OK I confess that I took a power nap in my lazy boy from late in Round 5 until just before MORITZ BOEHRINGER of Germany became a super star of reality TV, NFLN style. It made for great TV but the more I watched the replays I began to get the feeling that it was not quite as genuine as it seemed. Did MIKE MAYOCK actually influence MIKE ZIMMER into making that Pick at 180, or was it setup? Sorry to be skeptical, and if it was genuine then I think the League Office needs to have a conversation with all the parties involved. Or would the NFL prefer that their sacred Draft become the newest Reality TV show?!
I also wonder if Little Bill in New England was pissed off that the RAVENS had so many extra Picks in middle rounds that they beat him to KEENAN REYNOLDS from NAVY? REYNOLDS just seemed like such a natural for New England given BELICHICK’s connections at NAVY through his dad and recent record of bringing Navy guys brought into Training Camp with the PATS. Please note that the RB facade is over as I projected. He’s already listed as a WR and PR for Baltimore.
Speaking of the RAVENS, in case you missed this little factoid… the RAVENS with 5 Picks in the 4th Round had the most picks in one round in the history of the common Draft. By September we’ll know if GM NEWSOME was a genius to accumulate those Picks and own the Round, or if he should have taken a couple of higher ranked players earlier in the Draft.
There were some scenarios/trends that developed over the past 3 days that may provide us with more verifications of personnel decisions as determined by recent changes in the style of League play.
If you have recently had any question about the need for having a Franchise QB in today’s NFL consider that CARSON WENTZ & JARED GOFF elevated themselves to star status and value before the Draft ever began. Then realize that 15 QB were taken in the course of selecting 253 players overall. Only 19 RB were taken overall just to compare.
I know he’s kind of a local hero, and FSU has a huge fan base in Florida but I think the BUCS may have seriously misjudged the value and quality of PK/ROBERTO AGUAYO with the 59th overall Pick in the entire Draft. He had a very solid career at FSU, but if you look carefully at his stats you will find that his accuracy fell off dramatically outside of 40 yards. Most NFL Kickers are expected to be very accurate up until 50 yards these days. This pick, so soon, may disappoint over the long haul.
AS I write this NFL team scouts are burning up phone lines trying to contact undrafted products, and their agents, to get commitments from solid players who were not Drafted in the past three days. The figures are not huge in bonus money for URFA, but a smart agent and player, can position themselves on teams whose style of play and player needs give them the best chance to make a roster next September. So let me give you my list of top undrafted players before too many of them get signed like MINI-ME GRONK who has already tweeted that he’s signing with the BILLS.
JEREMY CASH/S/DUKE
SHAWN OAKMAN/DE/BAYLOR
TYVIS POWELL/S/OHIO STATE
MARQUEZ NORTH/WR/TENNESSEE
JONATHAN JONES/CB/AUBURN
KEYARRIS GARRETT/WR/TULSA
ROGER LEWIS/WR/BGSU
GERONIMO ALLISON/WR/ILLINOIS
DEVON CAJUSTE/WR/STANFORD
DOMINIQUE ALEXANDER/LB/OKLAHOMA
JOSH FERGUSON/RB/ILLINOIS
ERIC STRIKER/LB/OKLAHOMA
MORGAN BURNS/CB/RS/KANSAS STATE
BEN BRAUNECKER/TE/HARVARD
JAMES COWSER/ER/SOUTHERN UTAH
VICTOR OCHI/ER/STONY BROOK
JASON FANAIKA/DE/UTAH
JALIN MARSHALL/WR/OHIO STATE
LANDON TURNER/OG UNC
JAY LEE/WR/BAYLOR
LAWRENCE THOMAS/DE/MICHIGAN STATE
DENVER KIRKLAND/OG/ARKANSAS
PAYTON BARBER/RB/AUBURN
MICHAEL JORDAN/CB/MO WESTERN STATE
TYLER JOHNSTONE/OT/OREGON
BRALON ADDISON/WR/OREGON
JAMAL GOLDEN/S/GEORGIA TECH
DREW OTT/DE/IOWA
JOEL HEATH/DT/MICHIGAN STATE
JACK ALLEN/OC/MICHIGAN STATE
HUNTER SHARP/WR/UTAH
PIERCE SLATER/OT/SAN DIEGO STATE
Back at you with more Draft thoughts Sunday morning.
Cheers! PIGSKIN
