Sometimes players fall for a good reason, but sometimes evaluators end up being very wrong.
Draft analyst and evaluator Rob Rang recently compared the act of judging a team's draft right after it's finished to complimenting a chef on his food just by looking at the menu. It's an accurate statement and one that I certainly heed respectfully. It makes most sense to wait something like three years before really making an informed judgement, because there are just so many factors that play in to projecting how a human being will perform.
However, it's pretty tough to look through Day 3 picks and to not think that a few teams made off like bandits with some of their selections. Let's take a quick look at a few picks that really stood out to me as great values, keeping in mind that sometimes guys fall for good reasons, but sometimes evaluators end up being very wrong about how good a player can and will be:
Devonta Freeman, Falcons
RB, Florida St.
Round 4, Pick 3 (103)
I saw Freeman projected as high as the second round. The early fourth isn't a huge slide nor a big shock, but it's a very solid value for the Falcons. Freeman is sudden, explosive in a short area, physical, and understands pro-style pass protection concepts that should help him see the field early in his career as a third-down and change-of-pace back.
He emerged as the feature back for the Seminoles in 2013, and his vision, ability to slip through small cracks in the defense, and his excellent balance to bounce off of hits make him a great pick for Atlanta.
Keith McGill, Raiders
CB, Utah
Round 4, Pick 16 (116)
Reggie McKenzie and his team put together a pretty good menu this past weekend, if we're still going to use this metaphor. One of the mid-round highlights was Keith McGill. McGill lasted a little bit longer than some believed he would, particularly with the thought that big, physical "Seahawky" type cornerbacks would be more en vogue this season.
McGill boasts a 39-inch vert (belying explosiveness) and a 4.51-second 40, adequate speed in a press-man scheme, and physically looks the part with long arms and big mitts at 6'3, 211 pounds. The most common pro comparison I've seen made for McGill is Brandon Browner, and like Browner, in the right system with a specific responsibility, McGill has the dimensions and athleticism to develop into a cornerback of Browner's ilk.
Martavis Bryant, Steelers
WR, Clemson
Round 4, Pick 18 (118)
The Steelers let Mike Wallace go in free agency before the 2013 season, but got another speed merchant in Clemson's Martavis Bryant in the fourth round. I saw him mocked all the way into the early second round so it was somewhat surprising he lasted all the way through the third -- perhaps it was the fact that he only produced for one year or perhaps there were other concerns about him that led to the fall -- but what Pittsburgh gets are unteachable tools: size and speed.
Bryant has more than enough athleticism at his disposal and displayed a knack for attacking the football outside the numbers and in the redzone. He seems to possess an ability to sink his hips and run crisp routes underneath, a necessary skill for an NFL receiver.
Telvin Smith, Jaguars
ILB, Florida St.
Round 5, pick 4 (144)
Though slightly undersized at only 218 pounds, Smith projects as an excellent option at weakside linebacker in Gus Bradley's 4-3 defense. Smith's best attributes - play speed, instincts, play recognition, tackling and coverage - should come in very handy as he's ask to flow to the football and fly around to make plays.
Based on the scouting reports I've seen, he's an emotional leader on the field and in the locker room. With the young, hungry, and fast defense that Bradley is building in Jacksonville, this pick makes a ton of sense on several levels. It's surprising to me that Smith lasted all the way into the fifth round when I'd seen his projection as high as the second, but size concerns, scheme-restrictions, and a failed drug test at the combine likely hurt his stock.
David Yankey, Vikings
OG, Stanford
Round 5, pick 5 (145)
Yankey is a bruiser with scheme versatility and should be a nice piece of depth on the Minnesota line in his rookie season. Projections had Yankey as high as the first round in some places, but the scuttlebutt just prior to the draft was that these rankings were much too high.
Regardless the Vikings get a multi-year starter at both guard and tackle. He comes with a pedigree from the well-respected Stanford Cardinal line, where physical play and toughness in the trenches are their calling cards. The Vikings want to remain a running team, and getting Yankey in the fifth could pay dividends down the road.
Aaron Lynch, 49ers
DE, South Florida
Round 5, pick 10 (150)
Lynch is a classic boom-bust prospect with very good defensive end/outside linebacker type athleticism. He was timed at 1.52 seconds in the 10-yard split of his 40, showing elite get off speed. He has had issues with off-field distractions and effort on the field. Lynch looked like a star in the making his freshman year at Notre Dame, but transferred to USF, had to sit a year, lost weight, then never really got back to form. If the Niners can keep him on track, it's got the potential to be a very nice addition and could end up being a huge steal.
Cyril Richardson, Bills
OG, Baylor
Round 5, pick 13 (153)
Richardson had been touted as a sure-fire first-rounder during part of the college season but his perceived stock trailed off after the year ended and ended up somewhere around the third, as far as I'd seen. He offers excellent phone-booth power but can too easily get swiped aside by savvy defensive linemen, so he'll take a little development in the pros.
That said, he offers positional flexibility -- he played both tackle and guard in school -- and he's a road grader in the run game, certainly an attractive trait for a team featuring C.J. Spiller at running back. If the Bills' move to perhaps a more wide-open, spread-type of offense going forward in order to feature their stacked corps of wide receivers, it might benefit Richardson, who is very experienced in that from his time at Baylor.
Chris Smith, Jaguars
DE, Arkansas
Round 5, pick 19 (159)
Gus Bradley strikes again. Smith provides positional versatility. He can play defensive end, rush linebacker, or even drop back into coverage as a traditional linebacker, and boasts very good athleticism and body control.
I've seen comparisons to Charles Johnson thrown around, and while Smith may be a poor man's version of Johnson as a pass rusher -- he doesn't have many moves at the moment but does possess similar size and lower body power (37" vert at 266 pounds) -- he does have some tools to work with in development. His height is probably one of the biggest reasons he fell into the fifth after being projected anywhere from the second to fourth, but it should be interesting to see how Bradley gets him involved early.
Jared Abbrederis, Packers
WR, Wisconsin
Round 5, pick 36 (176)
Abbrederis doesn't blow you away with his measureables but he's extremely sure-handed and was absurdly productive for the Badgers after walking on there. Abbrederis displays a savviness in getting open and has excellent body control, is a good route runner, and should challenge for a roster spot in year one, even with a deep positional group in Green Bay.
Lache Seastrunk, Washington
RB 5'9" 201 Baylor
Round 6, pick 10 (186)
I like Seastrunk maybe more than others. He is a bit one-dimensional as far as the professional game goes. He caught almost no passes in college and isn't known for his pass protection chops, but when he's carrying the football, it's beautiful to behold. He's extremely, absurdly explosive in his cuts and shows a rare burst once he gets to daylight. He's a former sprinter with rare speed.
That said, he's undersized to be a bell cow back and likely fits best in a rotation. He's got some character red flags, and isn't going to run anyone over or push a pile forward. Despite that, he's a nice fit in Washington's rotation, and in my opinion came at a great value.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Chiefs
OT, McGill (Canada)
Round 6, pick 24 (200)
"Larry" is a raw, physically gifted guard/tackle prospect with immense upside. That said, and this is the reason he fell to the sixth, he's very inexperienced. He played in Canada, where offensive linemen are all right on the line of scrimmage, and he'll take a little seasoning to get up to speed.
Still, he plays with a nastiness that you can't teach, he's smart (pre-med student) and physically gifted. He apparently fared very well against high-level competition at the Shrine Game and frankly, after all the buzz around him pre-Draft, it's surprising he fell to the sixth.
Quincy Enunwa, Jets
WR, Nebraska
Round 6, pick 33 (209)
Enunwa was one of my favorite later-round receiver prospects just based on his incredible physical makeup and production in his final year. He has prototypical size, is a force in downfield run blocking, can use his body to block cornerbacks out and post them up in the redzone and ended the season with an absurd 12 touchdowns on only 53 catches.
He's a team captain whose only real issue is a case of the dropsies. Of course, this is an issue when "pass-catcher" is your job title, but with a little work on the jugs machine to shore up some of these drops, Enunwa could emerge as a very effective pro player.
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