Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Maybe - but they moved down last year w/ the Moore pick and risked a mini run.
And again, I just don't how anyone can be wholly confident Rice would've fallen to the back of the 2nd. I was among the folks entering this draft saying that I thought we should pass on WR in the first and move up in the 2nd to grab him. I thought 48-53 would be the sweet spot for him. He went almost exactly where I thought he would go.
The only surprise was that he went ahead of Hyatt but he also went behind Mingo, so he even 'ranked' among the WRs about where I expected him to.
This isn't some out of left field pick (as Conner was). This was always Rice's range, IMO. And while a perfect world has him falling to 63, Veach didn't want to risk it despite there being at least 3 other receivers on the board that were considered in the same tier as him by many. The odds of all 4 being gone in the next 7 picks were very remote given the depth at the position AND the depth still on the board elsewhere in the draft.
Veach wanted the guy more than everyone else (obviously) and in the end he went where I thought he would.
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I think this tells us something about how they viewed Rice vs. how they viewed Moore.
They actively wanted Rice (and clearly viewed him a step above Tillman, or they probably would have been more willing to roll the dice and not trade up).
With Moore, they could have taken him at 50 but chose to move down 4 spots and be happy with him or one of a few more dudes in that range (Pickens, Pierce).