Grade Your Team's Draft

[Softball Bat]

Five years later.


2013 Oakland Raiders Draft
1 (12) D.J. Hayden, CB, Houston
2 (42) Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State
3 (66) Sio Moore, LB, UConn
4 (112) Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas
6 (172) Nick Kasa, TE, Colorado
6 (181) Latavius Murray, RB, Central Florida
6 (184) Mychal Rivera, TE, Tennessee
6 (205) Stacy McGee, DT, Oklahoma



OMG!





D.J. Hayden had heart surgery prior to the draft and he nearly died on the field.
But Blockhead McKenzie took him with the 12th pick in the draft.
A major reach, Hayden battled injuries from the time he entered the league, and he never came close to panning out.

Watson was a f@t turd.

Sio was... okay for a couple of seasons.
Barely okay.

T. Wilson did absolutely squat.

L. Murray was the only bright spot in this HORRENDOUS draft.
He's been a decent back and went over 1,000 yds for Oakland in 2015.



Grade: D

[BSmack]

The Steelers selected nine players in the 2014 NFL Draft - one each in Rounds 1-4, 7 and two each in Rounds 5-6.

Round 1: Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier: Shazier was a two-time Pro Powl selection before his tragic injury. A+

Round 2: Notre Dame defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt: Stud 3-4 DE who can also get after the QB a little bit. In a sane world he would have made a couple of pro bowls already. A+

Round 3: Kent State running back Dri Archer: Off the field turd who combined his crappy off-field behavior with a baffling lack of elusiveness. His contributions were minimal at best and that the third round level he was a horrible reach. F

Round 4: Clemson wide receiver Martavis Bryant: When he wasn't serving suspensions for drug use, Bryant was showing signs that he might be a great receiver. Unfortunately after his last suspension he became an underperforming locker room cancer. The Steelers were able to trade him for a draft pick higher then they took him and he was a contributor. Good luck Raiders. B-

Round 5a: Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson: The epitome of a practice-squad slappy. Is now auditioning with the Oakland Raiders as a camp body. C-

Round 5b: Vanderbilt offensive lineman Wesley Johnson: A solid player who got caught in a numbers game with the Steelers but is now starting for the Detroit Lions. C+

Round 6a: UCLA linebacker Jordan Zumwalt: Multiple injury issues meant that he never got past IR. He was waived after two years on the IR and never hooked on with another team. D

Round 6b: Tennessee nose tackle Daniel McCullers: This 6 round pick is still on the team. That alone means that this pic is worth a B. He's a solid rotational player who eats up blockers but not much more. B

Round 7: Massachusetts tight end Rob Blanchflower: he did what you expect most seventh rounders to do, he got cut and never surfaced again in the league. C-

Overall grade: Overall I'd give this draft a solid B grade. If they could have found a way to get Wesley Johnson in the rotation on OL and kept Bryant on the reservation in terms of behavior this would have been a solid A draft. The real downside was wasting a 3rd round pick on what amounted to a kick returner with personal behavior issues. The high points were the first two picks who both turned out to be major contributors.

[Softball Bat]

The high points were the first two picks who both turned out to be major contributors.

On that basis alone it is at least the B grade you gave it.

[Dr_Phibes]

You're mixing years, guys.

Pops, that's Oakland 2013 draft, BSmack posted 2014 Steelers. But let's ignore the past, too many tears have been shed. I'm pumped, from E.j. Manual to The Allenator

A+

He reminds me of Rothliesingberger but he doesn't rape chicks.

[Softball Bat]

You're sharp, Phibes.

Corrected.
That was Oakland's 2013 draft.

[BSmack]

I'll give a quick summary on the 2013 Steelers draft. Thank you Phibes for catching that mistake.

1st Round - Jarvis Jones: had the look of a All-Pro outside linebacker but turned out to be just a little too injury-prone and not strong enough at the point of attack to do his job. Eventually he got run by JT Watt. C

2nd Round - Le'Veon Bell: Total Superstar. Bell has turned out so good that he will probably destroy the Steelers salary cap if he stays too long. I can't blame the guy for wanting to get paid, but I'm really more upset that they didn't figure things out and win a couple of Super Bowls already. He's a legitimate contender for a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction. A+

3rd Round - Markus Wheaton: He literally had one great game. Other than that game, a 9 catch 201 yard performance against the hapless Bears defense, he was nothing more than mediocre. C-

4th Round - Shamarko Thomas: The only reason why I don't give him an F is because he's a 4th rounder in my expectations are lower. Used to always talk about how much he talked football with Troy Polamalu. Apparently none of those conversations took hold with him. D

4th Round - Landry Jones: He was drafted to be a serviceable back up to Ben Roethlisberger. He has been a serviceable backup ever since Charlie Batch retired. Mission accomplished. B+

5th Round - Terry Hawthorne: He never made the roster and was out of the league that year. F

I'm going to skip the rest of the practice squad slappy's and rejects and get to the second best pick of this draft.

6th Round - Vince Williams: Nobody expected anything out of Vince Williams. Now he's one of the two starting inside linebackers. Got to give him an A.

They also got a nice find in the UFA pool in Chris Hubbard. He made a few clutch starts but eventually outstripped his pay grade and signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns.

Overall I give this draft an A-. I would have given it an A+ if they had not drafted Jarvis Jones and instead drafted Desmond Trufant or Darius Slay who were both picked after Jones. But they did get an all world running back, a solid starting linebacker occasional contributions from some players not expected to contribute much and they solved the riddle of backup QB for a few years.