|
National Football League
Draft King Mailbag
March 22, 2007
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
From: James Hudson
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 20, 2007 11:46 AM
Subject: michael bush
Why is nobody talking about Michael Bush? I think his overall grade
would have been similar to Peterson. I saw he ran a 4.63 forty but
you have to think he is more of a 4.5 guy when healthy. He broke his
leg, which means by the start of the season he should be 100% again.
I think he should be ranked number 3 behind Peterson and Lynch.
Lou: With the news coming out yesterday that Michael Bush will require additional surgery on his broken leg, it appears that he will likely fall further in the draft than initially expected. It's a real shame, as he was a great RB at Louisville and (if he can recover) he could be an outstanding pro. My guess is that he'll end up being a steal in round three, then "surprising everyone" with a strong performance either late in 2007 or in 2008.
From: Michael Littleton
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 20, 2007 1:05 PM
Subject: 22nd pick
I don't like how players draft status can change so much without them
doing anything. A lot of so called experts have Dallas picking a some
corner. Whether it be Revis, Houston, Ross or who ever. I do agree we
need a corner, but WE NEED A FREE SAFETY! Landry is in a class buy
himself, but at that nest level who do you think is the best safety. I
personally think Meriwheather Is the man. He reminds me so much of Ed
Reed it isn't funny. Forget his so called character issues. You take
that brawl away and you have nothing on the guy. Someone is going to
draft him and have a pro bowl safety, why shouldn't it be Dallas.
Lou: It is unfortunate that a player's status can change without him doing anything to alter it, but the reality of the draft is that team needs fluctuate between the end of the Super Bowl and draft day, and consequently the demand for a player at a given position can fluctuate accordingly.
Since the whole draft projection process is an educated guess (looking at team needs, evaluating past behavior by teams, trying to figure out a pecking order among prospects at various positions and then match them to teams), you're going to see players move up and down as evaluations of various situations change.
Some players make their own fortune by posting strong workout performances, while others at times end up the victim of circumstance (or of their own malfeasance.) But, as always, it doesn't matter what the prognosticators say -- all a player needs is one GM to like him, and presto, he's set. Look at Donte Whitner going before Matt Leinart last year as evidence of that (when few, if any, mock drafts had such a scenario taking place.)
My preference is to look at players by what they can do on the field, not by judging them on subjective "off the field problems" (or, in Brandon Meriweather's case, a problem that actually happened on the field.) But I have it on good authority from sources within the NFL that the league is very *very* concerned about its image, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly ready to put a new player conduct policy into place for the league.
As for Meriweather, he apologized in writing for what happened in the FIU stomping incident, and I hope that he goes to a spot that reflects his ability. My main question of him would be: is he strong enough to play safety at a high level in the NFL? If the answer is yes, then I'd take him. But what I'd do, and what a potentially nervous NFL GM corps will do, may not be the same.
From: Sportsfan1700@aol.com
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 21, 2007 3:18 AM
Subject: wide receiver
I dont know if you remember but I emailed you before the 2006 draft saying how Brandon Marshall was going to be a great sleeper pick. I actually said in December, coming off his great bowl performance that he wasn't just a combine runner like Ashley Lelie and that he was impressive. Well, ironically he took Ashley Lelie's spot on the Broncos after Lelie was traded to the Falcons and this upcoming year Brandon will be the #2 wide receiver behind Javon Walker and a great all around attack with Cutler looking great and Travis Henry and Mike Bell in the backfield. Thanks and just wanted to say to keep looking out for Brandon Marshall, big things are upcoming for him and the Broncos in 2007.
Lou: Yes, I remember your e-mail (online here) And, sure enough, you were right.
Brandon Marshall is having an impact in the NFL; it appears that he will be competing for a starting job (depending on how things pan out with Rod Smith and the new addition of Brandon Stokley.) The 40 yard dash time is in many ways overrated, though because of the factor that it has on how many GMs perceive prospects, it's something that I have to at times disproportionately take into account when it comes to figuring how how the field will separate at any given spot.
Denver looks to field a competitive team for 2007; the Broncos sacrificed a playoff spot to let Jay Cutler get some real-time experience down the stretch (which was a bit baffling to me, but that is what Coach Shanahan decided was best for the team.) But don't get me wrong; I'm a Cutler fan, and I wish him the best in Denver. The infrastructure is there for the Broncos; let's see what they do with it this season.
From: Michael Dillard
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Mar 22, 2007 11:43 AM
Subject: Atl/Det. trade
With the Matt Schaub trade going through, do you see Atlanta trading picks 8 in round one and pick 8 in round two along with pick 10 in round two to get pick 2 in round one from the Lions; I think Atlanta would like to have the hometown hero at WR, Calvin Johnson. That also allowed the Lions to get line help at pick 8 with Levi Brown.
Lou: Here is how the math works on the Detroit/Atlanta trade you laid out, going by the Jimmy Johnson NFL Draft Value Chart:
Detroit
#2 overall: 2,600
Total: 2,600
Atlanta
#8 overall: 1,400
#72 overall: 500
#74 overall: 480
Total: 2,380
It's close, but word out of Atlanta is that the Falcons don't want to trade up. As it is, while I'm sure Atlanta would like to have Calvin Johnson, wanting him and getting him are two different things. As I've gone over on here many times before, trading into and out of the Top 5 is difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.
As it is, trading to #2 would not guarantee that Atlanta would end up with Calvin Johnson, though I see Oakland going with JaMarcus Russell based in part of the team's unwillingness to promise Jeff Garcia that they wouldn't take a QB #1 overall. But despite that, I'd think that it would take a trade while Detroit is on the clock (ensuring that CJ would be on the board) and that could be very tricky.
NFL Draft Prospect Profiles
Draft King is owned and operated by Lou Pickney. Copyright © 2003-2025, all rights reserved. Information on this website should not be used for any gambling purposes, nor does it constitute any sort of advice, financial or otherwise.
|