How well do you know the draft

[sschind]

I'm just curious as to how you would rank your knowledge of college football and the draft. Ask me to name as many college football players as I can right now and I could give you Fournette, Cook, Watson and even though I can't think of his name the QB from NC is on my radar because my nephew is a big NC fan and wants the Bears to draft him and then there are Peppers and the McCaffrey (to be honest I had to look him up because I was drawing a blank on his name and I had McCaffrey confused with Metcalf which I knew wasn't right.) who I only know because of talk on Packer websites. That's it. Oh yeah, I knew the top defensive player was Garrett but I was thinking Grady for some reason and I recall the WR Mike Williams only because weren't there like 17 WRs named Mike Williams in the last 10-15 years and none of them were any good. So there you go, 8 guys who I know even the slightest about and some of them I can't even recall their names.

I see fans putting out these 7 round mock drafts and I think "wow, these guys need a life" but I get it, they are into football at every level. For me, I kind of like it my way because when Ted is all done drafting I can look at all the picks and be optimistic about each and every one. I can honestly say that I have never said "I don't like this pick" about any of Ted's picks. I've ended up not liking a quite a few but to start with they are all potential studs to me.

 

[Mondio]

I don't have the desire to even keep remotely up on college football. I catch a few games, I watch the Badgers when I can, a big matchup now and again, but too many other things keep my interest these days. 20 years ago it was different, but today I don't even want to. That said, as it gets closer I do like to catch what videos I can online of certain prospects and certainly after the draft is finished, I like to catch up on GB picked.

Though I know very little, it doesn't stop me from having an opinion on all of it though

 

[Arthur Squires]

Football is an addiction for me and I watch way to many games and can name way too many prospects. But it's better than being addicted to Crack!

 

[sschind]

I don't have the desire to even keep remotely up on college football. I catch a few games, I watch the Badgers when I can, a big matchup now and again, but too many other things keep my interest these days. 20 years ago it was different, but today I don't even want to. That said, as it gets closer I do like to catch what videos I can online of certain prospects and certainly after the draft is finished, I like to catch up on GB picked.

Though I know very little, it doesn't stop me from having an opinion on all of it though

That's where we differ. I rarely watch videos because my feeling is that they can take pretty much any draftable player and make a 10 play highlight reel that makes them look like all pros. Its like the all those trick play videos you see like the kicker who was ringing church bells and the like, Why is that guy not kicking in the NFL if he is really that good. Its kind of the same with highlight reels. Sometimes I wonder why this guy is a day three prospect after what I just watched. The only thing they are good for IMO is making me excited about the pick, they don't really tell me anything.

 

[Mondio]

I try and keep that in mind when watching and just to let you know how well that has served me, I wasn't that excited about Jake Ryan after watching the MI OH ST. Game, and I couldn't believe Trevor Davis lasted to the 5th round . Clearly I have work to do

 

[Arthur Squires]

What I usually do is watch college football during the season while taking small notes on players who stand out. At the end of season I have about 50 prospects that I consider playmakers.

 

[sschind]

I try and keep that in mind when watching and just to let you know how well that has served me, I wasn't that excited about Jake Ryan after watching the MI OH ST. Game, and I couldn't believe Trevor Davis lasted to the 5th round . Clearly I have work to do

Probably not any more then the experts.

I'm sure watching actual games can be a great benefit as long as you are able to watch several and not just one game where the player has a great or a horrible day and you can focus on ALL the individuals plays and not just the highlights, or lowlights depending on what you want to learn.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

I let the "experts" dictate to me who's on the board and I do my own scouting from there. It really comes down to watching film, just like the scouts. I watch primarily just the big games and obviously the commentary will allude to who's a star and who isn't. Then you compare to how they perform vs a similar level of competition and there's your baseline.

You've got the combine, which pretty much speaks for itself, and then you have the Senior Bowl which pretty much establishes the pecking order for prospects.

If you do that at every position, you should come up with about 5-10 prospects easily. Then based on personal analysis combined with expert opinion, you should have your own board.

It's impossible to know every player in the draft as probably 2500+ players declare every year and roughly only 10% are chosen, but you should have some idea about what's going on as players come off the board.

 

[Arthur Squires]

There are a flood of solid ball players this year, especially going in rounds 2-3. Many teams will end up with starting caliber players in those 2 rounds. Do we have an extra pick in 4th giving us a total of 8 picks?

 

[TomBrownFan40]

Draft time is like a second Christmas. I love it.
My skin crawls at the way it is covered now. NFL Network is a bit better than ESPN but, not much. I hate the way the talking heads go on ad nauseum about the Quarterbacks for three days while pick after pick scrolls by.

 

[Arthur Squires]

Draft time is like a second Christmas. I love it.
My skin crawls at the way it is covered now. NFL Network is a bit better than ESPN but, not much. I hate the way the talking heads go on ad nauseum about the Quarterbacks for three days while pick after pick scrolls by.

Any particular player or players your looking forward to watching at combine?

 

[TomBrownFan40]

Any particular player or players your looking forward to watching at combine?

At the moment, I don't have any particular players in mind. A couple of things I like to watch at the combine:

1) The players scouts want to see at different positions. Most notably, pass rushers without the hand down. In addition to fitting our scheme, the versatile guys move up the board on their special teams potential alone.

2) The vertical for DBs (especially important for the pack this year). NO, I could care less about the actual number but, to use a baseball analogy, does this guy look like a center fielder with spring in his step, range, and leaping ability? Flat out speed is always nice but, misleading (think Ahmad Carroll).

3) Explosiveness in the RBs. In a way, they're the opposite of the DBs. Nifty moves make for nice highlight reels but, I love the way guys like Lacy explode north and south as soon as they get the ball. Lombardi always said Jim Taylor would have been the best blocking back ever if he blocked with the ball in his hands.

4) Can the large people move? Yes, I actually like seeing the big guys run the 40. Again, NO, the actual number is not a big deal but, does the guy look like he has stamina or needs a CPAP even when he's awake?

 

[bmaafi]

I have been following the draft since 2000. I used to even do scouting reports for my own site(long since dead). I also worked with Matt Miller(the head draft guy at bleacher report)for a time as well.

I know the combine is already over but I would also add that 10 yard dash is important for the big guys(OL and DL). It shows how quick they are out of their stance and a little bit of explosiveness.
Also 3 cone and short shuttle for db's. it shows quickness. How quick their feet are and how loose their hips are which is important especially at cb.

 

[thequick12]

I know way too much. For me it's just interesting to see if the players I think are gonna be good turn out to be good. it's kinda interesting because you can compare your opinion to future reality. Almost certainly there are people on this board who could draft more successfully than some nfl teams

 

[Arthur Squires]

Every year after watching the college seasons I make a list of about 50 players I've watched and think will contribute as a #1 or #2 in this league.

 

[DoURant]

I started watching the draft in 1991, but I've been really into the draft for about 10 yrs. I started by writing all the draft picks down Rd. by Rd. on paper, along w/ each team had their own card with needs listed, and I wrote down all their picks on that card. 5 yrs ago, I created my own spreadsheet, still doing the above things, but I also have tabs listing prospects broken down by position. When someone gets drafted, I fill in the cell w/ their name so I know they aren't available anymore. I also have a Packer 7 Rd mock tab. Its just a hobby, I don't know all the x's & o's, but I read a lot of draft publications, follow a lot of "draft experts" on twitter, watch some film on draftbreakdown, along w/ highlight videos on youtube. I definitely put some time and effort into it. Oh, and I take vacation from work every year for the draft, so I can watch it from pick 1 - 255. The spreadsheet makes it less boring, gives me something to fill in the gaps between picks. Right now I have 6 mocks in my Packer 7 rd mock tab that I've done, once we get to draft day I'll settle on one final.