Vinny's Draft Strategy: Best Player or Predetermined Agenda?

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

It pretty clear to me that in the higher rounds (1-2), we draft BPA period. While we are mindful of needs, we absoultely will not REACH more than a slot or two to take a player just because he fills a need. We may try to trade up or down to fill a need with a player "at the right slot," but if we were unable to do so, we would take the BPA that doesnt fit a need as opposed to "reaching" and taking a player 10 spots too early, just to fill a need. Consider two examples:

Example 1: 2008 Draft. Last year, whoever we had as the best available on our board when we when our 1st round pick came up, was probably someone that didnt fill a position of need. the Best available players that did fit needs were not worth taking at our natural position. So, we tried like hell to trade down - and we succeeded. Unfortunately (depending on your POV), according to vinny, after each spot we got after we traded down, another team selected the player we wanted right before us (probably , Merling, Laws, and Campbell). Thus, we ended up filling one need (WR Devin Thomas) and taking two players we really didnt need at that point (Fred Davis and Malcom Kelly) because they were far and away the best players on our board.

Example 2: 2009 Draft. This year, it was our goal to take the BPA and fill a (perceived) need - QB - and to do this, we tried like hell to trade up but it just didnt work out. At that point, we moved to plan B - fill a need with one of the top 5 players on our board - and to do this, we also tried to trade up. Fortunately, Orakpo fell to us. If he hadnt, we would have tried to trade down. If we were unsuccessful, we probably would have drafted Cushing - I don't think we would have REACHED for Oher - while us fans and the majority of mocks seemed to have him valued very high, the sentiment was obviously not shared by about 2/3 of NFL teams.

So thats how we handle the 1st and 2nd rounds in the draft. Once we get to the lower rounds, i think we would tend to be more balanced with taking BPA with need. While we wont reach more than a spot or two in the 1st round, we may reach a 10-15 spots (according to our board) to fill a need. In the lower rounds, talent level becomes so similar (i.e. the difference in talent between a 1st and 2nd rounder is MUCH more dramatic than the difference between a 3rd and a 7th)

good summary