G/C Big Board

[Icness]

From the main page...
http://football.realgm.com/src_encroach ... sive_line/

I really love this center class. The top 5 guys this year are better than anyone who came out last year. I got a chance to watch some clips of Cecil Newton and he's legit. Good variety of styles available too.

Not as bullish on the guards except for the top 3. I go back and forth on Herman Johnson and I think most teams are too. I've brought up why I'm down on Unger before, and I think y'all would be surprised at how much company I have in that boat. Of course it only takes one team to see him as a 2nd rounder, and I know those are out there too.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Jeff,

You've often mentioned that teams need to be patient with a drafted player--especially in the later rounds--and that they could see great rewards for this later. I would be very interested to see you rank the top 5 and bottom 5 most "patient" NFL teams when it comes to nurturing draft prospects, and examples always help. Thanks.

[Icness]

Jeff,

You've often mentioned that teams need to be patient with a drafted player--especially in the later rounds--and that they could see great rewards for this later. I would be very interested to see you rank the top 5 and bottom 5 most "patient" NFL teams when it comes to nurturing draft prospects, and examples always help. Thanks.

Excellent question!

This is pretty much off the top of my head and I reserve the right to change my mind after I sleep on it...

5 Best Teams with Patience
1. Indianapolis Colts--notice how they never dip into free agency? They draft for what they're going to need in 1-2 years, not what they need now. They do a great job of nurturing players and identifying collegians who will fit with what they want. Bill Polian did that in Carolina too.

2. Green Bay--hard to argue with Aaron Rodgers. They've had a real nice run of coaches who are exceptional teachers and developers of talent, both head coaches and positional coaches.

3. Cincinnati--they don't have a lot to show for it in terms of wins, but they are very good at getting their young players experience and building off what the players they have do well. Their secondary is a great example--they've lived thru the lumps and ditched the veteran mentors, and now they have the best young secondary in the NFL. Seriously. Stacy Andrews, Housh, and Geathers weren't exactly finished products when they came in but earned real nice second contracts.

4. Pittsburgh--They do a great job of identifying "Steelers". A lot of guys who thrive with them would not fit in many other places, not right out of college anyways. And they don't give up on them when they start poorly, like Timmons or Holmes or Kemoeatu or Gary Russell, a guy nobody else wanted.

5. Seattle--sort of continuing on the Green Bay theme, just not as successful at so many spots.

The 5 least patient:
1. Oakland Raiders--aside from the free agents last year, look at how they've screwed with guys like Gallery, Huff, Washington and all the freaking RBs. What was the last player they drafted themselves and then developed into a quality starter over time? Ron Curry?

2. Chicago--they've already cut a 2007 2nd and 3rd rounder, they gave away Chris Harris for nothing because they thought he couldn't play, they gave up on Marc Columbo, and it sure sounds like they're ready to pull the plug on Earl Bennett already. Poor scouting + terrible player development by the coaching staff the last couple of years.

3. Detroit-- 0-16 pretty much proves it.

4. New England--there's a reason why they sign so many old free agents every year. Chad Jackson, Laurence Maroney, their entire 06 and 07 draft classes other than Meriweather--no time for love, Dr. Jones! And don't come back with Matt Cassel; he stuck because he was cheap and they thought they'd never have to use him. Look at how radically they changed their offensive system to fit him, instead of plugging him into what they were already doing.

5. Toughie. Denver comes to mind, so does San Francisco.

[WAYSA]

Ryan Hamilton, Illinois--I mention him because he’s a great, intelligent young man who happens to be a product of my local high school (West Ottawa HS, Holland MI). He’ll get a look in a camp, but on the gridiron he’s more like an undersized RT playing C.

I know you know his last name Jeff. I'm just wondering what you were thinking when you typed in Hamilton?

McDonald is probably going into graduate aerospace engineering. How he managed to do that while playing big time B10 football is impressive. Illinois has one of the best engineering schools in the country as well.