Crashing the party … With the 2015 draft still some 5 weeks away there appears to be considerable movement of players up and down draft boards around the league. And today’s edition of the Draft Buzz files looks at a number of players who may not have been much more than third-day prospects when the draft process started,… Read More »
Lovie ‘comfortable’ with ‘Noles QB … Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith may have walked back his suggestion over the weekend that the Buccaneers might ‘surprise’ some people with the #1 pick at this year’s draft, presumably rather than taking Florida State QB Jameis Winston the presumptive favorite. Facing what was described as a ‘barrage’ of questions about… Read More »
Selection order updated … The NFL followed up yesterday’s announcement of this year’s compensatory picks, the league has also released the current full 7-round selection order for the upcoming draft. And after being one of three teams awarded 4 compensatory picks at this year’s draft, Seattle currently has 11 selections, the most of any team in the league.… Read More »
Talk is cheap … The NFL’s annual owners spring meeting has generally been considered to be the unofficial start to the ‘smoke and mirrors’ phase of the draft process as just about every owner, G.M. and head coach in the league gets some face time with members of the media. And while most of what is said at… Read More »
Comp picks announced … The NFL has announced that 32 compensatory picks at the 2015 draft have been awarded to 14 teams. Kansas City, Denver and Seattle lead the way with 4 comp picks each, while Baltimore and Houston will receive three each. At the same time, New England, Carolina, Cincinnati, Green Bay and San Francisco each get… Read More »
Who’s saying what … Normally with the draft less than 40 days one would expect the smoke and mirrors type information and disinformation to start to fly with some regularity, however, so far its been very quiet this year. Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith did cause some head-scratching when he was quoted over the weekend as telling… Read More »
Lottery to decide draft attendance … The NFL has announced tickets for this year’s draft will be decided by a lottery process that will begin tomorrow. Fans wishing to attend the draft, which will be held this year in the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago, can register at NFL.com/DraftTown beginning Tuesday at Noon ET for tickets that… Read More »
Back to school for another week … After a couple of days off its back to work for NFL personnel types with another week on the pro day workout schedule. In starts today with a potentially interesting workout at Iowa which will feature G/T Brandon Scherff, the consensus top-rated offensive lineman for this year’s draft, along with DT… Read More »
Michigan WR/TE played hurt … Hard to know what NFL teams are going to make of it, but Michigan TE-turned-WR Devin Funchess has indicated that he played pretty much the entire 2014 season with a toe injury that included torn ligaments and cartilage and a cracked bones. Funchess did catch 62 passes this past season for over 700… Read More »
LSU corner has foot surgery … NFL.com is reporting that LSU junior CB Jalen Collins underwent surgery to repair what is being described as a ‘minor’ foot problem last week. As a result, Collins, one of the fastest rising players in this year’s draft, will not participate in LSU’s pro day this coming Friday. However, Collins should be… Read More »
Thoughts on veteran free agency … With some of the dust starting to settle on the free agent signing period, GBN ace analyst Pigskin Paul Guillemette weighs in some thoughts on what we have seen in free agency to date.
Frog WR out for spring … TCU WR Josh Doctson, a leading prospect for the 2015 draft, will miss the remainder of the spring practice season with a broken hand. However, Doctson, who had 65 receptions for over 1,000 yards and 11 TDs last fall, is expected to be fine once fall training camp opens in August.
Missou LB Ray disappoints at pro day … All 32 NFL teams had representatives at Missouri’s pro day on Thursday. The crowd included Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin and GM John Dorsey from Kansas City which is just down the road. Most were there to see Missouri OLB Shane Ray who led the SEC with 14.5 sacks last… Read More »
GBN projection updated … To help usher out the coldest winter this old draft guy can remember, the GBN three-round projection for the upcoming draft has been updated. However, we want to make it clear we really don’t really like doing mocks at this time of the year because one knows there are going to be trades that… Read More »
Bills get TE Clay … Miami has reportedly declined to match the offer sheet that TE Charles Clay signed with Buffalo late last week. Clay had been designated as the Dolphins transition player, but Miami will not reveive any compensation as Clay was undrafted out of college.
Browns sign top vet FA receiver … Cleveland has reportedly come to terms with veteran WR Dwayne Bowe, one of the top free agents on the market this year. The 30-year-old Bowe, who spent 8 years in Kansas City, was released by the Chiefs this off-season in a cap savings move after he caught 60 passes last fall,… Read More »
Big Board tweaked; expanded … With the 2015 draft set to start 6 weeks today, the GBN Big Board has been tweaked again based on the latest intel; its also been expanded up to 256 prospects, which for the numerically challenged is one prospect for each pick this year.
As the QB turns … Multiple league sources are reporting that Cleveland offered at least somebody the 19th pick in this year’s draft for veteran QB Sam Bradford. Bradford was ultimately traded from St. Louis to Philadelphia last week. What isn’t totally clear is whether the Browns offered the pick to St. Louis before the deal or to… Read More »
Who’s #2 … There appears to be a growing sense around the NFL that Tennessee is unlikely to select Oregon QB Marcus Mariota with the second pick overall at the upcoming draft. Instead the thinking appears to be that the Titans will give second-year QB Zach Mettenberger another season to develop and either take a position like Southern… Read More »
QB Mariota to visit Bucs … Interesting day in South Florida where Oregon QB Marcus Mariota will be in Tampa Bay where he hopes to convince the Buccaneers to take him with the #1 pick at the 2015 draft. Because it is an on-site visit, one of 30 each team is allowed to host prior to the draft,… Read More »
Emerging SEC WR Busted for pot … Mississippi State junior WR De’Runnya ‘Bear’ Wilson, a rising prospect for either the 2016 or 2017 drafts, was one of four MSU students arrested late Friday and charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia while they were on their way to a friend’s birthday party in Alabama.
No mock today! … Several readers have asked where the GBN mock draft is. Fact is with all the trades last week, the order changed enough that the old one was meaningless, so we took it down. We will hopefully have an updated three-round mock early next week once the free agent feeding frenzy slows down a little.… Read More »
Vikes get WR, pick from Dolphins for better pick … This didn´t get posted yesterday as Minnesota has acquired veteran WR Mike Wallace and a 7th-round draft pick from Miami for a fifth-round pick this year. Earlier today, Miami had acquired WR Kenny Stills from New Orleans. Meanwhile, the Vikings had been expected to look at receivers with the… Read More »
Ducks QB ´okay´at pro day … The reviews are still trickling in, but the overall consensus around the NFL appears to be that while Oregon QB Marcus Mariota was solid enough at yesterday´s pro day workout, there also wasn´t anything that was special about his day. Working almost exclusively under center, Mariota showed plenty of arm strength and… Read More »
Saints add another pick for young WR … New Orleans has traded third-year WR Kenny Stills to Miami for veteran LB Daniel Ellerbe and a third round pick – the 78th overall – at the 2015 draft. Stills caught 63 passes for the Saints last year, but often didn’t really know where he was going! In acquiring anther… Read More »
