Mel Kiper And His Hair Regrade The 2011 NFL Draft

That’s still funny, right?

is that he tries to analyze so many teams that he really doesn’t get the erroneous details of each draft class. Raymond was nominated for a rookie of the week. Ponder had 13 TDs and 13 picks in 10 games, and i bet you anything that most people wouldn’t have predicted that at the time of being drafted. Rudolph did alright in a limited offense with a poor line, too.

I don’t know. He just kind of seems kind of like a schmoozy, “I know what I’m talking about because I work for ESPN but didn’t actually graduate from college” type of guy. I’d personally keep it at a C+.

but i do agree with him that it is “incomplete”; not b/c of Ponder, but b/c this coaching staff refused to allow our 2011 draft class to substantially develop.

Rudolph needed to be involved more, Fusco hardly saw game reps, hell Love never even saw a game!!

i hope this offseason and during OTAs and TC, the staff will allow these young guys to get their chance.

Well, we really missed that 3rd round pick, so when you look at our top 4 picks, it leaves something to be desired, because Christian Ballard and Brandon Burton were 4th and 5th round picks who didn’t see a lot of playing time. So, he’s pretty much basing it all on Christian Ponder (who was injured for some of his starts) and Kyle Rudolph (who also saw limited action). How can you even grade that?

The rest of our picks were all 6th round and lower. They were mostly developmental/prospect type picks to begin with, of which most never even saw the field. Expecting these picks to be starters is stupid, but having said that, Mistral Raymond showed some potential in limited action at the end of the year.

He graded it an “incomplete” and should have left it at that. There’s no way to justify raising or lowering the grade at this point.

I give him props for doing his thing for all these years and parlaying it into a high paying job. Can’t be mad at him for that. And I do not believe that any of us could do it. It takes time and research. A lot of time and research.

What is funny about that 1994 incident is Kiper was right. The Colts selected Trev Alberts instead of Trent Dilfer. They had drafted Jeff George in 1990 with the number one overall pick and then traded him in March of 1994. And don’t forget that Indy traded Andre Rison, Chris Hinton, and a 1991 first round draft pick to Atlanta to select Jeff George in the 1990 draft. So now they are going into the 1994 draft having already trading the #1 overall pick after just 4 years.

Yeah, I guess you guys are right. That was not a team that should be called the laughingstock of the league. Mel was right on that one. Polian was just mad and now it comes out that he has always been kind of an arse too. What a surprise.

I suppose you could say he was a genius for selecting Peyton Manning but he basically fell to him. Anyone who tries to compare Ryan Leaf to Manning just does not know football. Manning played 4 years and received his degree in 3 years yet returned for his final season even though he would have went first overall in the 1997 draft. The poor St Louis Rams had to live with that decision of Manning’s for years since they had Tony Banks as their starter in 1997 with Steve Walsh & Jamie Martin backing him up. They ended up taking Orlando Pace which was good but I am sure they would have went with Manning in 1997.

I think that at the time Indy was a joke. They traded away their 1991 first to move up for Jeff George who they promptly traded away four years later. I do not know about you guys but if the Vikings pulled a move like that many of us would have been pissed. Too bad there was no internet back then.

I think his take on the Vikings picks is pretty reasonable. Ponder did some things well as a rookie yet there were some rumblings about Webb getting his shot to start. That kind of raises a little bit of a red flag when you consider they drafted Ponder in the first round. Then Rudolph did not really do a lot (26 catches for 3 TDs) mainly because he did not get much playing time. Maybe he would have done more if given more time? Maybe not?

Ballard did not get a lot of reps either. He was just OK and clearly needs some more development.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/10/27/a-look-at-some-non-first-rounders/

I think he will get there though. They will be patient just like with Guion. It takes defensive tackles a little bit longer to impact usually.

Of the rest only Fusco really stood out. Mainly for personal foul penalties (which I like) but he looks like he is going to surprise. No one else really did much.

It is too early to review a draft anyway but for an early review a C- is OK. I got no problem with that. If Ponder could have stayed healthy then maybe he would have done more and the grade would be higher. I hope he can stay healthy next year and have a decent season. If he does that and Rudolph doubles his production then the draft wouldbe considered pretty good.

Sorry, Mel knows what he is talking about most of the time. I got no problem with him at all. He is just doing his thing like many people are when reviewing drafts or talking about prospects. People just want to hate on him because he is the one getting paid.

I never pay for the EPSN insider stuff anyway. And I look at many different scouting sites to get different takes on players. I also have to go by what I saw too.

A forgotten name is Ross Homan. Mel had Ross Homan ranked as the best available player for awhile before the Vikings selected him. Was Ross that bad, or did his concussion concerns end his career.