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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
January 31, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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The Super Bowl is tomorrow -- here's hoping that it's an exciting game. I had been leaning toward picking Pittsburgh, but I've heard way too many stories from my friends in Tampa about seeing members of the Steelers out at the bars and strip clubs to have confidence in predicting them to win. It makes me think of the stories I heard from New Orleans in early 2002 with many members of the Rams allegedly hitting Bourbon Street hard the week before the Super Bowl XXXVI and then their subsequent loss to heavy underdog New England.
At the same time, I have my concerns about the Cardinals being able to run the ball against the Steelers defense, given that Arizona's rushing game has not been particularly strong (#32 out of #32 in rushing yards in the 2008 regular season) while Pittsburgh was #2 in the league against the run, allowing just 80.2 rushing yards per game this past regular season.
As I type this, the Texas vs. the Nation game is airing on CBS College Sports (which really needs a shorter abbreviation than CBSCS). Despite the title, it's not just Texas players on the Texas roster. For example, Ohio State DT Nader Abdallah played high school ball in New Orleans, yet he is on Team Texas. This isn't a game particularly stacked with top prospects, but there are some day two selections in the mix, such as speedy Wyoming RB Devin Moore.
 | Furman OT Joel Bell is likely to be a day two NFL Draft pick. (Icon SMI)
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Moore is just 5'9" 190, which has him in the round 4-6 range as far as draft projection goes. But despite his small size, he is a shifty runner who averaged more than five yards per carry in 2008 for Wyoming. He could be a nice pickup for a team looking for a shifty speed runner later in the draft. Teams that try for Darren Sproles but miss out on him in free agency might keep an eye on Moore in the draft.
The biggest name in the mix is Purdue QB Curtis Painter, who is not expected to be picked until late in the draft (despite his 6'3" 225 size) if at all. Another interesting quarterback in the mix is Missouri QB Chase Patton, who is a solid player who never got much of a chance to play at Missouri thanks to the success of Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel. This article from last fall in ESPN The Magazine explains the rather unique situation that Patton faced in backing up Daniel. Might Patton someday become the next Matt Cassel? As always, time will tell.
There are also some interesting offensive linemen prospects participating in the game, such as Tennessee State OT Cornelius Lewis and Furman OT Joel Bell and Eastern Michigan OG T.J. Lang. Along with that are players like Central Florida CB Joe Burnett (undersized at 5'10" 190 but a confident leader and a strong athlete) and Tulsa QB David Johnson, and overall there are some hidden diamonds in the rough to be found in El Paso today.
I read a comment online from someone speculating that because of the Raiders' tight cap situation that the team might not use the franchise tag for a second consecutive year on CB Nnamdi Asomugha. I found that laughable. No matter what kind of cap maneuvering needs to be done, there is *no way* that Oakland will let Asomugha walk. To point, last year they used the exclusive franchise tag on Asomugha, preventing him from even talking with any other teams. He responded by having another great season in 2008, perhaps his best yet.
The only question this year is simple: will the Raiders use the exclusive franchise tag again or will they opt for the non-exclusive tag this time around? Short of something off-the-field happening, I cannot fathom a scenario where Al Davis would let Asomugha escape via free agency.
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