Brandon Graham

[eaglesnut]

Well, it predated this board, but I think very few fans were pissed off by the initial selection. Some did want Earl Thomas as a Dawk successor. But Graham was not an unpopular pick.

What DID happen is that Graham was slow to contribute and JPP emerged as a major force early, so a lot of fans second guessed whether we took the right DE. In the end, I think the choice was the right one, but Graham took a while to blossom.

His now-classic strip sack of Brady is a textbook example of what is known as a push-pull move. The guard, Shaq Mason, was trying to push him away. So Graham pulled Mason in that direction and did a slingshot move past him, using Mason's own momentum against him. Subtle but very pretty pass rush move by a veteran D lineman.

I hadn't noticed before that Chris Long was blowing up his blocker so bad that he almost pushed him into Brandon's path.

 

[mannyz]

I remember every year, Wings would tell us this is the year BG is going to become a star. Wings always pimped BG. In the end, he was right. We don't see Wings much on here.

 

[ErkTheJerk]

I remember every year, Wings would tell us this is the year BG is going to become a star. Wings always pimped BG. In the end, he was right. We don't see Wings much on here.

Wings is quite active on Facebook. He's doing well.

 

[I miss Dawkins]

Hey Erk, Do you still keep up with Flipper?? He should be back here celebrating this with us.

 

[mannyz]

Wings is quite active on Facebook. He's doing well.

I see Wings on Facebook. He is big into fishing these days.

 

[ErkTheJerk]

I see Wings on Facebook. He is big into fishing these days.

Yeah, a little bit. I'm surprised he has the patience for fishing.

 

[Taz]

Was really surprised that Wings didn’t check in after the Super Bowl win. I have not been posting as much as I used to but still wanted to,get the feel

 

[ErkTheJerk]

I have not been posting as much as I used to but still wanted to,get the feel

Yeah, same here. How ya been, Taz?

 

[Taz]

Yeah, same here. How ya been, Taz?

Busy with raising kids and work but man am I stoked about being a World Champ.

 

[Darth Dawkins]

Anyone know how Raid and Wiz are doing?

The thing with BG like someone else mentioned is it took a LONG time for him to become an impact player. Wings had him as his avatar before the draft in Michigan Blue. A lot of us weren't impressed with the trade up and then years of not much. We were wrong.

 

[old duke]

Anyone know how Raid and Wiz are doing?

The thing with BG like someone else mentioned is it took a LONG time for him to become an impact player. Wings had him as his avatar before the draft in Michigan Blue. A lot of us weren't impressed with the trade up and then years of not much. We were wrong.

We weren't wrong. BG turned out great, but Earl Thomas still was the better choice at that time.

 

[eaglesnut]

We weren't wrong. BG turned out great, but Earl Thomas still was the better choice at that time.

Nope. Brandon Graham is responsible for the play of the game that WON US A SUPER BOWL.

Whatever fiction you can imagine where Earl Thomas would have lead us to the same didn't happen.

We have hindsight now to show us clearly the correctness of the Graham pick.

 

[Orlando Eagles]

Nope. Brandon Graham is responsible for the play of the game that WON US A SUPER BOWL.

Whatever fiction you can imagine where Earl Thomas would have lead us to the same didn't happen.

We have hindsight now to show us clearly the correctness of the Graham pick.

I don't think OD is disputing that.....but he is right....Thomas was the right pick at the time. "At the time" being the key to this. It is crazy though......if we made the right call at the time we might not be here now. Life is fun!

 

[eaglesnut]

I don't think OD is disputing that.....but he is right....Thomas was the right pick at the time. "At the time" being the key to this. It is crazy though......if we made the right call at the time we might not be here now. Life is fun!

"At the time" is irrelevant and just a whitewashing of what actually transpired. Graham was always the right pick because he proved to be. That's how "correct" or "right" is ultimately defined. The master equation that equaled our Super Bowl Win is incomplete without drafting Brandon Graham there.

I thought you were on the right track when you acknowledged a few weeks ago that "there now exists a before the super bowl win and an after the super bowl win." If you don't keep the "Before" intact then the event that produces the "After" fails.

 

[CSB]

It's hard to say Graham "proved to the right pick" unless you know what would have happened if someone else was the pick. We don't know, but we can speculate, and it's OK to think there were better options...

 

[Northern Eagle]

It's why the draft can't be judged immediately after it happens. And BG has been through some crazy shit in his career with Philly to get to this point. From the knee injury to the Earl Thomas/JPP criticisms, Jim Washburn, Chip Kelly scheme change to almost getting cut for Travis Long (!!!) He has definitely traveled the long beaten path to get to where he is. He deserves his big payday, whether he gets it here or elsewhere. Hopefully here.

 

[old duke]

ENut, my friend, you missed the point. I'm not dissing BG, just remembering that Thomas was the best choice at the time. We have suffered at Safety until we got Malcom.

 

[eaglesnut]

ENut, my friend, you missed the point. I'm not dissing BG, just remembering that Thomas was the best choice at the time. We have suffered at Safety until we got Malcom.

And I think you are missing the point. It turned out that Thomas wasn't.

 

[CSB]

And I think you are missing the point. It turned out that Thomas wasn't.

There is no way to know how things would have turned out if they drafted Thomas. It is now exactly what it was then - pure speculation.

 

[eaglesnut]

There is no way to know how things would have turned out if they drafted Thomas. It is now exactly what it was then - pure speculation.

I know. All the real evidence belongs to Graham.