Steve Keim - Gem Finder or Fools Gold?

[Cardiac]

I'm going on the record has a fan of SK but based on several posts over the past several years I thought it would be interesting to see if SK drafts from small schools too often. I reviewed this years roster and broke down how many players we have from smaller programs.

If a school is listed twice that means we have two players from that school. Also note that this includes the practice squad and IR players.


Akron
Bemidji State
Bowling Green
Calgary
California-Irvine
Delaware State
East Carolina
Fayetteville State
Georgia State
Harvard
Hillsdale
Humboldt State
James Madison
Miami (Ohio)
Monmouth (N.J.)
New Mexico
Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa
Northwest Missouri State
Pittsburg State
Presbyterian
Rutgers
Rutgers
South Florida
South Florida
Southeastern Louisiana
Southwestern Oklahoma State
UAB
West Texas A&M
Western Michigan

That's the list of small to tiny programs and it's rather lengthy IMO.

This next list of schools are division 1 (I believe) but not very successful or what would be considered power houses.


Connecticut
Connecticut
Idaho
Idaho
Kentucky
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
San Diego State
South Carolina
Syracuse
Utah State

I don't follow college football much at all so if you think I school should be removed from either list I'm more than open to moving them.

Here is the list of schools that SK seems to like because we more than 1 player on our roster from that school.


Clemson 3 players
LSU 3 players
Missouri 3 players

Alabama 2 players
Boston College 2 players
Connecticut 2 players
Idaho 2 players

Obviously some of this is coincidental but it can't all be explained away that easily IMO. Maybe there is more trust in some scouts than others or SK and the scouts have soft spots for certain schools or believe they have a connection with those coaches.

Also for clarification some of the small school players were picked up as UFA's and not drafted by SK.

 

[DVontel]

Ehhhh I wouldn't call South Florida & Rutgers "small schools".

 

[cardpa]

That's 30 players from small schools. I think that is pretty lopsided. I wonder how other teams shake out?

 

[cardpa]

A quick look at the Patriots roster shows 6 small school plyers on their active roster. This does not include IR or PS.

 

[cardpa]

The Cowboys have 18. GB has 14. Denver has 7, 14 for the Steelers, and 8 for the Seahawks. Again no IR or PS.

 

[Cardiac]

Ehhhh I wouldn't call South Florida & Rutgers "small schools".

Well they aren't really power houses either and didn't Rutgers just get their FB program back after losing it? I may be misremembering that one.

So you think they belong in the 2nd grouping of schools and I'm okay with that.

 

[Cardiac]

The Cowboys have 18. GB has 14. Denver has 7, 14 for the Steelers, and 8 for the Seahawks. Again no IR or PS.

Thanks for the leg work on this, I was at work and bored but didn't have time to look into the other teams until now.

 

[Cardiac]

4 comparison sake the Cards have 4 players from tiny schools on their PS. That leaves 24 players on IR or the 53 man roster.

I like that they leave no stone unturned and SK and the Cards have found some gems from those small schools. List starts with David Johnson and includes John Brown, JJ Nelson, and Bethel. That's just the ones the Cards drafted that have fully proven themselves. Watford, Fells (UFA), Gunter, Brittan Golden and Gabe Martin have made contributions as well.

 

[cardpa]

4 comparison sake the Cards have 4 players from tiny schools on their PS. That leaves 24 players on IR or the 53 man roster.

I like that they leave no stone unturned and SK and the Cards have found some gems from those small schools. List starts with David Johnson and includes John Brown, JJ Nelson, and Bethel. That's just the ones the Cards drafted that have fully proven themselves. Watford, Fells (UFA), Gunter, Brittan Golden and Gabe Martin have made contributions as well.

I think the shortfall of this is it takes much longer for them to develop into contributors which can hamstring the team short term. Most of the players you mentioned have had steeper learning curves and took longer than yo would normally like to become true contributors. I think they need to find a better balance between larger school players and small school players.

 

[Cardiac]

I think the shortfall of this is it takes much longer for them to develop into contributors which can hamstring the team short term. Most of the players you mentioned have had steeper learning curves and took longer than yo would normally like to become true contributors. I think they need to find a better balance between larger school players and small school players.

Good point. Although the past couple of years SK's 1st rd picks from big programs haven't been ready to contribute immediately either.

 

[cardpa]

Good point. Although the past couple of years SK's 1st rd picks from big programs haven't been ready to contribute immediately either.

Excellent point. In Humphries I think they saw long term potential and drafted thinking they wouldn't need him right away and Kdemdiche (sp) I think they just thought they could, well I'm not sure what they were thinking when they drafted him.

 

[Hollywood]

Excellent point. In Humphries I think they saw long term potential and drafted thinking they wouldn't need him right away and Kdemdiche (sp) I think they just thought they could, well I'm not sure what they were thinking when they drafted him.

They were thinking that he was a top 5 pick at the bottom of the first round.