Draft behind the scenes

Yep, saw this Supa.  It definitely felt like Kwesi, O'Connell, and the rest of the front office folks were all in on trading with Detroit to get a pick cluster in that range they liked.  Sounds like they felt the talent was deep there at positions they were targeting.

This made me feel better about how things went down, but Kwesi is a smart guy and I think he'll look back and realize he should have gotten more from Detroit.  Even if Cine, Booth, and company pan out.

@"Wetlander" said: Yep, saw this Supa.  It definitely felt like Kwesi, O'Connell, and the rest of the front office folks were all in on trading with Detroit to get a pick cluster in that range they liked.  Sounds like they felt the talent was deep there at positions they were targeting.

This made me feel better about how things went down, but Kwesi is a smart guy and I think he'll look back and realize he should have gotten more from Detroit.  Even if Cine, Booth, and company pan out.

@"supafreak84" said:

@"Wetlander" said: Yep, saw this Supa.  It definitely felt like Kwesi, O'Connell, and the rest of the front office folks were all in on trading with Detroit to get a pick cluster in that range they liked.  Sounds like they felt the talent was deep there at positions they were targeting.

This made me feel better about how things went down, but Kwesi is a smart guy and I think he'll look back and realize he should have gotten more from Detroit.  Even if Cine, Booth, and company pan out.

It's interesting that almost universaly this was thought of as not a very deep draft with about 15 blue chippers who carried a legit 1st round grade, yet Kwesi's "dream scenario" was to trade down and accumulate more picks in that second to third round range. We'll see how many serious contributors we get out of this draft but I thought the smart money was to take the blue chipper who fell in your lap, and use your later picks to maneuver around to add depth if they wanted. 

I find it interesting the way coach O’Connell and Kwesi collaborate and discuss the
players during the draft.  I don’t recall
ever seen Spelly and Zim working together so closely.  It almost seemed like it was RS’s job to get
Zim some players he could coach.   I truly believe Kwesi wants input from everyone
around him to help build this team.   I
really think KOC and Kwesi worked this draft very closely together and our
coach was on board and had input with each pick.  I’m not so sure that happened as much when
Spelly was running the draft.

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"Wetlander" said: Yep, saw this Supa.  It definitely felt like Kwesi, O'Connell, and the rest of the front office folks were all in on trading with Detroit to get a pick cluster in that range they liked.  Sounds like they felt the talent was deep there at positions they were targeting.

This made me feel better about how things went down, but Kwesi is a smart guy and I think he'll look back and realize he should have gotten more from Detroit.  Even if Cine, Booth, and company pan out.

It's interesting that almost universaly this was thought of as not a very deep draft with about 15 blue chippers who carried a legit 1st round grade, yet Kwesi's "dream scenario" was to trade down and accumulate more picks in that second to third round range. We'll see how many serious contributors we get out of this draft but I thought the smart money was to take the blue chipper who fell in your lap, and use your later picks to maneuver around to add depth if they wanted. 

I think Kwesi decided well before the draft that they were going to try to move outside of that blue chip talent for more draft capital. This was not some out of the blue idea either, since many of us mocked up similar trades down. 

The calculation is that while there might be 15 blue chippers in the draft, once you get past them, the vein of talent remains strong through 80.

We'll see if they made the right decision or not (I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that Cine end up better than Hamilton), but I still think we should've held out for the '23 1st rounder. The LIONS 1st rounder, too. Man that's gonna burn for a while. 

@"HappyViking" said: I find it interesting the way coach O’Connell and Kwesi collaborate and discuss the players during the draft.  I don’t recall ever seen Spelly and Zim working together so closely.  It almost seemed like it was RS’s job to get Zim some players he could coach.   I truly believe Kwesi wants input from everyone around him to help build this team.   I really think KOC and Kwesi worked this draft very closely together and our coach was on board and had input with each pick.  I’m not so sure that happened as much when Spelly was running the draft.

KAM will learn. He is smart and he is getting experience. I do like how he is working with KOC. It is a good change. I know there are going to continue to be bumps along the way but it is better seeing something different. It is also going to take time for the full impact to show.

I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

@"1VikesFan" said: I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

@"1VikesFan" said: I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

@"jargomcfargo" said:

@"1VikesFan" said: I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

It's pretty obvious KAM doesn't use the traditional draft value charts. I think he may have been able to get more for the trade, but he got the extra pick in the range he wanted, and improved the team. We won't know until they play. But I'm on board with the changes I have seen so far. The old ways didn't get a lot of success. Time for a new approach.

@"supafreak84" said:

@"jargomcfargo" said:

@"1VikesFan" said: I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

It's pretty obvious KAM doesn't use the traditional draft value charts. I think he may have been able to get more for the trade, but he got the extra pick in the range he wanted, and improved the team. We won't know until they play. But I'm on board with the changes I have seen so far. The old ways didn't get a lot of success. Time for a new approach.

Well we don't know that we improved the team yet. I'm not a believer in quantity being more beneficial then quality, and I suspect we are going to get more of the same from Kwesi as the years go on. It's hard, and takes luck to hit on players the later the rounds go on. We'll see if he's got all the answers like he thinks he does 

Davis, Hamilton one of the remaining wide-outs? Could very well have helped the team as much or more than what they got trading down.

Time will tell

What these guys haven't earned from me yet, is the trust to make the call of getting a good player on the board now (or a very good one who meets a need) vs trading down.

@"supafreak84" said: I found it interesting seeing OConnell explaining the trades to the Wilfs...who looked absolutely befuddled..

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"jargomcfargo" said:

@"1VikesFan" said: I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

It's pretty obvious KAM doesn't use the traditional draft value charts. I think he may have been able to get more for the trade, but he got the extra pick in the range he wanted, and improved the team. We won't know until they play. But I'm on board with the changes I have seen so far. The old ways didn't get a lot of success. Time for a new approach.

Well we don't know that we improved the team yet. I'm not a believer in quantity being more beneficial then quality, and I suspect we are going to get more of the same from Kwesi as the years go on. It's hard, and takes luck to hit on players the later the rounds go on. We'll see if he's got all the answers like he thinks he does 

In a crap shoot the more rolls of the dice you have the better. Spielman believed it. Kwesi obviously believes it. Because that's what the data tells you. Doesn't always work out, obviously, but over time it's a good strategy.

@"supafreak84" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"jargomcfargo" said:

@"1VikesFan" said: I am impressed with KAM & KOC so far. They had a draft plan and stuck to it. I know a lot of people here hated the Kitties trade, personally I will wait to see how it and the rest of the draft pan out. 

It's pretty obvious KAM doesn't use the traditional draft value charts. I think he may have been able to get more for the trade, but he got the extra pick in the range he wanted, and improved the team. We won't know until they play. But I'm on board with the changes I have seen so far. The old ways didn't get a lot of success. Time for a new approach.

Well we don't know that we improved the team yet. I'm not a believer in quantity being more beneficial then quality, and I suspect we are going to get more of the same from Kwesi as the years go on. It's hard, and takes luck to hit on players the later the rounds go on. We'll see if he's got all the answers like he thinks he does 

In a crap shoot the more rolls of the dice you have the better. Spielman believed it. Kwesi obviously believes it. Because that's what the data tells you. Doesn't always work out, obviously, but over time it's a good strategy.

Yeah but it's tier'd and as the talent pool dwindles over the course of the draft, your chances of hitting on a Pro Bowl level player also dwindles as you reach the mid to later rounds. Yes it's a crap shoot all together, that goes without saying, but having more rolls of the dice really doesn't mean shit. We had four, that's right four, 3rd round picks last year and none of them played a down for us. Spielmans desire to add picks was based on his philosophy that instead of competing for undrafted free agents after the draft, he'd rather just have the extra picks to draft the guys he wanted. As one GM put it, at one point Kwesi looked like he was trading just to trade without any real rhyme or reason to anything he was doing. 

@"purplefaithful" said: Davis, Hamilton one of the remaining wide-outs? Could very well have helped the team as much or more than what they got trading down.

Time will tell

What these guys haven't earned from me yet, is the trust to make the call of getting a good player on the board now (or a very good one who meets a need) vs trading down.

Hamilton and Davis were not great picks at 12. Williams may be the next Desean Jackson, but he is a stick that looks like would snap with some pressure applied. 

Ingram is the pick that worries me, but we have to keep Kirk ckean or we become mediocre in O 

@"Bullazin" said: Hamilton and Davis were not great picks at 12. Williams may be the next Desean Jackson, but he is a stick that looks like would snap with some pressure applied. 

Ingram is the pick that worries me, but we have to keep Kirk ckean or we become mediocre in O 

Very interesting watch.  All this new access is fascinating.  Kwesi's approach is making this more entertaining for fans which frankly is why we're here.