With the seventh pick of the 2009 draft, the Oakland Raiders select receiver Darius Heyward-Bey????????
With the 47th pick of the 2009 draft, the Raiders select free safety Mike Mitchell???????????????????
With the 101st pick of the 2009 draft, the Dallas Cowboys select quarterback Stephen McGee????????????????????????????????
It is no wonder Oakland and Dallas received the worst grades after this year's draft.
To recap, Heyward-Bey was projected to be taken somewhere in the late first round to the early second round. The Raiders said no, "we want him now. We want him even though Michael Crabtree is still out there."
I can't even begin to rationalize the Mitchell pick. He's some unsung (rightfully so) nobody, who was a seventh round projection out of Ohio (the Bobcats, not the Buckeyes).
Then the Cowboys decided to burn a fourth round pick, their third overall, on a quarterback who could not hack it for an absolutely horrible Texas A&M Aggies team that hit rock bottom in McGee's tenure.
Here is what I imagined happened, and I'm thinking this because it is the only logical assumption that may logically explain the illogical minds of Al Davis and Jerry Jones.
Here goes: I'm guessing before the draft, Davis and Jones decided to make a friendly wager based on which owner could make the most bonehead picks.
Obviously, Davis took an early lead since the Cowboys had no first round pick and then traded their second round pick for two third round picks for which they used to draft Rocky and Bullwinkle (Jason Williamson, a linebacker from Western Illinois, and Robert Brewste, a offensive tackle out of Ball State).
Davis was certainly in the lead until the third round. However, he took a step in the right direction (wrong for the bet) by selecting defensive end Matt Shaughnessy out of Wisconsin. That pick actually made sense, which broke the rules for Davis and Jones game of stupidity.
The game was still very tight heading into the fourth round.
But then Jones went for the knockout punch by taking McGee, a guy who the Cowboys probably could have signed for next to nothing. I'm thinking Jones could have waited two or three weeks after the draft and offered McGee a Wal-Mart gift card and he would have gladly accepted.
In response to the McGee pick, Davis' probably just gave Jones a simple, "Well played sir (Jones). Very well done."
Not to digress too much, but if Heyward-Bey and Mitchell were guys Davis really wanted, why didn't he trade down to get them. They probably could have gotten some team's first and second round picks and still got Heyward-Bey. They could have then traded one of those second round picks for an extra third round pick along with a second seventh round pick — well I just had a brain aneurysm and have no idea where I was going with that.
Moving on, the Cowboys say they want to implement the Wildcat offense that the Dolphins used so well last year. That's great. I don't mind Jones wanting to give that a try. The more Romo is off the field, the better Dallas will likely be. I don't even mind Jones wanting to acquire a quarterback more fitting to play in the Wildcat. But honestly, a fourth round pick for Stephen McGee?????? He was the only quarterback never mentioned in the "Big 12 has the best quarterbacks" discussion last year.
I realize he is a big guy who was one, if not the most coveted quarterback in his class coming out of high school. He has a solid arm, he's mobile and had a very successful prep resume.
None of that worked for him in college, however, so one would have to assume McGee's college career would have been just the tip Jones needed to avoid this illogical decision.
Instead of taking McGee so high, the Cowboys would have been better off drafting the following: a saftey, a defensive lineman, another offensive lineman, a receiver, a GPS specialist for Romo or even a towel boy from the University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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Actually, what didn't work for McGee in college was having Franchione as his coach for 3 years. And then he got hurt his senior year.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, the Cowboys probably could have snagged him in a later round or as a free agent. Regardless, draft "grades" are pretty well worthless and draft "guru" is about the easiest job in sports.
If you claim to be a Republican, then you have to respect the right of a corporation to increase revenue. You, the consumer, are purchasing a commodity, the account, from a seller. The terms and conditions are written somewhere in the contract, and by violating them you are legally obligated to pay their fees. That’s it. The letter of the law holds regardless of whether it conforms to the norms, the practice, or the general idea of “fair banking.” So suck it up and be more responsible next time. And anyway, by giving your money to BOA CEOs, you can be assured that you are stimulating the economy. You’ve never heard of trickle-down economics? Your fee will help someone buy he and his wife a few glasses of wine in the Bahamas. But to get to the Bahamas, they’ll have to fly their jet. But to fly their jet, they’ll have to buy fuel. And that fuel may be produced by a plant in the Golden Triangle, which may help some grunt get a 15 cent per hour raise. And who knows, maybe that bonus allows him to keep his subscription to the PA News. It’s good for everyone right? I mean, you’re getting back around .0000013573 cents for every dollar you put in.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of free-market capitalism is that fault always lies with those who end up losing. So why on earth should we ever regulate banking practices? Let’s let the rich get richer so they have more scraps to toss our way. Vote Republican in ’12.
And go J.J.! You got screwed by the poetry think in college. After hating you for 4 years, I just feel sorry for you now. If we ever meet, I’d apologize.