Quote:
Originally Posted by Dam8610
That's just not true. The only DBs Ballard has drafted that would rightly be called a "miss" are Quincy Wilson, Rock Ya-Sin, and Julius Brents, Ballard clearly shouldn't draft CBs in Round 2. He's had some home runs at DB, too, such as Isaiah Rodgers (who he shouldn't have cut), Jaylon Jones, and Rodney Thomas II (2 seasons of decent starting safety play out of a 7th round pick is far more than you could ever expect). There's also a lot of quality starters, mostly at S. Malik Hooker, Julian Blackmon, Khari Willis, and Nick Cross. What the team needs to do better at DB, shockingly, is retain their own quality players. I'm sure everyone would feel a lot better about the DB depth of the team if Isaiah Rodgers and Nick Cross were still on it.
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Depends on your perspective I guess. Willis has been out of football since 2022, Hooker was a huge miss at 15 (he is a starting safety however) Blackmon starts and Cross wasn't good enough for us to resign (we have the money). 'Hitting' on 7th rounders means you have a dude who makes the team, not someone that is foundational on your team. They may have had Jones/Thomas start but from how they continue to try to replace them it doesn't appear they start because they are really good, they are all we have. The proof that we draft DBs like shit is that 3 of our 4 starters were not drafted by us. We are not filling out the defensive backfield with free agents, they are the only way we seem to get DBs we hold onto (that and giving up multiple first round picks). Not sure who you blame for an atmosphere that allows Rogers to do what he did, but it is a blight on the team that we had a dude betting on games. For a man who preaches building through the draft I just do not see it in this defensive backfield. Maybe it would have been more accurate to say Ballard hasn't drafted one difference maker in the defensive backfield since he got here.