The person who picked for St. Louis chose Sam Bradford #1, so Suh fell just perfectly for the #2 pick.

We have been pulling for suh and berry for months and a few Mccoy supporters. Don’t feel bad even us fans take shots at the teams office its VERY hard not to. I hears William clay and Al davis have a agreement that the last one alive gets control of both teams.

And a good pick…good work.

DOn’t see too many posts with pics and vids…its was nice to see that. and congrats to you and your team…you guys deserved it more than any other city

huge drew brees fan

There’s been a lot of talk about “where you draft ____position, and where you don’t.”

So let’s get this straight………

1. Some NFL owners (Al Davis, etc.) and GM’s (Matt Millen, etc.) are idiots and make bad draft picks?

2. Players from ALL positions have flopped as high picks in the past? Drafting a certain position over another in the top 3 does not guarantee a “sure thing”?

3. Schwartz said he wants to draft the PLAYER, not the POSITION?

"When talk about that slot and how much money it’s going to take, it’s a different animal,‘’ Schwartz said. "I’ve said before, we want to make sure we get the right person there, not necessarily lock into a particular position. The mistakes I’ve seen made in the NFL are ‘Hey, we have to draft a running back here,’ Or ‘We have to draft an offensive line or a quarterback.’ I think a better philosophy is to let your hand play out. Try to get the right player, not necessarily the right position.’’

4. Historically, very few safeties AND very few DT’s have been drafted in the top 3?

This reminds me of something I read about former Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane and his “moneyball” concept. Some have the mistaken impression that it was all about slow power hitters who could draw walks. According to Beane, what it actually was about was drafting and signing things that were undervalued in the market. Baseball, like football, evolves, which means some coaches/GM’s will be innovators who are ahead of the curve, and some will be stupid, stubborn, resistant to change, live in denial, spout cliches about picks and shovels and trenches, and lag behind the curve.

So it is with the NFL. The NFL has increasingly become more of a passing league, with rule changes to protect QB’s and receivers, more Martz-style 4-wide sets, faster TE’s, etc. To counter this, some innovators like Jim Schwartz, Dick LeBeau, and Tony Dungy have incorporated faster safeties with man cover skills into their defenses, guys like Louis Delmas, Chris Hope & Michael Griffin, Troy Polamalu, and Bob Sanders. These guys have been to Pro Bowls and have often been dominant on defense. The value of Polamalu and Sanders in particular has been noticable in the play of their defenses when they are absent. Yet some are still in denial about the change in the influence of safeties…….attributing it to other players, sunspots, phases of the moon, and maybe the Mayans. But the play of elite safeties is obvious when they’re on the field, and the difference in play by their replacements is just as obvious. It’s not the “other players”……..it’s not the Mayans, either. It’s like trying to deny that many TE’s are now faster. The offenses evolve, and defenses evolve to counter those new tricks. It’s been going on as long as the NFL has been in existence.

How this relates to moneyball is that even though the intrinsic value of elite safeties has increased due to the changes in the game, some stupid GM’s (remember, they do exist…..we should know) still refuse to draft safeties high. Safeties are currently undervalued in the draft relative to their influence on the game. Old dinosaur GM’s still think they can get a “good enough” safety later, and don’t realize the value of an elite safety in today’s ever-changing game.

The final irony is that historically, DT’s have ALSO rarely been drafted in the top 3, yet I keep hearing the argument that “you can’t draft a safety that high”……….but I don’t hear the argument that “you can’t draft a DT that high”. It’s hypocrisy, pure and simple.

Luckily, Schwartz doesn’t care about any of that. He drafts the player, not the position.

that was a great post and great pick on CSC