Or you could just admit you really didn't scout Callaway because of the red flag and call it a day... I scouted him before I even knew about the flags. But nice assumptions. And If Callaway was out of the equation they go up from around 27 to maybe 20.
Just speaking for myself - I didn't have Callaway with a high score going into this draft and I don't have anything in my method that factors in potential off-field issues. EDIT: I pulled up my card on him to check where his scores were average or less than - Hands Route Running Feet in Break Feet out Break Explosion Deceptiveness Considering how I weight my factors, I'm not surprised that he didn't top out with the rest of the class. I think he's a good developmental receiver that was taken in about the right spot according to what I consider his current value. If he would have went a round higher I wouldn't have complained. If he would have went a round lower I would have simply marked it up to his issues. I know a lot of analysts and draftniks had him as a first or second round talent so I get where you're coming from, Irish.
I really don't get why anyone would be touting Callaway as first round material. He has appeared in only 26 games since high school. His 2016 stats featured 335 yards and 2 TDs in his first three games (including mighty 2-10 Massachusetts and burning UT cornerback bust Justin Martin on two deep passes). He only had 386 receiving yards and 1 touchdown in the remaining 9 games of his sophomore year, then missed his junior year and chose to skip his senior year to enter the draft. He had a good 40 time and decent agility numbers. But he's not a good route runner and his commitment to the film room, practice field and weight room are as questionable as his off field character. So he's inexperienced, unmotivated, not particularly large or strong (7 bench press reps at his pro day), got his stats against subpar college DBs, and hasn't taken a meaningful snap in over a year. He has solid upside potential, but that's hardly enough to make him Top 100 material, especially in a WR class this deep. It's likely to take two full seasons to ramp him up to being productive at the NFL level. That alone should knock him down to the 4th round at best. Now throw in that he committed felony theft AND had the positive drug tests.
You are right, he has a short resumé. I wish I could find the one scouting report on him, much of it was focused on him against Minkah Fitzpatrick. I say it with the caveat that Minkah has grown I'm sure, since they last met. But his mechanics in and out of breaks are veteran quality. His ability to high point contested balls are veteran quality. His speed is top caliber quality. He gets separation at all 3 levels, which is rare for a college level player. His one glaring flaw is his propensity to drop easy balls, it's a concentration issue that will need to be worked out. If you watch the film, you don't see a young college prospect in the little things he is capable of doing.
This is imho, extremely shortsided. His route running is immature, based on his lack of experience, however, his field vision is top of the class. His closing speed makes up for some sloppy route running, which will improve with experience. I haven't seen reports on his practice field, weight room and film study being an issue. Everything I have read has been on his immature decision making off he field, which I am hoping improve with becoming a father...that doesn't always help a man's maturity, but in some cases it does...I'm hoping for the latter.
So this is where I ask what are YOUR opinions on the draft rankings. Not necessarily about mine but where would you have each team. Which teams do you think did well or poorly? If you want to compare, which teams do you think I had too high or too low, and not just by trivial amounts... besides the Browns by Irish, we covered that, multiple times.
I think I already spelled it out in relation to the Falcons. Going with a top 10 ranking breaks away from most of the major media writers, but he rest of the media fixated on the DT position. The Falcons drafted Deadrin Senat and later signed Terrell McClain. That position group is now filled, so the fuss and the weaker draft grades resulting from it have already been rendered moot. While we're now operating with the benefit of hindsight (writers like the guy at SI didn't know they'd sign McClain), the rest of the media should never have acted like drafting one more rookie was the only way to fill that need. Without that cloud, yeah, the top ten rating fits. The Falcons should have had outstanding grades all around from the major media, especially considering they were operating from the #26 spot. They added the top ranked WR in the draft class to what was already a top ten offense, and they added three early contributors to what was already a top ten defense. The first three picks were all strong value plays, and the three Day 3 picks are likely to be active even as rookies due to their value on special teams, which needed the help. If you're going to play the early draft grade game, Atlanta came out of this one with a fine haul.
So finally getting around to this evaluation and I won't pretend like I didn't wince a little at the Edmunds pick. But since I've gotten to know him I'm liking it more and more. Think Budda Baker with more explosion and that's exactly what this team needs. Add in his ability as a QB of the defense and his outstanding physical conditioning I think we're going to see a guy contributing from Day 1 in sub packages and playing full time by mid-season. James Washington is a pure stud. Another guy that Tomlin has praised for his level of conditioning and another day 1 contributor as the #3 receiver. This guy can get past people and like AB and JuJu he wins 50/50 balls. Rudolph is a wait and see but Okorafor should also contribute early as a swing tackle and 6th OL assuming the new OC keeps the jumbo packages in. I'm not as high on Samuels as others because I think what he does best isn't needed on this team but I do I'm intrigued by what they do with the PSU safety, Marcus Allen. I think this draft class will rank significantly higher than where you have them.
