Draft Grades

Here are my grades and wildly speculative ideas:


28) Kelvin Benjamin
I said up to draft that I would take him in the first round. I have to stick to that. His ceiling is higher than anybody else we could have taken here. You have to figure he'll get more of an opportunity than Jarrett was given, if only by default. I expect reasonable production this year, along with frustrating drops.

Grade: B
Who I would have taken: Kelvin Benjamin



60) Kony Ealy
Hardy or CJ will be gone after 2014, so while this doesn't fill an immediate need, it fills a need for 2015. Plus it pretty much takes Alexander out of the mix. However I do agree with Collin about needing to take the tackle. Constantly giving the finger to need will eventually hurt us.

Grade: C
Who I would have taken: Morgan Moses



92) Trai Turner
Our best pick, both from need and value. I expect him to be the best RG we've ever had, which isn't necessarily saying much, but I'm glad we finally have a legitimate option there. Getting him and Moses would have been nice, but oh well.

Grade: A-
Who I would have taken: Trai Turner



128) Tre Boston
The fact that most Carolina fans are panning this pick is discouraging, to say the least. I agree with the wild speculation that we wanted Desir, and pretty much just took a shot in the dark with this one. He reminds me of Godfrey with a little more physicality and attitude. Perhaps he becomes a plus special teamer, but we're already pretty strong there. I'm relatively high on Cameron Fleming as a Plug-n-Play RT and that should have been our pick once Desir went off the board.

Grade: F
Who I would have taken: Cameron Fleming



148) Bene Benwikere
I'm ok with the trade and the selection. There ended up not being anything particularly promising at 168 or in the seventh round, so kudos to Skype Boy for making a move to fill a need. Bene sounds like a good schematic fit and upgrade over Josh Thomas. The idea of DeCoud and Harper being our starting safeties is utterly depressing, but I actually feel Ok about cornerback now.

Grade: B
Who I would have taken: Bene Benwikere



204) Tyler Gaffney
I don't think he would have otherwise been drafted, but I guess his pro style experience would have made him a coveted UDFA. It's a safe pick, in theory, but I would have gone the experimental rout and taken Daniel McCullers. His film is pretty shitty, and he doesn't play to his enormous size, but what the hell. I would have liked to have seen if we could have coached him into something useful. Gaffney is a dime a dozen player you can get in free agency.

Grade: D+
Who I would have taken: Daniel McCullers

 

My overall take from the draft is Meh.

I'm not jacked up like I was after last year's, nor am I depressed as I was after Huney's final three efforts. Boston and Gaffney will probably wash out, but I think the other four will contribute. If Benjamin works out, it's not the worst looking haul. We seem overdue for a 1st round bust, just by law of averages, which does make me a little paranoid.

 

Yeah. Maybe the buildup was just too much but I'm kinda let down. We knew it was unlikely to address all of our holes in the draft. This draft is different than last year because there wasn't that slam dunk pick like Star. Benjamin is a talent but has large holes in his game. Nobody here would be shocked if he was a huge bust. I commend Gettleman for not forcing the OT there and agree there wasn't one worthy of grabbing. There were, however plenty other "safer" picks at positions of need.
In the end it's entirely possible we didn't add someone who will contribute significantly this year let alone a starter.

 

I guess it's possible, but Turner will start just from a sheer lack of alternatives. Same for Benjamin, even though he's probably not starting right out of the gate. Ealy obviously won't start but will push Addison for that "6th man" role at DE.

 

I'd like Turner to start to but I can see them going back to Chris Scott what happened to Gary Williams?
Ealy will play in the rotation for sure but I'm a bit skeptical on how much Benjamin will contribute. I bet they will want to get him out there early and force him in there. I don't necessarily have a problem with that though

 

I believe we're letting Williams compete at RT. Scott may be seen as the incumbent RG, but he's a pretty shitty player who shouldn't be too hard to beat out. The scenario in which I see Benjamin on a milk carton is if Dickson impresses in camp and we decided to be very heavy in 12 personnel. Even then I just don't know if Cotchery and Avant could hold the starting jobs very long.

 

No way Benjamin starts. He'll see action in obvious passing situations and in the red zone.

 

Draft Grades are a fucking joke. 3 years ago the Seahawks got a C- from some reputable site and they won a Super Bowl with that draft.

 

Depends on who's doing the grading.

 

I agree that grading a draft 2 days after it happen is a tad premature, but the writers have to do something to justify their jobs and besides its fun to speculate.
We can look back in a few years and say without too much argument if it was great, so-so, or it sucked.
I hope it ends up being better than it look today.