April 29, 2012
2012 NFL Draft Day 2 Preview Random Thoughts:
1. The same thing happens every year. Some team makes a crazy pick, like Jacksonville with Tyson Alualu in 2010, and Seattle with James Carpenter and Bruce Irvin the past two Aprils. It’s completely berated on Draft Day, the team’s fans go nuts, and Mel Kiper looks befuddled on national TV. And then the following the day, there are reports on Pro Football Talk and other sites that go like, “Team X and Team Y LOVED Bruce Irvin and James Carpenter. Not only were they ready to draft him at their spot, the owner was going to strip naked and show up at the prospect’s house!”
Don’t believe a word of it. This phenomenon can be explained in two letters: PR.
One of two scenarios occur. First, the team (or the agent) feeds false reports to the media about that particular prospect being ranked high elsewhere to save face with their fan base. Or second, the other team(s) feels bad for the organization in question because of a friendship of some sort, so they leak this bogus info reporters. Think about it – if a colleague and friend did something stupid, wouldn’t you help him out so the criticism would go away?
Case in point – Kiper and other fans berated the Alualu pick on Draft Day, and then the pick was praised the following afternoon. Bill Polian, however, recently said that he was completely floored by the Alualu selection and admitted that he didn’t see it coming in a million years. Also, with A.J. Jenkins, various teams are now saying that they loved him, but I know for a fact that the Jaguars had him as a third-round prospect on their board.
I’m currently attempting to learn where Irvin was truly ranked on various team boards. I’ll have that for you if/when I find out.
2. Speaking of Irvin, I wrote yesterday in my 2012 NFL Draft Day 1 Recap that Al Davis possessed Pete Carroll. After speaking to my sources in the underworld, I can now reveal that it hasn’t been Davis all along. Davis, himself, was controlled by a dark demon named Bazuzu who likes 40 times.
Bazuzu left Davis’ body prior to the 2011 NFL Draft, which would explain why the Raiders picked so well that year. The demon penetrated Carroll (not that there’s anything wrong with that), just prior to April 2011. That’s why the Seahawks went from selecting great prospects such as Russell Okung and Earl Thomas to the likes of Carpenter and Irvin.
Please keep this in mind in the future. If I start speaking of Combine stars as “great playas,” please alert the authorities so they can lock me up. If Bazuzu possesses me, I don’t want to hurt anyone by convincing a team that a guy who ran a 4.35 40 is a great playa.
3. OK, in all seriousness, the scuttlebutt entering Day 2 is that the Rams are expected to select a receiver at No. 33. It’ll probably be Rueben Randle or Brian Quick, as both players had visits with St. Louis. I have Randle going there in my 2012 NFL Mock Re-Draft.
4. Speaking of receivers, ESPN’s Bob Holtzman reported Friday that Stephen Hill is the No. 3 receiver on Cleveland’s board. Poor Mike Holmgren panicked and reached for Brandon Weeden when Kendall Wright was unexpectedly plucked off the board at No. 20. He needs to find a wideout for Weeden.
5. The Bills, meanwhile, are expected to target an offensive lineman at No. 41, per BuffaloBills.com. Cordy Glenn and Jonathan Martin both had visits with Buffalo.
6. I really hope Mohamed Sanu will have a great career. If you haven’t heard, the agent for the Rutgers wideout received a prank call when the Bengals were on the clock at No. 27. The agent fell for the trick, and he informed Sanu, who then watched Kevin Zeitler go to Cincinnati. From what I’ve heard, Sanu is a great guy, so he did not deserve this. I hope the prank caller receives the appropriate bad karma. I’d say being possessed by Bazuzu for five years would suffice.
2012 NFL Draft Mailbag:
Here are various 2012 NFL Draft-related questions I received on Facebook and my responses to them:
From Zach C
Why would the browns take a soon to be 29 year old quarterback? It would make more sense if they were ready to win now and it wasn’t a first round pick. Why not take a chance on a high upside QB in the second or third round like Brock Osweiler?
I completely agree. Weeden will be past his prime once his initial contract is up. Plus, there’s no guarantee that he’s any good. Almost every Big XII quarterback has flopped in the NFL in the past decade.
From John S
I don’t like your assessment on Jon Beason being unreliable. Last year was the only time that he missed a game……ever.
Unfortunately, Beason is coming off a torn Achilles, which is a brutal injury to recover from. The Panthers can’t count on him playing well in 2012, which is why they drafted Luke Kuechly.
From Nick F
I dont get why you gave the 49ers a Matt Millen grade. You had Jenkins going 38th in your final mock. He went 30th. A Matt Millen grade for 8 spots? Would you have given the pick an F or D if he went 38th where you yourself predicted? Cuz using your grading logic, that would be the grade.
I know for a fact that some teams had a third-round grade on Jenkins, but I mocked him 38 because I heard he was being pushed up.
From J.J. J.
I was at Century Link field at the event center and the crowd was less then pleased with the hawks pick… mostly silence followed but about atleast 35-50 percent of the crowd leaving right away… i stayed for the locker room tour then left.. I am pretty pissed that they reached again but i guess PC recruited him to go to USC so i am going to have to trust him… I just hope since he dropped out of highs school he is more competent than Emmit Smith
Bazuzu drafted him. Not Pete Carroll. Don’t blame Carroll in this. It’s not his fault that he’s been possessed by a dark demon who likes 40 times.
From Steven L
Morris Claiborne on why he did so poorly on the Wonderlic “I came to the Combine for football. I looked at the test, and there 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.” Sounds like Claiborne needs to become a recurring character on your site.
Sounds like Eric Cartman, “Whateva, whateva, I’ll do whateva I want!” That doesn’t sound like someone I want on my football team. I was less concerned when I thought Claiborne was stupid.
From Matt W
I can’t wait until you totally nail the Broncos pick!
Many of my Denver 11 are still available. Maybe I’ll hit on two of them. I think that would piss off Woody Paige.
From Tino K
dallas a b+ for arguably the 3rd best player in the draft at 6, moving up from 14 for only a second…. lol, care to elaborate a little?
Yeah, they made a really good move. Don’t like giving up assets, but I liked it. (By the way, what the hell is wrong with a B+? I was thrilled when I got a B+ on a test in school.)
From Travis J.
umm…who is Bruce Irvin?
Tim J. answered this well: “His original selection was Matt Leinart, but it turns out he was off the board.”
From Ash K.
Surprised Barron at #7 only got a C-. I had a Millen On Kielbasa and Shrooms Dinner grade.
That’s fair, but I liked that they traded down and picked up more selections at least. If you want to give it a Millen grade, I’d say a “Millen Kielbasa Dry Humping Grade” would suffice. I think I just threw up a little bit.
From Ed L.
Walter, how do the bills need offensive line help???? Least amount of sacks allowed in the league last year. Gilmore was the best possible pick for the bills. Needed a corner and he was possibly going as high as 7 to Jacksonville. Who did you want us to take???? Reiff???? Short arms????
They had the least amount of sacks because all they did was run three-step drops with Fitzpatrick, so he wouldn’t get exposed. Oh, and some guy named Demetress Bell left the team.
From Soren M.
If the Bengals still get DeCastro you gotta lower all A’s today to a B so the Bengals have the biggest A ever 😉
Soren later said: “And they could have gotten him. SCREW YOU BENGALS FOR RUINING MY IDEAS!”
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