polamalubeast
05-10-2019, 07:41 PM
Ready or not, here it comes:
• We begin today with something that belongs on the list of Top 10 Colossal Wastes of Time, Sports Division – that being grading a team’s draft class before any of the players who were picked have been fitted for a helmet.
• Grading a draft class hours after the selections have been completed is a colossal waste of time for those who choose to read it, just as it is a colossal waste of time for those attempting to write it. In fact, it’s such a waste of time and such a meaningless exercise that USA Today’s Nate Davis began his version with the following disclaimer:
• “PSA – this is a largely pointless drill, and a legitimate report card can’t be fairly issued until 2022. But I’ll play along and submit my annual, way-too-early, impromptu evaluations before all of these players have even set foot onto a pro practice field …”
• And just as an exclamation point in my ongoing crusade to shine a light on the practice of immediately slapping a grade on a team’s draft class as a fool’s errand most often attempted by fools, I offer the following passage that appeared in the Jan. 30, 1974 editions of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As a final bit of context, Jan. 29, 1974 was the date the NFL conducted the first five rounds of the 17-round 1974 NFL Draft.
• “The Steelers seem to have come out of the first five rounds of the draft appreciably strengthened at wide receiver but nowhere else. They didn’t get a tight end, and the ones remaining are more suspect than prospect. They didn’t get a punter, although none of the nation’s best collegiate punters went in the first five rounds. They didn’t get an offensive tackle who might’ve shored up what could well become a weakness. What they did get was Swann, who seems to be a sure-pop to help; Lambert, who figures to be the No. 5 linebacker if he pans out; and three question marks.”
• The author of that drivel will remain anonymous, or at least won’t be outed by me in this space, but recapping the Steelers’ haul over the first five rounds of the 1974 NFL Draft: Lynn Swann in the first round; Jack Lambert in the second round; no pick in the third round because of a 1973 trade with Oakland for veteran defensive tackle Tom Keating; John Stallworth with their first of two picks in the fourth round; Jimmy Allen with their second of two picks in the fourth round; and Mike Webster in the fifth round.
• Five players. Four members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eighteen combined Super Bowl rings. No tight ends or punters, though.
read more
https://www.steelers.com/news/labriola-on-instant-draft-grades-remaking-the-lbs
Lambert, who figures to be the No. 5 linebacker if he pans out.....:rofl2:
• We begin today with something that belongs on the list of Top 10 Colossal Wastes of Time, Sports Division – that being grading a team’s draft class before any of the players who were picked have been fitted for a helmet.
• Grading a draft class hours after the selections have been completed is a colossal waste of time for those who choose to read it, just as it is a colossal waste of time for those attempting to write it. In fact, it’s such a waste of time and such a meaningless exercise that USA Today’s Nate Davis began his version with the following disclaimer:
• “PSA – this is a largely pointless drill, and a legitimate report card can’t be fairly issued until 2022. But I’ll play along and submit my annual, way-too-early, impromptu evaluations before all of these players have even set foot onto a pro practice field …”
• And just as an exclamation point in my ongoing crusade to shine a light on the practice of immediately slapping a grade on a team’s draft class as a fool’s errand most often attempted by fools, I offer the following passage that appeared in the Jan. 30, 1974 editions of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As a final bit of context, Jan. 29, 1974 was the date the NFL conducted the first five rounds of the 17-round 1974 NFL Draft.
• “The Steelers seem to have come out of the first five rounds of the draft appreciably strengthened at wide receiver but nowhere else. They didn’t get a tight end, and the ones remaining are more suspect than prospect. They didn’t get a punter, although none of the nation’s best collegiate punters went in the first five rounds. They didn’t get an offensive tackle who might’ve shored up what could well become a weakness. What they did get was Swann, who seems to be a sure-pop to help; Lambert, who figures to be the No. 5 linebacker if he pans out; and three question marks.”
• The author of that drivel will remain anonymous, or at least won’t be outed by me in this space, but recapping the Steelers’ haul over the first five rounds of the 1974 NFL Draft: Lynn Swann in the first round; Jack Lambert in the second round; no pick in the third round because of a 1973 trade with Oakland for veteran defensive tackle Tom Keating; John Stallworth with their first of two picks in the fourth round; Jimmy Allen with their second of two picks in the fourth round; and Mike Webster in the fifth round.
• Five players. Four members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Eighteen combined Super Bowl rings. No tight ends or punters, though.
read more
https://www.steelers.com/news/labriola-on-instant-draft-grades-remaking-the-lbs
Lambert, who figures to be the No. 5 linebacker if he pans out.....:rofl2: