1. Mario Williams ... B+
2. Demeco Ryans ... A+
3. Charles Spencer ... A-
4. Eric Winston ... B
5. Owen Daniels ... A
6. Wali Lundy ... B-
7. David Anderson ... C+
the tripwire here is adding up the grades as opposed to noting how many great contributors we have. i have 6 players grading out at atleast a B ... how many teams and in how many drafts can that be said? think about it. dont add them up, compare the combined effort to other drafts and you'll see why we got an A for an overall grade.
1. mario made his impact, however it was more in the running game than as a pass rusher. despite that, he's an inspiration for the defense. if you doubt that, you obviously missed mario's big plays and how impossibly amped up the defense got rallying around him. mario was credited with 4.5 sacks across a 5 game stretch ... YES he has potential as a pass rusher. he played through injury and was in the backfield more often than not. as a player with such a low base mentally and technically to come out his first year and perform so well he should excite anyone who enjoys defensive football. mario didnt show potential, he showed promise. he also showed hustle ... two plays immediately come to mind. i dont remember the exact play, but it was mario chasing down a wide receiver after a 15 yard play. the second everyone will remember because mario williams saved the win against the dolphins by staying with the play and tipping a pass to end the game when miami went for a game tying 2pt conversion (with 2 wide open receivers in the ball's path).
2. demeco, DROY. extra credit to the entire draft from this pick alone.
3. charles spencer ... earned the job of starting left tackle before his rookie campaign even started. he only got to play 2 games but showed unheard of domination when he was on. technique, timing, and footwork need improving but athleticism and his incomperable upper body give him a solid grade. spencer WILL have the best hands of any offensive lineman if he returns. his fluke injury doesnt change his draft being a great move for me, however i'll knock off a couple of points since we didnt and might not ever get a chance to see his full body of work.
4. eric winston was more of a project but became a starter and made the most of it. inconsistant and lacks pure skill but showed great improvement and might have actually earned a legit starter position. winston's a rookie 3rd round right tackle (out of position) ... with those stipulations he played better than any other rookie lineman i can think of this year.
5. owen daniels ... was one of the top TE's in the league for much of the season and the best rookie TE. seeing it was an impossibly talented TE draft, to grab this performance in the fourth round (with 8 TE's selected ahead of him) should automatically be an A+ but i'm knocking it down half a point since his blocking leaves plenty to be improved upon and simply because carr didnt find him often enough.
6. wali lundy is a 6th rounder. that means he's rarely expected to make the team, much less start games. he did both and had strong numbers for a 3rd rounder, and i graded accordingly. of course he didnt rush for 1500 yards ... he wasnt expected to and neither did any other rookie RB. 680 yards from scrimmage and 4 touchdowns ... great performance from this selection.
7. david anderson is graded simply for contributing but i'm going to add more (i might even give anderson an A if anyone can tell me how many 7th rounders made the 53man roster during the season). he looked solid on kick returns IMO and should improve. he made the team and even made the active roster for half of the season. now i'm going to say something wholly wrong ... he reminded me of vince young. anderson got only one catch this year but ran a few routes and when he did he stood out to me ... he seemed bigger than anyone on the field when lined up as a WR ("it" factor?) and struck me as "give the ball to that guy". whether or not he turns into anything is doubtful, but i fully believe the kid has potential. completely gut feeling so nothing substantial to go on, but i'm putting it here anyways.
