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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
January 14, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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With the deadline for eligible underclassmen looming tomorrow, some of the major prospects made their decisions known today.
At the top of the list is Oklahoma redshirt sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford, who announced (along with junior teammates Jermaine Gresham, arguably the top tight end prospect in the draft, and OT Trent Williams) today that they are all returning to OU for the 2009 season. Also, LSU OT Ciron Black announced today that he is coming back to school for his senior season.
 | LeSean McCoy is a likely day one pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. (Icon SMI)
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Pitt sophomore RB LeSean "Shady" McCoy, however, has announced that he plans to turn pro. McCoy, who spent a year in prep school prior to coming to Pitt, had been reportedly on the fence but ultimately decided to make the leap to the pro level.
Tomorrow we'll find out about the rest of the high profile eligible underclassmen prospects, including USC QB Mark Sanchez (who is said to be heading to the NFL according to sources as per ESPN's Chris Mortensen), Florida WR Percy Harvin and teammate LB Brandon Spikes, Ole Miss DE Greg Hardy, and Georgia FS Reshad Jones (who might be tempted to turn pro with USC FS Taylor Mays opting to return to school for his senior year).
With Bradford, his decision to return to school potentially cost him the chance to be the #1 overall pick in the draft. Until today I had him in the #1 slot, and Todd McShay of Scouts Inc. (and ESPN) also had him slated in the #1 position. This is, in some ways, shades of 2005 when USC QB Matt Leinart returned to school for his senior season and passed up being the #1 overall pick by the 49ers, who ended up with Utah QB Alex Smith instead. In 2006 Leinart ended up going #10 in the draft, costing him a considerable amount of money.
With Bradford it's different though as he has two years of eligibility remaining, and he wasn't the stone cold lock to be #1 overall that Leinart appeared to be in 2005. But it is a fascinating thing to me when a player decides to return to college in favor of being a likely top pick in the draft. With year-to-year variances, there is certainly no guarantee of the same opportunity in the following season.
The question now becomes: will Detroit take Georgia QB Matthew Stafford at #1 overall? The Lions could opt to go offensive line instead with the likes of Alabama OT Andre Smith or Ole Miss OT Michael Oher; no defensive player (at this point) appears to be a serious contender to be the top pick in the draft.
Also, what does this do to Kansas City, which appeared to be in position to take whichever of the two between Stafford and Bradford the Lions didn't take at #1 (with the presumption of the Rams taking an offensive lineman at #2 overall and not looking at a QB).
If Mark Sanchez comes out as rumored, could he shoot up the draft board to the Kansas City spot at #3? My initial inclination is that he wouldn't, but first things first: we have to see if Sanchez will be coming out for the 2009 NFL Draft.
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