That and wtf happened with vontae last year?

Listened to Stick to Football pod this morning. 6-7 teams told Matt Miller the severity of Hurst's heart issue and that they don't think he should ever play football again.

You have a stronger brand on here than I do. I post multiple articles on the same thing and your thread is already multiple pages with more likes.

After reading this it looks to me like he did not reach for players in the way he grades them.

Obviously his BPA is different than the draft pundits.

I just hope he is right.

Well the thing is, the way he worded it, he doesn't care what other teams do or have guys ranked at, but then he goes on to say that he is sure that Turay would have been drafted in the next 10 picks. That means they do care what other teams do and where they have guys ranked and that Ballard is mainly being political here.

I wonder if Ballard is still getting a feel for the draft process and if he's reaching at times even though he doesn't think he is.

BPA is not real. They all draft based on a mix of where they rank the players combined with their team's needs/goals.

Yep. Luckily we'll get to witness first-hand.

IMO, the only big reach was Leonard, but if Ballard's right and he's David Thornton, then he's worth the pick. We'll see.

The way he worded the Smith pick made me feel like BPA is not the only factor. "Last guard with a starting grade" makes me think he wanted to ensure that he got a 2nd OL.

Yep, it's always a mix of need with the grades they have on the players.

As complicated as everyone wants to make it, it's simple. Ballard has an overall vision for the team. He has an idea of what the team needs, this year and future years, to be successful. And so with that vision in mind he values players a certain way, and picks the best player for his team, his vision. It is not some sort of objective Madden score where he'll pick an 84 TE over an 81 DE when his vision demands an upgrade at the DE position and not TE. For Ballard, the BPA in that situation is the DE.

It is clear from Hankins and Anderson that scheme fit matters a lot to Ballard, so he is not going to pick a great player that doesn't do well the things he wants that position to do.

That sounds right