Can Pace learn from his mistake regrading top 10 picks?

IMO, here is the reality. It is not easy. We have been drafting high, but not high enough to have a sure thing at the really sought for positions. In a few of those years, even though we drafted high, a guy we wanted went literally a position or two ahead of us. So he has gone with maybe not so sure a thing but potential. With Whit, that one is borderline. It was going back and forth between him and Cooper as to who the top WR was. The guys that took Cooper did some good scouting and took him. Some thought White might actually have had a higher upside -- and maybe he does, but he also has a lower downside and we are seeing it now. Not sure anyone was really worried about his bones. As it turned out, we should have been.

I think we have to institute a test during tryouts where we break a bone and see how fast it can heal. We would have known.

That's because we won meaningless games. I've said it before and I'll say it again. If we ain't making the playoffs ( A for sure out ) its time to tank to get that draft pick. We ain't talented enough as a team to do otherwise.

Imagine if we didn't beat the Bucs? We would of been in the top 10 without trading up. We could of then traded up and got better players without costing us too many picks. Honestly I wouldn't mind having Buckner or Stanley 

Imagine if we didn't give the Jets Brandon Marshall. Olds are they would of drafted Kevin White instead and we could of got Williams. 

Yet you have some here saying we should win meaningless games again and continue this mediocrity we've had for a decade+ now? 

White was never injured in college and showed no signs of being injury prone. The injury he sustained in OTAs is due to overtraining. There was nothing that indicated this would be a reoccurring thing. Sometimes players just have bad luck. He was picked because he made incredible progress in just playing two years of football prior to being drafted. He has good hands and expecting him to be 100% on everything after rehab is ridiculous. It takes time to get back into the things and before this current injury he looked like he was doing just that and steadily improving. Regarding his route running all but a few college WRs need to learn new routes when they get into the NFL. Most WRs do not play in pro style offenses and need time to pick things up. Those with that skill set coming into the pros are rare. White is not some anomaly in that area.

Floyd left school after his junior year and is basically playing his senior year in the pros. I'm sure Pace understood what he was getting. An incredible athlete who has shown great instincts but is going to take sometime to grow into his body. Pace has all but stated that this is going to be a 3-4 year project to get this team into playoff shape. Floyd has plenty of time to learn the trade and bulk up. 

Finally the "Day 1 Starter" idea is no longer valid. When guys played all four years of college before entering the draft that was a real possibility. However with the rookie wage cap college players are leaving early to get into the pros sooner because by not doing so they could cost themselves millions. This is because they can't renegotiate their contract for the first 4 years of their career. Before the CBA it was often a good idea to play all four years of college to maximize their rookie contract but since that's a fixed salary now it's better to go in early and get the 4 year contract out of the way. This means you unlikely to see nearly as many day 1 starters until that situation changes. 

damned divots