Draft Philosophy what are yours?? Armchair GM'S version..

[Sub Zero]

1. Play to the strength of the draft if you can.. 

If the draft is strong in skill position players stock up.. If it is strong in Trench players fix your lines.. Don't be cute looking for diamonds in the ruff in a weak class..

2. If you have top 20 picks in the 1st 2 rounds .. You need to be looking for day 1 contributors or players who can push a incumbent contract off the books in a year.. 

If you didn't make the playoffs the prior season you need to be hunting starters not development projects or High boom or bust candidates in the 1st 2 rounds..Obviously you need some players not projects you missed the playoffs..

3. Play the position value game.. (Caveat) Unless it's a supreme talent at a lower value position.. example (Kuechly), Zeke Elliot, or Quenton Nelson..

1st round I'm always trying to grab high priced positions  QB, LT, pass rushers, and CB. Because I get them on the cheap for 4 to 5 years. IF I can't get the top 5 at any of those positions than I'll look for the best at other positions.. But if I can I'll wait to get a guard, center, MLB, Safety and WR in mid rounds.. And Rb, TE later..

4. Any 1st round pick after 20 I'm hoping for a trade back scenario gaining more picks.. If I can't get quality get quantity.. Self explanatory..

5. Every draft I want to add a CB, interior Olinemen, WR and LB in later rounds or undrafted.. And a RB every 2 years..

These players usually form your Special teams and hopefully develop into starters later in their career..

6. Make a risk pick in the 6th or 7th round.. 

A player who drop because of red flags or injuries or a raw athlete that you can develop or a raw QB talent.. Take a shot on developing something that could turn into a asset.. Instead of a wasting a pick on Mr. Irrelevant..

What are some of your draft beliefs??

 

[Panthers8969]

One thing I will say about this class, and this alignes with your 1st and 2nd points, is that there are a lot of 2nd/3round wrs. I wouldn’t be surprised if a guy we like falls and we nab a wr and then release Torrey after the draft. 

 

Now me personally, I think OL/DL in the first 2 rounds is ideal. This is a great scenario where BPA can mix with need as you said the trenches are certainly a strength of this class. In the 3rd I’m looking at safeties, another position that I don’t believe has a strong first round pool, but strong 2/3rd round prospects. Darnell savage is a guy I love in the third. Think he has great ball instincts and isn’t afraid to come in and hit someone. I think he compares to the honey badger. Both guys seem to make big plays for both teams (ie agressive ball habits can lead to some big plays for the opponents. Atleast I know that happened while the badger was in ARZ I didn’t follow him in HOU as much). Then with our comp pick in the 3rd I’d be eyeing another OL prospect, ideally a LG assuming we went tackle in round 1 or 2

[The Huddler]

B

P

A

[Cpt slay a ho]

I mean you nailed it op, basically how I feel about the draft. Draft according to nfl pay scale, character issueguys draft after round 5, don’t get too cute.

[Dex]

BPA with a splash of need.

[musicman]

BPA, but if a DE is taken in the 1st and when they get to there 2nd rd pick and there's not a OT worth that pick, go else where and hope to get one in the 3rd. Ideally getting an OT and DE in the 1st 2 rounds would start us off nicely.

[JARROD]

12 hours ago, Panthers8969 said:

One thing I will say about this class, and this alignes with your 1st and 2nd points, is that there are a lot of 2nd/3round wrs. I wouldn’t be surprised if a guy we like falls and we nab a wr and then release Torrey after the draft. 

 

Now me personally, I think OL/DL in the first 2 rounds is ideal. This is a great scenario where BPA can mix with need as you said the trenches are certainly a strength of this class. In the 3rd I’m looking at safeties, another position that I don’t believe has a strong first round pool, but strong 2/3rd round prospects. Darnell savage is a guy I love in the third. Think he has great ball instincts and isn’t afraid to come in and hit someone. I think he compares to the honey badger. Both guys seem to make big plays for both teams (ie agressive ball habits can lead to some big plays for the opponents. Atleast I know that happened while the badger was in ARZ I didn’t follow him in HOU as much). Then with our comp pick in the 3rd I’d be eyeing another OL prospect, ideally a LG assuming we went tackle in round 1 or 2

grabbing a Parris Campbell or Riley Ridley would be awesome.

[Captain Morgan]

I know BPA, but in the mid rounds I'm looking at our future cap situation.  Seeing how much FA WRs were getting last off season was amazing.

But I'm talking the right value in the mid round, not what Gettleman did using a first on Butler as an insurance policy we couldn't sign Short, and a similar situation with Shaq.

You want to know why our 15 and 1 team still hasn't won back to back seasons?  We blew 2 1st round picks on players who sat on the bench instead of contributing.

[electro's horse]

after the third round just draft the biggest, fastest, strongest, blackest motherfugers you can find

teach them a position later

[electro's horse]

also we should sign east european weightlifters as project players.

 

[TheSpecialJuan]

DP

[rayzor]

12 hours ago, Dex said:

BPA with a splash of need.

Same here. Rankings need to be situation specific. They have to fit what we do or are trying to do and they have to bring a needed element to the team to help reach goals.

2 questions that need to be asked. "What does this guy bring to the table than can help those team win?" And "is there someone else who can make a bigger impact on the team? "

 

[panther4life]

Good thread and I agree with you on some accounts so my ideas will overlap yours a bit.

1. Try to use free agency to not leave a gaping hole at important positions. Gettleman failed at this a couple times and it came back to bite him. Especially in the year when he tried to replace Norman and Tillman with rookies. 

2. BPA is important, but use common sense. In the first couple rounds you should focus on players who can come in and compete day 1 for a starting position. I’m going to pile on Gettleman here again. He already KK short, Star Lotulelei, Kyle Love and the recently signed Paul Soliai but yet he drafted Vernon Butler to ride the pine with his first pick. 

3.  I’ve always thought this but now In the era of the 5th year option I think it adds even more importance to this line of thinking.Show priority to the most expensive positions to obtain or retain in free agency. This should be weighted and possibly even a tie breaker in the decision making. For instance if you have a safety and pass rusher rated fairly similarly, then take the pass rusher.

4. Make sure you’re head coach is on board. No point in taking a player that the head coach is not a fan of unless you’re certain you can get him to see the light. If you’re taking someone you love but the coach doesn’t, odds are it will backfire.

5. Don’t take a risk on players with character concerns or ones who love weed more than they love the prospect of making millions to leave it alone while they play the game. Pass on players who have shown a history of being a distraction in the locker room and don’t show a team attitude.

6. Favor players who have a chip on their shoulder or feel like they have something to prove and they exhibit healthy ways of channeling it, such as being a workout warrior, or constantly striving to be better by constantly putting in extra reps after practice or on their own time.

7. Be okay with trading later round picks for proven veterans that can fill a hole on you’re team. I’d say as early as the 3rd round is a good time to consider pick for player trades, if you can get a good player on a reasonable contract.

8. After first 3 rounds, BPA no matter what, with only exception being current depth won’t give them a shot at making the roster. These players aren’t likely to start day anytime soon anyway, so best to go ahead and just grab the best football players in general and hope they can contribute in the future.

[JARROD]

You rank your positions of need and then rank your BPA and then draft away. If you have a need and want your BPA then you need to jump up or drop back when possible to draft your need AS the BPA.

simple but not simple.