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Late tonight news broke of the Detroit Lions signing Georgia QB Matthew Stafford to a six-year, $78 million contract with $41.7 million guaranteed. That locks in Stafford as the #1 overall pick, something I had expected for him ever since he had such a great private workout for the Lions. I didn't think that Stafford would get so much of his contract in the form of guaranteed money, and I anticipate that those wanting further restrictions on rookie salaries to use this as a rallying call.
Thanks to The Daily Dose in Cincinnati, ESPN 1420 (KKEA) in Honolulu, and 104.5 the Team (WTMM-FM) in Albany for having me on as a guest this past week. I heard both positive and negative comments about the idea of Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno going to the Jets at #17; there are some who think that Thomas Jones and Leon Washington can handle the load in 2009, while others think that drafting Moreno or Ohio State RB Chris "Beanie" Wells. I now have Kansas State QB Josh Freeman slated to that spot in my final mock, but there was a strong reaction on both sides to the notion of the Jets drafting a running back in round one.
There has been plenty of late speculation (as in literally late *today*) that the Chiefs will draft LSU DE Tyson Jackson at #3 overall. I still think that Wake Forest LB Aaron Curry is the best choice there (and that he can be an effective 3-4 OLB) but the late rush up to #3 by Jackson on many draft boards is interesting. Is there a leak in Denver? Or is this a case of people putting strong stock in Mel Kiper slotting Jackson at #3 in his final updated mock?
It has shocked me to see so many people getting on the Darrius Heyward-Bey to Oakland at #7 bandwagon. I originally put those two together as a "surprise pick" based on Al Davis' known likes in a player and Heyward-Bey's skill set, and also the Raiders not needing a kick returner (a skill which helped Missouri WR Jeremy Maclin move up many draft boards in the past few months). But then I discovered that the NFL Network's Mike Mayock had also connected DHB to Oakland, and then a number of other mocks had Heyward-Bey going to the Raiders as well. He might be a top ten pick; he might not even go in round one (though that's not likely). But I don't think there's any other player you can say that about, save for perhaps Percy Harvin (though there aren't many slating him for the top ten).
News became public this week about Percy Harvin failing a combine drug test (for marijuana, which is allowed in some states for medical use but which is banned by the NFL), and it will be interesting to see how Harvin is impacted by that. I feel bad for guys like Boston College DT B.J. Raji, USC LBs Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews, and Illinois CB Vontae Davis who all had unfounded reports circulated on the internet about them supposedly having failed a drug test at the combine. They were all clean, but the damage has been done to a degree for their public perception. Sadly, with news reporitng it's often the big print that brings you the bad news and the small print that has good news (which, interestingly, is the opposite of a commercial).
I leave you with my all-time favorite NFL Draft clip: the montage of New York Jets draft blunders from 1980-1995 that ESPN put together a few years ago. Chris Berman's reactions to some of them are classic. I'll be on here tomorrow with a running commentary on the 2009 Draft (at least the first round), and soon I'll have the first mailbag entry for the 2010 Draft, with a reader questioning me on why I left a particular player off the 2010 first round board.
