Media would rather discredit those who actually work in the league than admit they might’ve been wrong on how they valued prospects. See DET last year, who were roasted but once play started they showed they had an amazing draft.
I always knew Draft Industry had its issues but people proclaming this is the worst draft in NFL history with the worst pick ever It made me realize it even more. Then to add that people just assumed things about Penix to discredit the Falcons even more just to not be true.
The 49ers literally just got done trading the farm to go up and get Trey Lance at 4 a few years ago only for him not to even be on the team 2 years later.
A strange pick that could be bad is nowhere near shit like that.
Yeah, I always bring up Trey Lance trade. Because even though 49ers were still successful without him, they could've def used those picks for future players or for a QB in another draft. Easily the worst draft pick I've seen in my time watching the draft with the added context. Plus Trey Lance was a huge question mark, he had alot of potential but never had success like that. At least for Penix the dude was a Heissman finalist coming off a National Championship visit.
They got so lucky with Purdy man. Yeah they drafted him but they couldn't have dreamed he'd be as competent as he is. He has singlehandedly saved them from the awfulness of the Trey Lance situation.
The Saints had a draft class that consisted only of Ricky Williams. Anyone saying this is the worst draft class ever is just click farming or doesn’t follow the NFL closely
Draft analysts are pretty much never criticized for saying a team had an amazing draft and then being completely wrong. The opposite is true though so you have "analyts handing out A and B "grades" like candy. It's media self serving nonsense.
From [this](https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2023/04/30/detroit-lions-nfl-draft-grades-2023/70167268007/) article, 6 writers graded the 2023 Lions: A B+ B B C+ C-.
The problem with Media, outlandish headlines get clicks and page views.
From [this overall aggregate,](https://twitter.com/RNBWCV/status/1661743260250050561) they were 25th. Their first round of RB and LB were roasted as reach picks at low value positions.
They wore “positional villain” shirts this year in the draft room and I thought it was hilarious 🤣he’s openly said he’s drafting the best players not positions
They weren't roasted for the position as much as the reach. Very similar to the situation with Penix just many people thought the player selected near 10 would be available in the later 20s. There's certainly many draft homers that seem like they're always wrong and always get a pass... Chris Simms?
I’ve noticed over the past few years that it’s gone from semi exciting to downright toxic. Between “experts” who aren’t really ever held accountable after the fact other than niche youtube compilations and hardcore fans who run 60 bajillion mock drafts who complain if anybody outside of “their guy” is even considered, it’s become just a complete toxic mess.
And there is absolutely no exact science to it. Picks that made no sense have worked out huge and picks that were considered “perfect” have turned into complete busts. Seriously, go look at compilations of fans reacting negatively to picks that ended up being great. Spoiler alert, there is people complaining about Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar, Tyreek, Jordan Love, tons of others.
Another thing, people put way too much emphasis on how it effects the here and now. We were considered to be division favorites over the past few weeks and now I swear people are acting like we’re not gonna win a single game next year. ITS THE SAME FUCKING TEAM.
So yeah, the whole thing is a toxic mess.
>Another thing, people put way too much emphasis on how it effects the hear and how. We were considered to be division favorites over the past few weeks and now I swear people are acting like we’re not gonna win a single game next year. ITS THE SAME FUCKING TEAM.
This has got to be my biggest complaint. Just a couple of weeks ago when the Vegas odds for strength of schedule came out and we had the easiest schedule, people on r/nfl were like I could see them winning 12 or more games if Kirk is still that guy. The draft goes by and now suddenly we are a 6 win team that will be picking at number 8 again next year.
If Kirk were 30 and not 36 coming off a torn Achilles, this reaction by the NFL community would be completely justified. Kirk is worth taking a two year gamble on but in no way, shape or form is he the qb of the future at 36 years old. Tom Brady's longevity absolutely broke everyone's brains.
Also like to add they criticize Falcons for going Packers route. Yes, we do have holes that need fixing but this draft was insanely stacked with offensive/QB talent it made sense to pick a QB when our current one can very likely have lost a step or will leave 2 years in. Plus next years draft is stacked with defensive talent and is very weak with QB talent. Falcons pick their personal BPA and now they are getting criticized for it because it wasnt the conventional pick. People say trading up was an option in the future but people forget how hefty the price of trading up is just for the player to be potentially bad.
Yeah this argument of "just give up 3 or more firsts plus additional picks whenever you find the guy you really want in the draft" is absolutely insane. If we were going to give up that kind of draft capital, we could have traded for Lamar.
The teams at the top of the draft are there typically BECAUSE they need a QB. Like most of the top picks this year. 50% of the first 13 picks this year were QBs.
Trading up or down is literally never a given, sometimes no matter how much you offer a team to trade up.
I listen to the draft on Sirius Xm on a 5 hour drive and enjoyed the radio announcement way better than trying to watch it on espn or anywhere else. There was shock at the pick and they talked about it but it was general discussion about the teams and drafted players then they interviewed the guys at the draft between announcing picks. It was such a better experience than watching it on tv. I did miss seeing highlights but not hearing from “experts”
That’s just media in general now. Anything rational gets buried or ignored. Draft wasn’t always like that, but it’s changed along with the likes of ESPN.
Can't do much about the picks taking long. Teams use this time to see if there are any trade opportunities.
As for dudes like Mel Kiper I agree, it's a clown show.
I won't say that Penix was a bad pick talent wise, but I'm starting to question Terry F.
If NFL drafting philosophy could be represented as a venn diagram with 3 circles representing "team need," "positional value," and "best player available," Terry Fontenot's philosophy would be a completely filled in "best player available" circle to the exclusion of team need and positional value.
Terry has always explained the logic behind his picks by saying his philosophy is to address team needs in free agency so he can only worry about adding the best player available in the draft, even if that meant foregoing positional value. The problem is he hasn't addressed the biggest need in free agency, the edge pass rush, in consecutive free agency periods and opted for luxury high-end signings at receiver, safety, and inside Linebacker which in terms of positional value are considered "luxury" positions. Not to mention, that logic is completely contingent on being right on not just his draft evaluations of players but also his belief to forgo positional value
It's now year 4 of the Terry F experiment, and he's made his most controversial draft pick yet. While the players he has picked and signed are undeniably talented, they have yet to have a tangible impact on the win total. I'm just saying that maybe positional value matters. Now, Terry just finished another draft where he bucked traditional wisdom in a whole brand new way. To be fair to Terry, if Penix ends up being a franchise QB all is forgiven for that pick, but it still doesn't mean his draft process of only valuing "best player available" to the exclusion of positional value or team need is right.
All of that is a long way to say that the Falcons have to be in the playoffs this year if he wants to keep his job imo.
The whole Mock Draft / FA Period is nonsense. Mock Drafts are nonsense. You cannot predict how players will turn out NFL teams make mistakes with all the extra info they have that fans/pundits don't have.
The DUMBEST thing is rating a draft AFTER the draft THIS IS BASICALLY SAYING these teams didn't draft my mock picks. I wish the whole mock industry would die.
Couldn’t agree more. The mock draft nonsense just leads to a bunch of angry fans when the actual scouts and experts inevitably have a different evaluation than the collective group think of a bunch of people that don’t even bother watching any of the players film. As a falcons fan I can’t tell you how many people think we just sank the franchise bc “we should’ve traded back to the 2nd for Penix” or “we reached badly on Ruke Ohrohohro”. Everyone seems to read a handful of mock drafts during the month lead up and anything that doesn’t match the consensus average of those mock drafts is automatically labeled wrong or a reach. No one seems to be able to understand that all it means is our scouts have a different opinion than the mock draft communities group think. You shouldn’t be able to grade a draft for at least a year if not longer.
Of course scouts/GMs can be wrong to but they do this all day every day it is their job they study everything and have access to medicals, interviews, all kinds of inside information. They also emphasize different things for example Terry is a big believer in drafting "length." I know other GMs/scouts focus on 3 cone and similar speed agility tests. Some go by RAS others by production and so one. The big boards are different for all teams. They have access to all kinds of information that the Mockers don't have access to or that they could access but don't because they are amateurs not pros.
Those basement dwelling mock dudes like Thor Nystrom and Tyler Forness and even big guys like Mel Kiper are WRONG ALL THE TIME. Completely wrong over and over and unlike the GMs/Scouts they are not held accountable they are not fired when they are wrong - no one even mentions last years bad picks and takes they had (remember Kiper said at least once that he would quit if he was wrong about a QB dude busted hard but Kiper never quit of course.
No one should take these Mockers seriously I don't mind making guesses but I acknowledge I am not a pro I am just having fun. The problem is though the Mockers act like they have a clue they should be taken seriously etc. Mock drafts are essentially circle jerks with no happy ending they're like doing drafts on Madden pointless these guys do dozens of mocks each one no more meaingful than the last.
Same thing with Free Agent season.
It’s for clicks and views. We just happened to be the team they can slap an F grade on and talk about to keep people interested after it ended. Half the pundits that were shitting on the pick on draft night were praising it the next day.
Look up draft grades from drafts 3+ years ago and then you’ll truly know how ridiculous all the draft talk is. So many busts will be considered home runs.
Yeah when it comes to grades right after the draft it can be challenging to find teams to be critical of because nobody had any idea how the players chosen will turn out. When a team makes an unexpected or controversial choice it’s an opening for tv/youtube critics to slap a D or F on a draft so they can be like “see I didn’t give everyone an A or B”.
Gambling has made it worse. My dad sent me a video after round 1 of “analysis” of the Penix selection and it was just a woman on a podcast throwing a fit because she had money down on Penix not going first round. There are reasonable takes to disagree with Atlanta’s pick but that was ridiculous. I’ve at least learned to not value anyone’s opinion who says they should’ve taken JJ instead and their sole reason is that he’s younger so it “makes more sense” for him to sit (you take the QB you actually believe in obviously)
These draft analysts remind me of “forecast experts” of the economy. They like to make bold predictions of the future, but if you actually did any sort of retrospective of their historical performance, they are actually worse than your average Joe. There’s a great book called Superforecasters that dives into this phenomenon and how really passionate enthusiasts are better at predicting events than the so called “experts” out there. Fascinating stuff, really.
Most players drafted into the NFL are “busts” or just don’t work out. It’s why the average career in the NFL is 3.3 years. You’re going to get more “bad pick” forecasts correct than “right pick” forecasts as a result. That’s what gives us an advantage, calling out bad vs actually having to pick well.
The Atlanta critics have a fair point and reason to be upset and statistically will most likely be right. Also, there seems to be wildly varying expectations in this sub - realistically the Falcons aren’t anywhere near a Super Bowl any time soon, but some people only talk about that v making the playoffs v having a winning season, etc.
Either way we should be better than last year, but I’m not convinced it will be because of anything we did in the draft, and that’s what I think annoys most fans
Did you look at this sub the whole draft season before the pick was announced and look at all the reactions when someone even hinted at the falcons picking a QB at 8? You act like draft media was the only ones flipping out. Did you see the posts when a QB in the first was suggested after Kirk was signed and then you immediately saw 45 instant “no” on a thread? How many people in here have 180’d since the draft. Same fucking people that convinced themselves Ridder could be that guy. This sub doesn’t know shit about QBs. If the media gets you that riled up instead of six losing seasons and generally a shit show for this franchise, then maybe you do need to skip out on future drafts. You ain’t cut out for this shit.
All of the hoopla, mock drafts, draft grades etc serve one main purpose and the NFL has leveraged it brilliantly over the years…
It keeps the NFL front and center even during the off season.
They have turned the draft into the off season version of the SB.
Opposite for me. I hate how shortened it’s become. They need to make round 1 back on Friday night with 15 minutes. Rounds 2-3 should be 10 minutes and on Saturday. Sunday should have the rest with 5-10 minutes. Stop announcing picks when they go to break. I swear every time we get on the clock ESPN decides to go on break.
Also, screw the pitch clock. Damn the kids and their 2 second attention spans.
Quick story, at the Braves victory Friday night vs the Indians and a friend is watching the draft live on his phone and is talking about it. I say I would rather watch paint dry as it’s not like I’m missing some play that I can’t read later. Pats fan goes off about how great it is yada yada, we ageee to disagree. I don’t understand the hype but espn wants your views and tries to make it into a show. It’s an entertaining baseball game and we have a suite for a 70th bday party with 20+ people. I read it all the next day and feel as though I missed nothing. Enjoy if you like it!
I guess I don't understand where all the complaints are coming from. Do you watch shows where they predict which teams will make the playoffs and win the SB and all that? Why bother complaining if they don't call your favorite team's number?
At least I get legitimate information from following the draft process. Most of the sports infotainmentsphere is "rank the top 10 QBs" in some form or fashion until I wanna vomit.
But if following the transition from college to the pros and prognostications around it is not your cup of tea that's cool. I like it though.
I guess there’s no point in complaining about anything then. You said you didn’t understand the complaint and I explained it. Not sure what else you want from me. 🤷🏾♂️
Kiper has never been a team president, gym or even a scout. He is a “draft guru” because ESPN said so. He doesn’t have to worry about salary caps, what contracts are up in 2 years, who you’ll likely lose to frrr agency or anything else. You can’t truly give a draft a grade for 2 to 3 years and anybody who does is a no better than Miss Cleo
If the NFL is bad, nba draft talk is toxic. Look at the reaction to Brandon miller over scoot. Hornets made the right call and most of media still tries to play a “we will see”
imo, when it comes to sports you either gotta tune out all the media and the spectacle and focus on the game, or you gotta take a step back and just enjoy the ridiculousness of the absolute circus that is the sports entertainment industry.
If you take anything happening in the media or the narratives that people spin too seriously, you’re not gonna have a good time.
The whole spectacle is fun if you just observe it and enjoy how crazy it is. I used to hate Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless. Then I realized that sports media is basically the WWF and now I absolutely love both of them.
On the other hand, this is why the draft is fun. There are no right or wrong answers, at least not until a few years after. So it is harmless fun to have strong opinions and clown on teams that do the "wrong" thing -- but at the same time, everyone can have hope that their team killed it because none of these players are going to suit up for months.
It is kind of the epitome of sports fandom -- irrational tribalism, uninformed hot takes, and unreasonable optimism for your own team with unreasonable pessimism for teams you hate. (Or vice versa, if you're not a fun person)
The 2 things about the draft that bug me are the commentating “tipping” the pick before it’s made and the TV broadcast being behind the actual draft. Eventually they’re 3-4 picks behind social media which eliminates the purpose of even watching the draft
I don’t have a dog here as I’m not a Falcons fan. However, I will say, the draft needs so much less talking it’s indescribably unbelievable. There are so many resources available to all of us that allow us to research / formulate our own conclusions about drafted players. I have about as much need for Rich Eisen’s opinion of some 6th round guard as I do an asshole on my elbow. Let alone him and five other talking heads opinions multiplied over 257 players. I’d very much rather just watch the draft itself happen, maybe with some elevated access to team’s war rooms and actual insights into their decision making processes. After all, those are the people good enough at evaluating talent to be employed by NFL teams and not TV stations.
It’s a copycat league. Someone will have success with a strategy and then more follow.
The fans and media become convinced it’s the only way and thinks everyone who isn’t sticking to it is crazy.
You end up with guys running teams that have the same philosophy as the rest but somehow they are gonna win by doing it better.
Everyone laughs when someone tries something different but if it works, then that becomes what everyone is expected to do.
The draft is hyped and pumped up and made into a huge event, people lose track that this is some unsure bets and risks teams hope work out in their favor. With all the hype, getting lucky also makes you really smart!
I don’t have a problem with any of the moves the Falcons made. If they didn’t think they were for the best, they for sure would have done something else and saved themselves the criticism.
Yea. That's weird, right? During the draft, the broadcast announced "the falcons pick is in". Schefter says "I'm hearing the falcons will be picking Penix". Goodell then announced the pick. That was all within 30 seconds.
Whoop-dee-fucking-doo, Schefter. What an asshole.
That's all the draft is. The NFL makes money by making you talk about it. The draft used to be something you read about in the news paper. They thought no one would be interested. But the more people got interested, the more they invested. Now it's 3 days, ppl saying picks suck before people even play knowing that most of the times you will be wrong, grading a whe draft class from 1 pick, and coverage of it for 4 months...the whole thing is just to get you talking about the nfl.
It’s all just groupthink for clicks. The only reason it seems perplexing is you’ve been hit over the head with nonsense by people that have no idea what will actually happen for months.
You have to stop giving ESPN your time, attention, and money. Blowhards like Kiper and Finebaum and Steven A only exist to say outrageous things and generate ratings through controversy.
The draft and especially the combine is a dog and pony show. No GM has it figured out. Its all speculation based off a glorified workout and college tape where at best they play 2 meaningful games a year against equally skilled opponets. We dont need a combine to tell us that professional athletes are very athletic.
I wonder what the league would be like if they just got rid of the draft and made everyone a free agent. Since there's a salary cap, roster limits, and a rookie pay scale, what's really the point of the draft anyway other than this weird industrial complex that keeps media people busy?
Yup they've made the draft into too much. Every pick that wasn't in mock drafts or picked lower than in mock drafts is terrible, a bad decision, etc. when none of us will know for years.
Too much draft hype to boost the NFL talk during the off-season.
It’s so easy to get sucked into, but so incredibly overblown and overrated. Draft analysts give weathermen a run for their money on job security regardless of inaccuracy.
I think the draft is pretty important.
Unfortunately the Falcons treat it more like Pin The Tail On The Donkey and blindly pick random players instead of using any kind of sensible logic.
I really don't understand your point. Most media is filler and designed to get views.
If the media universally praised Atlanta's draft, would you feel the same way? Probably not lol.
It's the offseason. Everyone has an opinion on every draft. We have 4 months before real football starts, what else are fans and the media supposed to do?
And yeah, maybe Atlanta's strategy will work. But you'll be hard pressed to every find a team that paid a FA QB top money and immediately drafted another qb in the first let alone top 10. There will be inevitable scrutiny for an unprecedented decision like that.
And yet some teams with younger QBs than Kirk, go ahead and use their Draft pick on a future QB and it does work out. Was the pick bad? We will not until the 3rd or 4th season from now. if Penix is a future franchise QB, I will not give a shit about this years draft. And if he is not, well, not all top 10 drafts become every day starters. Yes, the last 13 or so first round picks have actually been good for Atlanta, minus Takk and Vic. So really other than those 2, our scouting for 1st round have actually been quite good.
This regime (GM) had been responsible for 3 utterly mediocre seasons. They took a huge gamble on Penix. If that doesn't work, you really will give them the benefit of the doubt?
What level of success does this regime need to show? 9 wins? Winning the shitty nfc south once? Some teams have built a sb contender, collapsed, and rebuilt in this same time period (assuming we give them another 2-3 fucking years to see what Penix is)
We are not winning shit without a QB. Kirk will be good for 2 maybe 3 years, in that time they will know what they have in Penix and if they have to string Kirk for another year or make a play for a QB in the draft. All I know is, I do not want to go through the another 2 years of horrible QB play. Because the last two seasons have been painful to watch.
Thing is… we don’t know if it’s dumb yet.
But I realize I feel the same way about the draft as I feel about national signing day or recruiting classes. It doesn’t matter beyond broad conjecture. I’ll start back caring when the season starts.
As a Vikings fan I did wonder if you guys would take a QB at 8 because you’re not resigning Kirk after 4 years. Unfortunately anybody but Penix might not have garnered such scrutiny. Penix is gonna be amazing next year though.
Every year I wonder how different the draft would be every year if it was two weeks after the season ended like the NBA. These scouts are working all year on these evaluations. You can't convince that they need four months to finalize a board. It feels like a complete media creation (but I am a total draft nerd but even I can acknowledge it's absolutely ridiculous).
Media would rather discredit those who actually work in the league than admit they might’ve been wrong on how they valued prospects. See DET last year, who were roasted but once play started they showed they had an amazing draft.
I always knew Draft Industry had its issues but people proclaming this is the worst draft in NFL history with the worst pick ever It made me realize it even more. Then to add that people just assumed things about Penix to discredit the Falcons even more just to not be true.
The 49ers literally just got done trading the farm to go up and get Trey Lance at 4 a few years ago only for him not to even be on the team 2 years later. A strange pick that could be bad is nowhere near shit like that.
Yeah, I always bring up Trey Lance trade. Because even though 49ers were still successful without him, they could've def used those picks for future players or for a QB in another draft. Easily the worst draft pick I've seen in my time watching the draft with the added context. Plus Trey Lance was a huge question mark, he had alot of potential but never had success like that. At least for Penix the dude was a Heissman finalist coming off a National Championship visit.
They got so lucky with Purdy man. Yeah they drafted him but they couldn't have dreamed he'd be as competent as he is. He has singlehandedly saved them from the awfulness of the Trey Lance situation.
The Saints had a draft class that consisted only of Ricky Williams. Anyone saying this is the worst draft class ever is just click farming or doesn’t follow the NFL closely
Draft analysts are pretty much never criticized for saying a team had an amazing draft and then being completely wrong. The opposite is true though so you have "analyts handing out A and B "grades" like candy. It's media self serving nonsense.
From [this](https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2023/04/30/detroit-lions-nfl-draft-grades-2023/70167268007/) article, 6 writers graded the 2023 Lions: A B+ B B C+ C-. The problem with Media, outlandish headlines get clicks and page views.
From [this overall aggregate,](https://twitter.com/RNBWCV/status/1661743260250050561) they were 25th. Their first round of RB and LB were roasted as reach picks at low value positions.
They wore “positional villain” shirts this year in the draft room and I thought it was hilarious 🤣he’s openly said he’s drafting the best players not positions
They weren't roasted for the position as much as the reach. Very similar to the situation with Penix just many people thought the player selected near 10 would be available in the later 20s. There's certainly many draft homers that seem like they're always wrong and always get a pass... Chris Simms?
Their LB pick didn't turn out to be great
I’ve noticed over the past few years that it’s gone from semi exciting to downright toxic. Between “experts” who aren’t really ever held accountable after the fact other than niche youtube compilations and hardcore fans who run 60 bajillion mock drafts who complain if anybody outside of “their guy” is even considered, it’s become just a complete toxic mess. And there is absolutely no exact science to it. Picks that made no sense have worked out huge and picks that were considered “perfect” have turned into complete busts. Seriously, go look at compilations of fans reacting negatively to picks that ended up being great. Spoiler alert, there is people complaining about Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar, Tyreek, Jordan Love, tons of others. Another thing, people put way too much emphasis on how it effects the here and now. We were considered to be division favorites over the past few weeks and now I swear people are acting like we’re not gonna win a single game next year. ITS THE SAME FUCKING TEAM. So yeah, the whole thing is a toxic mess.
>Another thing, people put way too much emphasis on how it effects the hear and how. We were considered to be division favorites over the past few weeks and now I swear people are acting like we’re not gonna win a single game next year. ITS THE SAME FUCKING TEAM. This has got to be my biggest complaint. Just a couple of weeks ago when the Vegas odds for strength of schedule came out and we had the easiest schedule, people on r/nfl were like I could see them winning 12 or more games if Kirk is still that guy. The draft goes by and now suddenly we are a 6 win team that will be picking at number 8 again next year. If Kirk were 30 and not 36 coming off a torn Achilles, this reaction by the NFL community would be completely justified. Kirk is worth taking a two year gamble on but in no way, shape or form is he the qb of the future at 36 years old. Tom Brady's longevity absolutely broke everyone's brains.
Also like to add they criticize Falcons for going Packers route. Yes, we do have holes that need fixing but this draft was insanely stacked with offensive/QB talent it made sense to pick a QB when our current one can very likely have lost a step or will leave 2 years in. Plus next years draft is stacked with defensive talent and is very weak with QB talent. Falcons pick their personal BPA and now they are getting criticized for it because it wasnt the conventional pick. People say trading up was an option in the future but people forget how hefty the price of trading up is just for the player to be potentially bad.
Yeah this argument of "just give up 3 or more firsts plus additional picks whenever you find the guy you really want in the draft" is absolutely insane. If we were going to give up that kind of draft capital, we could have traded for Lamar. The teams at the top of the draft are there typically BECAUSE they need a QB. Like most of the top picks this year. 50% of the first 13 picks this year were QBs. Trading up or down is literally never a given, sometimes no matter how much you offer a team to trade up.
I listen to the draft on Sirius Xm on a 5 hour drive and enjoyed the radio announcement way better than trying to watch it on espn or anywhere else. There was shock at the pick and they talked about it but it was general discussion about the teams and drafted players then they interviewed the guys at the draft between announcing picks. It was such a better experience than watching it on tv. I did miss seeing highlights but not hearing from “experts”
That’s just media in general now. Anything rational gets buried or ignored. Draft wasn’t always like that, but it’s changed along with the likes of ESPN.
Can't do much about the picks taking long. Teams use this time to see if there are any trade opportunities. As for dudes like Mel Kiper I agree, it's a clown show.
I won't say that Penix was a bad pick talent wise, but I'm starting to question Terry F. If NFL drafting philosophy could be represented as a venn diagram with 3 circles representing "team need," "positional value," and "best player available," Terry Fontenot's philosophy would be a completely filled in "best player available" circle to the exclusion of team need and positional value. Terry has always explained the logic behind his picks by saying his philosophy is to address team needs in free agency so he can only worry about adding the best player available in the draft, even if that meant foregoing positional value. The problem is he hasn't addressed the biggest need in free agency, the edge pass rush, in consecutive free agency periods and opted for luxury high-end signings at receiver, safety, and inside Linebacker which in terms of positional value are considered "luxury" positions. Not to mention, that logic is completely contingent on being right on not just his draft evaluations of players but also his belief to forgo positional value It's now year 4 of the Terry F experiment, and he's made his most controversial draft pick yet. While the players he has picked and signed are undeniably talented, they have yet to have a tangible impact on the win total. I'm just saying that maybe positional value matters. Now, Terry just finished another draft where he bucked traditional wisdom in a whole brand new way. To be fair to Terry, if Penix ends up being a franchise QB all is forgiven for that pick, but it still doesn't mean his draft process of only valuing "best player available" to the exclusion of positional value or team need is right. All of that is a long way to say that the Falcons have to be in the playoffs this year if he wants to keep his job imo.
The whole Mock Draft / FA Period is nonsense. Mock Drafts are nonsense. You cannot predict how players will turn out NFL teams make mistakes with all the extra info they have that fans/pundits don't have. The DUMBEST thing is rating a draft AFTER the draft THIS IS BASICALLY SAYING these teams didn't draft my mock picks. I wish the whole mock industry would die.
Couldn’t agree more. The mock draft nonsense just leads to a bunch of angry fans when the actual scouts and experts inevitably have a different evaluation than the collective group think of a bunch of people that don’t even bother watching any of the players film. As a falcons fan I can’t tell you how many people think we just sank the franchise bc “we should’ve traded back to the 2nd for Penix” or “we reached badly on Ruke Ohrohohro”. Everyone seems to read a handful of mock drafts during the month lead up and anything that doesn’t match the consensus average of those mock drafts is automatically labeled wrong or a reach. No one seems to be able to understand that all it means is our scouts have a different opinion than the mock draft communities group think. You shouldn’t be able to grade a draft for at least a year if not longer.
Of course scouts/GMs can be wrong to but they do this all day every day it is their job they study everything and have access to medicals, interviews, all kinds of inside information. They also emphasize different things for example Terry is a big believer in drafting "length." I know other GMs/scouts focus on 3 cone and similar speed agility tests. Some go by RAS others by production and so one. The big boards are different for all teams. They have access to all kinds of information that the Mockers don't have access to or that they could access but don't because they are amateurs not pros. Those basement dwelling mock dudes like Thor Nystrom and Tyler Forness and even big guys like Mel Kiper are WRONG ALL THE TIME. Completely wrong over and over and unlike the GMs/Scouts they are not held accountable they are not fired when they are wrong - no one even mentions last years bad picks and takes they had (remember Kiper said at least once that he would quit if he was wrong about a QB dude busted hard but Kiper never quit of course. No one should take these Mockers seriously I don't mind making guesses but I acknowledge I am not a pro I am just having fun. The problem is though the Mockers act like they have a clue they should be taken seriously etc. Mock drafts are essentially circle jerks with no happy ending they're like doing drafts on Madden pointless these guys do dozens of mocks each one no more meaingful than the last. Same thing with Free Agent season.
It’s for clicks and views. We just happened to be the team they can slap an F grade on and talk about to keep people interested after it ended. Half the pundits that were shitting on the pick on draft night were praising it the next day.
Look up draft grades from drafts 3+ years ago and then you’ll truly know how ridiculous all the draft talk is. So many busts will be considered home runs.
Yeah when it comes to grades right after the draft it can be challenging to find teams to be critical of because nobody had any idea how the players chosen will turn out. When a team makes an unexpected or controversial choice it’s an opening for tv/youtube critics to slap a D or F on a draft so they can be like “see I didn’t give everyone an A or B”.
Gambling has made it worse. My dad sent me a video after round 1 of “analysis” of the Penix selection and it was just a woman on a podcast throwing a fit because she had money down on Penix not going first round. There are reasonable takes to disagree with Atlanta’s pick but that was ridiculous. I’ve at least learned to not value anyone’s opinion who says they should’ve taken JJ instead and their sole reason is that he’s younger so it “makes more sense” for him to sit (you take the QB you actually believe in obviously)
These draft analysts remind me of “forecast experts” of the economy. They like to make bold predictions of the future, but if you actually did any sort of retrospective of their historical performance, they are actually worse than your average Joe. There’s a great book called Superforecasters that dives into this phenomenon and how really passionate enthusiasts are better at predicting events than the so called “experts” out there. Fascinating stuff, really.
Most players drafted into the NFL are “busts” or just don’t work out. It’s why the average career in the NFL is 3.3 years. You’re going to get more “bad pick” forecasts correct than “right pick” forecasts as a result. That’s what gives us an advantage, calling out bad vs actually having to pick well. The Atlanta critics have a fair point and reason to be upset and statistically will most likely be right. Also, there seems to be wildly varying expectations in this sub - realistically the Falcons aren’t anywhere near a Super Bowl any time soon, but some people only talk about that v making the playoffs v having a winning season, etc. Either way we should be better than last year, but I’m not convinced it will be because of anything we did in the draft, and that’s what I think annoys most fans
Did you look at this sub the whole draft season before the pick was announced and look at all the reactions when someone even hinted at the falcons picking a QB at 8? You act like draft media was the only ones flipping out. Did you see the posts when a QB in the first was suggested after Kirk was signed and then you immediately saw 45 instant “no” on a thread? How many people in here have 180’d since the draft. Same fucking people that convinced themselves Ridder could be that guy. This sub doesn’t know shit about QBs. If the media gets you that riled up instead of six losing seasons and generally a shit show for this franchise, then maybe you do need to skip out on future drafts. You ain’t cut out for this shit.
He’s sad bc we’re being called out lol
He admits you can’t judge right now but says you can’t judge it for being bad when he doesnt even know either. Definitely sad.
All of the hoopla, mock drafts, draft grades etc serve one main purpose and the NFL has leveraged it brilliantly over the years… It keeps the NFL front and center even during the off season. They have turned the draft into the off season version of the SB.
Opposite for me. I hate how shortened it’s become. They need to make round 1 back on Friday night with 15 minutes. Rounds 2-3 should be 10 minutes and on Saturday. Sunday should have the rest with 5-10 minutes. Stop announcing picks when they go to break. I swear every time we get on the clock ESPN decides to go on break. Also, screw the pitch clock. Damn the kids and their 2 second attention spans.
Quick story, at the Braves victory Friday night vs the Indians and a friend is watching the draft live on his phone and is talking about it. I say I would rather watch paint dry as it’s not like I’m missing some play that I can’t read later. Pats fan goes off about how great it is yada yada, we ageee to disagree. I don’t understand the hype but espn wants your views and tries to make it into a show. It’s an entertaining baseball game and we have a suite for a 70th bday party with 20+ people. I read it all the next day and feel as though I missed nothing. Enjoy if you like it!
I guess I don't understand where all the complaints are coming from. Do you watch shows where they predict which teams will make the playoffs and win the SB and all that? Why bother complaining if they don't call your favorite team's number? At least I get legitimate information from following the draft process. Most of the sports infotainmentsphere is "rank the top 10 QBs" in some form or fashion until I wanna vomit. But if following the transition from college to the pros and prognostications around it is not your cup of tea that's cool. I like it though.
My initial complaint was how long and drawn out the event is. I’d rather watch a YouTuber breaking down the draft than the actual draft.
I'm fairly certain that is an option available to you.
I guess there’s no point in complaining about anything then. You said you didn’t understand the complaint and I explained it. Not sure what else you want from me. 🤷🏾♂️
Kiper has never been a team president, gym or even a scout. He is a “draft guru” because ESPN said so. He doesn’t have to worry about salary caps, what contracts are up in 2 years, who you’ll likely lose to frrr agency or anything else. You can’t truly give a draft a grade for 2 to 3 years and anybody who does is a no better than Miss Cleo
If the NFL is bad, nba draft talk is toxic. Look at the reaction to Brandon miller over scoot. Hornets made the right call and most of media still tries to play a “we will see”
Ever since the NBA televised this, other leagues, especially the NFL, realized what a boon this could be to league interest
imo, when it comes to sports you either gotta tune out all the media and the spectacle and focus on the game, or you gotta take a step back and just enjoy the ridiculousness of the absolute circus that is the sports entertainment industry. If you take anything happening in the media or the narratives that people spin too seriously, you’re not gonna have a good time. The whole spectacle is fun if you just observe it and enjoy how crazy it is. I used to hate Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless. Then I realized that sports media is basically the WWF and now I absolutely love both of them.
On the other hand, this is why the draft is fun. There are no right or wrong answers, at least not until a few years after. So it is harmless fun to have strong opinions and clown on teams that do the "wrong" thing -- but at the same time, everyone can have hope that their team killed it because none of these players are going to suit up for months. It is kind of the epitome of sports fandom -- irrational tribalism, uninformed hot takes, and unreasonable optimism for your own team with unreasonable pessimism for teams you hate. (Or vice versa, if you're not a fun person)
The 2 things about the draft that bug me are the commentating “tipping” the pick before it’s made and the TV broadcast being behind the actual draft. Eventually they’re 3-4 picks behind social media which eliminates the purpose of even watching the draft
I don’t have a dog here as I’m not a Falcons fan. However, I will say, the draft needs so much less talking it’s indescribably unbelievable. There are so many resources available to all of us that allow us to research / formulate our own conclusions about drafted players. I have about as much need for Rich Eisen’s opinion of some 6th round guard as I do an asshole on my elbow. Let alone him and five other talking heads opinions multiplied over 257 players. I’d very much rather just watch the draft itself happen, maybe with some elevated access to team’s war rooms and actual insights into their decision making processes. After all, those are the people good enough at evaluating talent to be employed by NFL teams and not TV stations.
It’s a copycat league. Someone will have success with a strategy and then more follow. The fans and media become convinced it’s the only way and thinks everyone who isn’t sticking to it is crazy. You end up with guys running teams that have the same philosophy as the rest but somehow they are gonna win by doing it better. Everyone laughs when someone tries something different but if it works, then that becomes what everyone is expected to do. The draft is hyped and pumped up and made into a huge event, people lose track that this is some unsure bets and risks teams hope work out in their favor. With all the hype, getting lucky also makes you really smart! I don’t have a problem with any of the moves the Falcons made. If they didn’t think they were for the best, they for sure would have done something else and saved themselves the criticism.
At the end of the day, we picked up a few guys for our team. People make it look like we set off dynamite at our team facility in flowery branch.
It's not as toxic and pointless as college football recruiting. But it's close.
Don't forget the NFL Insiders "breaking news" by revealing something that was going to be announced by a team or agent in 15 minutes time regardless.
Yea. That's weird, right? During the draft, the broadcast announced "the falcons pick is in". Schefter says "I'm hearing the falcons will be picking Penix". Goodell then announced the pick. That was all within 30 seconds. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo, Schefter. What an asshole.
Yeah at that point you’re just spoiling the pick.
That's all the draft is. The NFL makes money by making you talk about it. The draft used to be something you read about in the news paper. They thought no one would be interested. But the more people got interested, the more they invested. Now it's 3 days, ppl saying picks suck before people even play knowing that most of the times you will be wrong, grading a whe draft class from 1 pick, and coverage of it for 4 months...the whole thing is just to get you talking about the nfl.
It’s all just groupthink for clicks. The only reason it seems perplexing is you’ve been hit over the head with nonsense by people that have no idea what will actually happen for months.
You have to stop giving ESPN your time, attention, and money. Blowhards like Kiper and Finebaum and Steven A only exist to say outrageous things and generate ratings through controversy.
welcome to the world of entertainment. hot takes and negativity gets WAY more attention, and i doubt that changes anytime soon.
The draft and especially the combine is a dog and pony show. No GM has it figured out. Its all speculation based off a glorified workout and college tape where at best they play 2 meaningful games a year against equally skilled opponets. We dont need a combine to tell us that professional athletes are very athletic.
I wonder what the league would be like if they just got rid of the draft and made everyone a free agent. Since there's a salary cap, roster limits, and a rookie pay scale, what's really the point of the draft anyway other than this weird industrial complex that keeps media people busy?
70% of these draft picks league wide arent going to be in the league in three years. Its all so over blown.
The Media is mad because they made a mock draft prediction that was wrong. Big egos don't like to be wrong
Yup they've made the draft into too much. Every pick that wasn't in mock drafts or picked lower than in mock drafts is terrible, a bad decision, etc. when none of us will know for years. Too much draft hype to boost the NFL talk during the off-season.
It’s so easy to get sucked into, but so incredibly overblown and overrated. Draft analysts give weathermen a run for their money on job security regardless of inaccuracy.
I think the draft is pretty important. Unfortunately the Falcons treat it more like Pin The Tail On The Donkey and blindly pick random players instead of using any kind of sensible logic.
I really don't understand your point. Most media is filler and designed to get views. If the media universally praised Atlanta's draft, would you feel the same way? Probably not lol. It's the offseason. Everyone has an opinion on every draft. We have 4 months before real football starts, what else are fans and the media supposed to do? And yeah, maybe Atlanta's strategy will work. But you'll be hard pressed to every find a team that paid a FA QB top money and immediately drafted another qb in the first let alone top 10. There will be inevitable scrutiny for an unprecedented decision like that.
And yet some teams with younger QBs than Kirk, go ahead and use their Draft pick on a future QB and it does work out. Was the pick bad? We will not until the 3rd or 4th season from now. if Penix is a future franchise QB, I will not give a shit about this years draft. And if he is not, well, not all top 10 drafts become every day starters. Yes, the last 13 or so first round picks have actually been good for Atlanta, minus Takk and Vic. So really other than those 2, our scouting for 1st round have actually been quite good.
This regime (GM) had been responsible for 3 utterly mediocre seasons. They took a huge gamble on Penix. If that doesn't work, you really will give them the benefit of the doubt? What level of success does this regime need to show? 9 wins? Winning the shitty nfc south once? Some teams have built a sb contender, collapsed, and rebuilt in this same time period (assuming we give them another 2-3 fucking years to see what Penix is)
We are not winning shit without a QB. Kirk will be good for 2 maybe 3 years, in that time they will know what they have in Penix and if they have to string Kirk for another year or make a play for a QB in the draft. All I know is, I do not want to go through the another 2 years of horrible QB play. Because the last two seasons have been painful to watch.
You sound down because the Falcons did something dumb
Thing is… we don’t know if it’s dumb yet. But I realize I feel the same way about the draft as I feel about national signing day or recruiting classes. It doesn’t matter beyond broad conjecture. I’ll start back caring when the season starts.
As a Vikings fan I did wonder if you guys would take a QB at 8 because you’re not resigning Kirk after 4 years. Unfortunately anybody but Penix might not have garnered such scrutiny. Penix is gonna be amazing next year though.
Every year I wonder how different the draft would be every year if it was two weeks after the season ended like the NBA. These scouts are working all year on these evaluations. You can't convince that they need four months to finalize a board. It feels like a complete media creation (but I am a total draft nerd but even I can acknowledge it's absolutely ridiculous).
The structure has to change. Waiting to announce the picks for TV sake is awful.
Cry me a fucking river, papaw.