NFL 2007 Draft Thread

[HarleyQuinn 0]

With the college football season winding down, pretty soon we'll be hearing which juniors are/aren't coming out for the NFL Draft and with the bowl games upcoming, I thought it'd be nice to maybe start a list of possible sleepers to keep an eye on aside from the obvious studs.

 

WR Sidney Rice, a Soph, but eligible for the draft said he would be returning to school next year. Smart decision IMO with the talent in the WR class this year, esp. if juniors like Ted Ginn announce they're jumping.

 

Here are my sleepers (some deeper than others) to watch during the bowl game season (all players are Seniors).

 

QBs

East Carolina: James Pinkney. Good size at 6'3" and 220 lbs. Isn't a scrambler but can make plays with his feet when needed (2.4 YPC). Solidly accurate (61.3%) and has only 8 INT in 326 attempts. Good goalline threat as he has 4 rushing TDs on the season.

 

RB

Brigham Young: Curtis Brown. 6'0" and 205 lbs. but plays in a slightly weaker conference. Has only a 4.5 YPC but has caught 43 passes, showing he's reliable with his hands.

 

Nevada: Robert Hubbard. 5'11" and 195 lbs. but plays in the soft WAC, which may hurt his stock some. Like Snelling in that he may lack breakaway speed as he only has a long of 28 yards but he's averaged 86 yards a game, showing he's consistently getting tough yards. Not much of a receiving threat, only 14 catches, but if he bulks up, he could make for a good depth RB in the NFL.

 

WR

Oklahoma State: D'Juan Woods. Good size for a WR at 6'1" and 210 lbs. A consistent threat on the field with an 18.7 YPC on 24 catches this year including a long of 72. Proven he can be a go to guy with 56 catches last season while still having a 15.7 YPC.

 

Minnesota: Logan Payne. Another player with great size at 6'2" and 205 lbs. Has really blossomed this season with 47 catches and has been consistent the past two seasons with a 14.3 and 14.7 YPC thus far this year. Capable of making the home run with his long being 67 yards this year and is consistent, having five straight games with 6 catches.

 

Kent State: WR Najah Pruden. 6'3" and 185 lbs. but has a crazy 21.4 YPC with 33 catches this season. Also had a 20.8 YPC on 33 catches last season, proving it may not be a fluke. Has had longs of 49, 55, 55, and 64 yards this year with longs of 84 and 97 yards in the past. If he can put on some weight and do well leading up to the draft, I could see him slipping into the 4th/5th round as a steal. Concerns that he also be a deep threat only WR in the NFL (similar to Ashley Lelie) but could help a team in need of one too.

 

Hawaii: WR Ross Dickerson. 5'10" and 185 lbs. but could make a solid West Coast receiver in the NFL. Can catch as he had a four game run with 5, 7, 10, and 6 catches. Not a huge home run threat with longs of 35, 36, and 50 yards this season but has shown in the past he can break a big one (87 yards in 2005). Consistent in YPC with 14.2 and 13.3 YPC and could make an ideal #4/#5 WR in the NFL if drafted.

 

Central Michigan: WR Damien Linson. 5'11" and 188 lbs. and has been a consistent WR for this year and the past 2 years before. Proven he can be a go to guy with 56 catches last year and had a 15.5 YPC (37 catches) and 14.9 YPC in 2004 and 2005. While his YPC has dropped this season to 12.8, he still has proven to be a home run threat. He's had longs of 53 and 61 yards this year as well as 65 and 74 yards in the past. Could be a similar kind of player to Ross Dickerson and make a solid #4/#5 WR.

 

Players who likely won't get bowl games but you should have an eye on

Tulane: QB Lester Ricard. Great size at 6'4"/6'5" and 225 lbs according to ESPN. A pocket QB who may not have great accuracy (57.1% thus far this season) however he's smart with the ball (8 INT in 336 attempts).

 

Kansas: RB Jon Cornish. Solid size at 6'0" and 205 lbs. Has averaged a 5.4 YPC and 113 YPG in the Big XII, which still has several tough defenses in the division.

 

Illinois: RB Pierre Thomas Jr. Good size at 5'11" and 215 lbs. and is doing well in a tough defensive conference in the Big 10. Has a 5.8 YPC but isn't reliable in the receiving game as he has only a 7.2 YPC and 12 catches.

 

Iowa State: RB Stevie Hicks. Great size at 6'1" and 212 lbs. Also playing in the Big XII and has averaged 65 yards a game in 8 games. Like Thomas Jr., not much of a receiving threat out of the backfield however.

 

Virginia: RB Jason Snelling. Big size at 5'11" and 233 lbs, placing in the tough ACC. May lack breakaway speed as he only has a long of 29 yards but is a hard nosed bruiser, averaging 77 YPG and has 20 catches too. Could be turned into a FB at the next level.

 

Rice: RB Quinton Smith. Solid size at 5'11" and 195 lbs. but also plays in a weaker Conference USA. Seems to be what scouts are looking for though as he has averaged 90 yards a game with a long of 69 yards and has also caught 27 yards out of the backfield. Also averaging 5.3 YPC, showing that his long run was not just a fluke.

 

Tulsa: WR Idris Moss. Only 5'10" and 180 lbs. but seems like a solid possession receiver. Has exploded this season with 40 catches and a 16.1 YPC despite having only his 3 longest catches be 49, 50, and 58 yards. Doesn't seem to be much of a TD thread as he only has 2 in his career but could turn into a Ricky Proehl type possession receiver in the NFL if he has good workout numbers.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Here are some videos of players who will be in the NFL Draft to tide you gazers over. Feel free to provide more videos if you can find them. A * denotes the player is a Junior.

 

Quarterbacks

QB Drew Stanton (Michigan State)

QB Chris Leak (Florida)

QB Kevin Kolb 25 Yard Pass vs. SMU (Houston)

QB John David Booty* (USC)

QB Tyler Palko 55 Yard TD Pass vs. Cincinnati (Pittsburgh)

QB Tyler Palko 37 Yard Pass vs. Cincinnati (Pittsburgh)

QB Tyler Palko 51 Yard TD Pass vs. Michigan State (Pittsburgh)

QB John Beck TD vs. Utah (BYU)

QB Isaiah Stanback 70 Yard TD vs. Arizona (Washington)

 

 

Running Backs

RB Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma)*

RB Antonio Pittman (Ohio State)*

RB Selvin Young Run vs. Oklahoma (Texas)

RB Selvin Young TD Run vs. Oklahoma (Texas)

RB Selvin Young Run vs. Rice (Texas)

RB Selvin Young Run vs. Ohio State (Texas)

RB Selvin Young Run vs. Colorado (Texas)

 

Wide Receivers

WR Jason Hill (Washington)

WR Paul Williams (Fresno State)

WR Ted Ginn Jr. (Ohio State)*

WR Limas Sweed TD vs. Oklahoma (Texas)*

WR Limas Sweed Catch vs. Colorado (Texas)

WR Limas Sweed Catch vs. Texas A&M (Texas)

WR Limas Sweed Catch vs. Baylor (Texas)

WR Limas Sweed TD Catch vs. Colorado (Texas)

WR Johnnie Lee Higgins 85 Yard TD Punt Return vs. UAB (UTEP)

WR Marcus Monk TD Catch vs. South Carolina (Arkansas)*

WR Marcus Monk TD Catch vs. Auburn (Arkansas)*

 

Tight Ends

 

Offensive Line

 

Defensive Line

DE Mkristo Bruce (Washington State)

 

Linebackers

 

Defensive Backs

FS LaRon Landry (LSU)

CB Leon Hall (Michigan)

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Brian Leonard - Senior - FB/RB - Rutgers - 6'2" - 235

Career: 644 carries for 2,617 yards and 29 TD's and 200 receptions for 1,832 yards and 13 TD's

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tXJRmKMHTsE

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dPnApaME-GQ

 

Basically, this guy is an animal.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I concur about Brian Leonard. It's kind of a shame that Ray Rice is taking away some of his thunder.

 

Troy Smith has more speed than Vince Young? Can't agree with that one. OSU purposely controlled him from running more than a couple times a game, whereas Texas based their entire offense in the clutch on Vince running.

[dh86 0]

Matt Millen,with most likely the number 1 pick to use? I am shuddering at the thought of that. I am hoping for Brady Quinn but with Jon Kitna as the quarterback of our future, I am expecting Calvin Johnson

[Guest cardsfan31]

Jake Weber, LS, Illinois St. 6'2" 235

has NFL snap times and plus everyone can use a long snapper

[Hawk 34 0]

Matt Millen,with most likely the number 1 pick to use? I am shuddering at the thought of that. I am hoping for Brady Quinn but with Jon Kitna as the quarterback of our future, I am expecting Calvin Johnson

 

They really should just trade that pick to shore up draft picks, take a cheaper QB in the 3rd or 4th round and let Kitna teach him like he did with Palmer.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Troy Smith has more speed than Vince Young? Can't agree with that one. OSU purposely controlled him from running more than a couple times a game, whereas Texas based their entire offense in the clutch on Vince running.

 

Okay, maybe not more "speed" but Vince ran a 4.57 at the Texas pro day on quick notice. I wouldn't be surprised to see Troy Smith run a similar time (4.55-4.60). NFL Draft Scout has Smith's range from 4.57 to 4.64.

[MFer 0]

Matt Millen,with most likely the number 1 pick to use? I am shuddering at the thought of that. I am hoping for Brady Quinn but with Jon Kitna as the quarterback of our future, I am expecting Calvin Johnson

 

They really should just trade that pick to shore up draft picks, take a cheaper QB in the 3rd or 4th round and let Kitna teach him like he did with Palmer.

The Lions need O-lineman and D-lineman. Joe Thomas, Gaines Adams, Quentin Moses, Sam Baker, Levi Brown, Jake Long, Lamar Woodley, Alan Branch, Justin Blalock, these are the types of names Detroit needs to be looking at. They need to draft from the inside-out.

[CanadianChris 0]

Matt Millen,with most likely the number 1 pick to use? I am shuddering at the thought of that. I am hoping for Brady Quinn but with Jon Kitna as the quarterback of our future, I am expecting Calvin Johnson

 

They really should just trade that pick to shore up draft picks, take a cheaper QB in the 3rd or 4th round and let Kitna teach him like he did with Palmer.

The Lions need O-lineman and D-lineman. Joe Thomas, Gaines Adams, Quentin Moses, Sam Baker, Levi Brown, Jake Long, Lamar Woodley, Alan Branch, Justin Blalock, these are the types of names Detroit needs to be looking at. They need to draft from the inside-out.

But they won't, of course. They refuse to learn from looking at teams like Arizona and Houston -- you can't win if you don't have a good offensive line.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

If I were the Lions, I'd try and trade down to around pick 7-10 and grab another 3rd round pick. Go O-Line, go D-Line in the 2nd, get a QB and another O-Line (with the extra pick) in the 3rd, and fill out positions in the 4th - 7th.

[MFer 0]

Matt Millen,with most likely the number 1 pick to use? I am shuddering at the thought of that. I am hoping for Brady Quinn but with Jon Kitna as the quarterback of our future, I am expecting Calvin Johnson

 

They really should just trade that pick to shore up draft picks, take a cheaper QB in the 3rd or 4th round and let Kitna teach him like he did with Palmer.

The Lions need O-lineman and D-lineman. Joe Thomas, Gaines Adams, Quentin Moses, Sam Baker, Levi Brown, Jake Long, Lamar Woodley, Alan Branch, Justin Blalock, these are the types of names Detroit needs to be looking at. They need to draft from the inside-out.

But they won't, of course. They refuse to learn from looking at teams like Arizona and Houston -- you can't win if you don't have a good offensive line.

Add Oakland to that list. Funny thing is all four of those teams had/have high OL picks that didn't pan out in recent years: Houston with Tony Boselli in the expansion draft, Oakland with Gallery, Arizona with Leonard Davis(I think he would be a lot better at guard though), and Detroit with Backus(who was taken one pick after Michigan teammate Hutchinson in '01).

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the Texans never really thought Boselli was going to play again, or if he did certainly not anywhere near the level he was at. Basically he was cap relief for the Jaguars in exchange for the Jags keeping Seth Payne and Gary Walker exposed. That being said, they've really gotten screwed on the FA market (Young, Wade). I'm starting to believe that Eric Winston and Charles Spencer can be the bookend tackles they've been looking for since day 1.

[dh86 0]

I wouldnt even trust Millen to trade down in the draft properly. Teams would probably try to fleece him kinda like Broncos fleeced Washington a couple years back. In a draft, there are no exact science there are just as good of a chance your OT could turn out like Robert Gallery as your QB turning out like Ryan Leaf. Millen made Jeff Backus one of the top three highest paid tackles in the league so I doubt we would go after Joe Thomas or Jake Long. Trading down is the best policy usually though but if we stay at number 1 I would take the quarterback...at least James Hall and Cory Redding has been serviceable at times. Kitna is a turnover waiting to happen and I could imagine Josh being the same

[Guest]

The #1 pick is going to be a defensive player. Somebody like Paul Posluszny.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

From 1999 - 2006 the #1 pick has been a QB 7 times and a DE 2 times.

 

The last time a LB was taken #1 overall was in 1988 by the Atlanta Falcons (Aundray Bruce).

[dh86 0]

A top 10 pick requires so big of an investment that I am very apprehensive of the Lions taking a lineman or a linebacker with that pick. Like Ernie Sims will probably be a pretty good player that we took at 10 but how much of an impact on a team will he have as an outside linebacker versus Leinart or Cutler would as quarterbacks?

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Updated the second post with more video clips. Kevin Kolb's quickly going up my QB list though, especially after last night's performance. Showed good speed on that 46 yard TD run too.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I hope Ted Ginn Jr falls to the Eagles.

[C Dubya 04 0]

Eh, the Eagles are fine at WR. They need some help at Linebacker and some big hosses on the D line. Plus replacements for Lewis and B-Dawk (his future replacement, someone to step in there in a year or two) at Safety.

[Gert T 0]

I am a huge Buckeye homer, but I am not sure if I would want to invest a Top 20 pick in Ted Ginn Jr. I am not quite sold if he can be as explosive or a #1 WR at the next level.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Here's an updated NFL Draft Order

 

#1: Oakland Raiders

#2: Detroit Lions

#3: Cleveland Browns (pending TB)

#4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (pending TB)

#5: Arizona Cardinals

#6: Washington Redskins

#7: Minnesota Vikings

#8: Houston Texans

#9: Miami Dolphins

#10: Atlanta Falcons

#11: San Francisco 49ers

#12: Buffalo Bills

#13: St. Louis Rams

#14: Carolina Panthers

#15: Pittsburgh Steelers

#16: Green Bay Packers

#17: Jacksonville Jaguars

#18: Cincinnati Bengals

#19: Tennessee Titans

#20:

#21: Denver Broncos

#22:

#23:

#24:

#25:

#26:

#27:

#28:

#29:

#30:

#31:

#32:

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Some other draft notes...

 

Florida State LB Lawrence Timmons (6'3", 230 lbs.) has declared for the NFL Draft.

 

UNLV CB Eric Wright (5'11", 190 lbs.) has declared for the NFL Draft.

 

Kentucky QB Andre Woodson has declared he will return for his Senior year.

[Annabelle 0]

holy shit the raiders need to draft quinn.

[teke184 0]

holy shit the raiders need to draft quinn.

JaMarcus Russell of LSU is a better Raiders pick at QB.

 

He's 6'6", 250+ pounds, has a rocket arm, threw with 70% accuracy this year, and has learned how to scramble.

 

 

That last part is a necessity unless they can shore up that O-Line "anchored" by "T-Rex arms" Robert Gallery.

[Hawk 34 0]

Better off just trading that pick for extra O-line help and getting a vet QB off FA and probably grabbing a middle round QB instead of blowing a wad of cash on a QB that'll get killed anyways.

 

Speaking of Oakland, think they'll be able to shop Moss around and if so, which team will fall for it?

[teke184 0]

Better off just trading that pick for extra O-line help and getting a vet QB off FA and probably grabbing a middle round QB instead of blowing a wad of cash on a QB that'll get killed anyways.

 

Speaking of Oakland, think they'll be able to shop Moss around and if so, which team will fall for it?

 

Vet QBs available after this season-

 

1. Jake Plummer, if Denver can get a good trade

 

2. Jeff Garcia, if Philly doesn't resign him

 

3. Byron Leftwich?

 

4. Jon Kitna?

 

5. Matt Schaub (restricted FA)

 

6. Damon Huard (unrestricted FA)

 

7. Aaron Brooks... wait, the Raiders haven't cut him yet.

 

 

O-Line help on the market after this season-

 

1. Leonard Davis (UFA) - Doubtful he re-signs with the Cardinals

 

2. Mike Gandy (UFA) - The Raiders could make an offer so that they get him at left tackle and move Gallery to RT

 

 

 

Potential suckers, er, takers for Randy Moss-

 

1. Minnesota Vikings

 

2. Tampa Bay Bucs

 

3. Dallas Cowboys

 

4. Green Bay Packers

 

5. Buffalo Bills

 

6. NY Giants

 

 

The Vikings are the leaders because they've dealt with him before under prior management.

 

 

 

As far as the Raiders trading this pick, who the hell would want it?

 

This is like a few years ago when San Fran had the #1 pick and had to take Alex Smith because they couldn't move it for a reasonable price.

 

Hell, I don't think the Texans could find any good takers for THEIR pick last year when everyone was creaming themselves over Reggie Bush, Vince Young, and Matt Leinart, all of which were seen as legitimate #1 picks.

 

 

The only non-QB players at the top of the board are DE Gaines Adams, WR Calvin Johnson, RB Adrian Peterson, and OT Joe Thomas.

 

No one will want to pay #1 pick money for these guys when they could get Detroit's #2 pick, get the same guy, and pay millions less.

 

 

 

The good news for Detroit and Oakland, though, is that the market for rookie QBs in this draft is fairly poor. If they CAN drop down 5-10 slots, they'll still probably have their choice of Quinn, Russell, Troy Smith, and Brian Brohm.

 

(I think the only team looking for a star QB besides those two is Minnesota, who picks at #7. Everyone else, like Green Bay and Tampa Bay, have other needs that have to be filled first.)

[Hawk 34 0]

I could see Moss landing with Tampa since I think Gruden might see that as a risk he can take. There's no way Dallas goes for another headache. Moss in a media market like NY with a guy like Shockey sharing the press, is a nightmare for the management.

[RepoMan 0]

Potential suckers, er, takers for Randy Moss-

 

 

5. Buffalo Bills

 

I'm curious as to why you think Buffalo should be on that list. The Bills might not have a star WR but the recieving unit is above average as a whole.

[teke184 0]

Potential suckers, er, takers for Randy Moss-

 

 

5. Buffalo Bills

 

I'm curious as to why you think Buffalo should be on that list. The Bills might not have a star WR but the recieving unit is above average as a whole.

 

A few sites who have team needs listed have the Bills written up as needing WRs.

 

Granted, that may be because a few people are still pissed at Peerless Price over his failed Atlanta stint.