Draft Fantasy (Rod's picks)

Yesterday David Estrada made a post in which he selected some of his favorite prospects going into the 2009 NFL Draft and where he would like to see them, not where they will end up, but where he would LIKE to see them. So now I'm gonna rip him off and do exactly the same thing, here it goes!

Mark Sanchez: Dallas Cowboys
Let's face it, Tony Romo sucks. The Cowboys need a quarterback that can be the face of the franchise like Troy Aikman once was. Who better than pretty boy Mark Sanchez himself? He's got some talent too, and best of all He's Mexican! Finally America's team can have a QB which is America's Race...that's right. I said it. Seriously though, Sanchez has started less than 30 games at QB which is why I think he'll still be around in the second round. But if he WERE to go in the first round, which he just might based on his workouts I don't see him getting past San Francisco.

Graham Harrell: St. Louis Rams
That's right! The greatest show on turf returns!!!! Atleast...this would be the first step in that process, now I'm not saying the Rams should pick him up in the first round which they won't because they need a lineman, but Harrell should be available in the second day and with him back there slinging all day and Steven Jackson running this could be the beginning of something awesome. He might also be picked up by the Chiefs and he would be a good fit there as well. Harrell to Dwayne Bowe sounds even better than Harrell to Donnie Avery.


Matthew Stafford: Minnesota Vikings
I know I know he'll probably go first overall...but I'd like to see him in Minnesota. He'd REALLY benefit from having that running game there, and with the defense remaining as good as it was. Stafford could have immediate impact with the Vikings and the NFC north could be relevant again! Also I really think this guy would look good in purple...and yeah, I just want him with the Vikings. Still him throwing to Calvin "Megatron" Johnson would be a good consolation prize.


Michael Crabtree: Atlanta Falcons
I have to agree with David on this one, Crabs has that star potential that Atlanta needs. Plus by getting Crabs you provide Matt Ryan with a target for years to come, and when you couple him with Roddy White and Michael Turner...there's a pretty scary offense right there. With Crabs in Atlanta soon fans will start saying "What's a Michael Vick?"Plus Crabs looks good in Red White and Black, I think that should continue. Second choice, Washington Redskins....nice, imagine him lining up opposite Santana Moss and Washington's finally got an air attack! now all they need is a decent QB.

Jeremy Maclin: Baltimore Ravens
Mr. Versatility himself, you know alot has been said about Chase Daniel but his numbers wouldn't be anywhere close to where they were if he didn't have Maclin to throw to. Which is why I want to see him in Purple and Black, Baltimore NEEDS to have offensive weapons they need it. Now it seems they found their Quarterback, but now who is he gonna throw to? Mark Clayton and...um...Clayton? Another good fit for MacDaddy Maclin would be the Jets, he could learn under Coles for a couple of years and develop into the #1 target in no time.

James Laurinaitis: New Orleans Saints
The Saints need some defenders, they also need someone who can be a presence in the D. Put Laurinaitis at weakside linebacker and BAM they're one step closer to achieving that. Also Laurinaitis is a good guy, he's a good leader and hard worker and he could provide the saints with that cover athlete that the defense needs. I could also see him at Denver though, that'd be pretty cool and the Broncos could really use him or anyone at that position for that matter.



Rey Maualuga: San Diego Chargers
Say it with me now...Junior Seau part two: this time it's personal. Honestly, this guy needs to stay in California and what better place than in San Diego? He is without a doubt the nastiest ILB in the draft now imagine him lining up next to Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips??? SCARY. I seriously don't want to see this guy anywhere else, but he'll likely not get past the Browns or Broncos in round one. Also...check him out doing what most have only dreamt of to ESPN's Erin Andrews..



Brian Orakpo: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals have no pass rush. Absolutely none. This guy can fix that, or at the very least HELP. Now imagine this behemoth trading in his burnt orange for a much more awesome shade of orange, and black. I get chills just thinking of him walking into the Jungle as a sea of fans roar "OSACKPO!!!!" Seriously, Cincy needs him but I don't see him getting past the Chiefs which would also be a good fit...and would have him playing in the same defense as Glenn Dorsey which would be pretty scary. Ah well if he doesn't go with the Bengals...hopefully Aaron Curry will.

Where's the Love?

Russ Lande of War Room Scouts recently wrote a piece for The Sporting News in which he goes on to talk about who he considers to be the top ten quarterbacks for the 09 NFL draft, here’s a copy of the list:

1. Tim Tebow, Florida, Jr.
2. Matthew Stafford, Georgia,Jr.
3. Josh Freeman, Kansas State, Jr.
4. Cullen Harper, Clemson, Sr.
5. Colt McCoy, Texas, Jr.
6. Chase Daniel, Missouri, Sr.
7. Nathan Brown, Central Arkansas, Sr.
8. Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State, Sr.
9. Sean Glennon, Virginia Tech, Sr.
10. Rhett Bhomar, Sam Houston State, Sr.

In this list there is one HUGE glaring obvious absence. I’m sure if you know anything about

college football you already know who I’m talking about. So I ask Mr. Lande….where’s the love?? Why the exclusion of Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell?

The only reason I can think of is the label that Harrell has been unfairly given, “System Quarterback” so let’s break it down. Let’s take a look at Harrell’s numbers from last year, 48 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 512 completions out of 713 attempts with 5705 yards, all I can say is WOW…but still many people think “System QB” so let’s take a look at other “System QB”s and see how they stack up I am going to focus on three other guys, Timmy Chang who tore it up in college but didn’t make it in the NFL, Colt Brennan who rewrote the record books and will look to get a job in the NFL, and finally a player who was included in Russ Lande’s list, Chase Holbrook.

	Completions	Attempts	Yards	TDs	INTs
Graham Harrell(2007 )	512	713	5705	48	14
Timmy Chang(2004)	358	602	4258	38	13
Colt Brennan(2007)	359	510	4343	38	17
Chase Holbrook(2007)	381	543	3866	26	18

There’s a clear difference between Harrell and the rest of these players isn’t there? Holbrook’s numbers would perhaps be a lil’ bit higher if he hadn’t missed one game against Louisiana Tech last year; still Harrell threw a lot more than any of these players, had more touchdowns, fewer interceptions than most(except for Chang), and more completions. Not only that but Harrell plays in the Big XII while all these other players play against WAC defenses which are for the most part not as good as those in the Big XII. So obviously Harrell is a player, anyone who can throw 48 TDs in 12 games is amazing, I don’t care what system you’re playing in, not many other players can match that. I guarantee Chase Daniel, or Matthew Stafford wouldn’t have the same kind of numbers if they played under Mike Leach.

So now that I’ve made my case that Harrell is not simply a “system QB” let’s go on to see other names that were included instead of Graham Harrell. Start at the top, Tim Tebow last year’s Heisman winner and a QB who’s a huge double threat, especially when it comes to those short yardage situations. According to Russ Lande Tim Tebow is the #1 NFL prospect for next year, but let’s weigh the facts. Running QBs simply don’t cut it in the NFL it’s as simple as that, the last mobile QB to make it to a Super Bowl was Donovan McNabb with the Eagles, and he didn’t win, five years before it was Air McNair with the Titans, and they lost. Before that it was John Elway when he won with the Broncos. That’s it, mobile QBs are simply not successful in the NFL. Let’s take a look at the top QBs in the league, Tom Brady(not mobile), Peyton Manning(not Mobile), Carson Palmer(not mobile)….starting to get the picture?

The last great Mobile QB to play college football was Vince Young, now he’s still a rookie but so far he’s been having a hard time in the NFL. Let’s compare his last year with Texas to Tebow’s performance last year.

	Pass attempts	Completions	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rush attemps	Rush Yards	Rush TDs	Avg
Vince Young(2005)	325	212	3036	26	10	147	993	12	6.8
Tim Tebow(2007)	350	234	3286	32	6	210	895	23	4.3

Tebow’s numbers show that he has thrown and rushed more than Vince Young did, because of that he had more passing and rushing TDs, his rushing TDs however mostly came at the goal line when his 6’3 240lb frame came in handy. Which lead to Tebow getting hit quite a lot to the point that his hand got injured, How many coaches in the NFL would be willing to risk their running QB to get hit that much? None. The point is Young was faster, and bigger than Tebow but that still hasn’t made a difference in the NFL so I highly doubt Tebow would have that edge in the NFL. Which leads of course to say that Tebow is a better passer than Vince Young, and yes he is…but is he a better passer than Harrell? Or even Matthew Stafford? Or Chase Daniel?...doubt it.

Which leads me to my next point, Matthew Stafford. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s a good player but is he really the #2 QB? Matt Stafford last year had 348 attempts for 194 completions for 2523 yards 19 TDs and 10 INTs…..that’s right 19 TDs and 10 INTs that’s more than half of his total TD count. When compared to Harrell we can see that second year starter Stafford threw almost half as many passes but only 4 less interceptions than Harrell. While Stafford’s completion percentage was 55.7 while Harrell’s was 71.8. Overall Stafford just doesn’t overshadow Harrell in any way, not even physically while Stafford stands at 6’3 and 237lbs, Harrell is just as impressive at 6’3 and 205lbs. I really don’t see how anyone would take Stafford over Harrell.

As for the rest of the players, they’re not really worth analyzing, the only player which deserves to be as high as he is ranked is Chase Daniel, I’d even rank him higher. The point is if Harrell’s numbers are a product of the system, then so are Tim Tebow’s. So Where’s the Love Russ Lande?? Where's the love NFL Scouts? Where’ the Love Heisman voters??