2011 Draft Grades – Fransburg (r)EvoLUtion

Staying with Dan Marino’s Wrist Band, let’s use part 4 of my 11-part series to examine the draft class of the 2010 champions:

Fransburg (r)EvoLUtion

Studs

The scoring doesn’t support the concept of any of these players being studs, at least not right away.  Elvis Dumervil is the closest thing, but his season was marred by injury.  Once the guy got healthy (week 9), he had at least half a sack in every game, and finished with 9.5 on the season.  If he can stay healthy, then this is a good pick (Franssen took him in the first round, ruining Hammond’s chances of getting him in round 2 as planned.)

Misses

You know what, I’m going to go ahead and call Daniel Thomas a miss.  Franssen traded up ahead of the Colliders to get his man.  Sure, Thomas was injured in 2011.  But when he was in the lineup, he freaking sucked.  When you score zero rushing touchdowns on the season, and get beat out for a starting RB job by Reggie Bush, then you really aren’t worthy of the third overall pick in the draft.  Thomas could change this determination next year, but for now, what a POS.

Selecting a middle linebacker with the last name of Matthews sounds like a good idea on paper.  Perhaps it was a tad bit of a reach to get him so early in round 2.  Matthews wasn’t good enough to crack the starting lineup of the Eagles, whose LB corps was widely panned as the worst in the league.  I mean, if you can’t get a job on that team, then you probably can’t play.  Adam agreed, and cut his ass.

Mike Martz was stepping in something, and coach Franssen could indeed smell what he was stepping in.  Adam reached for wide receiver Roy Williams in the third round.  Williams spent all season dropping perfectly catchable passes, and ended up losing playing time to the likes of Dane Sanzenbacher.

Too Soon to Tell

Adam picked Marcel Dareus in the second round, but didn’t sign him.  Instead, he offered him a free agent deal for a mere $2 (and 7 years to boot.)  Dareus showed some signs of life in 2011.  Though he played the run well, he wasn’t exactly a pass-rushing menace.  The price is right, and if Dareus can add some pass-rushing ability to his repertoire, then this could be a nice pick indeed.

Though he didn’t draft him, Adam was able to trade for Greg Little.  Little seems like he should be good, so he’s worth watching.

The Grade

Part of the reason the (r)EvoLUtion didn’t make the playoffs following their championship run is the fact that half of their roster ended up on the IR.  The other part, however, was the underwhelming draft. One could reasonably expect a lot more production from two first-rounders and two second-rounders.  With that being said, I think Fransburg gets a C for their 2011 effort.  This year, Adam again finds himself with two first-rounders, but perhaps more importantly he has three 7th round picks…where the value lies.

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