September 17, 2009

Love the site! I am a huge Detroit Lions fan (hard to believe there are any left). Curious what your thoughts are about the following scenario:

Assuming that they have a Top 3 pick in 2009 and 2010, if you were the General Manager would you have drafted Matthew Stafford last year and your offensive tackle this year or would you have drafted your offensive tackle last year and taken one of the top quarterbacks next April?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Derek
Chicago, IL

     I doubt those types of scenarios even cross the minds of NFL decision makers because on Draft Day no team believes they will be picking in the Top 3 the following year. It’s still an interesting question though.

Basically the argument comes down to whether the Lions would be better off with a combination of Matthew Stafford and Trent Williams / Russell Okung or one of Jason Smith and Sam Bradford. I actually think the Lions made the right choice in taking Matthew Stafford this year because in my opinion he is a better pro prospect than Sam Bradford. There are just too many question marks with Bradford for me to feel comfortable labeling him a sure-fire “Franchise Quarterback” and had he been a part of the 2009 NFL Draft I would have definitely had him ranked behind Stafford and Mark Sanchez and possibly even Josh Freeman. As for the offensive tackles, I’m not sure either Williams or Okung are quite as good of a prospect as Smith, last year’s #2 overall pick, was but it’s relatively close.

Detroit actually had an opportunity to address both of these key positions in round one of last year’s draft but with the #20 pick they passed on Michael Oher, who is off to a terrific start with the Baltimore Ravens, in favor of Brandon Pettigrew. There is no question that Pettigrew is a very good player and he certainly addressed a need at tight end for the Lions but, personally, I feel they would have been better off protecting the enormous investment they just made in Stafford by selecting Oher to protect him. I guess only time will tell if they made the right decision.

- Scott Wright, Draft Countdown

Linebackers tend to step in and make an impact right away at the next level, i.e. DeMeco Ryans, Jerod Mayo and Patrick Willis. Which defensive player from the 2010 NFL Draft will make the most immediate impact in the NFL?

T.J.
Cherry Hill, NJ

     That is a tough question, in part because the situation a prospect lands in plays such a huge role in whether or not they are able to make an instant impact. I think you are on the right path in terms of the position because even though guys like Gerald McCoy and Eric Berry might be more talented recent history has shown that linebackers tend to make a bigger splash as rookies. In fact, the last six Defensive Rookie of the Year’s have been linebackers: Terrell Suggs in 2003, Jonathan Vilma in 2004, Shawne Merriman in 2005, DeMeco Ryans in 2006, Patrick Willis in 2007 and Jerod Mayo in 2008.

With that being the case my pick for next year’s draft would be Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon, who can play outside or in the middle and is a much better prospect than the average fan realizes. A true playmaker at the position, Weatherspoon is always around the action and is the total package when it comes to his well-rounded game, physical tools and intangibles. Weatherspoon is currently the #5 overall senior prospect in my rankings and a possible Top 15 pick.

- Scott Wright, Draft Countdown

I'm looking forward to watching the Georgia-Arkansas contest this Saturday and wanted to ask you about a couple of players involved in the game.

First, what do you think of Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett? With two seasons of eligibility remaining after this year does he have the potential to develop into a top quarterback prospect? Also, I'd like to know what you think of Georgia LB Rennie Curran. He's a speed demon who always seems to be around the ball, but I wonder how much his size will affect his stock. He's not just short, like London Fletcher, but he's also quite light (225 lbs. according to his UGA bio). He seems like a very unique prospect to me. Could he be viewed as more of a safety prospect by NFL teams? Thanks for answering my questions.

Halsey
Athens, GA

     I think Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett is a very intriguing player and he may be one of the better young quarterback prospects in the country. For those who aren’t familiar with Mallett he was actually a very highly-touted recruit who Rivals rated as the 4th best player in the entire nation coming out of high school. Mallett began his college career at Michigan and played in 11 games as a true freshman in 2007, even earning three starts in place of an injured Chad Henne. However, Head Coach Lloyd Carr retired the following year and it was obvious that Mallett, a classic pocket passer, wasn’t a good fit in Rich Rodriguez’s signature spread offense so he opted to transfer. Mallett landed with Bobby Petrino at Arkansas and after sitting out the 2008 season per NCAA guidelines he assumed the Razorbacks starting job with three years of eligibility remaining in 2009. An extremely impressive physical specimen at 6-7 and 238 pounds, Mallett has an absolute cannon for an arm and has already shown he can handle pressure and the spotlight during his brief time with the Wolverines. It’s very early and Mallett still has a lot to prove but the pieces are certainly in place for him to eventually emerge as a top pro prospect.

Georgia OLB Rennie Curran doesn’t have the ideal size that you look for but he makes up for it with his speed and athleticism. Curran, who will likely play on the weakside at the next level, is considered to be one of the 3-5 best outside linebacker prospects in the junior class and in many ways he is Odell Thurman or Dannell Ellerbe without the character concerns. Just a true junior, Curran won’t be a fit for everyone but he looks like a potential Day One pick, whether it be in 2010 or 2011.

- Scott Wright, Draft Countdown

With the creation of the UFL do you think some of the undersized defensive ends that generally get converted to 3-4 outside linebackers will decide to forego the NFL in hopes of continuing their careers on the defensive line?

Kevin
Woodbridge, VA

     There was a time not that long ago when the NFL had little use for undersized defensive ends. Today guys like DeMarcus Ware, Shawn Merriman, Vernon Gholston and Aaron Maybin are early first round picks but 20 years ago they might have been afterthoughts on Draft Day. However, the rise of the 3-4 defense has transformed this once overlooked group into extremely valuable commodities.

As for your question, the new United Football League will likely serve as somewhat of a quasi-developmental league for the NFL and may replace the Arena League in that regard. With that said I don’t see undersized college defensive ends bypassing the big time just for the sake of playing with their hand on the ground. Sure certain prospects may prefer one position over another but when push comes to shove they will take whatever opportunity is offered in order to play in the NFL. Believe me when I say that 99.9% of the players would rather be on an NFL practice squad than starting in the UFL. I have nothing against the UFL and I hope it succeeds but that league will be a “Plan B” for players who don’t have the NFL as an option.

- Scott Wright, Draft Countdown