Luck was never contacted

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

I don't really care how AD performs. Pundits say that since it worked out for the team, somehow it was a bad trade for the other team. There is no way to know how the player would have performed on his previous team if he was not traded. Sometimes a player only improves by having a new situation, either because the situation is better for him, or because he only learned to improve by the first team giving up on him. In the case of Mitchell, he was a luxury as a WR4, and we needed a CB a lot worse, so it was a good trade, at the time. Hindsight is always 50/50, but GMs do not have crustal balls to know how it will work out, but they swing for the fences anyway. Ballard haters will always play the hindsight game. But they only play it when it turns out bad, and not when he gets a player like DeForest Buckner.

I actually agree with this and under normal circumstances would think it is good criticism. I think however that the amount of leeway you give a player when you know when you draft him he has huge holes in his game but still gamble a second round draft pick on the man is greater than this. I agree you never know but if you are going to spend a second round draft pick on a dude you damn well should know before you give up on him. It isn't something you fire people over but when you decide to keep Banogu for years but give up on AD (assuming he turns it around) I do believe it says something about your player evaluation.