Everybody complained about how we passed on him, especially for Titus Adams, and how "Well, if he was passed that many times, so was Adams, and Wright was more proven," etc. etc., take a look at this: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft06/news/story?id=2428809 That's right, he has a torn rotator cuff. I love these people who act like know-it-all's and bitch about the FA's draft choices, saying we shouldn't have passed this guy, etc. They were obviously being passed for a reason. Nobody outside of the NFL front offices knew about it, really, and everyone complained. Eat crow.
nicely done. all the 12-year-olds (i'm only 22, but i consider myself knowledgeable) don't know what to say. i think it's cause their mouths are full of crow. cheers
getting a first round talent in the seventh because he needs six months of rehab counts as a steal to me. I never understnd these people who drop a guy because he has a correctable problem.
Its not just the rotator cuff, White does have his problems. Scouts say he is lazy and sometimes tries to go too fast off the ball.
I think we had a right to criticize a move where there was a POTENTIAL first round pick that fell to the 7th. Neither of us knew this new information about the injury at the time of the draft and if we had I might have changed my mind. Personally I like our 7th rounder.
Yeah seriously!! Who cares about a year of rehabbing- He would have been at worst a 2nd rounder-- If it was a QB, I can see it- but a DT can rehab that and be fine. Its a shoulder, not a knee- not to mention, we took some bum in the third round who had a history of injuries who will never see the field over a healty Rhodes or Coleman. Maybe the injury keeps you from taking him in the first few rounds, but to pass on him anywhere in the second day is just crazy. We'll see how this works out, but based on what he did, and where he was projected prior to the injury news, this guy will probably haunt us for the next several years.
He was never a good fit anyway. He would've played a DE in our scheme and wouldnt be good enough to beat out Ellis, KVO or D rob. The only DE that was worth taking was Williams who went # 1 overall. What we needed was an NT, Let's see how Pouha develops and what we have in Adams.
The overweight guy with a busted rotator cuff and a previous benching on his athletic record is going to haunt us because we took a team captain who stayed on the field through - what was it, a broken rib or something? Fuck that. Eric Smith will be dislodging running backs from footballs while Rod Wright sits on the sidelines huffing oxygen. You do know DTs use their arms to deat O-Linemen, right?
Honestly, Rod Wright was an all american, even with the injury-- Eric Smith was a nobody-- I am a PSU fan, and I watched Mich state play several times over the past few years, and never saw, or heard anything impressive about the guy. Almost everyone on this site has a problem with him-- yet you seem to think every pick was great. It was a reach, there were better Safetys on the board, he was a projected 7th rounder, or FA, and we already have 2 good, young, cheap safetys, with 2 young, cheap good backups. We didn't need another one.
and how is 6-5 300 lbs overweight for a tackle? I think you are confusing him with gabe Watson-- actually, yes, you are 100%-- Watson was the guy who was benched-- you don't even have the players right brother.
I agree that Smith was a reach by at least 2 rounds, however, as somewhat of an MSU fan, I can tell you that he is a bigtime ballhawk w/ a hardnosed attitude, who at the very least will be a locker room presence and a quality special teamer. He's one of those guys who may not make sense from a depth chart perspective..but he fits the exact mold of what the new regime is looking for, and is brought in to establish a certain mentality/foundation to build around. Why they took him 2 rounds too soon- I have no idea. But he certainly will have his place on this team and that is the whole concept of the draft.
Ohh I was wondering what was up with him falling so far down the draft. So a long term injury project.
The seventh rounder was the one pick I didn't complain about after round 2. Given what I read about him, he is a steal in the seventh. He will spell DRob, and hopefully Pouha will mature a bit this year, and make somewhat of an impact. If it works out, then we have addressed a critical need at NT for the 3-4, and there really shouldn't be any complaints about that.
Yeah, but how much value do you put on a Special teams/3rd string safety because he is a locker room leader? I know everyones thing on here is character, smart, hard working etc. - and that is fine, but it seems to me that they put WAY too much emphasis on that, and it lead to a few reaches. Rod Wright was a leader too, and I have seen him on TV-- he's another D Brick- a well spoken good guy who played his ass off all year, and helped the team win a national championship.
In terms of potential, Wright blows Smith away. However after watching both players perform(and they play 2 entirely different positions) Wright was not a better performer than Smith. Also, as I stated earlier, Wright's future is as a 1 gap DT...which in the 3-4, would make him a DE. We already have a crowd at that spot w/ Ellis, KVO, D rob and Pope..and im not sure Wright beats out any of them. Where we needed help was at NT..which Wright is not. As for Smith, one could argue that we needed one more back-up at the safety spot as Celstin is gone and Washington may soon be as well. W/ that considered, I dont see anything wrong w/ bringing in a guy who can bring a model attitude/skill set to the fold while being a solid contributor on special teams. Did we take him too soon? Absolutely. But he still has a chance to be a quality role player for us.
Not to beat this to death, but Wright has been projected as a 3-4 end, which we do need- or a 3-4 NT with some added weight-- 15-20 lbs on a guy 6-5 can be added easilly. We have one player on our line right now who fits, and will be a long term solution-- Ellis- Big D is kind of in no-mans land, and KVO is 700 years old. Pope is depth, and Pouha is a 27 year old project guy. And you said it best-- we absolutely took smith too soon, and he will be a backup/st/roldplayer. You don;t take backup safetys in the third round... not when our 2 current STARTERS were 5th rounders.
I agree he was might of been taken too early. But I was expecting them to take a Safety somewhere in the draft. Celestin was released, and Washington will be too sometime soon (unless Mangini can work some kind of miracle) he is just not working out in the least. So a little depth was needed at safety. Then the question becomes, why Smith? Why so high? I am not sure. There is a reason the FO rated him so high wanted to be sure to get him. There is a pattern to their signings and draftings. I expect they see something in him, maybe in his skill set or intangibles. I don't know. But I do know Mangini is a DB man. And if he feels Smith has the stuff to add the needed depth to the defensive backfield, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. At least for now.
