Joe Haden

[Enigmatic Evil]

I am excited to see him suit up in the brown and orange and put all the discussion to rest, I think it's only a matter of time before Haden's play in the pre-season causes everyone to go "THAT is why we took him at #7". We took the BPA at a position of great need as many others have pointed out. Was he the 'safe' pick? You bet your ass he was but the fact of the matter was Haden's rank among his position had far more clout than any top level QB's in this years draft had in their position (or other Positions of need, like WR, for example).

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by DaBrowns41

Exactly right, Tom.

People just need to realize that the sexy picks don't always cut it.

Haden was the most talented player at a position we had a great need for.

His ability to change direction, as well as his footwork, and collegiate stats (never gave up a TD), all speak of what this kid is made of.

Is it Berry? No.

Is it Bradford? No.

If you ask me to go back and take Adrian Peterson instead of Joe Thomas right now, I'd still say no, even after seeing what AP could do at the Pro level.

Some people just need to realize that sexy picks aren't always going to cut it. How well did Braylon and Kellen Winslow work out for us? What about Fast Willy Green?

Kamerion Wimbley was a reach at his spot because the coaches thought they saw something in him nobody else did. They thought they were getting that steal in the top end of the first in one of the four core positions.

The list truly goes on.

You make some very good points DaBrowns! I also like what EE says about BPA. We needed a pick of the litter at one of our perceived weaknesses. While WR was thought to be a weakness heading into the draft - last year it was supposed to be a strength with a very high paid former first round FA Stallworth and Edwards. They both boned us and we were left with inexperience. It's tough to make conclusions beyond inexperience and QB issues for the WR position. Just because we refrained from starting Robiskie as a second ROOKIE starter at WR - doesn't mean he's gonna suck. Miles Austin had 5 receptions as a rookie while Robert Meachem had 1 catch for 20 yards for New Orleans. BOTH got considerably better with experience.

As for the QB position, Holmgren looked like the only brass leader trying to make a deal for Bradford and after that he felt like everyone else wasn't worthy of excitement before round 3.

I last posted in this thread on April 24th before going back to re-watch the youtube highlights of Haden from this thread. I re-posted yesterday because I'd really like people to watch that video. I think you can just click on the reply I made to Alo yesterday where it says youtube in his comments I extratced (in grey) without searching through all the pages again. It's impressive. That's what he looks like in pads behind a pass rush instead of in shorts and t-shirts where QBs can take longer without any blitzing to contend with. Try to remember Northcutt used to be the superstar every May and June when they didn't have the pads on yet. When it was time to suit up - he couldn't get off the line of scrimmage so we had to burn 2 more 2nd round draft picks on Quincy Morgan and Andre Davis. Hopefully, Haden is just the opposite. Our defense is going to rotate people at almost every position so it's not gonna be as bad as people think if Haden begins as a 3rd corner. If Anthony Henry could snag us 10 INTs from that role as a rookie - it means there's considerable playing time in that capacity. It also meant that role was VITAL to our defense leading the AFC in INTs in 2001.
- Tom F.

[mz.]

Originally Posted by Alo

By the way, I came back to Haden as an option at #7 after I went back and studied Kareem Jackson & came to the conclusion that he wasn't nearly as good as Haden.

So the "we could've gotten Kareem Jackson later" argument doesn't sway me. And I'm not sure what happened with Kyle Wilson: could have been an injury issue, could have been concerns about there being almost no tape of him facing high-caliber wideouts (Haden faced top-flight guys almost every week in the SEC, and he shut them down).

Perhaps Haden wasn't the only fresh meat CB struggling after all:

I wasn't in great position to see 11 on 11s today, but Kareem Jackson still looks rough. Got beat deep by Dickerson, dropped an INT.

via here