We may have done just as well with Fitts in round 6 as Armstrong in round 4. They're actually very similar in size and carried roughly the same grade yet Fitts is stronger and faster.
But the point I'd like to make his 90% of the objections seem to be based on us taking a ILB as opposed to an OLB in round 4 yet two rounds later we took an OLB who graded out as a 4th round pick.
So what's the big deal and why are many ignoring this only to put down the Iggy pick?
Armstrong, Sweat, and Ejiofor were still on the board there and play a higher impact position that was a greater need. If Iggy ends up being a better player than all 3 of them, then yeah it was the wise choice. If not, well......then not.
Nothing about taking one of them in round 4 would or should have precluded also taking Fitts where they got him later. Doubling up on OLB prospects wouldn’t have bothered me one bit.
I think you're completely missing the point.
It doesn't matter if Iggy is better or not. It matters if Fitts isn't better that the three you mentioned whom we might have drafted instead.
Higher impact position is debatable. We needed both an OLB and an ILB/ST to replace Christian Jones. That's who Iggy is and what his immediate value will be.
The really interesting thing about "Iggy" is that Pace and other NFL GMs and scouts have him valued much higher than the average fan or blogger. He's a guy someone was gonna take somewhere around where we did.
He does a lot as a player but as I posted in another review on him his real strength is he finds the ball, makes the tackle, and ends the play. He excels at playing the run and plays bigger than his 230lbs. Pass coverage and pass rush are not his strong points but he's not exactly worthless at either and he has the speed to thrive as a backup in this defense.
Where he should shine is on coverage teams where he may be the best tackler we have. ST isn't an area anyone should short sell. Top ST guys have a lot of value or players like McManis and Bellamy would never have survived. If anyone remembers Brendan Ayanbadejo he was also a smaller LB and a real ST destroyer. I see Iggy as a very similar player.
I'd chalk that up to the average blogger or fan not knowing who the kid is, and so therefore they must have automatically been a reach. These guys do a lot more homework than we do...and I think sometimes we forget that.
Pace has yet to have made a bad/failed 4th round pick; Kwiatkoski, Jackson, and Cohen have all been starters and Bush and Hall have managed to stick around as backups and ST guys. Given his success I'll buy in on this one too. I think he found another very good LB like Kwiatkoski.
Armstrong, Sweat, and Ejiofor were still on the board there and play a higher impact position that was a greater need. If Iggy ends up being a better player than all 3 of them, then yeah it was the wise choice. If not, well......then not.
Nothing about taking one of them in round 4 would or should have precluded also taking Fitts where they got him later. Doubling up on OLB prospects wouldn’t have bothered me one bit.
I think you're completely missing the point.
It doesn't matter if Iggy is better or not. It matters if Fitts isn't better that the three you mentioned whom we might have drafted instead.
Higher impact position is debatable. We needed both an OLB and an ILB/ST to replace Christian Jones. That's who Iggy is and what his immediate value will be.
Regarding Jones, yes probably could have kept him, but when he came in with an offer it was probably - yeah, we like you, but its a little much for us (for your role) same as Cam. And Sitton in a way.
It doesn't matter if Iggy is better or not. It matters if Fitts isn't better that the three you mentioned whom we might have drafted instead.
Higher impact position is debatable. We needed both an OLB and an ILB/ST to replace Christian Jones. That's who Iggy is and what his immediate value will be.
Regarding Jones, yes probably could have kept him, but when he came in with an offer it was probably - yeah, we like you, but its a little much for us (for your role) same as Cam. And Sitton in a way.
Unlike Cam Meredith, Jones was not an RFA so he wasn't under a tender and free to sign anywhere he liked. Like I've said before I think he wanted to go to a 4-3 base team where he could compete to start at OLB and also do some rushing off the edge which is a skill of his I don't feel we ever exploited with him much.
Much like CWash he was a guy with talent who just wasn't the best fit for our defense and wasn't being used to the best of his ability. Detroit's defense may be better although who knows how Patricia will scheme it. Iggy, like Smith, is more of the smaller attack or "stacked" Jack type ILB Fangio prefers. I think it's that simple.
But as I was saying if Fitts makes the team and has an impact as a pass rusher and Iggy becomes an ST ace and good ILB it won't make a bit of difference where we drafted each of these guys. Despite their draft position we got what we needed in both. It's only if Fitts fails to be as good as those we passed over for Iggy that we'll have an issue to look back at.
Armstrong, Sweat, and Ejiofor were still on the board there and play a higher impact position that was a greater need. If Iggy ends up being a better player than all 3 of them, then yeah it was the wise choice. If not, well......then not.
Nothing about taking one of them in round 4 would or should have precluded also taking Fitts where they got him later. Doubling up on OLB prospects wouldn’t have bothered me one bit.
I think you're completely missing the point.
It doesn't matter if Iggy is better or not. It matters if Fitts isn't better that the three you mentioned whom we might have drafted instead.
Higher impact position is debatable. We needed both an OLB and an ILB/ST to replace Christian Jones. That's who Iggy is and what his immediate value will be.
You’re assuming that if we had drafted an OLB in the 4th that we wouldn’t have in the 6th (Fitts). That may be true but not necessarily. Why couldn’t we have taken two shots at the position? Might make sense to do so given the need and the fact that day 3 draft picks are pretty much a crap shoot, especially late day 3. After all, we took two ILBs didn’t we?
As far as impact goes, assuming equal level of play, I don’t see how anyone can say that edge rusher wouldnt affect games more than ILB. That’s the very reason why edge rushers tend to get drafted earlier and why they hit FA less often.
Time will tell if Pace made the right choice but this pick was clearly his biggest head-scratcher this draft and that’s a widely held opinion out there right now if you read sportswriters and other fan forums. On one hand, Pace has done well unearthing some nice finds in the 4th and 5th rounds so I give him credit and hope this is another one. On the other hand, GMs do tend to fall victim to the “I’m the smartest guy in the room” mentality too. I thought he did that last year with Shaheen whom I loved as a prospect in the 4th or maybe 3rd but seemed like a major overdraft in the mid-2nd for a Div3 player.
It doesn't matter if Iggy is better or not. It matters if Fitts isn't better that the three you mentioned whom we might have drafted instead.
Higher impact position is debatable. We needed both an OLB and an ILB/ST to replace Christian Jones. That's who Iggy is and what his immediate value will be.
You’re assuming that if we had drafted an OLB in the 4th that we wouldn’t have in the 6th (Fitts). That may be true but not necessarily. Why couldn’t we have taken two shots at the position? Might make sense to do so given the need and the fact that day 3 draft picks are pretty much a crap shoot, especially late day 3. After all, we took two ILBs didn’t we?
As far as impact goes, assuming equal level of play, I don’t see how anyone can say that edge rusher wouldnt affect games more than ILB. That’s the very reason why edge rushers tend to get drafted earlier and why they hit FA less often.
Time will tell if Pace made the right choice but this pick was clearly his biggest head-scratcher this draft and that’s a widely held opinion out there right now if you read sportswriters and other fan forums. On one hand, Pace has done well unearthing some nice finds in the 4th and 5th rounds so I give him credit and hope this is another one. On the other hand, GMs do tend to fall victim to the “I’m the smartest guy in the room” mentality too. I thought he did that last year with Shaheen whom I loved as a prospect in the 4th or maybe 3rd but seemed like a major overdraft in the mid-2nd for a Div3 player.
I'm only assuming it because we had a need at both ILB/ST (to replace Jones and add competition) and at OLB (to replace Houston, McPhee, and Young). I'm also basing it on this not being a particularly strong draft for Edge Rushers. So why load up on even more guys who come with question marks?
Since many feel we reached for Iggy what if we reverse their draft order and we took Fitts (whom we also liked) in round 4 and Iggy in round 6? If both succeed it won't make a bit of difference. In truth the only guy to focus on is Fitts and how he does when compared to one of the other three you listed we could have taken instead. This seems to be the part that no one is getting including much of the media and fans yet many draftniks and other football guys do.
As for Iggy he will be what he will be. I actually give him a much better chance of succeeding faster than Fitts or the other OLBs we might have taken instead. I think initially his best work will be on ST but in college he was also used to rush both from ILB and OLB spots so he has some skills as a pass rusher. He's not as a prototypical edge guy but he's also exactly the kind or undersized hybrid player I thought we might be looking for like Orkonkwo and Mata'afa.
I realize he's smaller than both of them but also more versatile as far as his use on ST so I'm content to see how he works out vs the expectations Pace has. But again in my overview it's still how well Fitts plays compared to others we may have taken. Then we'll know whether or not Iggy was a bad pick vs who we could have had.