Charlie Johnson.

Round 6, Pick 5 (170) (From Browns) Mistral Raymond DB - C

Played just okay when given the chance.

Round 6, Pick 7 (172) Brandon Fusco OL - C

Started a couple games when the starters went down with injury. Didn't embarass himself and showed some promise. Should at least provide some depth.

Round 6, Pick 35 (200) (Compensatory Selection) Ross Homan LB - F

Seemed worth the flier, but was released in early September.

Round 7, Pick 12 (215) D'Aundre Reed DL - D

On the roster, but never dressed.

Round 7, Pick 33 (236) (Compensatory Selection) Stephen Burton WR - F

Released in late November.

And that's how you get to be 3-13.

Stephen Burton signed a 4 year contract off the practice squad I thought in November??

 

[Insein]

Philadelphia Eagles

1st: Danny Watkins (OG) Baylor - C - Didn't start till game 5 and struggled at times. Started looking good towards the end of the year.

2nd: Jaiquawn Jarrett (S) Temple - D - Got his first action against SF in week 4. Did not play well. Could not beat out Kurt Coleman. No picks, no sacks, 17 tackles.

3rd: Curtis Marsh (CB) Utah St - D+ - The plus is for special teams play only. As a player or even depth, he was useless. First appearence was in the 2nd giants game. No picks, No sacks, 2 tackles.

4th: Casey Matthews (ILB) Oregon - D+ - Being forcefed as the captain of the defense right away in a lockout shortened season really hurt Casey. He's a guy that could grow into a solid contributor but he was so completely unprepared to be the starting MLB for a team with such high expectations. Performed much better down the stretch. 37 tackles, 1 sack.

4th: Alex Henery (K) Nebraska - C+ - Seeing David Akers have a career year in windy candlestick just makes this look unnecessary. He did ok though. He missed some key FG's in the SF game but overall he was adequate and cheaper (which is the key as far as Banner and roseman are concerned). 24/27 FGs, 46/46 PATs.

5th: Dion Lewis (RB) Pittsburgh - C - Good depth and a speedy talent. Showed nothing as a returner though. Could develop into a McCoy clone in a few years.

5th: Julian Vandervelde (OG) Iowa - N/A - This just because we saw nothing from him. One appearence. Has some potential to maybe be a solid depth guy. Always need backup linemen.

6th: Jason Kelce © Cincy - A - As against it as I was in the begining of the year, Kelce has been great. He stepped in from day one and didn't make any drastic mistakes. He was performing very well by year end. This was a solid find.

6th: Brian Rolle (OLB) Ohio St - B - Good depth guy that can become a decent starting LB. 53 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FF.

7th: Greg Lloyd (ILB) UConn - N/A - Practice Squad. Wasn't rated high despite the pedigree.

7th: Stanley Havili (FB) USC - N/A - Practice Squad.