3 posts tagged “draft”
I'll go into more detail about the league later, but let me just say I am very excited. And with the end of the NFL season, this blog will become even more active, this time covering the AAFL.
11:56 And here we go, starting in 4 minutes time, the draft begins
12:01 Van Halen's "Dreams", not a great way to start.
12:04 They are really emphasizing the relation to college football, which I think is a smart idea. I can see a lot of SEC cities getting AAFL teams.
12:11 Ouch, pull off the attacks on the XFL. They are being very sure to differentiate this league from the others.
12:16 They are going over the team Alabama protected offense, almost no reason to look too deep in the draft. They've got a lot of talent, including two nasty linebackers in Saleem Rasheed and Eddie Strong.
12:27 Peter Warrick and Chris Leak on the same team. Leak will be a huge money maker for this team and this league, depending on his success, he could be the face of the AAFL.
12:30 So, Warrick's plan is to go from the AAFL into the NFL two-a-days. That would be very, very brutal.
12:38 Marcus Randall, forever remembered for one deep pass, is a protected player for Team Arkansas. The Bluegrass Miracle gets another shot. And apparently rumors are that Team Arkansas will draft an O-lineman #1 overall, which will be a smart move. Cleveland and Houston in the NFL both made the mistake of not going after a lineman with their first picks, and paid for it with ruined quarterbacks. I think we may see some very intelligent drafts, especially with the protected quarterbacks and half backs already slotted. Though someone will go after Eric Crouch.
1:03 It looks like Michigan may be the big defensive team. And man, they need to fix these audio problems.
1:04 First pick is in...
1:05 Team Arkansas selects- a really over dramatic coach... And- Zarah Yisrael, OL, Troy University. A great pickup, a huge o-lineman with a lot of potential and strength. Pretty much sets the tone for this team as a run based team with a big O-lineman with a lot of strength.
1:08 Tennessee- BRYAN RANDALL- Virginia Tech! I loved this guy in college, great pick up great player and an amazing athlete. That is a very, very good pick. Although that makes two potentials starting QB's in Tennessee, but I think Randall can win out.
1:12 Team Texas- QB Eric Crouch. No surprise, we knew he was going to get drafted early. Big risk, potentially big reward.
1:17 Team Florida QB Eric Kresser. Kresser was the Marshall slinger when Randy Moss was running in the ball, and Kresser knows the system, played briefly in Florida and won a national championship with that West Virginia team. Kresser is the third QB taken, the third in a row no less.
1:19 Team Michigan selects QB David Koral, UCLA. Koral played all sorts of different places, and its poignant that he ended up in Michigan. With all their defensive protections, its not surprising they went QB with the first round. Interesting first round thus far.
1:22 Team Alabama selects Josh Sewell, OL Nebraska- Great pickup. Another solid O-lineman goes, he played center, should be a solid guy to bolster that line. He's not a sexy pick, but O-line depth and support is always great. Alabama, without a lot of O-linemen, he will get to start.
1:24 Team Alabama part 2- Scott Scharff- Big guy, 6'5'' D-lineman from Stanford. With all the protected Linebackers, I wonder if they could move into two middle guys and run a 3-4? It wouldn't be an awful idea, especially with this offensive-themed league.
1:32 Team Michigan's head coach sounds drunk. But Braylon Edwards is picking their pick so I have to root for him. DE Rodney Wormley from Temple. 240 lbs, shorter, a speed rush guy, probably a solid pick. A lot of coaches like that pass rush, and I think Wormley will fill that roll.
1:35 Team Florida- Pitt D-lineman Thomas Smith. Another speedy guy, given that Florida is going to run the 3-4, I can't see him being a true 3-4 DE, so I'm thinking he'll play the hybrid position.
1:36 Team Texas- Freddy McCutcheon, DT San Jose State. 6'2'' 295, small but stout a solid DT prospect. I think he could move to the outside depending on his speed. With a limited roster size (42) I forsee a lot of D-linemen able to move both positions.
1:38 Team Tennsee- Virginia Tech D-lineman Tim Sandige. Double'en up on the Hokies. Sandige was a big old guy, 311 lbs and a whole lot of hurt. Great pick up and an awesome piece of a puzzle.
1:41 Team Arkansas Nicholas Rogers, D-lineman Georgia Tech. Fills out an entirely defensive second round.
Well, that's the first two rounds, I'll give you a wrap up sometime next week on the draft and let you know my take on the teams of this new league.
A while ago I Blogged about first round running backs and with the draft approaching I thought it may be approprtiate to take a look at another big name position on the offensive side of the ball. And who in the NFL is more recognizable than the quarterback?
2005
--
Alex Smith, San Francisco 49’ers (1st
overall)- 56.2%, 17 td, 27 int
*Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (24th overall)-
48.4%, 0 td, 1 int
*Jason Campbell, Washington
Redskins (25th overall)- 53.1%, 10 td, 6 int
--
2004
--
Philip Rivers, New York Giants (3rd overall)- 61.4%,
23 td, 10 int
Ben Roethlisberger- Pittsburgh Steelers (11th overall)-
62.4%, 52 td, 43 int
J. P. Losman- Buffalo Bills (22nd overall)- 58%, 27
td, 23 int
--
2003
--
Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals (1st overall)- 63.8%,
78 td, 43 int
Byron Leftwich, Jacksonville Jaguars (7th overall)-
58.7%, 51 td, 36 int
Kyle Boller, Baltimore
Ravens (19th overall)- 55.8%, 35 td, 34 int
Rex Grossman, Chicago
Bears (22nd overall)- 54.4%, 27 td, 26 td
--
2002
--
David Carr, Houston Texans (1st overall)- 60%, 59
td, 65 int
Joey Harrington, Detroit Lions (3rd overall)- 55.2%, 72 td, 77 int
Patrick Ramsey, Washington Redskins (32nd overall)-
55.7%, 34 td, 29 int
--
2001
--
Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons (1st overall)- 53.8%, 71 td, 52 int
--
2000
--
Chad
Pennington, New York
Jets (18th overall)- 65.1%, 72 td, 46 int
~~~
All but four of these QB’s are starters in the NFL right now (Ramsey, Harrington, Boller and Rodgers). Where were the other starters in the NFL drafted?
Payton Manning was drafted in the first round with the first
pick of the 1998 NFL draft.
Brett Favre was taken in the second round, as the second
pick.
Donovan McNabb was taken in the first round with the second
pick.
Daunte Culpepper was taken in the 1st round with
the 11th pick.
Tom Brady was taken in the 6th round.
Steve McNair was taken in the first round with the 3rd
pick
Charlie Frye was taken in the 3rd round.
Vince Young was taken in the first round
Kerry Collins was taken in the first round with the 5th
pick
Jake Plummer was selected in the 2nd round, while
Jay Cutler was a first round pick
Damon Huard went undrafted, Trent Green was drafted in the 8th
round.
Aaron Brooks went in the 4th round, and Andrew
Walter was selected in the 3rd round.
Romo wasn’t drafted, but Bledsoe was selected in the first
round with the first pick.
Jon Kitna was undrafted.
Brad Johnson was selected in the 9th round.
Delhomme was undrafted in 1998, while the man who plays for
the team that signed him, Drew Brees, went in the second round.
Chris Simms was a third round pick, Gradkowski went in the 6th
round.
Warner was an arena football player, while Bulger went in
the 6th round.
Lastly, Hasselbeck went in the 6th round in 1998.
--
So, of all the
quarterbacks, the ones who have reached the Super Bowl (and are still active)
are as follows-
1st- 7
2nd-2
3rd- 0
4th- 0
5th- 0
6th- 2
7th- 0
8th- 1
9th- 1
Undrafted- 1
~~
Overall the QB’s who
played in the Super Bowl are as follows:
1st- 23
2nd- 4
3rd-5th- 9
6th-9th- 5
9th onwards- 6
Undrafted- 3
Well, as any Lions, Cardinals, Raiders, Packers, Texans, Browns, Vikings, Rams, Buccaneers, 49'ers, Bills, Dolphins, Titans or Steelers fan; I have lost all hope and dreams of my team playing in the post-season this year. So; I have only three things to look forward to:
1. Beating teams down the stetch: The upset over KC was wonderful.
2. Watching the Ravens bomb in the playoffs: The only thing worse than the Steelers in the playoffs; Baltimore's stolen team in the playoffs.
3. The post-season.
So; how will the post season go this year? The Browns should win twice to finish the season 6-10; which is decent considering the injury problems and lack of cohesion. If either Baltimore or Pittsburgh falls to an upset; then Cleveland should end the season 7-9; which would be impressive. Somewhere between the 6th and the 10th pick in the draft would likely be the end result.
Mock drafts I have seen so far have Cleveland picking Ted Ginn Jr. Adrian Peterson or Alan Branch (DT from Michigan) with the first round pick. In fact; some drafters have blasted Cleveland for passing up on LT; and claim Adrian Peterson is the next break-out back of the NFL. Frankly im not sold on Adrian Peterson. Cleveland's biggest problem this year is the offensive line. Once we get our Center back and have a solid o-line, the rest will follow. Our defensive backs and Linebackers are solid; as is our recieving corp. The draft is not the answer for any problems at Quarterback (Quinn will not be as solid a player as everyone thinks); and I think Charlie Frye will be fine in 07, or we could go pick up the soon-to-be jetisoned Byron Leftwich.
That does leave only 3 problems which could be fixed in the draft: O-line, DT and RB.
The O-line will not get fixed in the first round; the only starting talent will be the first person to be drafted (unless
So, my conclusion... I dont know
We seem to have most of the talent we need, unfortunately no one seems to be clicking.
Oh, and a note:
Cleveland has played only two teams with loosing records as of this weekend; those teams? Oakland and Pittsburgh. One speed-bump and one super-bowl champion.
