Peter King: You have to go back to 1997 to find a draft like this one

[Deberg_1990]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl.../?sct=uk_wr_a1





You'd probably have to go back to 1997 to find a draft like this one. That's the year Peyton Manning eschewed the prospect of going to the Jets first overall to play for Bill Parcells and returned for his senior year at Tennessee. One quarterback (shaky Jim Druckenmiller, 26th) picked in round one. Two backs (Warrick Dunn 12th and Antowain Smith 23rd) in round one, and four receivers in the first: Ike Hilliard seventh, Yatil Green 15th, Reidel Anthony 16th and Rae Carruth 27th. Yikes! What a horrible draft for point-producers. One star, Dunn, out of seven first-rounders.

That could repeat this year. It's likely Alabama's Eddie Lacy will be the only running back taken in round one. Tennessee's Cordarrelle Patterson leads the muddled pack at wide receiver, but how sure can you really be of junior-college transfers who play one year of major-college football, which is Patterson's profile?

The quarterbacks are a total mish-mosh at this point. One GM interested in acquiring a quarterback this offseason told me over the weekend, "I expect more attention on the quarterbacks throwing this year than on any other single thing at the Combine.'' Some think Geno Smith of West Virginia will go first overall to quarterback-needy Kansas City; one personnel man who studied all the top quarterbacks for a team in need of one last fall told me, "There's not one quarterback, including Smith, I would take in the first round."

Two points about that. If you need a quarterback, you can talk brave in February, but when reality sets in around draft day, and you haven't picked up a quarterback in free agency, all of a sudden the zits on Smith, Matt Barkley and other others don't seem as bad. And we're nine and a half weeks from round one. There's no way that Andy Reid and John Dorsey, the coach and GM for Kansas City, know what they're doing now. They need time to investigate and to watch tape on the eight or 10 quarterbacks.

But in some ways, 2013 should be a catchup year for the other positions. Opening day 2013 could feature 12 starting quarterbacks drafted in 2011 and '12; that's far, far above the norm in a game that values veteran arms at the position.

Now for a couple of notes about players at the Combine.

Alec Ogletree. The underclass inside linebacker from Georgia would be a clear top-10 pick with a clean resume. But he was suspended the first four games of last season for failing an offseason drug test, and then came the news Saturday night, via ProFootballTalk.com, that Ogletree recently was pinched for driving while intoxicated.

Ogletree and agent Pat Dye were smart to come out and beat the police blotter to the punch. As for the damage done by the arrest, Ogletree, who is a speed demon for an inside player, the kind of player who, if right, would be a perfect fit as a rare three-down inside linebacker for any team, has to convince teams they shouldn't be worried about a player who has tested positive, been suspended, and gotten a DWI in the span of about nine months.

Some GM is going to stake his reputation on Ogletree in the first round, most likely. Which GM? It would have to be a secure one. Green Bay's Ted Thompson or de facto GM Bill Belichick of the Patriots or Baltimore's Ozzie Newsome, all down near the bottom of the round.

Manti Te'o. The Notre Dame linebacker has spent a lot of time practicing football and practicing what he's going to say to teams. His last game, against Alabama, was a nightmare (he was awful, and overpowered), and then the whole fake girlfriend story came up, making him a national story and, in some quarters, a national joke. It won't matter much how he works out in Indianapolis. What will matter are the 15-minute interviews he'll have in formal evening sessions with teams, and in less formal settings, seeing coaches and personnel people at the stadium and around his hotel.

No men have more on the line, off the field, at the Scouting Combine than Ogletree and Te'o.

Finally, three players I'll be watching at the Combine, three with question marks and debatable upsides:

1. Quarterback Sean Renfree, Duke. No one's talking about him, but he completed 70 percent of his throws in six of 12 games for David Cutcliffe last fall, was a comeback specialist, and has the pedigree in a good pro-style offense to play early. Could he be more than a late-round flyer, this year's Ryan Lindley? We'll see.

2. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes, Florida State. A 6-2 cornerback in a league demanding cover guys who can play on islands more and more? Scouts want to see if Rhodes, who is a heady player with good bump skills at the line of scrimmage, has the speed to stay with fast wideouts. If so, he'll be a top-half-of-the-first-round player.

3. Running back Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina. After his devastating dislocated knee and torn knee ligaments in October, Lattimore, considered a certain first-rounder before the injury, is still in recovery mode. His surgeon, James Andrews, told Lattimore recently that he's going to shock the world. "I hear he's working out great,'' said Mayock. Lattimore believes he'll be healthy enough to start the 2013 NFL season. Is he's a fourth-round minefield pick? Or might some team desperate for a back go for him a round earlier -- or even late in the second round?



Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl...#ixzz2LLwcLLId

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Reading ten million mock drafts provides absolutely no clarity and it's just ridiculous to believe that anyone has any idea of where these players will land, especially before the Combines and personal visits begin.

It's conjecture: Guys sit around and try to match players with needs. That's it. And they all read each other's mock drafts and influence each because they want to be seen as "right" at the end of the day.

It's a pointless exercise, especially this early in the process.

It wasn't pointless 3 years ago, but it is now?



The "kindler, gentler" Dane is actually still the "you need to think like me or I'm going to verbally assault you" Dane.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

And AS they were coming out of college, teams and scouts missed on Brady, Montana, Kaepernick, so on and so forth.

It doesn't mean that those guys WEREN'T ready to lead a team to a championship game or the Super Bowl, it was that scouts and GM's weren't AWARE they were ready. They were misses.

And furthermore, if you're going to ask this question, maybe you should do it in a Private Message, you know, since only people that have "watched film" should respond.



You guys are acting like ****ing tools.

Look in the mirror!

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Is anyone not a moron?

I guess that's my question here. You seem unwilling to do any homework yourself, and that's fine. You also seem hell-bent on blasting anyone that has. Okay, that's less fine but whatever. You also seem content with calling just about anyone that's proffered an opinion nationally something of an idiot.

WTF are you even hanging around for then? Your entire purpose at this stage appears to be to just tell people to shut up and wait for what happens. Well ****, Dane - it's a discussion board. What the hell's the point in having a discussion board if all we're going to do is sit and wait for the results to trickle in?

We're not curing cancer here, we're talking football. Contribute or leave.

Sitting back and blasting folks that are actually throwing ideas out there, good and bad, is just tiresome. I'

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by Sorter

That's just gross.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'll tell you what: If the Chiefs select Smith at #1 overall, at that point, I'll make time to watch his games on YouTube.

But 10 weeks before the Draft, before the Combine, etc.? No way.

Some of us didn't "take time" to watch YouTube videos.

Some of us actually WATCHED THE GAMES. You know, because we actually enjoy college football.

You're just SO much better than everybody else. You have a life and no time to, you know, know what the **** you're talking about.

[Hammock Parties]

Dane is gonna have to leave again after we draft Geno.

He faces monstrous backlash.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by GoWalrus

Dane is gonna have to leave again after we draft Geno.

He faces monstrous backlash.

Doubtful.

Most of the people that want Geno aren't colossal douchebags that will constantly rub it in someone's face.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Doubtful.

Most of the people that want Geno aren't colossal douchebags that will constantly rub it in someone's face.

I might seek out one or two fellas like RunKC. Just to poke them a bit. Maybe put my balls in their mouth.

Just a bit, though. Not too much. I'm really not a showboater.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by SNR

I might seek out one or two fellas like RunKC. Just to poke them a bit. Maybe put my balls in their mouth.

Just a bit, though. Not too much. I'm really not a showboater.

Leave Run alone. He really is a good dude.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

True.

However, it doesn't seem to matter. Was Weeden worthy of being a first round QB? Tannehill? McNown? Druckenmiller? Mirer? Sanchez? Russell? Smith? Losman? Grossman? Quinn? VY? Leftwich? Leinart? Dilfer?

Are you using hindsight as your guide or asking a legitimate question?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Dane, the Martyr.

Dude, you're acting like a tool.

Hey, whatever.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

"COMING OUT OF COLLEGE"

You ****ing dope.

My answer remains the same.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

It wasn't pointless 3 years ago, but it is now?



The "kindler, gentler" Dane is actually still the "you need to think like me or I'm going to verbally assault you" Dane.

Actually, no.

Regardless, it's gone far beyond that. I've seen how the Smith lovers have treated people that have more patience and want to see the process play out before anointing him as the #1 overall pick and savior of the franchise.

This obsession with Smith is eerily reminiscent of the Clausen debacle, at least IMO.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Look in the mirror!

Look in the mirror, at what?

So, because I don't have the time, patience or energy to watch a bunch of ****ing videos on YouTube, I'm not allowed to comment on the nonsense that's been flying around here for months before The Combines?

Really? So I was right: You guys should just PM each other because clearly, only those people who've watched every snap should comment on this obsession.

Gotcha.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Some of us didn't "take time" to watch YouTube videos.

Some of us actually WATCHED THE GAMES. You know, because we actually enjoy college football.

You're just SO much better than everybody else. You have a life and no time to, you know, know what the **** you're talking about.

Riiiight.

So, next year, I should make special note to watch EVERY college game so that I can make comments beginning next January about college players that *MIGHT* appeal to YOU.

Go **** youself, Douchebag.