Jeff: Monday Musings: NFL Draft Edition

If you're looking for draft grades and wild speculation about who blew it and who made great picks in the 2006 draft, you'll find that on this site in about 3-4 years. That's how long it generally takes to figure out what kind of pro football players this latest group will be. Call it a cop out, but I was taken aback at how many of the picks were getting ripped by NFL anaylsts all weekend long. Granted there were some head-scratchers (see Buffalo's entire draft), and a certain pick that will make Texans fans want to...well they live in Texas so I'm not sure how it gets much worse (more on that one in a moment). Still, I had two prevailing thoughts about draft weekend after watching far too much of it, but before that some musings...

...I think Jer and I exchanged about 247 text messages from the start of the draft till the Vikings chose Chad Greenway at 17. LOVE the pick. Haven't heard anyone who doesn't. I think he plays and plays well for a long time. The 2nd round? I think we're going to need to trust our new regime that they know what they're doing. Like the Cedric Griffin pick, but Ryan Cook and Tavarius Jackson? These guys themselves didn't even think they'd be 4th round selections let alone 2nd!!! I understand that the Vikes really liked both of them, but why not trade down and take them in the 3rd or 4th or 5th round-when you'd STILL be taking them early? Apparently Jackson has the strongest arm in the draft, and pretty good mobility. He got a full ride to Alabama, but when he lost the starting QB battle to Brodie Croyle (3rd round to Kansas City) he transferred to Alabama State. He's going to need time to develop, and it sounds like the Vikes are confident they've got the guys in front of him to give him that time. We'll see.

...Let me be the first to say "You're my boy, Blue!!!" I think we may have a darkhorse for best selling Vikings jersey in 5th round pick FS Greg Blue from Georgia. Apparently the guy had a 3rd round grade on him, but for whatever reason fell. In the couple of Georgia games I saw this year, he was everywhere on D. Maybe not a great cover safety, but he's a big hitter. That could prove to be a steal. You're my Boy!!!! (you're humming "Dust in the Wind" to yourself right now, aren't you?)

...if USC had won the National Title, would their guys have slipped? We'll never know, but I think the teams that got these guys will be glad for it (more on Reggie Bush in a minute). I don't think Matt Leinart could have asked for a better spot. Yes he's probably upset he didn't come out last year where he would have gone #1 to San Fran, but I think Arizona will be great for him. And seriously, when's the last time ANYBODY should be happy to be playing for the Cards? I believe this might be the first time. Still he's got two phenomenal young receivers (quick name the only team that had two 1400 yd receivers last year...ok that was easy, yes it was Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Bolden of the Carrrrrrrrrrrrds), a workhorse back in The Edge, and the Cards stole big Georgia TE Leonard Pope in the 3rd round. Now we'll see if Denny can work some magic on the O-Line to give his skill position guys a chance. Kurt Warner will start the year, get hurt as always by week 6, and Leinart will finish the year, and be the #1 guy for 2007 (and if you think I don't want to pick the Carrrrrrrds to win the NFC West, well, you've got another thing coming. Especially with the Clippers about to win a playoff series, I mean, anything's possible at this point).

...Lendale White, who slipped to the 45th pick with Tennessee, says he has a 31-team chip on his shoulder. If the Titans had ANYBODY else around him with some talent, I'd feel better about my prediction for White to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Ah hell, I'll stick with it.

...that sound you're hearing is the Denver Broncos roaring to the front of the pack in the AFC. Solid draft (Jake Plummer NEEDS to convince Jay Cutler to grow a stache), and Jevon Walker will be the playmaker to replace aging vet Rod Smith. And don't think that Gopher C Greg Eslinger, who slid all the way to the 5th round, won't be playing in Denver for a long time. Perfect guy for that system.

...I don't know much about football, but I do know that if you want to win, you win in the trenches by building a good O-Line and D-Line. The J-E-T-S Jets!Jets!Jets! were wise to pass on Leinart for T D'Brickeshaw Ferguson, and then spend a late 1st round pick on Nick Mangold, the best center in the draft. The new front office guys are going to give Chad Pennington and Patrick Ramsey a chance to stay upright and make plays. It'll give the Jets a year to evaluate the position. Smart, smart move from the new coaching staff and front office guys there.

...The draft process is too damn long. I know the NFL pushed it back to the end of April to create more hype and money, but it's detrimental to the entire process. NFL teams don't need 3 months to evaluate prospects, and I think the media hype for players and the constant pressure and scrutinty teams are under makes them outsmart themselves or over think this. Or maybe, with so many "experts" out there voicing opinions, it makes the whole draft process seem a lot easier to boneheads like me than it really is.

...Merrill Hoge had the dumbest comment of the weekend from an analyst. When the Chargers took Florida State CB Antonio Cromartie (who had been injured for all of 2005) with the 19th pick, they showed his impressive highlight reel from the few games he actually played in at FSU. Hoge's comment? "The QB's he's playing against are terrible! They're throwing the ball to him! Quarterback's in the National Football League aren't going to be terrible and they aren't going to throw it to him." Um, Merrill? Compared to NFL QB's, ALL college QB's are terrible! It's the hardest position to learn! So by that logic, do we have any possible way to judge college cornerbacks? Oh, that's right the combine...

...During the combine back in February (back when I had the NFL Network) my favorite sports anchor/host Rich Eisen talked to an endless number of scouts and NFL personel about the scouting combines. The question he asked all of them was "do you guys put too much stock in workout numbers and not enough on their body of work in college?" All of them, and I mean ALL OF THEM, told him they didn't. The song and dance from NFL GM's and scouts was that the combine results meant little to them, and it was game tape and footage that meant the most. Bull**** I say. My two examples are USC's tailbacks from last year. Reggie Bush was the best college player on the planet last year. He was drawing comparisons to some of the best college backs of all time, and for once, they were right. He's had the highest ceiling of any running back since Barry Sanders. At best, he's Gale Sayers, at worst, he's Marshall Faulk. He's as close as you'll get to a can't miss player. He'll also put butts in the seats for years. So tell me how Reggie gets passed up by the Texans for a guy, DE Mario Williams, that nobody had ever heard of before the draft? I heard the Julius Peppers comparisons, but everybody knew who Peppers was well before he got to the NFL draft. Heck Williams might not even be the best lineman from his own college TEAM (see Lawson, Manny drafted 22 by San Franciso). Look at the tapes, and look at the college numbers, and how the hell can you not pick Bush? How?
The Texans can hum and haw all they want about signability and defensive team issues and everything else, but they blew it. The Texans made identical offers to Williams and Bush, and then Thursday night pulled the offer from Bush without ever negotiating. For whatever reason, which nobody but them understand, the Texans really truely somehow believed that Williams was worth the #1 pick.
Lendale White is the other guy that baffles me. I know he didn't run a 40, I know he had a poor showing in the bench press (which I know is something NFL players have to do on the field A LOT during a game- oh wait), but I also know he was a great college back. I know this because I SAW him do this all year against good competition. In the Rose Bowl, the biggest college game in the last half decade, he was the best Trojan on the field, rolling over a very good Texas defense. Maybe he's cocky, maybe he rubs some GM's the wrong way, but the kid can play!!
All in all, please don't tell me that the combine results are meaningless, when apparently, they mean everything.