Re: The NFL Thread
I'm not as avid a football fan as I am with basketball, but I know a few things.
According to mock drafts, the top pick, at least between quarterbacks, are JaMarcus Russell (LSU) and Brady Quinn (Notre Dame).
And then I'm hearing rumors of Troy Smith possibly dropping as low as the third round, after his dismal performance in the BCS title game against the Gators. Which isn't a surprise, afterall I wasn't impressed with him to begin with, all season, an "overrated" QB in a very "overrated" team.
JaMarcus Russell I think is being so hyped up right now, a late bloomer so to speak, just because he played extremely well against Notre Dame in the BCS Bowl Game, beating Quinn (a game I didn't see, btw). I mean, how can you judge a guy after one stellar game, and now all I hear is Russell, everywhere.
It sucks for Quinn, because I think his stock dropped after that loss to LSU. In my opinion he is the best choice at QB in this draft. He has been consistently awesome as a 4 year starter at ND, and I thought he was almost as good as Leinart when they played head-to-head with each other. I don't know, he reminds me a lot like Tom Brady. Hopefully Quinn beats Russell for the top pick.
I don't really pay much attention to other positions aside from QBs and Wide Receivers or Running backs, so I'll stick to what I know.
Other round 1 picks mentioned in Mock Drafts at the moment are:
Adrian Peterson, RB (Oklahoma)
Marshawn Lynch, RB (Cal)
I was afraid Peterson wasn't even going to make top 10 because of his prone to injury, but according to mock drafts, he's currently a possible top 5-ish.
This guy has potential to be as great as Reggie Bush, if it wasn't for his injuries. He's so strong and talented, he reminds me of Marshall Faulk. So I'm glad some teams are willing to risk it on this guy, even though his health is questionable. But how can you pass up this guy? A second runner-up Heisman candidate in just his Freshman year at Oklahoma! Imagine how good he would have been if he was healthy, he could have easily been a Heisman at least once!
Marshawn Lynch is pretty good too, I've followed him ever since he was at Cal. He's somewhat under the radar throughout his collegiate career (probably because the Pac-10 don't get any love), but he has always been among the premier running backs in at least 3 solid seasons. He rushed for over 1000 yards in 2 consecutive seasons, with 17 100-yard games.
The biggest surprise for me is Dwayne Jarret (WR, USC). According to the mock draft, he is in the 2nd round, early 30-ish. I don't understand why he is placed so low. It could be that most teams aren't looking for wide receivers right now, but even so, I can't believe he's not being so sought after. He is probably the most dominant wide receiver I've seen in College Football in the Matt Leinart era. I think of him as a future Terrel Owens, although not as cocky.
If Troy Smith is picked at all, possibly 3rd - 4th round, it might actually benefit him. Just to think of all the starting QB's in the NFL right now, most of them were late rounders.
Oh, although highly unlikely that he'll even get drafted at all, I like Jared Zabransky (QB, Boise State). For some odd reason he reminds me of Kurt Warner (meh, I don't really know much about him to be honest to be making comparisons, except after watching him in that spectacular game against Oklahoma). But this kid can play, and has incredible confidence about him. So hopefully he gets picked up.
