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#USC cornerback Nickell Robey said he would forgo final season and make himself available for NFL draft.
#USC cornerback Nickell Robey said he would forgo final season and make himself available for NFL draft.
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RotoworldTCU DE Stansly Maponga will forgo his senior season and enter the 2013 NFL Draft.
Per TCU coach Gary Patterson, "all of the NFL scouts" he'd spoken to advised Maponga to stay for his senior season. The 2013 NFL Draft is incredibly rich on defensive ends, and Maponga isn't considered one of the better ones. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Mac Engel suggests Maponga's decision "smells like another kid who simply does not want to go to school." Maponga started 8-of-10 games in 2012, managing six tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He did have 13.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks as a sophomore.
I like how all his advice was stay in school and he's like "fuck that"Comment
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Rotoworld
Notre Dame RB Cierre Wood will forgo his senior season and enter April's NFL Draft.
Although he played second fiddle to Theo Riddick in Notre Dame's 2012 backfield, the more elusive Wood has a superior NFL skill set because he moves so fluidly and can explode laterally, whereas Riddick is more of a straight-line power back who will be undersized in the pros. Wood's running style reminds of LeSean McCoy, and he is also smooth in the pass game. Wood indicated that he received a projection of no higher than the third round from the NFL Draft Advisory Board. He could be a mid-round steal in April's draft.Comment
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Rotoworld
South Carolina WR Ace Sanders announced on his Twitter account late Tuesday that he will forgo his senior season and enter the 2013 NFL Draft.
Sanders announced on January 8 that he would return, but had a last-minute change of heart and is the 75th underclassman to declare for April's draft. Sanders, listed at 5-foot-8, 175, caught 45 passes for 531 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior. More impressively, he averaged 14.8 yards per punt return, bringing back two to the house. The return value might garner Sanders some looks on the second day of the draft, but he's more likely to be a fourth- or fifth-rounder.Comment
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Jr Jose Jose, DT from UCF has declared.
RJr Duron Carter, WR from FAU has declared.
RSo Bradley Randle, RB from UNLV has declared.
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Jose Jose is my new favorite playerComment
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333 invitations have been extended to college prospects to attend the NFL Combine later this month.
Quarterback: 16
Running Back: 38
Wide Receiver: 39
Tight Ends: 19
Offensive Line: 58
Defensive Line: 54
Linebackers: 35
Defensive Backs: 60
Kickers/Special Teams: 14
2013 Official Invite List
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When Ezekiel Ansah arrived at BYU from Ghana in 2008, very few people knew who he was. A few short years later, he's become one of the most buzzed-about players in the 2013 NFL Draft class. The pass-rushing prospect will be carefully studied, his potential measured and pored over by interested teams -- and fans -- for the next three months.
Given all the ink and air time that will be spent covering the most popular offseason event in pro football, people will get to know more about this guy than they know about some of their own family members. And that makes him a perfect example of how the draft has changed in the past 50 years. Because if it weren't for all that attention, I don't know if Ansah -- who didn't start playing for the BYU football team until 2010 -- would even be on anybody's radar right now, let alone a likely first-round pick.
In the 1950s and '60s, the draft hardly resembled what it is today. There was no NFL Scouting Combine; there weren't all these pro days and workouts. Teams didn't wait until April; the draft was held more or less right after the previous regular season had ended (so the 1964 draft, for example, actually took place in 1963). It also wasn't held in Radio City Music Hall; teams used to gather for the event in hotel ballrooms, setting up next to each other at banquet tables.
As someone who participated in several of those drafts while working for NFL teams, I can say the whole thing used to be kind of a bare-bones operation compared to what we have now. But it sure was a lot of fun. I thought I'd share some of my favorite memories from those days, to show just how much this event has changed since then.
You've got to be joking
With the exception of the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, most teams would come into the draft with football magazines or newspapers, like the Billings Gazette, which would, for example, have college all-star teams listed in them. The other thing most teams would bring was a whole roll of quarters. When someone needed, say, a tackle, they might go out to the lobby, pick up a payphone, call a school and say, "Hey, we need a tackle; you got anybody good?"
Here's an example of how loose everything used to be. Teams used to get film of prospects from the colleges they played for and against. The Rams, who were at the forefront of new techniques and tactics, were preparing for the 1956 draft when someone at the team suggested, kind of as a joke, that they get more film of this prospect named Dick Donlin from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. He was a basketball player, a track athlete and a football player, though he wasn't especially good. But the Rams called the schools around Hamline and got more film of Donlin.
Eventually, it was time for the draft, which I got to attend because I was working with the Rams on a part-time basis. In the second round, the Baltimore Colts used the 21st overall pick to select ... none other than Dick Donlin. In fact, not only did they draft him, they came over to our table and bragged to us about it.
It turned out that someone from one of those schools up in Minnesota called the Colts and said, "Hey, the Rams are really hot on this guy." Apparently, this was enough to prompt Baltimore to pick him. In the end, Donlin was cut before he ever played a snap.
Time was on our side
Teams that draft today have just a few minutes with which to make their picks, but the clock didn't used to tick so intensely. In fact, during the 1964 draft, when I was working with the Dallas Cowboys, I remember that we held everything up for five hours before we made our second-round pick.
We were thinking about drafting Mel Renfro, a running back out of Oregon. The thing was, the draft was being held on Dec. 2, 1963 -- shortly after President Kennedy had been killed. The assassination had so upset Renfro that he'd put his hand through a mirror. We knew he'd done that, but we didn't know how serious the injury was, so we called a doctor in Portland to drive the 100 miles or so to Eugene and give Renfro a look. The whole process took about five hours, and we waited it out.
While we were waiting, Vince Lombardi walked over to our table, laughed sarcastically and asked us if our computer had broken down. Eventually, we did draft Renfro -- we switched him to defensive back and he went on to grab 52 interceptions over a 14-year career before making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I'd say the wait was worth it.
A true talent competition
In the days before the AFL and NFL merged, the two leagues battled each other for talent, holding competing drafts and, essentially, attempting to recruit players away from the other league.
I was involved in one such recruiting battle during the 1962 draft when I worked for the Cowboys. A guy named Amos Bullocks, a prospect out of Southern Illinois, had been selected in the 10th round of the AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills. We knew that, but we liked him, so I called his mom to see if he'd signed. She said he wanted to play for the Cowboys and hadn't signed with anyone yet, so we went ahead and drafted him. After the draft was over, I got on a private plane and went to Carbondale, Ill., where he was.
When I walked into the building to meet Bullocks, I saw that he was sitting in an office with Bills head coach Lou Saban. The door was open, so I waved my hand at Bullocks to come with me. He got up, walked out, and came with me. I took him to a local clothing store, bought him a suit and some shoes and signed him. Then I brought him back to the office. When Saban asked him where he'd been, he said, "I just went out and signed with the Cowboys." So I said, "Thanks, guys," and got out of there.
Plenty of prospects nowadays would give anything to be selected with a draft pick. Donnie Caraway experienced the sensation three times in three years.
In 1956, the Washington Redskins picked him in the seventh round. In 1957, the Chicago Bears nabbed him in the 29th round. In 1958, he shot back up to the fourth round, where he was selected by the New York Giants.
That shows how chaotic the draft could be. There's no chance something like that could happen today, not with all of those television broadcasts and websites that'll tell you the minute a guy is drafted.
Back then, though, it was nothing like that. One draft I remember was covered by a handful of national writers and no one else -- no local newspapers, no one from radio. The only way to find out who was drafted was to scan the tiny "transactions" column in the sports page of the paper.
Room for change
There's always talk about having quarterbacks -- like Michigan's Denard Robinson -- change positions, and there's a long tradition of that happening. I can think of two college quarterbacks the Cowboys drafted while I was there who switched to another position and wound up doing well in the pros.
In 1965, we took Brig Owens, a quarterback out of Cincinnati, in the seventh round, and moved him to safety. He didn't end up making our team, but he did land with the Redskins at his new position and played 158 games there, racking up 36 interceptions. In the 12th round of that same draft, we grabbed a quarterback out of Miami of Ohio named Ernie Kellerman. I had to promise his college coach, Bo Schembechler, that we'd try him out at quarterback, but he was just so short and didn't have a strong arm. He was, however, a good athlete and ended up at corner. Again, he didn't make our team, but he put together a pretty nice 105-game stint with the Cleveland Browns.Comment
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Rotoworld
After watching over 250 of his college throws, NFL Films guru Greg Cosell believes USC QB Matt Barkley is a "fourth-round talent" on tape.
Cosell is perhaps the most respected tape watcher in football circles. "Number one, he has average arm strength by NFL standards," Cosell said. "Number two, his feet are not particularly quick, he has slower feet. And three, he's a little shorter." Elaborating on Twitter, Cosell said he believes Barkley could be an NFL starter, but would require an elite supporting cast. His biggest reservations are Barkley's arm strength and athleticism, as Cosell stated Mark Sanchez had a "stronger arm" with "much better movement" in the pocket coming out of USC. With opinions all over the map, it's hard to forecast where Barkley will be drafted. Clearly, though, he'd be a severe reach in the top ten.Northern Iowa WR Terrell Sinkfield reportedly ran a forty time of 4.19 seconds at Minnesota's Pro Day.
His first forty clocked in at 4.24 seconds, so Sinkfield was asked to run a third time following the 4.19. After stumbling, he finished with a 4.41. We don't buy the record breaking time and chalk it up to Pro Day differences, but found it notable nonetheless.Comment
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Rotoworld
ESPN's Merril Hoge lit into West Virginia QB Geno Smith on NFL Live Wednesday, insisting there "ain't no way" the Cardinals will draft him at No. 7 overall.
Hoge compared Todd McShay mock-drafting Smith at No. 7 to Mel Kiper hyping up Mike Williams before the 2005 draft. "In recent memory, I have never seen a more inconsistent thrower than Geno Smith," said Hoge. "Receivers that are wide open, (he) absolutely completely misses them. I got frustrated by watching him. ... You cannot be that inconsistent in college and then fix that in the NFL. Decision making, I thought under pressure he was below, below average. ... There ain't no way the Cardinals are gonna draft him. If Bruce Arians has anything to do about it, he will look at (Smith) and say there is no possible way."Comment
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David Caldwell was answering questions on Twitter today and had this.
Jacksonville JaguarsVerified @jaguars
Needs based RT @ncaiafa11: @jaguars what is the draft strategy? Draft need or best available?Comment
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I know he looked good in positional drills, but Jarvis Jones' poor performance in the 40, 3-cone and vert at his Pro Day is really concerning. Lack of explosiveness. Would be shocked if he still goes in the Top 15.
"Sometimes I just want to be with my family and watch movie and eat some popcorn. But when I step on the mat I know there is no other place I'd rather be." - Marcelo GarciaComment
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Earlier this week, as the Kansas City Chiefs were setting their schedule to host West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith on April 1, word emerged they were "fascinated" by the strong-armed prospect. They'd watched his every throw. They were enamored enough to say that the way he carried himself reminded them of a young Donovan McNabb.
That's what I reported Tuesday. The cries of "smoke screen" came loud and clear. Never mind that Smith was, to many, the draft's top QB. With Kansas City holding the No. 1 pick in next month's draft, skeptics doubted that coach Andy Reid, general manager John Dorsey and company viewed Smith in the same company as, say, Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel. But the words were real. And I trust the source.
Still, the caveats must be added regardless.
The truth? We won't know until draft day. And even then, we'll never know. Because maybe the Chiefs do view Smith like McNabb, who was the second overall pick in 1999. So in theory, they could take someone like Joeckel at No. 1 but still believe Smith to be the second-best player in this draft, like McNabb was perceived to be.
There is a guessing game in the pre-draft process. It's why NFL.com draft guru Daniel Jeremiah joked on Twitter recently that he stops believing most of what his scouting friends say in the month prior to the show at Radio City Music Hall. Who can believe anything anyone says? Everyone wants to increase value for a possible trade.
It's what makes the job of reporting news more difficult during this time of year. The reality is, the threat of a smoke screen -- feigned interest -- isn't the only problem. Faking a smoke screen is just as frustrating. No one knows what anyone is really thinking.
It's not new, either.
Which reminds me of a story of an all-time legendary smoke screen. It's one example why blowing smoke not just to reporters but also to fellow teams actually works.
It was mid-April in 1990, with the Atlanta Falcons holding the first pick in the draft and the Indianapolis Colts wanting a quarterback. The prize was Jeff George, the big-armed Indianapolis native who attended Illinois and was the clear-cut choice at No. 1.
George's agent Leigh Steinberg told Atlanta that George wasn't going to play for them, that he'd rather sit out the year than do so. But George was the best player in the draft, so it presented the Falcons with the problem of trying to trade the pick for value while the entire world knew they were trying to do so.
Steinberg told then-Falcons vice president for personnel Ken Herock, "If you can trade this first pick to Indianapolis, go ahead. We won't tell Indianapolis anything."
To remedy the situation, Herock arranged a workout for George on the Colts practice field, with Indianapolis' top brass (including owner Bob Irsay and coach Ron Meyer) watching intently. Let them see for themselves. And ... well, let Herock tell it.
"We're going through this workout and let me tell you this workout is phenomenal," Herock told me Thursday from his home in Georgia, where he runs a company aimed at helping prospects prepare for the combine and draft. "I'm going, 'Holy (expletive)! We're gonna trade this guy?? Not one dropped ball. Every ball is on-target -- short, medium, long. Why would I trade this guy? He looks phenomenal!"
With 15 minutes left in the workout and George showing no sign of slowing down, Herock, who famously drafted Brett Favre to Atlanta, went out on a limb in a move that sealed his team's draft fate. In a flurry of words, he proved why smoke screens can work.
"All the sudden I said, 'Hey, that's enough guys! I've seen enough guys! I don't think we can go ahead and do any type of a trade here,' " Herock continued. "'Shut it down. I'm not interested in that trade, guys. This is it. I like this player.' And I could see them scrambling."
After persuading Falcons owner Taylor Smith that he wasn't crazy, Herock ended the workout. As he put it, the Colts were perplexed. They couldn't tell if he meant it. But they took no chances, immediately feeling they had to do something special to trade for George.
"Next day, we get a call, the deal is getting better," said Herock, who eventually received receiver Andre Rison, tackle Chris Hinton and two picks for a trade he had no choice but to make.
The lesson? Even if words are true, they are spoken with a purpose. Sometimes, they aren't even true. Herock revealed that when legendary Giants general manger George Young was asked about prospects by reporters, he would simply quote the scouting guide written by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., pretending the words were his own. Really.
Which brings us back to the Chiefs. I believe what I reported. I also know the Chiefs liking Smith does not mean they will draft him. I also know Kansas City hasn't set its board yet, and Smith is very much in the running to be atop it -- along with several other players.
When I posed the question to two high-level executives, one told me Smith was the best quarterback in the draft and the Chiefs picking him would make sense. The other told me no way Kansas City passes on Joeckel.
Reading the tea leaves for other teams is just as hard. No one knows what the Jacksonville Jaguars and their new regime will do at No. 2. The Oakland Raiders' quarterback situation is in flux, so maybe Smith falls to No. 3 and they grab him. But word is the Raiders also love Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd. Wait, the Philadelphia Eagles worked out Smith, too, even taking owner Jeffrey Lurie to Morgantown, W.Va., to do so. Are they in play for Smith at No. 4?
And on and on.
The truth? We'll probably never know it. That's the way teams want it. But hey, there is less than a month until the draft, and then we can find out the truth. Well, at least some of it.Comment
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looking at past OVR #1 picks....looks like this will be the 4th time since '98, a non qb will be picked.
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