The Audible - 2012 NFL Draft RECAP (1 Viewer)

[Cecil Lammey]

http://podcast.footballguys.com/2012/Footballguys-Audible-2012-Vol38a.mp3

In This Episode: Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom recap the 2012 NFL Draft. Topics Include - the impact from Andrew Luck as a rookie, a Punter in the third-round for Jacksonville, why Kendall Wright was a great pick for the Titans, did the Texans make the right decisions with their first couple of picks, plus more!

enjoy!

subscribe to The Audible on Itunes, it's free!

Follow The Audible on Twitter!

 

[Wadsworth]

I think the analysis on Blackmon and Branch was spot on. I like Blackmon as a prospect but can't see any way that you can justify the value at the #5. Branch is okay, but I had Curry rated a decent amount higher.

I am actually okay with Bryan Anger in the third. Punters go in the third or sooner in about 30% of drafts, so it is not as crazy a pick as many are trying to portray. I think Anger is a rare punting prospect and while it was a slight reach, it is not enough to concern me.

Calling Gabbert a coward was a little too Skip Bayless for my taste, but no biggie I have gotten accustom to it.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

I think the analysis on Blackmon and Branch was spot on. I like Blackmon as a prospect but can't see any way that you can justify the value at the #5. Branch is okay, but I had Curry rated a decent amount higher. I am actually okay with Bryan Anger in the third. Punters go in the third or sooner in about 30% of drafts, so it is not as crazy a pick as many are trying to portray. I think Anger is a rare punting prospect and while it was a slight reach, it is not enough to concern me.Calling Gabbert a coward was a little too Skip Bayless for my taste, but no biggie I have gotten accustom to it.

thanks for the feedback, always want to hear your thoughts on our Jags coverage...my problem with the Anger pick is that there has to be a position player that you think can help you more than a guy who basically just improves field position. Jags were very likely still in their top 50 prospects, if not top 40. Hard to see a top 50 position player making less of a theoretical impact than a punter.

 

[identikit]

I think the analysis on Blackmon and Branch was spot on. I like Blackmon as a prospect but can't see any way that you can justify the value at the #5. Branch is okay, but I had Curry rated a decent amount higher.

I am actually okay with Bryan Anger in the third. Punters go in the third or sooner in about 30% of drafts, so it is not as crazy a pick as many are trying to portray. I think Anger is a rare punting prospect and while it was a slight reach, it is not enough to concern me.

Calling Gabbert a coward was a little too Skip Bayless for my taste, but no biggie I have gotten accustom to it.

Sounds unprofessional to me.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I don't have a problem with the Anger pick either. Early selected punters have a pretty historically good success rate, as does the first punter drafted in general. Going all the way back to 1999 of all the punters picked first in each of those drafts, only two aren't still starting in the league.

Meanwhile, what is the historical success rate on 3rd round picks at all other positions? I've got to imagine that it's very low. Heck, a lot of teams are just drafting straight backups or role players at that point. The Ravens picked a backup running back that figures to get very little work in the 3rd this year, is that really more valuable than having a top punter on a team that's going to be punting a lot?

Another thing that comes up with this pick is that it signifies that Jacksonville is "admitting" they are going to be punting a lot. For starters, that's not really true at all as it's not like drafting a punter in the 3rd is unheard of even for decent offenses (there has actually been a punter picked in the 3rd round in 3 of the last 8 drafts). More importantly, even if it were true, who cares? I'm so tired of analysts acting like football players are a bunch of 12 year old girls and constantly harping on the unintended "messages" being sent to them. This is similar to the Teddy Bruschi argument when Bill Bellicheck went for it on 4th and 2 against the Colts a few years back. He said that it was basically the coaches sending the defense a message that they don't think they could get the job done. So what? These are professionals getting paid millions of dollars to do a job. If they're not doing it well, of course their boss should have no problem sending them a message that they're not. The stupid thing would be burying your head in the sand and ignoring a way to mitigate that weakness in favor of protecting the feelings of grown men who are supposed to be among the toughest people in the country.

Perhaps a fun exercise would be for people to look at past 3rd round drafts and see how many of those teams, in retrospect, would have given up that player in favor of a top 5-10 punter. There's no guarantee that Anger will become a top 5-10 guy at his position, but there's probably a much better chance of it than there is that a normal 3rd round pick will even be with the team any more in a few years.

 

[Wadsworth]

I think the analysis on Blackmon and Branch was spot on. I like Blackmon as a prospect but can't see any way that you can justify the value at the #5. Branch is okay, but I had Curry rated a decent amount higher. I am actually okay with Bryan Anger in the third. Punters go in the third or sooner in about 30% of drafts, so it is not as crazy a pick as many are trying to portray. I think Anger is a rare punting prospect and while it was a slight reach, it is not enough to concern me.Calling Gabbert a coward was a little too Skip Bayless for my taste, but no biggie I have gotten accustom to it.

thanks for the feedback, always want to hear your thoughts on our Jags coverage...my problem with the Anger pick is that there has to be a position player that you think can help you more than a guy who basically just improves field position. Jags were very likely still in their top 50 prospects, if not top 40. Hard to see a top 50 position player making less of a theoretical impact than a punter.

I can tell you that there is no way I would have had the stones to make that pick, but Gene Smith has never been timid drafting. Obviously Anger has to at least be a very good punter to even remotely justify the pick. But I think there is reason enough to think he could be very good if not great. Rob Rang among others had a 3rd-4th round grade on him. Daniel Jeremiah ‏ @MoveTheSticks said:"You can argue about the decision to take a punter that early but Anger was the best punter I've ever evaluated." ...and added:On Jax selecting Anger in the 3rd rd… had personnel man text me "in 3 yrs, he will prove to be 1 of 5 best players in that rd"I am not thrilled with the pick, but I do think that Bryan Anger has a shot at being a special punter and suspect that in a year or two it will not seem like such a reach.