The super-speculative 2010 NFL DRAFT thread.

Round 1 kicks off on a Thursday this year (4/22) in prime time tv. Is that weird? Other years, I might think so, but this draft is going to be so talent-packed. Ndamukong Suh (DT from Nebraska) seems to be the consensus first pick as of now. Will anything change between now and then? (It always does.)

Will the Browns go for a QB? I'd put money on the Rams and Panthers going for a 1st round QB. Redskins too. So who goes where?

From ESPN.com

SCOUTS INC.'S TOP 32
Player Pos. School Grade
1. Eric Berry* S Tennessee 97
2. Gerald McCoy* DT Oklahoma 97
3. Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska 96
4. Russell Okung OT Oklahoma State 96
5. Joe Haden* CB Florida 96
6. Derrick Morgan* DE Georgia Tech 96
7. Jake Locker* QB Washington 96
8. Carlos Dunlap* DE Florida 95
9. Rolando McClain* ILB Alabama 95
10. Sam Bradford* QB Oklahoma 95
11. Dez Bryant* WR Oklahoma State 95
12. Jimmy Clausen* QB Notre Dame 94
13. Navorro Bowman* OLB Penn State 94
14. C.J. Spiller RB Clemson 94
15. Earl Thomas* S Texas 94
16. Arthur Jones DT Syracuse 94
17. Taylor Mays S USC 93
18. Jason Pierre-Paul DE South Florida 93
19. Trent Williams OT Oklahoma 93
20. Greg Hardy DE Mississippi 92
21. Jahvid Best* RB California 92
22. Charles Brown OT USC 92
23. Sergio Kindle OLB Texas 92
24. Bruce Carter* OLB North Carolina 91
25. Bryan Bulaga OT Iowa 91
26. Arrelious Benn* WR Illinois 91
27. Anthony Davis* OT Rutgers 90
28. Jermaine Gresham TE Oklahoma 90
29. Brandon Spikes ILB Florida 90
30. Patrick Robinson CB Florida State 90
31. Everson Griffen* DE USC 90
32. Nate Allen S South Florida 90

Taylor Mays is too low there.

i think USC's overall general performance in these last two games may have him dropping a bit

i'm not a big mays fan, looking forward to seeing him bomb on the raiders

i have insider if anyone wants me to post some of their draft preview shit

it's weird, i def feel like this is gonna be one of those drafts where the teams at the top are trying to flee to the bottom of the top 10. like, will the browns have the balls to make a mario williams move and pick SUH with how bad their offensive situation is? it's just a weird, weird situation without there being a seemingly cant-miss offensive prospect. will the browns reach and take locker at 1? i guess if they decide he is their guy, if they can keep it a secret, they might be able to trade down with a team that really wants suh or okung (can't imagine a safety going #1)

ya go ahead ade

does anyone really think jimmy claussen will be any good in the nfl?

btw this guy

6. Derrick Morgan* DE Georgia Tech 96

is your 09 vernon gholston - book it

*clausen

man if berry went #1 overall that would blow my everlovin mind - there's no percedent for it (for good reason) but i'd almsot admire a move that ballsy

as it stands the bucs have a great shot at berry or suh, which dismays me

derrick morgan is your 09 michael johnson lmao

anyway

DE Morgan heads injury-depleted D-line group

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | Print Entry

Posted by Todd McShay
The most impressive individual player in the country over the past three weeks has been Georgia Tech DE Derrick Morgan, who has seven sacks over that span and absolutely terrorized Duke's offensive line last week.

We've had Morgan in our top 15 overall since early October and in this week's updated rankings he will move ahead of fellow junior Carlos Dunlap (Florida) as the top defensive end on the Scouts Inc. board. And while there's no guarantee Morgan will skip his senior year we've been told by two people close to the situation that he's a virtual lock to enter the 2010 draft.

Morgan is no one-trick pony. He is a relentless pass-rusher but also shows great effort holding the point and in pursuit against the run, and recently he has shown the ability to play out of a two-point stance and drop into coverage on zone blitzes.

Should he elect to come out early and perform as well as we expect in pre-draft workouts it would not be a surprise to see Morgan become a top-five pick, and there is no way we see him falling out of the top half of the first round.

• Things are not looking so rosy for some of Morgan's fellow defensive linemen, including Ole Miss DE Greg Hardy, Syracuse DT Arthur Jones and Oklahoma DE Auston English.

Hardy recently underwent season-ending surgery on a lingering wrist injury, which on top of a stress fracture that hobbled him last season and required offseason surgery and a nagging ankle early this season raises durability issues in the eyes of NFL scouts.

Hardy is as physically dominant as any defensive linemen in this class when healthy and motivated, but questions about Hardy's work ethic and ability to hold up for a full NFL season are hurting his stock significantly. It won't be a shock to us if this top-10 talent falls to the bottom of the first round.

The same can be said of Jones, who is done for the season thanks to a torn meniscus but at times this season was every bit as dominant as Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy and Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh. Problem is, because of lingering injuries (including a torn pectoral that required offseason surgery) there is limited film of Jones at 100 percent as well as concern that he won't be able to stay healthy in the NFL.

Jones never really appeared to be at full strength this season but he played hard and confirmed our feelings about his overall skill set. If he checks out physically at the combine and teams are convinced none of his past injuries will be an issue moving forward Jones could still come off the board in the first round. There just are not a lot of players with his combination of size (6-foot-3, 302 pounds), strength and quickness.

Finally, English has been lost to an ankle injury for the remainder of the season. Much like Hardy and Jones this most recent injury is just another on a laundry list of ailments for English, who came into the season looking like a third-rounder at best but now will be lucky to come off the board before the fifth.

• The trials and tribulations of some of the top wide receiver prospects --- including Dez Bryant (suspension), Eric Decker (injury), Arrelious Benn (injury/team struggles) and Mike Williams (quit team) -- have been well-chronicled in this blog. Now it's time to look at some wideouts who have stepped up their games and are moving up the board.

Jordan Shipley of Texas continues to produce consistently despite opponents bracketing him, double-covering him, rolling coverages toward him and utilizing any other form of extra attention a defense can give a receiver.

Shipley does not run a lot of intermediate or vertical routes and will need to be coached up in that area and in terms of getting off the line against press coverage, but there are still a lot of reasons to like his potential to emerge as a contributor both as a slot receiver and on special teams.

Among the traits that jump out are Shipley's toughness, competitiveness, willingness to make catches in traffic over the middle and his breakaway speed after the catch and as a return man. He is a notch below the elite prospects at the position but Shipley has certainly shown enough this season to warrant mid-to-late second-round consideration.

Georgia Tech junior Demaryius Thomas is a tough evaluation because he is so raw as a route-runner. Thomas makes the vast majority of his catches in the spread triple-option scheme on vertical sideline routes and is simply not asked to do much in terms of finding voids in zone coverage or working the intermediate areas of the field. Like Shipley, he will need a good position coach to help him develop in that area.

From a pure skill standpoint, though, Thomas is a beast when the ball is in the air. He is a big (6-3, 229), physical receiver who shows good body control along the sideline and also has the unique ability to consistently find the ball over his shoulder when running full speed downfield. If he comes out this year Thomas could sneak into the bottom of the first round.

The third member of the group is Notre Dame junior Golden Tate, who is a bit smaller and not as physically blessed as Thomas but competes hard for the ball, works back to the quarterback when the play breaks down and shows strong hands in traffic. Simply put, Tate just seems to make plays when his team needs them.

His fourth-quarter touchdown on a punt return against Pittsburgh is a perfect example. Tate has not been a major contributor in that area during his career but he pulled the Fighting Irish to within a touchdown late in the game. He just comes through in big spots.

Tate is not a first-round talent from a physical standpoint but he knows how to separate from coverage and bring the ball in and is always competing. There is room for players like him in the NFL and Tate has gone from an under-the-radar mid-round prospect to an early second-rounder and perhaps even a late first-rounder.

Around the nation

• Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh (Scouts Inc.-rated No. 3) will get plenty of chances to make tackles Saturday as the Huskers take on run-oriented Kansas State.

"Suh likes hard-nosed, physical football," the Omaha World-Herald writes: "So anytime the Huskers line up opposite teams that like to run the ball, Suh has extra motivation to play well.

"This is great for me," he said. "That's my type of football, not the cutesy stuff we see in the majority (of games) in our conference."

• Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy (No. 2) may anchor one of the best Sooners defenses ever. Had it not been for injuries to QB Sam Bradford (No. 10) and TE Jermaine Gresham (No. 28), who knows how far Oklahoma could have gone this season?

"It's been a neat group, like I said. It's probably been our best as far as their wanting to practice well and to really know. They're really smart," OU coach Bob Stoops told the Tulsa World "They see where an offense is trying to create gaps and how we need to cancel them. And some guys, or some teams, they go through practice and they get it but these guys really want to get it, you know? And really pay attention and practice well. They have a really strong pride about them and performing well. They love to perform well in practice."

• Was Saturday the last time Penn State LB Navorro Bowman (No. 13) will ever play in Happy Valley? "I can always get better as a football player," Bowman told the The Progress of Clearfield (Pa.). "There are a lot of things you have to put into perspective in making a decision like this. I'm going to do that. I can get better as a football player, but you have to make the choice that's right for you. I'm just blessed to be in this position. There are going to be a lot of things that play into this (decision)."

• Tulane WR Jeremy Williams (No. 101) has been one of the bright spots in a disappointing season for the Green Wave. Williams is 8 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season and the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that RB Andre Anderson (913 rushing yards) and Williams (992 receiving yards) could become the first duo in school history to reach 1,000 yards in the same season.

"It just shows we have done some good things during the year," Anderson told the Times-Picayune. "It's one of the few goals out there that we can grab and get."

• Is Washington QB Jake Locker (No. 7) going pro? Even his coach doesn't know. The Seattle Times talked to Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian, who said Monday he doesn't know what Locker will do and that the coach will help in Locker's decision-making process once the season is over.

"We'll assess it after the year," Sarkisian said. "I think Jake is a bright young man who is patient, he's got two tremendous parents that have raised him extremely well, and we'll get all the proper information in place and he'll make a really good decision in what's best for he and his family, and not just the immediate, but for his future as well."

clausen is good but he's also playing with arguably the two best WRs in college football (and a dope tight end) - he's big tho, has a rocket of course & has a good offensive mind for a head coach - he looks pretty great to me

really what his problem is gonna be is reading defenses - right now so much of the ND offense is just throwing deep balls/fades for tate & floyd (understandably because they are so good) but he's gonna be in for a bit of a shock when he's asked to throw some 12-15 yard routes over the middle against NFL defenses

like if you look at ryan & flacco - obv the two models for young nfl qbs - those guys didn't have superior athletes with them where they could just throw balls up like clausen does (ditto for like culter), so they had to be much better 'normal' QBs if that makes sense - not having USC or texas (or notre dame)-type talent probably really helped them develop their minds & eyes

Yeah, I don't know all the ins and outs of how team scouts really evaluate QB prospects, but Clausen seems like a potential dud in the Brady Quinn mold to me. On the other hand, he reminds me a little bit of Eli Manning who now has a Super Bowl ring.

Berry should go ahead of Mays as a safety, but Mays should still be #2 I think.

People are sleeping a little on George Selvie too. USF is having a dreadful year and his production is down, but there were two seasons when he was the best DE in the state of Florida.

Jordan Shipley

o_O

anyway yeah notre dame's track record w/qbs post-montana is pretty terrible. the whole bledsoe or mirer debate wasn't quite manning vs leaf but the difference was almost as stark in terms of success vs failure. quinn totally looked like a future nfl star at points too but he just looks clueless out there, despite my thought that perhaps it's because of shitty coaching.

i feel like clausen might have some of the same intangibles issues as quinn seems to have as well.

Part of the problem is (and they'll all deny it) old people having reverence and awe for Notre Dame football. People my age (35) and younger don't, and can see right through all the hyperbole about their star players and draft prospects. tbh, I hope some team picks up Clausen in the first round and starts him right away so maybe we can put an end to it once and for all.

here's the list of QBs chosen in the first round since 1990 fwiw:

Matt Ryan
Joe Flacco
JaMarcus Russell
Brady Quinn
Vince Young
Matt Leinart
Jay Cutler
Alex Smith
Aaron Rodgers
Jason Campbell
Eli Manning
Philip Rivers
Ben Roethlisberger
J.P. Losman
Carson Palmer
Byron Leftwich
Kyle Boller
Rex Grossman
David Carr
Joey Harrington
Patrick Ramsey
Michael Vick
Chad Pennington
Tim Couch
Donovan McNabb
Akili Smith
Daunte Culpepper
Cade McNown
Peyton Manning
Ryan Leaf
Jim Druckenmiller
Steve McNair
Kerry Collins
Heath Shuler
Trent Dilfer
Drew Bledsoe
Rick Mirer
David Klingler
Tommy Maddox
Dan McGwire
Todd Marinovich
Jeff George
Andre Ware

it's about 50/50 on bust vs reliable starter/star

it seems like teams have gotten way better - leftwich -> ware is pretty much a huge fucking wasteland w/ the exception of like 4 players

ok more like 8

kinda interesting that maybe the most successful guys on that list (aside from manning and mcnabb) came from smaller schools and most of the guys from big, nationally recognized programs have flopped.

Prognostication based on nothing:

Colt McCoy - eh.
Sam Bradford - eh.
Tim Tebow - could excel in a Vick 1.0 vein, we'll see.
Jake Locker - will do well, provided he even goes to the NFL.

xp i suppose it makes sense--if you distinguish yourself that much in a smaller school you probably had more to do with your own success

btw i have an important scouting note abt marqis daniels--he is weak

whoa getting my sports threads confused

tebow will make a nice 5th round h-back

You're ignoring his leadership intangibles, canks.

i think a team is gonna jump on tebow in the first three rounds, like the dolphins did with pat white - if a team that gets him is willing to be creative with him - beyond, omg it's a tebow wildcat! - i think he could be really great - the pats supposedly coveting him is awesome imo - he would be great in the redzone for them, esp if he is able to catch and shit - he's so strong & athletic - you could do tons of shit with him - i hope a team drafts him & hatches some plans beyond "we are moving you to tight end/linebacker"

i hope tebow has a successful career as an out of focus benchwarmer standing a few feet behind the head coach.

like if the jags draft him to try and save their existence in jacksonville it's gonna be a thoroughly depressing situation - there needs to be a team that will motion him run options and stuff

it's really a shock to me that more teams aren't open to the option - it's such a stupid mental barrier in the nfl - if you have guys like white & young & tebow who ran it for their whole college careers, you can really, really throw nfl defenses off if you let them run it bcuz obv nfl defenses just don't prepare for that - off the top of my head, the dolphins broke two huge plays against the pats letting ricky & pat white run the option, including a TD - and last week the titans ran some option with vince & chris johnson and they broke two huge runs - this is what tebow should be doing imo

Jags want him, this much is true. He probably wants to go there, too, because I can't imagine him being happy thousands of miles away from his parents and his church. Ha!

I think he'll go to the Rams, though, if UF wins the championship game.

the main flaw with the wildcat is that ronnie brown isn't a competent enough passer & pat white can't play the main position because he's too small to run up the middle - tebow on the other hand, could be that up the gut point person in the wildcat, but he can also throw the ball & he could run an option with the sweep guy - all types of shit - just need open minded coaches

(If they don't, he suits up as a Jaguar in 2010.) xp

Tebow's deceptive at UF. There's no need to run the wildcat there, as Jordan pointed out, because the UF modus operandi is what other teams turn to as a wildcat play.

i'm serious tho - if whoever gets tebow lets him go into the gun on 3rd and 5 & under and run some zone reads - esp that play that florida runs where they have the tight end option up the middle with the rb to the outside - will have a dimension that no one in the nfl has - the guy can obv not be a pro quarterback - he hasn't taken a snap under center in his whole career (maybe once) & learning to read defenses while dropping back from under center will alone cost him like a whole year - but it would be a waste for a team to not draft him and utilize the QB aspects that he (and maybe only he) has

every big running qb that has come out of college - i'm thinking vince, pat white, seneca - hasn't been big enough to be used as a primary runner - tebow could take on NFL LBs and presumably stay healthy

yeah well that's the thing isnt it - guys who can run like a running back (this is important, as opposed to just being a guy who's good at scrambling around - this is why vick will never be much of a weapon in the wildcat) and throw like a quarterback aren't so plentiful. the matchup problems u create for defenses by being so versatile with the same personnel also has the drawback that you're not going to be that great at all these things ure threatning to do - it used to be that players in the nfl were valued for their versatility, fullbacks with swiss army knife skillsets were the stars of the league, but that's really a style of play more suited to the college game now

I think Tebow is either a QB or a FB, definitely not a HB.

I think there's gonna be a run on QB's in the first and second round in this draft, and a lot of them are going to be reaches. There are a lot of teams out there that need an upgrade.

Especially when you consider the fact that there won't really be a lot of good free agent QB options. I mean, every team that has a good QB has essentially locked them up already.

has orton been extended? him, campbell and pennington will all be FAs

campbell's not as bad as people think btw

And I shall list them. Please correct, add or subtract if necessary:

Panthers, Redskins, Rams, Cardinals, Raiders, Browns, 49ers, Seahawks, Bills (maybe Broncos).

If you put Jason Campbell in a situation with a good o-line and a couple of decent-to-excellent wide receivers, he could be successful. Successful is different than good.

I doubt the Cardinals would draft a QB before giving Leinert a chance.

I think Denver will lock Orton up for sure.

That doesn't mean they won't draft somebody, though. Probably 4th-7th round.

I wonder if someone trades for Rosenfels or Jackson.

I think the Rams would be making a mistake if they drafted a QB. Bulger is nothing special but he's the least of their problems.

Singletary is going to ride him so hard. Can't wait.

Anyway, Squawks are having a really nice draft so far. Browns are too. And the Lions, oh the Lions. I can't tell you guys how much I want to see Detroit at least be 2nd in the NFC North this season.

i'm liking the Leos draft

in the last three drafts, they've now had FIVE FIRST ROUND PICKS

Calvin Johnson, Stafford, Pettigrew, Suh, and Best (who some think is the next Chris Johnson if the ridiculous injuries will finally abate...)

Off-Season, pick-ups of Kyle Vandenbosch (from Tenn who already played for coach Jim Schwartz and loves him) and Rob Sims (already moves into a starting OG role) from the Seabags for a song (guess there was some kind of beef between Sims and Carroll??? I dunno, but the kid is an immediate starter..)

6 wins for the Leos this season!! that is the goal -- 6 wins!!

and of course on defense, they got this kid Delmas from Western inna late round who is a total beast and is now their starter, so that SS position is set. Yes, I am a Lions slappy, please feed me the next round of cornbread .... we have Minny's 4th round pick!

Dennis Perrin tweet:

Had the Confederacy survived, their NFL draft would feature mouth inspections.

what does that even mean?

Jason Campbell's a Raider, LaMarcus released

Matt Millen apologizes for calling Jaws a "Polack"

Lendale White and Leon Washington to the Seahawks

oh no, jason campbell! he deserved better than playing for the raiders! ;_; at least he's getting paid

profootballtalk commenters, you are a treat:

RaiderNation says:
To ALL Raider Haters : Shut up and go climb back on your mom. You may have to wait in line though.

fucking Dolphins fans bitching about all the LBs chosen despite the fact that Miami plays a 3-4 defense and has little to no depth at the position, especially given that Porter's on his way out (since his 'release' didn't stick the first time)...

i honestly have no idea what the jets are doing this off-season. how is a fifth round pick better than having Washington for another year? they have released/traded players that were basically their entire offense for the past 2 seasons. someone is drunk at the wheel.

all of the nfl overvalues 5th round picks

He didn't do much last year, wanted a ton of money despite being a situational guy, complained a lot, was coming off an injury ... not too surprising to me.

Pretty awesome Browns draft imo. Snrub is on drugs or something, which is out of character for such an astute member of the Orange and Brown family. A need was addressed in the secondary where we had no tacklers or even cover people. McCoy is a gamble but not in the 3rd round where the dice can be rolled.

ok (::reads the rest of thread::), I don't know if Snrub is being sarcstic or not about McCoy but he's worth a 3rd round pick.

Now the Broncos have Orton, Quinn and Tebow- QB controversy 4eva in the Mile High City.

QB controversy is sooooo fatiguing for a nervous football fan like me and I'm glad to be rid of Anderson and Quinn for that reason.

::drinks booze::

QB McCoy to spend 2010 on sideline

Snrub is on drugs or something, which is out of character for such an astute member of the Orange and Brown family.

I was pissed because when they traded up in the second round I was so sure they'd take McCoy and instead they took that running back Montario Hardesty. Happily, McCoy was available in the third round so it turned out OK in the end. I love Colt and think he'll turn out to be even better than Bradford.

snrub how could you be mad about the browns taking a RB? their whole offense is garbage

Garbage? Jerome Harrison broke the franchise rushing record!! I guess they could use another one for depth because Chris Jennings was mediocre.

james harrison had two good games, one against he kansas city chiefs -- i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that he's not a franchise rb

I've seen Hardesty play many games, and he's pretty good at cutting, turning and running against SEC defenses. He'll be handy for the Browns on 3rd and medium-to-short.

Have any of you guys ever seen Ryan Mathews play?

Just his highlight package. I liked it.

I'm tempted to cook up one of those "Hitler Gets Angry" videos about Jimmy Clausen being drafted in the second round, BEHIND Tim Tebow. Anyone want to brainstorm some lines?

Bills cornerback Drayton Florence asked his Twitter followers what undrafted players have the best shot at making the Buffalo roster.

Jaguars wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker responded: "Whoeva u guard in practice!"

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/1999/0419_large.jpg

omg

i'm pretty sure steve from section 405 back there would've had just as successful an nfl career as those two

btw can i just

http://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.pnghttp://i44.tinypic.com/35m1gk0.png

really insulting to dawg pound guys that they picked the costume of a developmentally disabled dog

i mean some of those guys look cool

ok gis is revealing that "cool" may have been an exaggeration

this column otm http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/04/27/how-dare-nfl-teams-question-myron-rolles-commitment-to-football/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClayTravisFanHouse+%28Clay+Travis+FanHouse+Columns%29

saw at least 2 columns rhapsodizing abt that Sicko kid opting not to accept invites to team tryouts & some things are more important than football whadda role model etc....aaand a day later hes going to cowboys camp

the whole sicko thing was retarded and that dude is an idiot imo

rolle a completely different story obv--i have no doubt most nfl ppl are intimidated by him, as they should be.

the sicko stuff was so totally *rolls eyes*

i wonder who exactly kicked him in the ass and said hey btw hang around in the league for one year and you'll be able to pay for all your advanced education in cash.

appparently it was jason garrett

and good for him

lol @ "is this the best quarterback class since '83?"

holy christ I forgot about my drunken draft day outbursts - sorry Snrub, it wasn't personal!

I do remember the controversy in Browns town about not selecting Akili Smith. WOW

Also, yeah can't we get cankles back here somehow? Just for our bitter board?

anne canks

ok gis is revealing that "cool" may have been an exaggeration

― call all destroyer, Monday, April 26, 2010 2:10 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

amen

the damn mods will find his hiding place by the trail of Chik-fil-A wrappers

holy christ I forgot about my drunken draft day outbursts - sorry Snrub, it wasn't personal!

No problem-o.

What happened to cankles? He's GONE?!?!

the damn mods will find his hiding place by the trail of Chik-fil-A wrappers

― Brice Pilaf (brownie), Friday, May 28, 2010 7:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol i <3 everything abt this post

How exactly is it that we can't make an exception to the SB policy to ensure that canks can post in ILNFL? Is anyone here against this idea? Just curious.