I am not disagreeing that it wouldn't be nice to get a whole position group/team of elite players, but I think if you land a Manti/Jaylon level guy you dont need someone elite next to them, you just need someone better than average. Which im not so sure that the staff did that when we had those guys.
Not getting Morgan ready to be on the field with Jaylon last year was a travesty. So I agree there is some missing the chances when we do land those guys. But to say we dont land elite guys at all is also very misleading.
Really interesting post, kind of hits on the bigger question of team building and recruiting focus.
Looking at the "playoff caliber" teams of the last decade or so, to have an elite team you basically need the following:
1. At least above average QB play, but a star at QB can make up for other shortcomings.
2. At least 4 Top 50 style draft picks or legit All-American caliber players in your starting 22.
3. At least 12 NFL caliber players in your starting 22.
4. No more than one "bad" OL, and ideally they're an interior player.
5. No holes on defense (i.e. a player or position group that can be exploited).
Go look at all of the good teams in this decade and they all have those traits even if they are stylistically completely different. You don't need to be dominant everywhere, you just need to check the boxes. Last year the problem was that Schmidt and Redfield were "holes"... but we generally came close to checking every box. In 2012, we truly checked every box by using a scheme that covered for "holes" in the secondary (until we played Alabama who was the one team that could run the ball on us AND had Amari Cooper).
If the coaches think Bauer flat out can't play, then fine. But if they think he's even
decent then it's negligent not to take him... because we never, ever hit 85 and you can go big game hunting for other players knowing you have a solid player on board. The biggest mistake that the staff has repeatedly made over the years is not recruiting enough
quantity which is how we get holes. Not recruiting enough ILBs under Diaco got us the problem with Joe Schmidt having to be an every down player. Not willing to take a chance on Sam Hubbard is the reason we have question marks for pass rush at DE. Not recruiting enough safeties (thanks, Cooks) is why we had literally no depth at the position last year.
We don't have these problems on offense, because we always recruit enough
quantity and take enough chances at WR, RB, TE that even when something goes wrong (Folston injury+Bryant departure, for example) that we can figure something out that at least is "good enough." What happens this year if Nyles Morgan gets hurt? What happens if Drue Tranquill gets hurt again? It's possible that a very good team completely implodes on account of a single injury or two because we didn't go out and recruit enough quantity. Last cycle was the first time in awhile that I think we really did a solid job of getting enough players at every level of the defense...
5 DB (Love, Studstill, Pride, Vaughn, Elliot)
2 Hybrid LB/DB (Perry, Morgan)
2 LB (Jonesx2)
4 DL (Hayes, Kareem, Okwara, Ogudenji)
For comparison, the last Diaco class had:
2 DB (Tranquill, Watkins)
0 Hybrid LB/DB
2 LB (Martini, Morgan -- late scramble add thank Jesus)
8 DL... more than enough quantity, but many were late scramble adds after Diaco hit the road
Where were the true holes last year? Safety. Nickel. LB. Not a coincidence that those were the positions where we lacked depth/quantity of people with any experience.
So you take Bauer, and you go out and you recruit another (better) player if you think that's what you need. That's what the big boys do. You don't settle on John Turner and stop recruiting the position. You also don't pass, wait until the last minute, and then swing for a Mokwuah right before signing day. You take the bird in hand, lock it up, and thne go back out after the two in the bush. Very simple.
