NFL 2012 Draft Thread

I noticed NFL.com has an option to "Unlock higher quality video" and there is a download. I'm assuming there is a charge associated with that? I don't know if I can handle two nights at the bar.

EvilDead wrote:

I noticed NFL.com has an option to "Unlock higher quality video" and there is a download. I'm assuming there is a charge associated with that? I don't know if I can handle two nights at the bar.

No, there's no charge. I did it last night. It's that Akamai (sp?) Netsession Interface thing, and it worked fine. No problems.

Jeff-66 wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

I noticed NFL.com has an option to "Unlock higher quality video" and there is a download. I'm assuming there is a charge associated with that? I don't know if I can handle two nights at the bar.

No, there's no charge. I did it last night. It's that Akamai (sp?) Netsession Interface thing, and it worked fine. No problems.

Awesome, thanks!

In Ted I trust. No idea where Nick Perry was rated in the pre draft rankings but a passrusher is what the Pack needed and thats what he does. Wonder if he fit into the best available player on their board and happened to be what was needed. Honestly believe the defense is one guy away from making everything fall back into place.

A night later, and I'm still pretty overjoyed with Tampa's selections; while the team desperately needs corners, it needs safeties even more. Per Football Outsiders' stats, Tampa's starting safeties were 2nd and 3rd in missing tackles last year in the entire league (Tanard Jackson managed to be 3rd, even though he only played TEN GAMES). Both starting safeties are gone, and it's not like there was much behind them. Getting Barron fills a huge need, plus that 4th round pick helped them move up and get the RB they really needed; the Giants took David Wilson with the next pick, so, without that, Doug Martin quite possibly never makes it to Tampa.

Given a choice between Claiborne or Barron AND Martin, I'm much happier with the latter.

In watching post-draft analysis, I think the dumbest pick award goes to Seattle, with DE Bruce Irvin. His knocks are fairly severe: undersized, doesn't do well against the run, and loads of off the field issues. And they passed on Chandler Jones to take him.

I'm also not sure about Dontari Poe so high, and I think the Chiefs get an honorable mention in the dumbest pick category, since Poe clearly has consistency and motivation issues.

Cleveland's choice of Weeden is very questionable, but now I'm hearing McCoy might be on the block, so we'll see how it plays out.

Forgetting 1 & 2, I think Cleveland, Minnesota, Tampa, J'ville, Carolina & Buffalo all did very well. Miami might have done OK, but Tannehill is a risk, and will probably take several years to develop.

Best 1st round goes to Tampa and New England, IMO. But a lot of teams did quite well. Big props to the Vikings for their pick, and the trade they set up so well with the Claiborne smokescreen.

Because if there's one player in the league with huge trade value right now, it's Colt McCoy.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Because if there's one player in the league with huge trade value right now, it's Colt McCoy.

Yeah, not sure who or what they can get for him, maybe a waterboy and clubhouse janitor? Ha, I kid the Colt.

McCoy on the block?

Lol. My brother posted to his facebook page "How great would it have been if the Ravens drafted a player named Poe?".

I'm a little worried that RGIII seems to be believing his own hype. I just hope he lives up to it.

Paleocon wrote:

Lol. My brother posted to his facebook page "How great would it have been if the Ravens drafted a player named Poe?".

I'm a little worried that RGIII seems to be believing his own hype. I just hope he lives up to it.

You can't fault players for being confident. They have been taught their whole life to be that way. If they start talking about themselves in 3rd person though...

Paleocon wrote:

I'm a little worried that RGIII seems to be believing his own hype. I just hope he lives up to it.

Honestly, I think RGIII is a solid talent, with a great head on his shoulders. I've never gotten any diva vibe from him at all. He comes off as a stereotypical army kid, raised with discipline and a good work ethic. I think he has a great chance to be a John Elway kind of QB.

Of course part of my impression was from when Kansas nearly beat Baylor last season, holding 24-3 lead going into the 4th quarter. Griffin was all kinds of Elway, running for one TD, and throwing for two more, before throwing a 3rd in OT. No, Kansas is not great, but Griffin showed one hell of a lot grit and poise by taking an embarrassing potential loss, and taking the game over himself.

I might even root for the Redskins this year (despite really hating Snyder and Shanahan) because I think RGIII is going to be a blast to watch. I don't think Washington is a great place for him, but I hope breaks through.

So, apparently the Rams were expecting to take Blackmon at pick #6, and when the Jaguars moved up ahead of them and took him, Jeff Fisher slammed his glasses on the table and uttered a one-syllable expletive.

So now, I like the pick even more.

*Legion* wrote:

So, apparently the Rams were expecting to take Blackmon at pick #6, and when the Jaguars moved up ahead of them and took him, Jeff Fisher slammed his glasses on the table and uttered a one-syllable expletive.

So now, I like the pick even more. ;)

I figured that's how it went down. After Jax took Blackmon, that's when the Rams trade was announced. They wanted Richardson or Blackmon.

Wow. The Browns reportedly told Colt McCoy they weren't taking a QB in round 1.

And now, having broken that promise, they're shopping him around.

*Legion* wrote:

Wow. The Browns reportedly told Colt McCoy they weren't taking a QB in round 1.

And now, having broken that promise, they're shopping him around.

On the one hand, my thought is, "How can Cleveland reasonably expect to get value for McCoy now?"

On the other, I saw an NFL team trade for Tim Tebow.

"Tampa took Mark Barron" too high is something I've seen in a few places. Mocks had him going around the 10-13 range as opposed to slot seven where he was picked; those 3-4 slots make ALL the difference.

One of my favorite moments last night was when KC took Poe, they showed a picture of the KC draft party, and all the fans standing around shocked when the picked happen, until they realized the cameras were on and started half-heartedly cheering.

I am happy after reading up on the Giants pick of RB David Wilson though I wonder if they got rattled a bit after TB took Martin before them. I trust the Giants front office so no worries there.

As much as I hate to say it, the Cowboys made the right move taking the CB. I also liked what the Pats did with their picks to bolster their D.

Looking forward to tonight!

*Legion* wrote:

Wow. The Browns reportedly told Colt McCoy they weren't taking a QB in round 1.

And now, having broken that promise, they're shopping him around.

That PFT says the Packers are interested, I can see that working out well for them. McCoy isn't going to unseat Rodgers, but he could serve very well as a backup. What value the Browns can get for him is interesting, though. I don't know if he is really something you put a whole draft pick on, maybe he is fodder for a position trade?

Not quite getting the hatred on Bruce Irvin that isn't related to off-field issues. So 6'3" 245lbs makes a lousy pass rusher? There is a man with identical stats and that man is Von Miller. Von Miller knows how to rush the passer.

As for the off-field issues those are just awful and I hope Pete Carroll knows what he's getting himself into but he does have a track record for getting the most from head cases.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Per Football Outsiders' stats, Tampa's starting safeties were 2nd and 3rd in missing tackles last year in the entire league

First place was Sabby Piscitelli, who accumulated so many broken tackles in 2008-2010 that they had to be statistically prorated into 2011.

If there's one thing I think you can criticize the Bucs draft on, it's the relatively low return they got on moving from #5 to #7. Very surprised Tampa was unable to squeeze another late round selection as part of the deal - but happy, of course, that Gene Smith made the deal happen without giving up any more than the lone 4th round pick.

Hard to fault Tampa for taking what they could get, but they were the ones in a position of leverage - they could take Barron at either spot, but Jacksonville had to make the move in order to get Blackmon before St. Louis could.

Atras wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

Wow. The Browns reportedly told Colt McCoy they weren't taking a QB in round 1.

And now, having broken that promise, they're shopping him around.

That PFT says the Packers are interested, I can see that working out well for them. McCoy isn't going to unseat Rodgers, but he could serve very well as a backup. What value the Browns can get for him is interesting, though. I don't know if he is really something you put a whole draft pick on, maybe he is fodder for a position trade?

Or a pick swap. McCoy + a 6th rounder gets you a 5th in return or something.

Elliottx wrote:

Not quite getting the hatred on Bruce Irvin that isn't related to off-field issues. So 6'3" 245lbs makes a lousy pass rusher? There is a man with identical stats and that man is Von Miller. Von Miller knows how to rush the passer.

Von Miller is a linebacker, not a hand-in-the-dirt 4-3 defensive end.

I haven't seen anyone suggest Irvin has the drop-back-in-coverage skills to play linebacker, nor did he do so in college, nor is he the kind of rare athletic talent Miller is who can rush the passer even from a 4-3 linebacker spot. Irvin appears to be purely a defensive end, and one that's too light to be an every-down DE (Dwight Freeney is the poster boy of too-light 4-3 DEs and he's got over 20 pounds on Irvin.)

*Legion* wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Per Football Outsiders' stats, Tampa's starting safeties were 2nd and 3rd in missing tackles last year in the entire league

First place was Sabby Piscitelli, who accumulated so many broken tackles in 2008-2010 that they had to be statistically prorated into 2011.

If there's one thing I think you can criticize the Bucs draft on, it's the relatively low return they got on moving from #5 to #7. Very surprised Tampa was unable to squeeze another late round selection as part of the deal - but happy, of course, that Gene Smith made the deal happen without giving up any more than the lone 4th round pick.

Hard to fault Tampa for taking what they could get, but they were the ones in a position of leverage - they could take Barron at either spot, but Jacksonville had to make the move in order to get Blackmon before St. Louis could.

My first thought was yeah, they should have gotten more, and I'd have been somewhat peeved had they not then used that pick to move up to take Martin. Tampa didn't have a 4th this year, so without that little sweetener, they don't get the RB they really needed. My assumption is the Bucs knew that the teams that were picking after Jacksonville weren't likely to want to trade up for a WR, and, if they dropped too far, Barron would be gone. Didn't give them as much leverage as they could have had.

Also, in other news, Morris Claiborne didn't bomb his Wonderlic because he has a learning disability. He just blew it off and only finished part of the test. Why? It didn't seem football-related, so he didn't care. Uh . . . really? I mean, this is the combine, and this is a part of the evaluation, and you decide it's just not important? This actually makes me feel even better about Tampa trading down, because if Claiborne doesn't care enough to even bother to finish the test, that sets of far more alarm bells to me than some learning disability. It's one thing to have an actual medical issue, it's another to just be a douchebag.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Also, in other news, Morris Claiborne didn't bomb his Wonderlic because he has a learning disability. He just blew it off and only finished part of the test. Why? It didn't seem football-related, so he didn't care. Uh . . . really? I mean, this is the combine, and this is a part of the evaluation, and you decide it's just not important? This actually makes me feel even better about Tampa trading down, because if Claiborne doesn't care enough to even bother to finish the test, that sets of far more alarm bells to me than some learning disability. It's one thing to have an actual medical issue, it's another to just be a douchebag.

I saw that story too, and it reflects poorly on everyone.

Poorly on Claiborne, for taking part of what is the biggest job interview in his life so lightly.

Poorly on Bus Cook, who was flat out derelict in his duty as an agent. Other prospects get coached on the Wonderlic to the point of score inflation, and Claiborne doesn't even know it's coming?

Claiborne wrote:

"I came to the Combine for football. I looked at the test, and wasn’t any questions about football. I didn't see no point in the test. I'm not in school anymore. I didn’t complete it. I only finished 15 or 18 questions."

Really?

I had heard that a number of teams had dropped Claiborne down on their boards and actually had Stephon Gilmore as the top corner in the draft. I had them neck-and-neck but after this, I definitely have more doubts on Claiborne's attitude and work ethic than before. Seems only fitting that he's headed to Dallas.

Elliottx wrote:

Not quite getting the hatred on Bruce Irvin that isn't related to off-field issues. So 6'3" 245lbs makes a lousy pass rusher? There is a man with identical stats and that man is Von Miller. Von Miller knows how to rush the passer.

As for the off-field issues those are just awful and I hope Pete Carroll knows what he's getting himself into but he does have a track record for getting the most from head cases.

I haven't seen anyone say Irvin wasn't a good pass rusher. McShay even said he's the quickest off the ball of this entire class, but he's poor against the run, and has off the field issues, those are the two big knocks I've seen. I certainly don't see him as a first round pick.

I disagree with you guys regarding Claiborne and the Wonderlic. I agree with him that it's not related to on the field play (this has been demonstrated), he knew he was going top 6 regardless of his score.

Another possibility is that people with disabilities like that, may blow off a test like that and call it 'stupid' or something, when really they feel the extreme pressure of their disability affecting them so badly in a timed test. I wouldn't be so fast to condemn him just yet. And I don't think it will matter one whit.

Jeff-66 wrote:

I disagree with you guys regarding Claiborne and the Wonderlic. I agree with him that it's not related to on the field play (this has been demonstrated), he knew he was going top 6 regardless of his score.

Another possibility is that people with disabilities like that, may blow off a test like that and call it 'stupid' or something, when really they feel the extreme pressure of their disability affecting them so badly in a timed test. I wouldn't be so fast to condemn him just yet. And I don't think it will matter one whit.

It's a player's job to do what's asked of them, not second-guess and judge whether they think it's relevant or not.

No player likes to take the Wonderlic test after a long day of running drills and interviewing with 10 different teams, but they buckle down and do it.

There have been too many great athletes who failed in the NFL due to failing to put in the necessary work to succeed. This kind of "I know better" blow-off is not a positive mark.

"I didn't see no point in the test. I'm not in school anymore." So? You're at the Combine. What else are you going to do with that time? What possibly makes someone just sit there and waste the time and blow it off?

If he said that he tried and he just struggled with his reading after a long day's work, I would be plenty OK with that. It's the "I didn't see no point" attitude that is very off-putting.

Draft round 1 analyzed in GIFs.

*Legion* wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Per Football Outsiders' stats, Tampa's starting safeties were 2nd and 3rd in missing tackles last year in the entire league

First place was Sabby Piscitelli, who accumulated so many broken tackles in 2008-2010 that they had to be statistically prorated into 2011.

If there's one thing I think you can criticize the Bucs draft on, it's the relatively low return they got on moving from #5 to #7. Very surprised Tampa was unable to squeeze another late round selection as part of the deal - but happy, of course, that Gene Smith made the deal happen without giving up any more than the lone 4th round pick.

Hard to fault Tampa for taking what they could get, but they were the ones in a position of leverage - they could take Barron at either spot, but Jacksonville had to make the move in order to get Blackmon before St. Louis could.

Tampa should have had St. Louis on the other line bidding up Jacksonville. Fortunately for Jacksonville either Tampa didn't try or St. Louis gambled that they were bluffing and lost.

I imagine something similar happened with the Vikings. Someone somewhere (Jets maybe) wanted Richardson at 3. That's why they were able to get so much out of Cleveland to jump up one spot. Whether someone really wanted Richardson or the Vikes were really good at selling the idea, we'll never know.

Well if may be off-putting, but it's his prerogative. I've never seen anything to indicate that Claiborne is selfish or some kind of diva. And btw, it wasn't his "job" to do anything that day. That stuff is, AFAIK, 100% voluntary, and he wasn't on anyone's payroll. It obviously didn't hurt him any in the draft.

I agree with Claiborne that it's a stupid, meaningless test, and it can only serve to make guys who don't do well on it look bad, as the scores always go public.

from wikipedia:

A 2005 study by McDonald Mirabile found that there is no significant correlation between a quarterback's Wonderlic score and a quarterback's passer rating, and no significant correlation between a quarterback's Wonderlic score and a quarterback's salary.[25]

Similarly, a 2009 study by Brian D. Lyons, Brian J. Hoffman, and John W. Michel found that Wonderlic scores failed to positively and significantly predict future NFL performance for any position.

Btw, Peyton Manning scored a 16 on it, lower than the average minimum wage security guard. I see no value in this test at all.