Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The NFL Draft.. Can we Shut up Already

The NFL Draft is two days away and the NFL pundits can't wait. Ever since Alabama slapped Notre Dame all over the field, every network has been evaluating every eligible player to find out who be this years surprise,stud, or bust. Will there be a
Russell Wilson or David Wilson. Is there a Tom Brady or Ryan Leaf. There are definitely a few players who will make a lifetime mark on the NFL. Every draft has that. This draft has intrigue because a bunch of players have at one point been labelled as "can't miss" or overall number 1 talent.  Matt Barkeley would have a top ten pick last year and now he is second round talent. Landry Jones is now third round talent. Tyrann Mathieu may not be called till later. Manti Te'o a second round possibility. Just to name  a few. Marcus Lattimore may go undrafted.  Who knows..
Does anyone really know?  I don't think teams really do or do the pundits. I think teams should draft to beat the teams they play not the best player available. If the strength of the teams you play is passing the ball, shouldn't you draft better corners or d-line help.  For example, the NFC south is loaded with offensive football players. Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina, and Tampa can really throw the football. Each team has a receiver or tight end that been Pro-Bowler. You could either a player who can rush the passer to offset passing attacks or get better weapons to keep up with the better teams in the division. Tampa just got Darrell Revis to cover the best receivers in the south. Now they can focus on getting a pass rusher to sack Breed, Ryan, or Newton.  Simple right. My team, New York Giants every year draft tight ends in the first round even though the other teams in the division seem to make bigger splash moves. Now the Giants have won two super bowls in the last decade so maybe the other teams should draft to beat them, but I am always perplexed by the choices by the Giants. This year the Giants need to get someone who can play middle linebacker or contain RG3 ,Vicki and Romo on the perimeter. Instead the Giants will no doubt draft offensive lineman which makes no sense.
The other aspect of the draft that bothers me is teams think the trend is one thing and it completely blows up in their faces. For example, running quarterback is the trend right now. RG3, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson have freaked out everyone in the league because they can run and throw. I always ask this question, what quarterback has won a super bowl playing like they do? Jeff Hostetler is the only one. Twenty three years ago. Steve Young threw six touchdown passes and led the 49ers with his arm. The last four champs, Flacco,Manning, Rodgers,Brees pretty much stay in the pocket to make plays. In fact add Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and you have the highest paid players in the game. In fact I am willing to bet that one of the six will be in the super bowl this year. Running quarterbacks get hurt, they can't run in the rain or snow and are prone to turn the ball over when hit.  Plus they cannot run forever. Steve Young was a great runner but made the Hall of Fame because of his arm. John Elway ran, but his cannon  arm was his signature . Donovan Mcnabb ran a lot and had a lot of success but never won the super bowl. Teams adjust and find ways to exploit weaknesses in these schemes. I can't wait to see the plan of attack this year against these young guns. You will see that I am right.
The draft will be interesting to see if teams are drafting to the trend,needs, or best available player. Hopefully my team will do better than yours. I am just glad the chatter is over. No more speculation and innuendo. Should be a riveting three days.... Not

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