College football ended this week and besides Signing Day in a couple weeks, there's not a whole lot going on in the CFB world. So naturally Kiper has already been creating his mock drafts.
After looking at his mock draft, I couldn't help but notice that there are a lot of wide receivers projected in the first round. (8 in total) I didn't realize this position was such a hot commodity.
Do you think this is more due to the fact that a lot of teams have WR as a position of need or more so that the talent level of college WRs turning pro is just that good?
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I think this past class of WRs might create a bit of an inflated market for WRs for at least another year or so. Not sure anyone from this past year, outside of the likes of Cooper, are really that great, but NFL franchises aren't exactly known for not riding the hype waves in the draft.
I love Parker from Louisville.
oh to be young and in love...
The QB class is very weak too so teams who want offense are looking at WRs and RBs. There are more top end, NFL-ready WRs than there are RBs so that's where they are headed.
Yea, nobody wants a liability like Winston.
I think, sarcastica?
Not sarcastica, at least in my mind. Winston has "bust"/ "arrested and/or suspended for a season for off-field issues" written all over him.
As much as I dislike FSU, I think the opposite result regarding Winston, assuming he ends up in a spot conducive to developing that position (i.e. not drafted by the Browns or Raiders)
Yes he has shown some clear maturity related issues, but by all accounts he does well in school, has never had any academic issues, shows the ability to be a leader (or maybe willingness to be a leader is more accurate), and most importantly (from an NFL standpoint) exhibits the physical and mental ability to make the plays that are required at that level.
To me he is the polar opposite of a prospect like Manziel or something similar. Now thats not to say he won't end up being one of the things you mentioned, but I don't know if the reality of that is quite as likely as a lot of people would assume. There is a reason you really heard ESPN and their ilk cool off on the Winston negative talk as the season progressed.
Jimbo Fischer's past qbs haven't exactly inspired confidence in any qbs he has under him transitioning to the NFL. Jamarcus Russell (while oc at lsu), Christian Ponder, and EJ Manuel all had good college stats, where all taken in the first round, and all flamed out very quickly.
Winston will probably be the best of the group in the end, bit that's not really saying much at all.
All 3 of the QBs you mentioned didn't really look the part of an NFL QB before they got to the league. I don't know if the fact that they had the same coach matters as much when you consider that physically Winston clearly has the skills to play QB at that level, and mentally seems to be able to make the necessary reads.
Now that doesn't mean he will be a success. But I don't think any NFL team is going to be thinking about those other guys if they have the opportunity to pick up Winston.
I don't believe Winston is really as good as he is made out to be. He was a product of all of the talent FSU had around him on offense. He isn't the kind of QB that will make everyone around him better. If he goes in the top 10, that means he'll more than likely end up on a horrid offense and he'll be considered a bust. If he goes to a team with good skill players and a good Oline, then I believe he'll be adequate in the NFL.
But the kid is just too dumb to truly understand NFL defensive schemes and adjust in real time situations.
I haven't seen evidence of this. I get that he talks like a 'Bammer (yeah Jameis, we know you're skrong) but speaking/grammatical intelligence isn't required in order to have football smarts.
Incidentally, he was accepted into Stanford. So I would surmise that his manner of speaking has nothing to do with his intelligence level either.
Not saying that he's dumb, but I'm not sure why Stanford continually gets brought up as evidence for why he's intelligent. Stanford drastically lowered their admission standards for football players under Harbaugh, they are not nearly as stringent as they used to be.
That being said, I'm a big believer that one's manner of speaking has nothing to do with intelligence.
Harbaugh left Stanford after 2010, and Jameis' academic freshman year was during the 2012 season; as such, Harbaugh had little to no effect on Winston's recruiting. Indications are that whatever laxity existed during Harbaugh's tenure hasn't been in place since Shaw took over. If this article is to be believed, Stanford won't even recruit you if your transcript doesn't meet their standards.
Seeing that, I won't knock his intelligence at all. But until he shows us otherwise, I'll be of the opinion that his decision-making skills have been absolutely horrible.
So Stanford's academic requirements haven't changed because Shaw says so in a puff piece? Okay
From what I understand, around 2006 (and through today) Stanford made a conscious decision to try to get better at football. They significantly boosted how much money they spend on recruiting, hired Jim Harbaugh, and lowered their admissions standards somewhat. All I'm saying is that getting an offer from Stanford does not mean he will be a Rhodes scholar (though technically athletic achievement is part of the considerations for Rhodes scholars)
I'm just going to say that no FBS school is severely hampered in their recruiting by academics in this day and age. Not significantly more so than many other schools. Sure Stanford has higher standards than most, and many SEC schools and WVU lower standards, but that in no way prevents them from getting plenty of good football players if they want them.
all three of those QB's were either draftred WAY to high (Manuel and Ponder) and Russel just couldn't keep his weight down. Plus the raiders drafted him because they were in love with his size and arm strength
I would disagree that not many teams want to draft Winston
With all of these talented WRs projected to be drafted this year, teams better stock up their secondaries to counter it. I've heard that school known as DBU has a couple draft prospects available for their services...
Last years WR class is a whole lot better than this years, and that isn't an insult to this years. Last years may turn out to be the best WR class in NFL history. Think about there was OBJ, Watkins, Evans, Benjamin, Jarvis Landry, Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee, Allen Hurns, Martavis Bryant, Philly Brown, John Brown, Jordan Matthews, Brandin Cooks and I'm sure there are more I left out. Just an insane amount of talent.
Davante Adams
hurns was UFA but thats still a really good class! atleast 1 year in... we will see how they pan out over time though.
Slow down there, kind of hard to declare the best anything ever after only 1 season. Lets give them a few years before we make those kids of declarations...
Moncreif for Indy has been a win, too, at WR.
And the geniuses running the Browns decided not to draft a single WR (which is still a HUGE team need) in this class and rely on ancient FAs and a pothead to lead them.
Manziel played WR for that one play
Just keep this in mind:
How he keeps a job is beyond me... good grief, his average is over half a round away from actual draft position
He keeps it because he is (and to a lesser extent McShay) the "mock draft"
To his credit he recognized an opportunity years ago to make a name for himself, and did quite well at it for some time. This was all before any know nothing could just go online, get any information about any draft prospect they wanted (along with video), and then blog about it.
None of them really know anything the average person doesn't. The "talent" most mock draft experts have these days is above average guessing. it can be argued that most NFL team talent departments don't really know all that much than the average person using their eyeballs either, given the share number of head scratching picks and outright draft busts that occur every single year.
He needs to solve his hair.
He keeps it because he generates ESPN money. People pay for Insider to read his crap. People watch the draft like religion and listen to his input. He doesn't have to be right anymore, he just has to sound like he is right.
If ever there was a quote to describe everyone at ESPN......
Its his truthiness. As long as it feeeeels right.
So are you telling me that ESPN employs someone who doesn't know what they're talking about?
unpossible!
It's worth noting that Kiper spelled backwards is "Re-pik"
We all know who the best WR available is.
