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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
April 21, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.
Thanks to the guys at The Daily Dose in Cincinnati who had me on their show earlier today. The archive for today's show should be up by the time you read this. I've got two more radio interviews booked for later this week, and I appreciate the show producers out there who have approached me about appearing on their various shows.
There was limited time on the show, but a player from the University of Cincinnati who I'd hoped to talk about is CB Mike Mickens. He ran a 4.53 40 while still recovering from a torn meniscus in his left knee, he's 6'0" so he can compete with most WRs, and he is a great tackler. If he falls to day two he'll be a major steal.
 | Some consider Purdue RB Kory Sheets to be a good prospect. (Icon SMI)
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The latest word out of Detroit is that the chances are "very good" that the team will have its top pick signed ahead of this weekend's NFL Draft. The team is keeping tight-lipped about its plans, but all indications point to the Lions drafting Georgia QB Matthew Stafford with the #1 overall selection in the draft.
There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the Jets potentially trading up to land USC QB Mark Sanchez. Moving from #17 to, say, #8 with Jacksonville would likely require the inclusion of a 2010 first-round pick. There aren't many players that I'd think would inspire teams to trade up, but I'd think that Sanchez is one of them. And, if he falls out of the top five, there could be quite a clamor from teams looking to trade up to draft him.
At the same time, I don't think that Washington will take Sanchez if he's on the board at #13. There will be too many good defensive players available when the Redskins' pick comes up for them to take Sanchez, at least not in my opinion. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I don't see it happening.
This link from BleacherReport.com spotlights ten sleepers in the upcoming draft. I can't say that I agree with them all (Josh Freeman is no sleeper), but there are some good players listed there, particularly some day two players who good be good value picks. Purdue RB Kory Sheets is a good player who is listed there.
Sheets is 5'11" 210, averaged more than five yards per carry in four years with the Boilermakers, and he ran a sub-4.4 40 yard dash at the combine. His 61-year-old punt return at the Senior Bowl helped to spotlight his kick return ability, which is an added benefit that he brings to the table.
In a further follow-up on the B.J. Raji story, SI.com has retracted the story from earlier this month claiming that Raji failed a drug test at the February NFL combine. Raji is a strong prospect who could potentially be a top five pick this weekend.
There continue to be rumors swirling about the future of wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Braylon Edwards. Boldin has made it clear that he wants out of Arizona, whereas there is plenty of chatter about Cleveland wanting to ship Edwards out of town. Both teams would, presumably, want to make any trade happen before the draft so that they could get one (or more) picks in this draft (as opposed to 2010 or beyond). The clock is ticking with less than four days to go, and it will be quite interesting to see how it plays out.
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