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

[beach tribe]

Weinke's really gonna look old this time around. If he hasn't fixed his footwork by now. It ain't happenin'.
yuk yuk

[Fish]

Geno says keep ****ing doubting.....

Smith told KCSP in Kansas City with Danny and Carrington that not only is the characterization of this year’s quarterback class wrong, but that he thinks he’s could be the No. 1 pick.

“I don’t know why but I hear about people saying it’s a weak quarterback class, which is something that I don’t believe in because every quarterback is going to have to make a transition into the NFL one way or another. That’s all based on the individual,” Smith said. “My goal is to be picked No. 1 overall but at the same time, wherever I get picked I’m going to come in with the same mentality, same goals in mind, so I’m not really worried about what anyone says because everyone has an opinion.”

“People saying it’s a weak quarterback class or Geno Smith is hiding or he’s not a competitor, whatever questions there may be out there about me,” Smith said. “ I’m just going to do my best to go out there and showcase who I am because I have full confidence in my ability on and off the field, so why not do it at the combine?

“In my case, I made this decision and I told everyone that I’m tired of this speculation and I’m ready to go out there and try to end all of that.”

“I consider myself one of the best at what I do,” Smith said. “You talk about this class and there are some great guys out there, but my goal is to always separate myself from the rest of the group and my goal is to be the best wherever I am. Once I go to the next level I’m going to compete, going to work, and my goal is going to be to be the best in the NFL.

“I just want to make sure people know that I have a goal, I have ambitions and I’m going to work until I get there. I’m not a guy who is cocky or over the top with it, I’m a very humble guy, quiet and I keep to myself, but when it comes down to football, this is something that I love to do and quite honestly I want to be the best at it.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-...31--ncaaf.html

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Is that what I said, you ****ing piece of garbage?

YOU didn't specify "Prospect". Did you? No.

So, shut the **** up.

Remember guys, whenever you post anything be certain to be very, very spefic with your words.

Intent is far to difficult for simple minds to discern.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BossChief

Barkley isn't gonna throw at the combine...and Dysert injured his hamstring while working out.

Yeah, and I was disappointed with the fact that Barkley wasn't throwing.

Now we're left with just a single throwing session.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by milkman

Remember guys, whenever you post anything be certain to be very, very spefic with your words.

Intent is far to difficult for simple minds to discern.

That's gonna leave a mark.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Fish

Geno says keep ****ing doubting.....



http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-...31--ncaaf.html

That is so the right answer.

I was bummed out that he wasn't going to throw at the combine because it seemed passive to me.

His actions and just as importantly, his words, show otherwise. If he went out there and threw but said nothing, that would mean something, but it could also just be his representation putting him up to it.

But to go on the radio and say "look, I'm tired of this class and by extension me getting knocked, I know I'm a badass and I'm going to prove it"...man that's the kind of swagger I desperately want in my QBs.

None of this howdy doody 'try hard' bullshit I get out of Cassel. I want my QB to believe he's a stud.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That is so the right answer.

I was bummed out that he wasn't going to throw at the combine because it seemed passive to me.

His actions and just as importantly, his words, show otherwise. If he went out there and threw but said nothing, that would mean something, but it could also just be his representation putting him up to it.

But to go on the radio and say "look, I'm tired of this class and by extension me getting knocked, I know I'm a badass and I'm going to prove it"...man that's the kind of swagger I desperately want in my QBs.

None of this howdy doody 'try hard' bullshit I get out of Cassel. I want my QB to believe he's a stud.

Yup. The more I hear from him, the smarter he sounds.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

That is so the right answer.

I was bummed out that he wasn't going to throw at the combine because it seemed passive to me.

His actions and just as importantly, his words, show otherwise. If he went out there and threw but said nothing, that would mean something, but it could also just be his representation putting him up to it.

But to go on the radio and say "look, I'm tired of this class and by extension me getting knocked, I know I'm a badass and I'm going to prove it"...man that's the kind of swagger I desperately want in my QBs.

None of this howdy doody 'try hard' bullshit I get out of Cassel. I want my QB to believe he's a stud.

Its a little fougazi when he sits there on Twitter and rambles about his critics then goes out and plays like shit vs Syracuse though.

[Hammock Parties]

Geno's confidence bodes well. Doesn't sound like a guy who's nervous or uncertain about the task that lies ahead.

This dawg 'bout to hunt.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bo's Pelini

Its a little fougazi when he sits there on Twitter and rambles about his critics then goes out and plays like shit vs Syracuse though.

Being cocky doesn't mean you'll be good.

Being a pussy almost certainly means you won't be.

It's a litmus test question and one that he passed. The rest of it is stuff we'll have to learn as we go, but getting "is he a pussy" crossed off before the combine even begins is a nice start.

[Hammock Parties]

Pros: is not a pussy.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Sorter

Personally, the Combine, Pro Days, + Senior Bowl shouldn't radically alter how one views a prospect (without knowledge as to interviews, etc.) The majority of one's opinion should be primarily based on film available/personal viewings of a prospect.

JMHO though.

I'd say that under normal circumstances, that's true. But this year, Dorsey has already said that the Chiefs need The Combine and days set up at Arrowhead in order to determine the best QB of this class.

I don't think this is like any other year. Of course, I'm in the vocal minority, but I don't give a ****.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by milkman

Remember guys, whenever you post anything be certain to be very, very spefic with your words.

Intent is far to difficult for simple minds to discern.

Yeah, because suddenly, I'm stupid.

But let me say this: The other 11,500 members of Chiefsplanet should be eternally grateful that you and a handful of others identified the Chiefs #1 overall draft picks MONTHS before the Chiefs. Hell, you guys have identified the best QB LONG before any one else had identified him.

You deserve a medal for your bravery.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Fish

Another Dane bleed out session I see.... how surprising...

Excuse me? Please explain how I'm "bleeding out".

Thanks in advance.

[patteeu]

The Geno mafia has sure turned the Lounge into a cesspool. I'm going back to DC for a few hours to get a breath of fresh air. But don't worry, I'll be back for another installment of delusional expertise and fake claims of watching extensive film

P.S. Kudos to Dane for being a voice of reason.