Maccagnan on Drafting for Need

[Doggin94it]

From the Francessa interview, but worth its own separate discussion.  Great articulation of why you go BPA:

 

1) You're grading younger athletes, so there's more uncertainty as to how they'll develop.  More risk involved.  So:

 

2) "When you factor in need you just set yourself up for potential mistakes, because it's something that doesn't really bear on whether the player will pan out or not."

 

It's not just about ceilings.  Basically, any time you draft for need, you are increasing the likelihood that the player will bust.

[#27TheDominator]

What does he actually mean by need?  I got most of my quotes second hand, but it seems he mentioned "fit" and "compliments what we have" when discussing Devin Smith.  It sounded an awful lot like "We needed a speed WR"  Being able to do what the coaches want from you is a big part of BPA for the position, but it can also relate to need.  For instance, they could have gone for a big bodied WR there (Funchess/DGB?) but then the coaches would have been asking them to run go routes to clear it out for Marshall, Decker, Amaro and Kerley and they would be primed for failure.

[Smashmouth]

From the Francessa interview, but worth its own separate discussion.  Great articulation of why you go BPA:

 

1) You're grading younger athletes, so there's more uncertainty as to how they'll develop.  More risk involved.  So:

 

2) "When you factor in need you just set yourself up for potential mistakes, because it's something that doesn't really bear on whether the player will pan out or not."

 

It's not just about ceilings.  Basically, any time you draft for need, you are increasing the likelihood that the player will bust.

Doggin I think this makes a lot of sense in the first round maybe even in the second but as the draft goes on it becomes much harder to figure who might just be the BPA at a given time. So if your in the 3rd or say 4th round and you have a LB/LB/WR/RB on your board in succession is it really so bad to go with need ? I don't think it is . What do you use at later stages in the draft to differentiate who is the better player ? Numbers ? Combine ?

 

With that being said I say in the early rounds mostly 1 and 2 go BPA then start to look for need later. What better example than this year taking yet another Defensive lineman It was a situation we could not pass up

[slats]

In the first round, especially high in the first round you really have to stick to a pure BAP philosophy. And that's what Maccagnan did with the Leonard Williams pick. A lot of people might've preferred White or Beasley, as they better fit clear needs, but Williams was such a better prospect than both that he was left with no choice (after fully exploring a potential trade down).

In an interview before the draft, he talked about BAP concepts, but also said that need comes into play when determining tie-breakers between a couple players. So -for instance- if he saw Strong and Smith as relatively equal prospects, but felt that Smith better fit the team's need, that's the way he was gonna go with the pick.

Moving moving into the middle of the draft, I think need comes even more into play as prospects have less and less separation. Also, you're still hoping to find starting caliber players thru the third or fourth round, and if you have needs, you need to address them before you get too late in the draft. Mauldin fit an obvious need. Petty fit an obvious need. If they had taken a RB in either spot, that could've been interpreted as a need pick, too.

Then with his last two picks, he seemed to be back in BAP mode. Harrison is Supposed to be very naturally talented, and would've gone much higher if he "loved football," or was "more self-motivated." Good risk in the fifth round. Taking another DT, a position that was stacked before they took a DT #6 overall, also had to be a BAP selection.

[Augustiniak]

basically, don't screw up picks in the first 3 rounds, and then the draft grades probably are very close where you can justify taking a position of need moreso than in the 1st round where a guy like williams has a substantially higher grade than someone like peat.