If so, that’s a solid 4-6 1st rounders less than some people said.

to ponder who the top 21 are… I think (hope) I have a feel for how you present your inside info Raf, so that’s a pretty low number compared to recent drafts.

Does your trusted source feel there is a large 2nd round group?

to me this indicates unless we target and chase a specific first round grade, we are going to trade back

QB: Bradford and Clausen.
OT: Okung and Davis.
DE: JPP and Morgan.
DT: Suh, McCoy and Williams.
LB: McClain and Kindle.
CB: Haden.
S: Berry.

That’s 13 players that seem to be as likely 1st Round picks as possible, there are also some guys that should sneak in if they respond some of the question marks that hovers above them:

Bulaga: Tyroid Condition.
Bryant: Character.
Williams: What is he? Not a LT? A RT? G?
Campbell: Is he all about measurables?
Dunlap: Inconsistency.
Graham: 3-4 OLB?
Price: a bit raw, dominated because he was a man among boys.
Weatherspoon: is he good enough?
Washington: is he good enough?
Spikes: is he good enough?
Wilson: is he good enough?
Thomas: tackling = red flag?

In my uninformed opinion, sign me up for Bulaga, Williams, Graham, Price, Washington, Wilson and Thomas joining the guys above, that’s 20 first rounders.

It’s certainly not that deep of a draft at the top, it’s certainly rich in the middle, though.

Suh, McCoy, and Williams are all pretty good DTs. Granted there’s a chance that they can bust in the NFL, but if anyone were to suggest that they aren’t extremely talented players more than worthy of a first round selection, most would suggest that they were out of their mind. When were talking about depth of a draft, I really think the fact that there’s mock drafts done by credible sources that has a guy like Brian Price falling out of the top 15, that says quite a bit.

McClain and Kindle seem like pretty high end talents. Most analysts said that in most years McClain’s a top ten pick, but because there’s so many bad teams that need a quarterback and desperately need pass protection that he’ll fall (probably not past the Dolphins), Sergio Kindle is also a pretty special prospect too, looks like he can be a pretty disruptive passrusher, but there’s questions about his ability to handle the run. There’s also Weatherspoon who is rising quickly.

While Bradford and Claussen are both juniors and the bust rate for junior QBs is awfully high, they’re quite a bit more accurate than the junior QBs who bust and they ran pro-offenses. In most years the debate between quarterbacks typically of the Smith/Rogers and Russell/Quinn type, they pit one quarterback who is very athletic and talented yet has never ran a pro-offense, not at all accurate, and has a delivery that doesn’t exactly translate to the NFL. Those are usually three pretty big marks against a QB, particularly the first two. However, neither of these two demonstrate those afflictions, both are extremely accurate, possess good arm strength and throwing motion, and ran a pro offense.

I’m not high on Pierre Paul, since I dislike DEs that are just passrushers and liabilities against the run…that being said he’s a tremendous pass rusher and probably a perfect rush LB in the 34. Morgan’s a complete player, looks like he could be Trent Cole or Justin Tuck. Again while there’s a chance that they can bust, since one the ACC sucks and Pierre Paul only played one D-I season, they’re both tremendous talents, Morgan is a very complete DE prospect for the NFL and the likelihood of whichever team drafts Pierre Paul gets a good passrusher for a few years is pretty high. Everson Griffen, also looks like a pretty complete defensive end too.

Hayden and Berry are pretty bigh top end talents too. Berry is drawing Ed Reed comparisons, and Hayden looks like a shutdown CB. Taylor Mays is the other safety that people talk about as a first rounder, while he’s sklilled and toolsy he doesn’t seem to be very good in football, but there’s players like those in every draft. I just hope the Cowboys stay away from them in the first.

As to the O-Line, Okung, Davis, and Iupati look to be like they’ll be starters. Trent Williams should find his place somewhere on the line, as should Bulaga and Bruce Campbell if they can stay healthy. Yeah, Tony Mandrich is the guy that people cite for tackles that bust, BUT he was a massive roid user which screws with your ability to stay healthy, hard on your hamstrings (ask Nomar and pro-wrestlers), and tends to produce moodiness (ask Mandrich) that and from what I hear he was kind of a tool before the juice as well. There’s also Robert Gallery, but I keep on hearing that he never had the killer instinct on the field that it takes to play in the NFL. That being said, both of those OTs that busted, were tremendous talents, just things outside of their ability to play football effected their NFL careers. Maurkice Pouncey also looks like a guy who can start, but for whatever reasons starting centers that can produce at a high level aren’t considered first rounders. So it seems to be at least pretty deep in that position.

The only really “skills” guys that I see as first rounders are Bryant, who has questions, Spiller who is another great talent and a really good RB prospect, and Benn…yeah the draft’s weak in that department, but that’s really the only deficiency that I see.

That’s just the first round though. The later rounds are usually where the depth is. There’s quite a few “first round” guys that will slip due to fast risers and workout warriors, but there’s also players like Nate and Reshad Jones, Jordan Shipley, Nate Allen, Brandon Spikes, Myron Rolle, Kyle Calloway Navarro Bowman, Terrance Cody, Demaryius Thomas, and Toby Gerhart that have good chances at becoming successful starters on an NFL roster. So while it may not be the best or deepest draft ever, there’s certainly a lot to like. There’s plenty of reasons to trade down, and plenty of depth to be had.

but I think there are a lot of very good players in this draft, 2nd round types. Although this may be the best draft for a DT in a generation

Is not an elite draft at all.

are that if you follow college football, most of these names are recognizable.

Anyone else feel this way?

Sounds like a lot of smoke too me by teams wanting him to fall.

I lived in Oklahoma for 5 years and never EVER, heard anything bad about the dude.

The guy was an all academic WR who never took plays off and caught everything thrown his way.

so were you stationed at Tinker during those 5 years?

cool just curious as a fellow AF guy

Boldin for a 3rd, can’t we just trade roy for him straight up? Just throwin it out there. I really don’t like how boldin is injury prone, and he is 30 so his best years are probably behind him. It just wouldn’t take much to get more production than roy.

What seperates guys like Eric Berry or Earl Thomas, from Nate Allen, FS from USF?

He didn’t run at the combine but is expected to pull a 4.5 40; he’s widely considered a good prospect with long term potential, 9 INTs in 3 years, only OK in man coverage (he’s a safety though, not a CB anyway)

His read out sounds like Gerald Sensabaugh – lots of deep experience, can cover TEs well, will make plays on the ball.

maybe espn is the one hyping the draft so more people will watch?

I feel like this is a draft that will raise the floor in terms of talent in the NFL, not raise the roof, I think that was the 2008 draft.

Raf can check me on this, but I believe there was not the rush of juniors in this draft that was expected. That being the case, it might be full of talented guys but there was no rush to get out of college for fear of a rookie salary cap that some expected.

Another year, another draft. It is just ‘a draft’. Not ‘the draft’ to end all drafts. Boys should keep to the plan and not get starry eyed. BPA even if they move around a bit.

Can’t wait!

In the run up to the Cowboys-Dolphins Super Bowl, Duane Thomas was asked if he was excited about playing in the “ultimate game.” Thomas responded, “If this is the ultimate game, why are we going to play again next season?”

He was an interesting guy.