The NFL Draft is finally over after its 3-day trade and transaction inspired marathon on ESPN.
Last Thursday I put out my 2-round Mock Draft (See Below) and let’s just say I’m not an expert, but is anyone really?
Out of my 64 picks, 15 players (23%) actually landed with the teams I had picked them to go to. I nailed the first 3 picks (which was easy), but after that I had the works of Joe Haden to Cleveland, Demaryius Thomas to Denver, Ryan Mathews to San Diego, just to name a few.
Demaryius Thomas will be catching passes from Tim Tebow
But, I also had Anthony McCoy, Tony Pike and Myron Rolle in the 2nd, and each of them fell into the 6th round.
Taking all of this in, is the draft really just a crapshoot?
Going into the draft, I said no way Florida Atlantic QB Rusty Smith would be the first FAU player to ever be drafted, to my surprise Smith was taken early in the 6th round.
Jevan Snead, yes the kid Mel Kipper once said would be a top-5 draft pick, wasn’t even selected over the weekend. Many thought he would go in the 6th round at the worst.
Freddie Barnes the career NCAA leading receptionist wasn’t even considered a draft able prospect. However, Weber State receiver Tim Toone, a player few have heard of was selected over the weekend.
Then you have players like Jason Pierre-Paul who have had very limited production at the college level. Pierre-Paul played only one year of divison-1 football after transferring to USF from two different junior colleges. How can NFL scouts really project production from a player that saw so much limited high level football?
An almost comparable prospect from 2009’s draft could be the Oakland Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who had raw talent (4.3 40-yard time), but was never a star in the ACC (in three years highest regard was 2nd-team ACC). Heyward-Bey the number 7-overall pick, caught 9 passes as a rookie, and has already been labeled as a flop.
Determining who will have success right away is easy when it comes to NFL teams and the draft, but usually it’s just a riverboat gamble.
My 2011 Draft Big Board:
1. Greg Romeus DE Pittsburgh
2. Da’Quan Bowers DE Clemson
3. Jake Locker QB Washington
4. Anthony Castonozo OT Boston College
5. Julio Jones WR Alabama
6. A.J. Green WR Georgia
7. Greg Jones LB Michigan St.
8. Marvin Austin DT North Carolina
9. Ryan Mallett QB Arkansas
10. Deuanta Williams S North Carolina
-A. Ivins
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