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Steelers News: Ridiculous draft grades and analyzing Pittsburgh’s picks

By Jake Bendrick

MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 25: Wide Receiver Chase Claypool #83 from Notre Dame of the North Team warms up before the start of the 2020 Resse's Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 25, 2020 in Mobile, Alabama. The North Team defeated the South Team 34 to 17. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 25: Wide Receiver Chase Claypool #83 from Notre Dame of the North Team warms up before the start of the 2020 Resse's Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 25, 2020 in Mobile, Alabama. The North Team defeated the South Team 34 to 17. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – DECEMBER 02: Alexander Mattison #25 of the Minnesota Vikings runs the ball against K.J. Wright #50 of the Seattle Seahawks during the game at CenturyLink Field on December 02, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. The Seattle Seahawks won, 37-30. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – DECEMBER 02: Alexander Mattison #25 of the Minnesota Vikings runs the ball against K.J. Wright #50 of the Seattle Seahawks during the game at CenturyLink Field on December 02, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. The Seattle Seahawks won, 37-30. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Why pundits’ draft grades are ridiculous

First of all, let me clarify.  I get it. Grading a team’s draft picks can be fun and it fills the pages these action-deficient days after the NFL draft.  I see why they do it. I just don’t see why any of us would take them seriously. At all.

Let’s look at the 2011 draft. We’ve had nearly a decade to determine how players selected that year have worked out and how the teams who picked them performed. Mel Kiper had shifted from the days when he would give every team the grade B or C, regardless of how much he loved or hated their picks. Instead, he was giving more diverse grades, and rated every team from 1 to 32 on their performance.

Team: Seattle Seahawks

Year: 2011

Mel Kiper’s Grade: D+

Kiper’s Draft Rank: 32

Round 1: James Carpenter, Alabama OT

Round 3: John Moffitt, Wisconsin OG

Round 4: K.J. Wright, Mississippi State OLB

Round 4: Kris Durham, Georgia WR

Round 5: Richard Sherman, Stanford DB

Round 5: Mark LeGree, Appalachian State FS

Round 6: Byron Maxwell, Clemson CB

Round 7: Lazarius Levingston, LSU DL

Round 7: Malcolm Smith, LSU LB

Kiper’s Comments: “…this is a very young team, and you suspect Pete Carroll expects improvement. I just don’t know if he added much this weekend.”

Reality: Richard Sherman became one of the best CB’s in pro football and will be in the Hall of Fame one day. James Carpenter started for multiple years, including the Seahawks’ championship run in 2013. K.J. Wright was a staple of the Seahawks’ linebacking corps. Byron Maxwell, like Sherman, was a founding member of the notorious Legion of Boom secondary that anchored the best defense in football for several years running. Oh, and Malcolm Smith was Super Bowl MVP in 2013.

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