I hope and pray the Bengals go RB/S with their two picks in the 2nd (or S/RB).
I also want to take the opportunity to once again thank the Oakland Raiders for the extra pick in this draft for Carson Palmer…the gift that keeps giving!
I really hope the Bengals get Lacy with pick 37 and Swearinger with 53, although I’d also be happy with Cyprien at 37 if Lacy is gone and Bernard at 53 for a RB.
Do you want a QB who takes his ball and goes home when he doesn’t get what he wants? Do you want your team led by a guy who, when faced with adversity, just quits because it’s too embarrassing? I know I don’t.
If Swearinger is still on the board he’s not getting past Washington at 51.
Watched a couple cut up tapes of Kyle Long (Oregon State and Stanford). He looks like an athlete, not a football player. At 6’6" 313, he’s physically imposing and has the build and speed guys drool over, but he is not great at playing football. Some of my notes:
Redirects well, moving guys out of gaps and side to side.
Doesn’t finish blocks.
Physical specimen, could, and sometimes does, just manhandle smaller DT/DE
Cannot handle speed.
Good puller, great athlete to get to a spot … and then whiffs completely (this one showed up like 4 times, where he would get to the second level and just completely miss or not engage the linebacker)
Dives at knees and gets chippy.
Can be driven back, plays too tall.
All in all, I’m excited the Bears used a first round draft pick on a developmental project who flunked out of school, did a stint in rehab, has the build and athleticism to play LT, but couldn’t be trusted to, and who can’t handle speed. He’s a raw project who has shown, up to now, no willingness to better himself as a football player. Should be fun watching Datone Jones v. Kyle Long.
A thought on the Dolphins. If they manage to convince the Chiefs to trade them Branden Albert for their second (now only) second round pick at 54, their trade up to get Dion Jordan looks slightly less risky. But if they miss out on getting Albert in favor of going all in on Dion (who I love by the way, but I understand he’s raw and risky), that could be the worst move of the draft.
A note for the Cardinals: I know your O Line absolutely sucks, but grabbing a guard, any guard, at #7 is just silly. Although, to be honest, the lack of outstanding talent in this draft, maybe it makes sense to get a starter rather than take a risk.
I’m not a fan of Pete Prisco.
I don’t get it, I don’t get it, I don’t get it. The Bills have a history of surprising people on draft day and it hasn’t turned out well. They think they can outsmart the league I guess, and historically, they have not. So it’s hard to be optimistic about this. They must’ve been smitten with Manuel because they could’ve addressed another position and definitely picked a QB - maybe even Manuel! - in round two.
The Panthers, on the other hand, have to be satisfied with their pick. That worked out very well.
That - or Te’o to close out the round - would have been great TV. I’m sort of amazed the Vikings traded with the Patriots. Does anyone ever win a trade with the Patriots? It is almost literally dealing with the devil.
Can anyone confirm that Kiper went 0-fer in his final mock?
I, for one, like the Rams trade to #8. They got a speed slot reciever who will contribute on day one as a returner as well, something they have needed for a while; they moved up in the 3rd round and they shed 2nd and 7th round picks that they really don’t have the cap room to pay.
After the two trades they will have two starters, two 3rd rounders to address S and RB and a 4, 5 and 6 to add O-line and D-line depth and the LB class is deep enough to add depth/ST help there through UFAs.
I think most Cards fans are aware of this. Looks like a total need pick. Still, I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t really like any of the other viable options (most of the players I liked were the DTs and, to be honest, Arizona looks OK there and looks horrible on the O-Line). I said prior to the draft (I think - I was certainly thinking it) that the Cards were in a pretty bad position - wanting to trade down but with not much in the way of talent worth the 7th pick likely to be on the board, they were probably going to wind up holding the baby. I’m not going to kill them for this. They need to get someone to rush the passer now and someone to play safety - if they fail at that, then I’ll be ready to get the knives out.
Yet you have a crush on Dion Jordan, who produced 14.5 sacks in 4 years.
He didn’t take his ball and go home. He just isn’t going to spend another few hours pointlessly sitting in a green room. What on earth do you think this says about him other than that he doesn’t want a camera in his face for three hours? I don’t want the Bucs to draft him under any circumstances, but not going back for the second day is further down the list than the color of his shoelaces.
Should all the other guys who are projected in the second round show up today?
I think he should’ve slept in the green room. You don’t get to leave 'til you’re drafted!
I can’t believe this is a topic of controversy for people. I’m sort of surprised ESPN does this every year and that any player agrees to sit there for it. It’s kind of cruel. It can’t be any fun and the only reason anyone pays attention is to see if some sap gets stuck there and has to watch a horde of other players who were expected to go after him get drafted ahead of him on national TV. It’s not like Smith has anything to prove by sticking this out and he’s not leaving in a huff because one team didn’t pick him. If he’s going to get motivated by being bypassed by a bunch of teams, he’s as motivated as he’s going to get. And I really do think ESPN should stop broadcasting this and players should say no if they are asked to sit in the green room (some do).
What’s in the green room? Is there a spread? A big flatscreen with a PS3 and Madden? A big open bar?
On TV it just looks like a few tables and phones. I wouldn’t want to sit there for 4 hours either.
He didn’t quit, though. He didn’t take his ball and go home. He just declined to make a public spectacle of his own embarassment. I reject the idea that this situation, or Smith’s response to it, is in any way indicative of adversity at all, let alone his potential response to it.
I count 8 correct picks.
Thanks. Some mouth on a morning show claimed otherwise.
Somewhat on-topic: Criminal Records and the Labor Market for Professional Athletes: The Case of the National Football League. Basically, some guy’s senior thesis at Hamilton College, analyzing if being suspended by your school, or having a criminal record, affects an NFL draftee’s future football performance. He looked at draftees from the 2005 to 2009 drafts.
Cliffs:
Anyway, I thought it was interesting, and worth sharing with you all.
As for last night, I liked the Texans drafting what our local football guy called, “the most ready-to-start” WR remaining at that point, but I’m not happy that by doing so, they evidently didn’t do so well with last year’s WR draft selections. You’d think that burning a 3nd and a 4th would at least get you a marginal starter such that you wouldn’t have to spend next year’s 1st.
Mainly, I wanted the Texans to get Ogletree, thinking that he looks like the best ILB for their scheme, and that they could find other WRs later on. Hopefully, they can find a speedy ILB to help out Cushing. Or even possibly be his replacement, because I don’t think the Texans will have the $$$ for him and Watt, though I’d like to be wrong in that.
The problem with this is it was a trade up to the #8 pick in the draft. You shouldn’t have to take a slot receiver who can return kicks with the 8th pick of the draft. Marques Goodson, Ryan Swope, Josh Boyce, every year you can find a fast slot receiver/returner in the later rounds. When you trade up to #8, however, that player has to be very special. Some people think Tavon Austin will be that in the NFL. I’m not so sure.
Rookies are usually the lowest paid players on a team and draft picks are important for that fact if nothing else. “Shedding” draft picks to save salary cap is just plain silly.
The Rams drafted two very risky players, and reached for one of them. Personally, I think the Rams are taking too huge a risk, but, hey, I’m a Jeff Fisher hater so I’ll be happy if they flame out.
How a guy comports himself with the media or under pressure of the draft is an indication of the kind of character a guy has. When things are fine and he thinks he’s going in the early first round, it’s all good. But when things are bad, and things likely are going to be bad at some point in his career, he folds up shop. That tells me something about his intangibles.
I wouldn’t not take him because he’s afraid to be embarrassed on television, but it certainly would make me think twice about evaluating his intangibles.
If they were invited and accepted, yes they should. If they committed to being there, yes they should.