Here's the one thing however that I think some struggle with....first round picks have massive expectations and a GM is at times confronted with the choice of:
Option A - Draft the incredibly rare traitsy guy who does have good film, has had production but is still what many refer to as raw...he comes in as say a C type player but the sky is literally the limit for his future because he has so many uncoachable things.
Option B - Draft the guy that has production, good film, but is capped out on the uncoachable things. He comes in as maybe a B- or C+ player and likely will retire a B at most type guy.
BOTH of these prospects 100% are guys you can build a team with....Savage is a perfect example of a Option B type guy...starter level player, but arguably never built anything upon what he was. Starting level players are RARE human beings however....then you have Option A which are your Trey Hendrickson types potentially...take a while to turn into what they are...Rashan Gary might be the best GB example of this...but there are countless dudes like this shoot Travon Walker looked mid-level guy year one being a number one pick...Kayvon Thibodeaux also looked okay first year...Lewis Cine a first rounder who simply hasn't contributed....Daxton Hill has underachieved in many eyes as a first rounder for Cinci....
It's very easy for us all to sit without our job on the line or truly impacting an NFL (multi-million dollar business) to say don't draft the prospect who shows signs of being the next Trey Hendrickson and instead get that guy that is likely an 8-10 year pro but never All Pro....and that is pretending we know that much of the future of these guys....folks each year label a guy as raw or needing a few years and they come in and pop immediately (shoot...look at how well Evan Williams succeeded).
Yeah this is a good way to look at early round 1 picks. I remember Savage having a great rookie year, but he never grew past that. Gary was the opposite. I really hope LVN has a break out year. I've been back on forth on a Hendrickson trade. That would be a big, ballsy move by Gluten. I think if it was gonna append, we'd know already.
The GM is "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't". And this year the draft is artificially more important because there was little available in FA. That's not the GM's fault.
And then guys like Bakhtiari and Evan Williams come around (Bakh was a 4th rounder, Williams a 3rd I think). Bakhtairi became an All Pro and Williams ceiling looks very high. Add in E Cooper - and what team would not have drafted him in the first if they knew what he could do?
Things average out. Gotta trust the GM to make the best decision(s) given what he has to work with, and certainly Gluten has earned that trust. And when was the last time any GB GM made the entire fan base happy?
