One of the weakest arguments. What difference does it make what round any player was picked at after the draft is over? At this point it is now all about performance. We can name plenty of 1st round RBs who failed and we can name plenty of lower round/UDFA RBs who had very good or better careers. I guess if you wanted a weaker argument we could compare 40 times or cuteness, but there isn't much to this kind of position.
I don't think anyone is projecting that Freeman is going to the Pro Bowl this year. But he by all accounts has performed well so far in OTAs - and yes, that is tees and shorts work only, but it is information about playing as a pro and it is positive news - which means he'll likely get a look at some opportunity that he wouldn't have otherwise. And to deny SJax's incrementally diminished performance given his age and career workload to date and age seems really odd, especially when one acknowledges that his performance last year, which was awful, was due at least in part to injury. Do you think by being another year past 30 and with that many more touches on his resume that he'll be less susceptible to injury and will be more explosive and quicker? And I am a huge admirer of SJax's body of work - huge.
Further, what does Stacy have to do with any of this discussion? Is ATL looking at trading for him? Different RB on a different team that has no bearing on division of work in ATL this coming season.
ATL by all accounts wants someone to step up and take on some of Jackson's burden, especially if they feel they are a playoff team since they'll want him available then the most. Rodgers has had multiple chances to be the guy and has not performed adequately as a pro RB - and I am a Rodgers owner who is contemplating cutting him. That means there is a void for Freeman to step into. The opportunity is there, and given SJax's point in his career, the opportunity could be large.
At this point being picked in the 4th round means nothing. Seeing how Freeman adapts to the NFL once pads go on and then whether he can fill that void is everything. But the opportunity is there, and that makes Freeman very attractive.
I doubt you deny the draft as a barometer of football talent, albeit imperfectly. Draft status tells how the NFL has evaluated said player. Anecdotes aside, it is easily the most accurate predictor of professional success. Once said player actually plays though, draft status goes out the window. Before a player actually plays games, the draft really is the best thing we've got.
Additionally, draft status shows how teams value their current crop, although the messages don't always have clarity. You have the opinion Freeman indicts Steven Jackson, while I disagree. Atlanta waited till the 4th round to select a running back, which to me doesn't signal urgency. Most likely the Falcons want Freeman to replace Snelling as purely Jackson's back-up. I highly doubt this even ends up as a co-op. Snelling earned 11 carries in games Jackson played; Rodgers got 55. Do you think Freeman is better than either Rodgers or Snelling? Not me, at least not significantly. Nothing about this situation signals a change of the team's single back philosophy, which goes back to the days of Turner.
So FF owners are smart enough to understand value, but NFL management teams have no clue? That's your position?
Unless you saw the ATL scouting reports and draft board, you have no idea what value they put on Freeman. So supposing by using draft slot is inaccurate.
A FF owner who may think Tony Romo is going to have a top 5 QB year but doesn't draft him in the 1st round because of the value QBs have and his perceived value by other FF owners - so he waits and drafts him in the 6th round and uses earlier draft picks on players with higher value because it makes for a more capable and competitive team.
Do you honestly think that NFL teams don't make the same kinds of assessments - only with much more data and collective knowledge and experience along with investigation? You have no idea what value ATL actually put on Freeman, nor do I. To think that their drafting him in the 4th round only makes him a peripheral piece is a leap that I'm guessing you don't have near enough facts to support.
I do. At least potentially. Assuming he picks up the mental aspects and blocks well enough, I have no doubt that Freeman has more talent than the others.
