James Carpenter - Skipping the Off-Season Buffet's?

[HumanCockroach]

That draft wasn't really very good for OL after the first 16 picks. Some of the others are having problems getting it together, too.

Yeah, something I have been pointing out since that draft. No O-lineman picked after Carpenter ( at least that I have knowledge of) has provided anymore production, whether they be OT or OG, not giving the guy a pass for his inconsistency,just think the thought that someone selected at the end of the first round, should automatically excell is simply a flawed thought process. When picking from a punch bowl full of turds, expecting to pull out a rose, is unrealistic.....

A lot of us, including myself, used that justification for the Curry pick, ie the draft class sucked. IMO that is not a very good way of rationalizing a poor decision. A bad pick is a bad pick. Period.

Really? I can point to NUMEROUS LB's drafted in that class that out performed Curry ( Clay Mathews comes immediately to mind) it can be your opinion, IMO that thought process is flawed. Seattle wasn't alone in that class of taking OL that have underwhelmed, at least SEATTLE found players throughout that draft that helped some, AND they didn't draft him at the top of the first round, something that many teams can't say. The thought that there is always Pro Bowl or even excellent starters in the first round( just because it is the first round) every single year is flawed ( and the Curry draft ILLUSTRATES that point PERFECTLY not the other way around).

[NorthHawk]

All drafts have tiers of players.
When you get to the bottom of the first round, players are often graded similarly to those part way through the 2nd round so although disappointing, the expectations might be too high in some drafts for late first round selections.
Mistakes are made at the top, middle, and ends of each round - it just happens and no team can escape that.
The key to any draft is how many starters you get as a whole, however the pool gets shallower the later you select in that the tiers of comparable talents tend to be larger and there are more players with skill sets that stand out.

Maybe that's why our FO has done well in the mid to late rounds. They are looking for positive specifics while others (including us in years past) seem to be looking for generalities.
Maybe I'm completely wrong on that, but it's something I think they do more than other teams.