Imagine you are the general manager of the then-Oakland Raiders in 2007. You are on the clock with the first overall pick and the consensus number one and supposedly generational talent is at your disposal, waiting to be selected. Surely you make the best pick of the last decade and get the next Hall of Fame quarterback, right? Nope, Jamarcus Russell, the biggest draft bust in the history of the NFL and maybe all sports is selected and then is out of the league in 3 years. The hope, optimism, and A+ draft grades suddenly have zero value.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know what I want you to get out of reading this article. The point is though, drafting is extremely difficult. Although I am referring to the NFL because this is a page about football, it really applies to all sports. For now, we’ll save that for another time and focus on the art of drafting through the lens of the NFL like I usually do.
There is a year worth of preparation every year to discover the most talented, hard-working, and right minded players to fit an organization. Many teams have different evaluation processes that they go through and different needs even though those needs may not be seen by the public eye. Teams know much more than the media and fans do. Sometimes that benefits these teams and sometimes that backfires and the media has a field day in criticizing these organizations and glorifying the fact of how correct they were. After all, no one is perfect and teams do make mistakes.
Two instances that come to mind - one of them be the team reached on a player and screwed up, and the other one being the team reached on a player and it ended up being one of the best moves this organization had ever made - is when the Texans selected JJ Watt 11th overall in the 2011 draft and when the Eagles selected Jalen Reagor 21st in the 2020 draft. When Watt was selected, the entirety of the Houston Texans fan base booed and was not thrilled to say the least. JJ Watt ended up becoming a 3-time defensive player of the year, making a huge impact in the community, and is without question the greatest player in franchise history. On the other hand, Jalen Reagor was selected only 3 years ago with high expectations. Of course the media, and myself, disliked this pick over arguably the best receiver in the NFL now Justin Jefferson who has been breaking records constantly throughout his young career. At the time though, regardless if people admit it or not, it was justifiable. Ironically, Jalen Reagor got traded to the Minnesota Vikings for almost no value and is now teammates with Jefferson. Both picks were already labeled as terrible picks, one panned out and the other didn’t.
You never know what you are getting out of a player especially if you are from the outside looking in. Presumed busts can turn into success stories and generational talents can turn into busts. It is nearly impossible to predict what will happen. That is why the job of a scout is one of the hardest jobs in sports. They spend their nights finding talent and diving deeper than we can comprehend into these players just for a very small portion of these players to still be on rosters in a couple of years.
Just this past draft the Lions were criticized for their unorthodox selections and reaching on certain players. In a year from now that group of players can be regarded as the top draft class of the 2023 draft. I’m not saying they will, but there is a chance. Teams draft towards THEIR needs and who fits THEIR team and culture. That is why it is extremely difficult to judge which team picked who because it may be the right fit for that team. There is rarely a consensus within teams on who is the best player at a given pick. I can guarantee that there is no draft board alike in each team's war room and that they each believe they had one of the best drafts from that draft out of any team year in and year out.
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