FanPost

How does Angelo measure up?

Let's compare Jerry Angelo's drafting success with that of the worst teams (Lions) and the best (the Chargers--I think AJ Smith does the best job drafting) from 2002-2006. 2007 and 2008 are probably too soon to call, so I'm leaving them out.

I am only rating 1st-4th round success, as 5th-7th round picks have a very low rate of impact. With few exceptions, their upside is as a special teamer/3rd string role. This may be important to a team, but I'm not including it because it is too hard to decide what constitutes a good late round pick.

The scoring will be as follows. It is a pass/fail system. The player drafted either meets the success criteria or they don't. If they don't meet the success criteria due to injury, they still get a fail. Players picked in the top half of the first round need to be pro-bowlers or near-pro bowlers. Players picked in the bottom half of round one should be one of the best players on their team. Players picked in the second round should be above average on their team. Players picked in the third and fourth round should be starters. No GM will make this cut 100% of the time, but the better GMs should have higher numbers.

Players named will have a P (pass) or F (fail) next to their name.

First Round Picks:

Smith: 2006 Antonio Cromartie (P); 2005 Shawn Merriman (P); Luis Castillo (P); 2004 Philip Rivers (P); 2003 Sammy Davis (F); 2002 Quentin Jammer (F-he was extended, so they like him, but he didn't meet 5th overall pick expectations)

Millen: 2006 Ernie Sims (F-good player, but not worth 9th overall pick); 2005 Mike Williams (F), 2004 Roy Williams (P), Kevin Jones (F-injuries); 2003 Charles Rogers (F); 2002 Joey Harrington (F)

Angelo: 2006 (none); 2005 Benson (F!); 2004 Tommie Harris (P); 2003 Michael Haynes (F), Rex Grossman (F); 2002 Marc Colombo F)

Results: Smith 4/6=66%,      Millen 1/6=16%,       Angelo 1/5=20%

Second Round Picks:

Smith: 2006 Marcus McNeil (P); 2005 Vincent Jackson (P); 2004 Igor Olshansky (P); 2003 Drayton Florence (F), Terrance Kiel (F); 2002 Toniu Fonoti (F), Reche Caldwell (F)

Millen: Daniel Bullocks (F); 2005 Shaun Cody (F); 2004 Teddy Lehman (P); 2003 Boss Bailey (F-injuries); 2002 Kalimba Edwards (P)

Angelo: Danieal Manning (I'm calling him a fail because he's done as much bad on D as he's done good on KRs), Devin Hester (P); 2005 Mark Bradley (F); 2004 Tank Johnson (F); 2003 Peanut (P); 2002 none

Results: Smith 3/7=43%     Millen 2/5=40%    Angelo 2/5=40%

Third Round Picks:

Smith: 2006 Charlie Whitehurst (F); 2005 none; 2004 Nate Kaeding (P), Nick Hardwick (P); 2003 Courtney Van Buren (F); 2002 Ben Leber (P)

Millen: 2006 Brian Calhoun (F), 2005 Stan Wilson (F); 2004 Keith Smith (F); 2003 Corey Redding (P); 2002 Andre Goodman (F)

Angelo: 2006 Dusty Dvoracek (F); 2005 none; 2004 Bernard Berrian (P); 2003 Lance Briggs (P); 2002 Roosevelt Williams (F); Terrence Metcalf (P)

Results: Smith 3/5=60%,      Millen 1/5=20%       Angelo 3/5=60%

Fourth Round Picks:

Smith: 2006 none; 2005 Darren Sproles (P); 2004 Shaun Phillips (P); 2003 Matt Wilhelm (P); 2002 Justin Peele (F)

Millen: 2006-2004 none; 2003 Artose Pinner (F); 2002 John Taylor (F)

Angelo: 2006 Jamar Williams (F); 2005 Kyle Orton (P); 2004 Nate Vasher (P) Leon Joe (F); 2003 Todd Johnson (F), Ian Scott (P); 2002 Alex Brown (P)

Results: Smith 3/4=75%     Millen 0/2=0%     Angelo  4/7=57%

My Analysis: Angelo is a mixture of good and bad. He is horribly bad in the first 2 rounds--he is almost as bad as Matt Millen in the first 2 rounds, and Millen is the joke of the NFL. However, in the third and fourth rounds, Angelo compares favorably to AJ Smith, regarded as one of the best drafters in the league.

I think that the early rounds typically give you your high end talent, and the middle rounds tend to give you your quality depth. Perhaps that's the reason the Bears always seem to have a deep team without enough top end talent to succeed in the playoffs.

I think for a team that supposedly is built through the draft, Angelo needs to do a much better job in the first 2 rounds. Otherwise, he's going to need to make up for his early round draft failures with premium free agents.

hat tip to allhailmark for the post idea.

This Fanpost was written by a Windy City Gridiron member and does not necessarily reflect the ideas or opinions of its staff or community.