Quote:
Originally Posted by smithandrew051
It seems worse than it is because the “hit” (Rice) was the last of the picks and there were a few seasons between “fine” (Hardman) and certain “bust” (Moore).
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I just distinctly remember "man, we really suck at drafting linebackers" about 5 years ago and going over the fact that, hey - we really never TRIED.
Fast forward a few years when we've actually put effort into drafting the position and suddenly we might have the best LB corps in football.
It's all about prioritizing scarce resources. Give it time - we'll be fine.
EDIT: Found the thread
Spoiler!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Well you run into the same problem we run into when asking why Dorsey didn't draft more difference makers on defense - priority.
I mean...we haven't really tried.
Lets look at all the capital spent on off-ball LBs since DJ (I assume you're not including Hali, Houston or Ford in this and mean strictly off-ball guys not edge players):
2006: None
2007: None
2008: None
2009: None
So right away we have a 4 year stretch where we put literally NOTHING at the position. Not even a 7th round pick.
2010: Maybe you squint and say Cameron Sheffield at pick 142; a converted DE.
2011: Gabe Miller - pick 140
2012: None
2013: Nico Johnson - pick 99
2014: None
2015: Ramik Wilson -Pick 118 and DJ Alexander at 172
2016: None
2017: Ukeme Eligwe - pick 183
2018: DoD - Pick 100
In 14 years --- FOURTEEN YEARS -- we've drafted seven guys who might be classified as off-ball linebackers and even that includes DJ Alexander and Cam Sheffield who were always seen as some kind of hybrid/edge sort of players. But give ya all 7 just to be sporting; one every other year.
And in that lot we have a 3rd rounder (dead back of the round) two 4th rounders and four 5th rounders. I mean shit, since 2005 we've spent a 3rd and a 7th on a kicker and a punter. Even the trades are 5th rounders in 2 seasons for Ragland and stuff like that; nominal assets.
Now to some degree it's explained by the time we spent in a 3-4 over that period AND the presence of DJ. You've never felt the need to prioritize the position. But it's still worth pointing out that we've struggled there because we haven't tried - rightly or wrongly, we simply haven't made an effort at that position. We've drafted better than half that lot in the 5th round and spent a 5th rounder on Ragland. Value the position at roughly the 5th round and you probably shouldn't be surprised by a pittance of a return.
It's past time to change that thinking.
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And really, we've done the same comparison a couple times when talking about WR here vs. what the Steelers have done. We had Hill - so we didn't draft a lot of WRs. Before that we had Derrick Johnson so we didn't draft a lot of linebackers. When we had to transition away from our established superstar, it took a little time but we got it taken care of.
We will this time as well.