DeadWombat Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Ok ok... after my initial anger over our lack of high profile grabs died down, I realized what Kokinis is doing here. His draft decisions are the same kind of stuff we've been seeing in the free agency. We didn't grab Crabtree and Rey for a reason, just like we didnt sign Tory Holt for a reason. Mankok just seems to be taking an extremely conservative approach to the game here, something that we will most definitely see reflected in our gameplan come preseason. I can say that the draft for us has been going very well for what Kokinis wants... but not very well for a lot of us. I know a lot of would have loved to see Rey or Maclin (including me)... but it seems like Mangini and Kokinis are more interested in taking solid, dependable players and let everyone else claw their way to the big names while we get extra picks out of the process. Admit it, those two times we moved down 2 spots was smart.... we basically got 2 free draft pics without having to sacrifice anything, assuming that Alex Mack was our #1 priority. Thats not even counting the 3 players we got from the Jets trade. Our defense and O-line will be vastly improved this year (still concerned about the secondary a bit). Do you realize how many players we picked up for defense this season with the Free Agency and first 3 rounds of draft picks combined? I think so far its been: Three Offensive Linemen, four Defensive Linemen, five Linebackers, and five Defensive backs. ( Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this.... I might have made a miscount) Meanwhile, we fleshed out our Wide Receivers (thank God)... Our Running Back situation is still questionable, but I expect us to see a RB in the draft with our name on it.... not to mention us picking up Noah Herron and Marcus Thomas in the Free Agency. I expect to see this uber conservative mindset when the season starts. Gone are the days of 42-36 games with DA throwing huge bombs to Edwards (damn I'll miss that)... I expect to see us Nickle and Dime the hell out of our opponents... Perhaps like the Dolphins were doing last year. We won't be a team with a lot of sparkle... but damn, we will be rebounding with a vengeance come regular season. All I can say is that we're gonna have to get used to this low profile style that Mankok has come up with. I may not agree with it sometimes, but I can learn to appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl34 Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I agree. I think it's easy to say that we didn't go for sexy picks but all of these guys will be high character locker room guys in addition to their football talents. They're trying to bring in guys that are not only going to contribute but develop into leaders and the type of selfless role players that we see thrive in the New England system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencyguy Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I'm all for taking the non-sexy picks; I'm sure it was posted somewhere else and I just didn't read it, but I was really underwhelmed by the interior of the line last year. Lewis aged about ten years, but it didn't help that the middle of the line sucked. Which shouldn't be a surprise, since Fraley was a stop-gap after about eight centers got hurt/retired. He was supposed to hold down the fort for a year, and he did a pretty good job for two. Too bad he was the starter for three. Also, even if Edwards stayed, WR was a weak spot regardless of Stallworth's problems, so Robiskie and Massaquoi aren't bad picks. Time will tell. Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gips Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 The secondary is the one thing we should be slightly concerned with but at least we have plenty of romeo's wasted sideline talent to work with at LB and we have to assume mangini likes what he sees...passing on the overpaid unproven big name guys puts "brains" and meaning back into the phrase "brain trust" we got what mankok felt we needed and i think revamping our offense is critical to BQs or Ratliffs success.. While our defense is loaded with unseen potential talent that can likely be coached up to snuff our offense wasnt so fortunate as to just be coached well our offense genuinely needed a hefty tweak to the WR corp and an aggressive brutal center to round it out..i would have liked a young bull RB too but we cant get everything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl34 Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I think that you have to determine your comfort level with these guys making hard decisions. Obviously, they picked certain guys over popular choices for a reason. When Mangini selected Darrelle Revis over Aaron Ross and Michael Griffin, I was thinking that there couldn't be that much difference in the three but I really think that the first two seasons have shown that to be the best choice. He really has an eye for talent, especially on defense. I think that if this draft pans out then next year we'll feel more comfortable with these types of decisions going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mz. Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I'm all for taking the non-sexy picks; I'm sure it was posted somewhere else and I just didn't read it, but I was really underwhelmed by the interior of the line last year. Lewis aged about ten years, but it didn't help that the middle of the line sucked. Which shouldn't be a surprise, since Fraley was a stop-gap after about eight centers got hurt/retired. He was supposed to hold down the fort for a year, and he did a pretty good job for two. Too bad he was the starter for three. Also, even if Edwards stayed, WR was a weak spot regardless of Stallworth's problems, so Robiskie and Massaquoi aren't bad picks. Time will tell. Dennis After the initial shock of not pulling a Bengals-style draft (take all of the big names), I slept on it and now agree with you 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damajuki Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Now that it's over officially, I am officially pumped about Mangini and Kokinis' plan. They have stuck to their promise of bringing in "football players" and have drafted guys that really seem to be on-the-field producers. I much prefer these guys to the workout wonders and/or big school, low-production guys that Savage loved. We've talked about Browns football forever but we may actually get to see such a thing come into existence with these guys. We are going to grind teams on offense and defense. It will not be pretty but it will be effective. Lovin' it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadWombat Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 He really has an eye for talent, especially on defense. I think that if this draft pans out then next year we'll feel more comfortable with these types of decisions going forward. I think the most interesting thing is that on the players we selected, a lot of them were reported to have great work ethic and a hard-working mentality. I know this can't be a coincidence: it shows that Mankok really does a lot of scouting and really puts a lot of value on moral fiber over playing ability. It also shows that they make an effort to put quality, high character people on the team... people who will lead and serve as an example to others instead of being a burden with, say.... a prima donna attitude and arrogant ignorance? .... However, how much of that work ethic will compensate for raw talent? We'll have to see come game time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sisky fringo Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 what the fukkk?!?! i'm fuggin' hyped w/ the drafting, effing ecstastic even! Alex Mack and Brian Robiskie are sexy as fuk, people, what in the world kind of bizarro fanbase is this?!?! you guys are just now getting it? not to be insulting but where have you been for the last six months? totally unreal.....i am so glad i'm nothing like you guys. and i seriously mean that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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