The 2009 NFL Draft - the worst ever? (1 Viewer)

[Riversco]

1.01 QB Matt Stafford - Lions

1.02 OT Jason Smith - Rams

1.03 DE Tyson Jackson - Chiefs

1.04 LB Aaron Curry - Seahawks

1.05 QB Mark Sanchez - Jets

1.06 OT Andre Smith - Bengals

1.07 WR Darrius Heward-Bey - Raiders

1.08 OT Eugene Monroe - Jaguars

1.09 DT B.J. Raji - Packers

1.10 WR Michael Crabtree - 49ers

1.11 DE Aaron Maybin - Bills

1.12 RB Knowshon Moreno - Broncos

1.13 DE Brian Orakpo - Redskins

1.14 CB Malcolm Jenkins - Saints

1.15 LB Brian Cushing - Texans

1.16 DE Larry English - Chargers

1.17 QB Josh Freeman - Buccaneers

1.18 DE Robert Ayers - Broncos

1.19 WR Jeremy Maclin - Eagles

1.20 TE Brandon Pettigrew - Lions

1.21 C Alex Mack - Browns

1.22 WR Percy Harvin - Vikings

1.23 OT Michael Oher - Ravens

1.24 DT Peria Jerry - Falcons

1.25 CB Vontae Davis - Dolphins

1.26 LB Clay Matthews - Packers

1.27 RB Donald Brown - Colts

1.28 C Eric Wood - Bills

1.29 WR Hakeem Nicks - Giants

1.30 WR Kenny Britt - Titans

1.31 RB Beanie Wells - Cardinals

1.32 DT Ziggy Hood - Steelers

What happened here? Only 6 pro bowlers in the first round. Most drafts have pro bowlers in over half the round.

Not one pro bowler in the top 8. The 2010 draft has 5 pro bowlers in the top 8. The 2011 draft has 6 pro bowlers in the top 8.

 

[cstu]

Given that the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest I don't think it's the best way to judge a draft.There were a ton of busts in the top 10 but overall it's not that bad.

 

[jurb26]

1.01 QB Matt Stafford - Lions - Never made Pro Bowl, but clearly not a bust and is a great young talent.

1.02 OT Jason Smith - Rams

1.03 DE Tyson Jackson - Chiefs - Way too high a pick but he's been a starter.

1.04 LB Aaron Curry - Seahawks

1.05 QB Mark Sanchez - Jets

1.06 OT Andre Smith - Bengals

1.07 WR Darrius Heward-Bey - Raiders - Yeah, 7 was too high but there still seems to be life here.

1.08 OT Eugene Monroe - Jaguars

1.09 DT B.J. Raji - Packers

1.10 WR Michael Crabtree - 49ers - See above statement for DHB.

1.11 DE Aaron Maybin - Bills

1.12 RB Knowshon Moreno - Broncos

1.13 DE Brian Orakpo - Redskins

1.14 CB Malcolm Jenkins - Saints

1.15 LB Brian Cushing - Texans

1.16 DE Larry English - Chargers

1.17 QB Josh Freeman - Buccaneers

1.18 DE Robert Ayers - Broncos

1.19 WR Jeremy Maclin - Eagles - Qualtiy starter, no way a bust.

1.20 TE Brandon Pettigrew - Lions - Qualtiy starter, no way a bust.

1.21 C Alex Mack - Browns

1.22 WR Percy Harvin - Vikings

1.23 OT Michael Oher - Ravens - Qualtiy starter, no way a bust.

1.24 DT Peria Jerry - Falcons

1.25 CB Vontae Davis - Dolphins

1.26 LB Clay Matthews - Packers

1.27 RB Donald Brown - Colts

1.28 C Eric Wood - Bills

1.29 WR Hakeem Nicks - Giants - Like Stafford, Never made Pro Bowl, but clearly not a bust and is a great young talent.

1.30 WR Kenny Britt - Titans

1.31 RB Beanie Wells - Cardinals

1.32 DT Ziggy Hood - Steelers

What happened here? Only 6 pro bowlers in the first round. Most drafts have pro bowlers in over half the round.

Not one pro bowler in the top 8. The 2010 draft has 5 pro bowlers in the top 8. The 2011 draft has 6 pro bowlers in the top 8.

I'm not sure why you're using just an arbitrary Pro Bowl standard. It doesn't look that bad when you consider the notes I've added.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

1.01 QB Matt Stafford - Lions - Never made Pro Bowl, but clearly not a bust and is a great young talent.

1.02 OT Jason Smith - Rams

1.03 DE Tyson Jackson - Chiefs - Way too high a pick but he's been a starter.

1.04 LB Aaron Curry - Seahawks

1.05 QB Mark Sanchez - Jets

1.06 OT Andre Smith - Bengals

1.07 WR Darrius Heward-Bey - Raiders - Yeah, 7 was too high but there still seems to be life here.

1.08 OT Eugene Monroe - Jaguars

1.09 DT B.J. Raji - Packers

1.10 WR Michael Crabtree - 49ers - See above statement for DHB.

1.11 DE Aaron Maybin - Bills

1.12 RB Knowshon Moreno - Broncos

1.13 DE Brian Orakpo - Redskins

1.14 CB Malcolm Jenkins - Saints

1.15 LB Brian Cushing - Texans

1.16 DE Larry English - Chargers

1.17 QB Josh Freeman - Buccaneers

1.18 DE Robert Ayers - Broncos

1.19 WR Jeremy Maclin - Eagles - Qualtiy starter, no way a bust.

1.20 TE Brandon Pettigrew - Lions - Qualtiy starter, no way a bust.

1.21 C Alex Mack - Browns

1.22 WR Percy Harvin - Vikings

1.23 OT Michael Oher - Ravens - Qualtiy starter, no way a bust.

1.24 DT Peria Jerry - Falcons

1.25 CB Vontae Davis - Dolphins

1.26 LB Clay Matthews - Packers

1.27 RB Donald Brown - Colts

1.28 C Eric Wood - Bills

1.29 WR Hakeem Nicks - Giants - Like Stafford, Never made Pro Bowl, but clearly not a bust and is a great young talent.

1.30 WR Kenny Britt - Titans

1.31 RB Beanie Wells - Cardinals

1.32 DT Ziggy Hood - Steelers

What happened here? Only 6 pro bowlers in the first round. Most drafts have pro bowlers in over half the round.

Not one pro bowler in the top 8. The 2010 draft has 5 pro bowlers in the top 8. The 2011 draft has 6 pro bowlers in the top 8.

I'm not sure why you're using just an arbitrary Pro Bowl standard. It doesn't look that bad when you consider the notes I've added.

And Freeman isn't bad either.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

1.01 QB Matt Stafford - Lions

1.02 OT Jason Smith - Rams

1.03 DE Tyson Jackson - Chiefs

1.04 LB Aaron Curry - Seahawks

1.05 QB Mark Sanchez - Jets

1.06 OT Andre Smith - Bengals

1.07 WR Darrius Heward-Bey - Raiders

1.08 OT Eugene Monroe - Jaguars

1.09 DT B.J. Raji - Packers

1.10 WR Michael Crabtree - 49ers

1.11 DE Aaron Maybin - Bills

1.12 RB Knowshon Moreno - Broncos

1.13 DE Brian Orakpo - Redskins

1.14 CB Malcolm Jenkins - Saints

1.15 LB Brian Cushing - Texans

1.16 DE Larry English - Chargers

1.17 QB Josh Freeman - Buccaneers

1.18 DE Robert Ayers - Broncos

1.19 WR Jeremy Maclin - Eagles

1.20 TE Brandon Pettigrew - Lions

1.21 C Alex Mack - Browns

1.22 WR Percy Harvin - Vikings

1.23 OT Michael Oher - Ravens

1.24 DT Peria Jerry - Falcons

1.25 CB Vontae Davis - Dolphins

1.26 LB Clay Matthews - Packers

1.27 RB Donald Brown - Colts

1.28 C Eric Wood - Bills

1.29 WR Hakeem Nicks - Giants

1.30 WR Kenny Britt - Titans

1.31 RB Beanie Wells - Cardinals

1.32 DT Ziggy Hood - Steelers

What happened here? Only 6 pro bowlers in the first round. Most drafts have pro bowlers in over half the round.

Not one pro bowler in the top 8. The 2010 draft has 5 pro bowlers in the top 8. The 2011 draft has 6 pro bowlers in the top 8.

One thing we should take into account is that the Pro Bowl has been watered down significantly recently due to the high number of players dropping out. So I wouldn't place 'too much' emphasis on the number of players who got an invitation to the Pro Bowl.Three Hall of Fame offensive linemen were quoted on a story that was done on Browns OLT Joe Thomas and one of them made a very poingant insight into the recent devaluation of the Pro Bowl where it could water down the accomplishments of someone like Joe Thomas who really deserves the honor and hasn't 'backed' into it like some thrid or fourth string alternates.

My link

... Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive linemen ... Dan Dierdorf ... Dierdorf, a six-time Pro Bowler with the old St. Louis Cardinals

... Dierdorf said the term “Pro Bowler” is becoming diluted because so many beg out due to injury. He added the NFL's decision to move the game to the week before the Super Bowl also has created the need for more alternates due to the fact selected players like Reed and Willis can’t participate because of Super Bowl preparations.

The CBS analyst wants historians and other chroniclers of the sport to be discriminating when describing a Pro Bowler so as not to shortchange the accomplishments of someone like Thomas.

“There are guys playing in Pro Bowls now that are fourth alternates and they get credit for being a Pro Bowler,” Dierdorf said. “I’m sorry but Pro Bowls have become completely devalued. ... They should put an asterisk next to Joe’s name to denote he’s been selected for every Pro Bowl.

“A player that good deserves that kind of distinction.”

So of the above players who made the Pro Bowl and of the players who were named to the Pro Bowl in 2010, 2011, etc. Instead of putting too much weight on them being named to the Pro Bowl I think we can tell whether or not a player has played solidly or well above average.Getting a good solid starter in the first round means it was a good pick and getting a player who performs solidly above average is excellent no matter how they were acquired but just looking at the 2009 class as a whole. I do agree it was a weak class.

This draft class isn't considered very strong and I think we can gain some lessons from that 2009 class where sooo many teams missed with top picks that the fans of those teams have to give their front offices a bit of a break. You can't blame scouts and GM's/Pro Player Personnel types if a class is soo weak that few teams had a solid draft.

And if you look at that class the top OT drafted was Andre Smith and he hasn't been the best OT of that class, it seems that Eugene Monroe taken two picks later has emerged as a good starter. Monreo is starting and playing 'solid' for the Jags but he's not a Pro Bowler. The top guy from this draft class at OT, and probably the highest rated guy on the entire draft class, is OT Luke Joeckel.

He may not be much better than Monroe but he should go in the first 3 or 4 picks because he's seen as a less risky pick.

So a comparison of a weak draft class shold set expectations for the upcoming draft class which means many teams/fans will look back on this class as dissapointing but on draft day everyone will think they had a good draft.

Probably not how it will turn out a few years down the line.

 

[Riversco]

If the Pro Bowl is watered-down, and only 6 picks from the first round in this draft can make it, what does that tell you? And if you are going to annotate this draft, you'd also have to annotate the other drafts, and if you did you'd still see this draft class was weak.

 

[Riversco]

I dare anyone to find a draft class where the top 8 picks are weaker. It might exist, but I don't know of one.

 

[KellysHeroes]

I think this is how 2013 draft class is going to look like in 3 yrs or so, decent but nothing really special coming out of the 1st

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I dare anyone to find a draft class where the top 8 picks are weaker. It might exist, but I don't know of one.

Yea, I had to go all the way back to the dark ages of 2006... :rollseyes: 2005 was a joke too.ETA - 2002This premise is a joke.

 

[Splicer]

At least now, teams aren't held to such an astronomical cap number for these picks. The good ones make more $$$$ the next contract. The bad ones, not so much.

 

[Riversco]

I dare anyone to find a draft class where the top 8 picks are weaker. It might exist, but I don't know of one.

Yea, I had to go all the way back to the dark ages of 2006... :rollseyes: 2005 was a joke too.ETA - 2002This premise is a joke.

2002, 2005, and 2006 were all better in the top 8.

 

[Riversco]

I think this is how 2013 draft class is going to look like in 3 yrs or so, decent but nothing really special coming out of the 1st

I think you might be right. This draft doesn't look very special at all.

 

[Sabertooth]

Packers had their best draft of the Thompson era. Raji and Matthews are the core of the front 7.

 

[Mario Kart]

Terrible thread.

 

[Wise Old Owl]

Stafford and Andre Smith, and outside of the top 8 Nicks and Britt all have had their early years filled with significant injuries. All four of them have proven they can produce at a high level when healthy.

 

[Wadsworth]

Eugene Monroe is good left tackle and was a solid pick at the #8.

 

[Pigskin Boss]

There is such a low % of people who like the Pro Bowl I doubt it validates a bad draft

 

[Aabye]

1947 was worse, although getting the first guy on the moon with the 8th pick is a steal for Philly.

But come on, Cal Rossi? There were definitely better Bs available in the draft class (Hoernschemeyer, Ramsey, even Duke Iverson had his moments).

 

[SSOG]

I dare anyone to find a draft class where the top 8 picks are weaker. It might exist, but I don't know of one.

Yea, I had to go all the way back to the dark ages of 2006... :rollseyes: 2005 was a joke too.ETA - 2002This premise is a joke.

2002, 2005, and 2006 were all better in the top 8.

First of all, top 8? Holy gerrymandered cutoffs, Batman. Second off... I'd take Stafford and Andre Smith over the top 8 of 2005- a trio of journeymen RBs, two bust receivers, the biggest off-field headache in NFL history, Alex Smith, and Antrel Rolle. Third off, hyperbole aside, it was a really weak draft.

 

[lbouchard]

I dare anyone to find a draft class where the top 8 picks are weaker. It might exist, but I don't know of one.

Yea, I had to go all the way back to the dark ages of 2006... :rollseyes: 2005 was a joke too.ETA - 2002This premise is a joke.

2002, 2005, and 2006 were all better in the top 8.

First of all, top 8? Holy gerrymandered cutoffs, Batman. Second off... I'd take Stafford and Andre Smith over the top 8 of 2005- a trio of journeymen RBs, two bust receivers, the biggest off-field headache in NFL history, Alex Smith, and Antrel Rolle. Third off, hyperbole aside, it was a really weak draft.

Wow- shows you much the NFL has changed in 8 years. I can't imagine a scenario where 3 RBs would go in the top 10, let alone the top 5, today.

 

[MarshallRob]

1947 was worse, although getting the first guy on the moon with the 8th pick is a steal for Philly.But come on, Cal Rossi? There were definitely better Bs available in the draft class (Hoernschemeyer, Ramsey, even Duke Iverson had his moments).

Well done.The '47 draft may not have produced a lot of playing talent but it might be the greatest coaching draft of all time. Ara Parseghian in the 13th round and Tom Landry in the 20th!

 

[SSOG]

1947 was worse, although getting the first guy on the moon with the 8th pick is a steal for Philly.But come on, Cal Rossi? There were definitely better Bs available in the draft class (Hoernschemeyer, Ramsey, even Duke Iverson had his moments).

Well done.The '47 draft may not have produced a lot of playing talent but it might be the greatest coaching draft of all time. Ara Parseghian in the 13th round and Tom Landry in the 20th!

If you count Dan Reeves as part of the 1965 draft class (he was a UDFA who signed with Dallas), then that draft produced the 6th and 8th winningest coaches of all time (Reeves and Schotty). And Rich Kotite .Bill Parcells was drafted in 1964. Had he come out one year later, I don't think anything could ever match that trio.

 

[MarshallRob]

1947 was worse, although getting the first guy on the moon with the 8th pick is a steal for Philly.But come on, Cal Rossi? There were definitely better Bs available in the draft class (Hoernschemeyer, Ramsey, even Duke Iverson had his moments).

Well done.The '47 draft may not have produced a lot of playing talent but it might be the greatest coaching draft of all time. Ara Parseghian in the 13th round and Tom Landry in the 20th!

If you count Dan Reeves as part of the 1965 draft class (he was a UDFA who signed with Dallas), then that draft produced the 6th and 8th winningest coaches of all time (Reeves and Schotty). And Rich Kotite .Bill Parcells was drafted in 1964. Had he come out one year later, I don't think anything could ever match that trio.

Good stuff SSOG. Now I kind of want to figure out all the candidates for what the greatest coaching draft would be. Could be some work though.

 

[Buffaloes]

the 1st round of 1991's draft was pretty rough http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1991/draft.htm?redir

 

[SSOG]

the 1st round of 1991's draft was pretty rough http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1991/draft.htm?redir

Ooh, that's a good one. Only Herman Moore and Ted Washington topped 60 AV or went to more than 2 pro bowls. The first round accounted for 7 first team AP All Pros (3 by Moore) and 16 pro bowls. For comparison, 2011 has already produced 4 first team all pros and 10 pro bowls. And none of those all pros came from Cam Newton, who had perhaps the most spectacular start to a career by any QB in history. And you can't even blame it on the truncated first round (only 27 first rounders in 1991), because picks 28-32 didn't land in so much as a single pro bowl. Pick #33 wound up setting every major career QB record, though.

 

[MarshallRob]

1947 was worse, although getting the first guy on the moon with the 8th pick is a steal for Philly.But come on, Cal Rossi? There were definitely better Bs available in the draft class (Hoernschemeyer, Ramsey, even Duke Iverson had his moments).

Well done.The '47 draft may not have produced a lot of playing talent but it might be the greatest coaching draft of all time. Ara Parseghian in the 13th round and Tom Landry in the 20th!

If you count Dan Reeves as part of the 1965 draft class (he was a UDFA who signed with Dallas), then that draft produced the 6th and 8th winningest coaches of all time (Reeves and Schotty). And Rich Kotite .Bill Parcells was drafted in 1964. Had he come out one year later, I don't think anything could ever match that trio.

1953 has Ted Marchibroda in the 1st, Chuck Noll in the 20th, and Ray Graves (5 bowl games with UF in the 60's) in the 27th.