Evaluation: Skill vs. Landing

[Space Cowboy]

Skill always wins out for me.

Personally, I like when a player goes to an "undesirable" location. Case in point.......

I loved Steven Ridley coming out of LSU. Got him late round 2 because Vereen was drafted higher.
Got Aaron Hernandez late because he was drafted behind Gronk.
Took Carroo last year (still have high hopes) at a great value pick because of Stills, Landry, Parker and Cameron.
Got Mike Glennon as an UDFA because he was behind lol Josh Freeman.
Got Mike Wallace as an UDFA because he was far down the depth chart.
excited for Erik Swoope in my TE premium who got as a FA because he was 3rd on the depth chart.
Got Pryor late in my recent startup because he was a Brown. Now he has Cousins and to me a ton more value.

I could go on and on. Point is, I love when a player goes to a "crowded" location. NFL landscape is constantly changing.

[Phaded]

A lot of people say skill will trump landing spot - and sure, that is the easy thing to say at the beginning of it; I ultimately agree that skill will trump landing spot (in many situations), but at the same time - "skill" is very open to interpretation and everyone has different things that they look for and you cannot ignore landing spot.

However; at this point in the process - it is hard to evaluate. Remember when this board considered Jaelen Strong one of the top WRs in the class? (I could pick several examples - just going with this one).

He then fell in the NFL draft and consequently fell in fantasy drafts. He has been a flop; and his draft position / landing spot helped dictate that.

What about someone like Justin Blackmon? There were character red flags - but what if he went to an organization that could handle it? Remember the steps that the Cowboys & Jerry Jones took to help Dez Bryant early in his career? Maybe Justin Blackmon would be one of the top wide receivers in the league had he gone to the "right' landing spot that could have supported him. It is not just about the on-field team around a player; but the organization is just as important.

None of us are professional scouts, we do this as a hobby. You can utilize all the formulas, tape watching and analytics that you want - but no player coming out of college is a sure thing.

You need a good blend of skill and landing spot. It cannot just be one or the other; I don't like the argument of choosing one or the other. They are both very important.

[James McGhee]

What about character/work ethic in comparison to talent and landing spot? There are those with less talent than others who have the drive to be better and the work ethic to match. Obviously this can't be measured as easily as athletic performance but does anyone else like guys that may be less talented than some but are obviously hard workers?

[CK_]

What about character/work ethic in comparison to talent and landing spot? There are those with less talent than others who have the drive to be better and the work ethic to match. Obviously this can't be measured as easily as athletic performance but does anyone else like guys that may be less talented than some but are obviously hard workers?

I would think Antonio Brown is a good example of that. I drafted him coming out of College but I love Slotty Receivers and believed in him with his situation but he wasn't very good in a lot of people's eyes due to the small school theory and his YPC. Hard work has definitely helped propel him to the top of everyone's lists.

[Space Cowboy]

What about character/work ethic in comparison to talent and landing spot? There are those with less talent than others who have the drive to be better and the work ethic to match. Obviously this can't be measured as easily as athletic performance but does anyone else like guys that may be less talented than some but are obviously hard workers?

Those variables are anyone's guess. No one knows those things, sometimes not even the player himself.

Of course during interviews they all say they love football, can't wait to learn the playbook, stay after practice, etc.......doing it though week in week out plus all offseason is a whole other thing.

[dlf_jules]

If Bishop Sankey had been drafted by a team that didn't have a clear opening at RB, would he still have been going in the Top 5 of rookie drafts in 2014?

He went in the top 5 of DLF's pre-draft consensus mock, for what it's worth.

[dm1129]

A lot of people say skill will trump landing spot - and sure, that is the easy thing to say at the beginning of it; I ultimately agree that skill will trump landing spot (in many situations), but at the same time - "skill" is very open to interpretation and everyone has different things that they look for and you cannot ignore landing spot.

However; at this point in the process - it is hard to evaluate. Remember when this board considered Jaelen Strong one of the top WRs in the class? (I could pick several examples - just going with this one).

He then fell in the NFL draft and consequently fell in fantasy drafts. He has been a flop; and his draft position / landing spot helped dictate that.

What about someone like Justin Blackmon? There were character red flags - but what if he went to an organization that could handle it? Remember the steps that the Cowboys & Jerry Jones took to help Dez Bryant early in his career? Maybe Justin Blackmon would be one of the top wide receivers in the league had he gone to the "right' landing spot that could have supported him. It is not just about the on-field team around a player; but the organization is just as important.

None of us are professional scouts, we do this as a hobby. You can utilize all the formulas, tape watching and analytics that you want - but no player coming out of college is a sure thing.

You need a good blend of skill and landing spot. It cannot just be one or the other; I don't like the argument of choosing one or the other. They are both very important.

I agree that skill is open to interpretation, however landing spot is also open to interpretation(For example I like Fournette to SF). Additionally, situation is much more fluid to future change than skill, a player either has skill/talent or he does not. There is too much short term thinking among many owners in dynasty. There are many that use Gurley as an example of why to avoid players to bad situations as if his career is done and the future is already set for him. While an owner should not ignore situation, skill is paramount.