In case anyone doesn’t know know, the theory is that there are only so many people on the planet with his size and athleticism, so when one comes along, you take him. Mazi certainly fits the mold–number one on Bruce Feldman’s "College Football Freaks" list, for example.
Is it a sound drafting philosophy, when you have a guy who fits the planet theory but doesn’t necessarily have the production to match? Beats me. But at least it is a philosophy, which is better than no plan at all. If they really had him at 14 on their board and the debate in the war room was about the trade down rather than who to take (you should never be debating that at the last minute for your first-round pick), then I’m cool with the process and the pick. I have no idea what trade-down possibilities they might have been able to work that would have guaranteed they could still get him, so I don’t hold that against them. I’m hoping that Quinn and guys like Parsons, with his enthusiasm and passion, can help him develop those traits into high-effort production.
