Risers & Fallers

[DesperateDerelict]

Haven't started a thread in the last few days, so I thought I'd discuss the trends in the better mock drafts. I'm not defending these rankings, nor do I always agree with them, but the pundits are (normally) more informed than I am.

DT's - Dorsey still top 5. Ellis came way up after the senior bowl, now anywhere from 2nd to 6th overall. Balmer has also jumped up the boards to the middle of the first. Bryant is well up into the 2nd round, Sims, Okam, and Dre Moore seem to be slipping.

DE's - C. Long still top 5; Gholston definitely in the top 10 (normally 6th). Campbell has climbed to a top 15 - 20. Merling from Clemson has really zoomed, going from the middle of the 2nd to the middle of the 1st. Harvey, Groves, & L.Jackson are still 2nd rounders, but Ellis is way down in the 3rd.

LB's - Everybody is falling, maybe 'cause it's such a deep class with so many tweeners. Connors went from top 10 to end of round 1, and Rivers has slipped some too (Bengals at #9, Donkeys at #12, or all the way down to the 23rd). Mayo and Wheeler seem to have caught or passed Highsmith, Adibi, & Henderson. Curtis Lofton (Oklahoma) is falling like a rock (weight?)

DB's - McKelvin (Troy) & Talib (Kan) have caught or passed Jenkins (USF), all top 20 CBs. Everybody else is all over the place, and we'll have to wait on the combine times and drills to sort it all out. Phillips has fallen out of the top 10, but is the only safety slated for Round 1 - Zbikowski has passed eveyone else and is now top 50.

WR's - Same as DB's - all over the place. There are a dozen that could go in the top 50 picks. Climbing are Kelly (Okla), D.Jackson (Cal), & Doucet (LSU). Biggest dumpers? Try Manningham (Mich) Bowman (OkSt), Sweed (Tex), and D.Thomas (MSU).

QB's - Ryan from BC is still top 10. Chad Henne from Ann Arbor has jumped into day 1 consideration, maybe top 40. Brohm, Woodson, & Booty all have problems, and are dropping like the Dow Jones.

RB's - Honestly, I don't care - it never seems to matter. McFadden is this years Patterson, and is top 6. Stewart & Mendenhall are both 1st rounders, but could go anywhere in the second 15. Everybody else (Jones, Choice, Forte, and Rice) are all out of the top 40 for various reasons, mostly concerning durability and size.

OL - Long is still top 5, but Clady is gaining on him. Baker, Otah, and Williams are still crawling up the board, and are all in the end of the 1st round. All other tackles, guards, and centers are probably round 3 or later.

[skyline]

Interesting. Maybe we can steal a good LB in the 2nd round, then.

[Wraith]

If Bowman is there at our selection in Round 2 pick him up! Being out here in Big 12 country, I have watched him a couple of times and being an Indiana University grad I watched Oklahoma St. kill us in the bowl (something I knew would happen because Indiana hadn't stopped a dominent running game all season) and he is without doubt the best WR I saw in all of college football. Tall, Strong, Great Hands, catches the ball away from his body, Smart, good routes, and he can get deep because he has that rare ability to accelerate and gain separation on the run. Good Kid with Great Character will probably fall down because he doesn't have great timed speed but, in the Big 12 with alot of pro DBs nobody covered him!

[HairOnFire]

DT's - Dorsey still top 5. Ellis came way up after the senior bowl, now anywhere from 2nd to 6th overall. Balmer has also jumped up the boards to the middle of the first. Bryant is well up into the 2nd round, Sims, Okam, and Dre Moore seem to be slipping.

I've developed quite the mancrush on Balmer, and was very disappointed to hear he'd slightly tweaked a hamstring during Senior Bowl practices. I really hope it doesn't limit what he can do at the combine.

DE's - C. Long still top 5; Gholston definitely in the top 10 (normally 6th). Campbell has climbed to a top 15 - 20. Merling from Clemson has really zoomed, going from the middle of the 2nd to the middle of the 1st. Harvey, Groves, & L.Jackson are still 2nd rounders, but Ellis is way down in the 3rd.

I don't think Chris Ellis has fallen. More accurately, he's been exposed as the same player who was given a 3rd/4th round evaluation from the NFL last year.

DB's - McKelvin (Troy) & Talib (Kan) have caught or passed Jenkins (USF), all top 20 CBs. Everybody else is all over the place, and we'll have to wait on the combine times and drills to sort it all out. Phillips has fallen out of the top 10, but is the only safety slated for Round 1 - Zbikowski has passed eveyone else and is now top 50.

The big news here was Jake Ikegwouno blowing out his knee during a workout. I thought he belonged in the the Top5 at the position, but he might need luck just to get drafted now. Still, it's a deep class and there are guys I could be very happy with that should be available late in the 3rd.

WR's - Same as DB's - all over the place. There are a dozen that could go in the top 50 picks. Climbing are Kelly (Okla), D.Jackson (Cal), & Doucet (LSU). Biggest dumpers? Try Manningham (Mich) Bowman (OkSt), Sweed (Tex), and D.Thomas (MSU).

It's a deep class that features all types so it's only natural that rankings would be varied. That said, I think your mockers are wrong about Bowman. He looked great at the Senior Bowl and two of the North's three QB's said he was the best player on their team, offense or defense.

[CarsonDaMan]

If Bowman is there at our selection in Round 2 pick him up! Being out here in Big 12 country, I have watched him a couple of times and being an Indiana University grad I watched Oklahoma St. kill us in the bowl (something I knew would happen because Indiana hadn't stopped a dominent running game all season) and he is without doubt the best WR I saw in all of college football. Tall, Strong, Great Hands, catches the ball away from his body, Smart, good routes, and he can get deep because he has that rare ability to accelerate and gain separation on the run. Good Kid with Great Character will probably fall down because he doesn't have great timed speed but, in the Big 12 with alot of pro DBs nobody covered him!

I don't know a whole lot of great character kids that fail drug tests.

[Wraith]

I had no idea that he failed a drug test, when was this?

[DesperateDerelict]

If Bowman is there at our selection in Round 2 pick him up!

A quote from SI's Tony Pauline after the Senior Bowl week:

Adarius Bowman, WR, Oklahoma State: Bowman had his troubles from the start, dropping passes daily while displaying minimal speed to his game. He showed signs of improvement during the final day, but it won't be enough to keep him in the draft's first 60 picks.

Even though that's just one scout's opinion, it's pretty damning. He's not in Mayock's top 5, which is the preferred scout on this board (IMHO he sucks).

Perhaps we'll get him on Day 2 ???

[TJJackson]

That's just what we need - slow guys with bad hands.

Maybe I should tryout

[Wraith]

I understand he had a bad Senior Bowl but 67 catches of 96 throws does not indicate "bad hands" (particularly since his QBs averaged a completion % of 59.3) more specificly I have seen him play 3 games this year and he was the dominent player on the field against Nebraska, Texas and Indiana in the Bowl Game. Keep in mind he played against Corners that will be drafted (high in the case of Indiana and Texas) in all of those games. And as far as being slow, again he consistently got separation this season in every game I watched him play even against Porter who runs a 4.35/40. I believe he plays much faster than he times because he has a great burst out of his routes.

[HairOnFire]

Even though that's just one scout's opinion, it's pretty damning.

Not really. I usually see Bowman ranked at the very bottom of Top 50 rankings and have never seen him projected to go any higher than the middle of the 2nd round. So it's hardly big news when your boy Pauline claims Bowman won't be taken in the first 60 picks. Nor is it suprising to hear a scout note Bowmans lack of speed since that isn't a major factor in how he produces. He's not Donnie Avery, right? Then again, the only way you know Donnie Avery is going to run the right route is if he's practicing in a narrow hallway. In short, they're apples and oranges.

He's not in Mayock's top 5, which is the preferred scout on this board (IMHO he sucks).

For whatever it might be worth, I don't consider Mayoch to be a scout at all. Just someone whose job puts him in a position to be in constant contact with scouts, coaches, and GM's, and as a result a better than average source of player related information. In fact, if there's anything I find fault with Mayoch is his tendency to change his opinion based upon the last conversation he had in an elevator. That said, the information he passes along is of interest to me, although I take it with the same grains of salt as I do with Kiper, McShay, Cooney, or anyone else you'd care to mention.

[CarsonDaMan]

I had no idea that he failed a drug test, when was this?

He failed it halfway into his sophomore season at North Carolina. He was arrested and charged with marijuana possession. At that point they suspended him and that led to his transfer to Oklahoma St.

Taking a few bong hits isn't the worst thing a human being can do. But when you have the negative PR that the Bengals have it's not something they should be adding onto their roster.