Howdy buckaroos! Pigskin here, with Post-Draft 2019 pondering. Yes, I have been quiet for a few days. Quite honestly, I have been licking my Draft wounds, and trying to figure out the errors of my ways. I annually participate in The Huddle Report’s Top 100 projection competition. Some big time, and some small time, Draftniks are invited to participate, and to date, Editor ROBBY ESCH has graciously continued to solicit my participation. Based on this year’s projections on my part, I fear I might be teetering on the brink of expulsion from the competition. Of the 100 prospect names I submitted for inclusion in the Draft’s Top 110 actual Picks, only 79 were correct this time around. Not acceptable to me!
Not to bore you endlessly, but trying to figure out where I went wrong so badly, on so many picks, has occupied more time than I care to admit over the past few days. At one point last Friday, when a couple of players from outside my Top 100 were selected while still in Round 2, I slammed down my pen and vowed it was time to retire from these exercises. I was only mildly soothed when I read several comments on Twitter from other Draftniks, that it was a tough year for them as well.
My primary fallback position/explanation right now is that I have found it tough to even keep up with all the coaching and GM changes around the League each year. Staff and philosophy changes seriously affect drafting approach and emphasis. I am also well aware that many of the scouts, who I knew and chatted with a decade or two ago, are no longer in the business. Clearly, I am not as ‘in touch’ with the new, younger scouts who are entering the scouting community in larger numbers each year. I am also keenly aware that there is more “personal info” being collected on prospects today than ever before, including ever expanding medical reports, which most teams are able to keep confidential. Of course on the other hand, there is more misinformation being circulated than ever before, although that mode of operation is nothing new. ‘Lying season’ has always existed, but surely now, in great part because of the explosion of social media, it is incredibly easy to float massive quantities of garbage information out for public consumption.
So where does that leave me? It leaves me with an opinion that I will still be right more often than I am wrong, and it also allows me to proclaim that the following players that I had ranked fairly highly will sign Undrafted Rookie contracts. IN fact, some of them will clearly outperform some of those drafted guys that I was non-plussed about. Below is a list of my top ranked, undrafted players from the 2019 NFL Draft. With help from fellow GBN teammate, Larry Parker, their signing with teams around the League is noted.
#101 GERALD WILLIS DT MIAMI
Signed – BALTIMORE RAVENS
#102 TYREE JACKSON QB BUFFALO
Signed – BUFFALO BILLS
#107 EMANUEL HALL WR MISSOURI
Signed – CHICAGO BEARS
#114 TERRILL HANKS LB NEW MEXICO STATE
Signed – MIAMI DOLPHINS
#119 BEAU BENZSCHAWEL OG WISCONSIN
Signed – DETROIT LIONS
#126 KEELAN DOSS WR CAL-DAVIS
Signed – OAKLAND RAIDERS
#127 L.J. HUMPHREY WR TEXAS
Signed – NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
#141 PENNY HART WR GEORGIA STATE
Signed – INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
#146 STANLEY MORGAN WR NEBRASKA
Signed – CINCINNATI BENGALS
#159 TRE’ LAMAR IB CLEMSON
Signed – DETROIT LIONS
#160 ZEDRICK WOODS S OLE MISS
Signed – JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
#165 SAIVION SMITH CB ALABAMA
Signed – JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
#169 TE’VON CONEY IB NOTRE DAME
Signed – OAKLAND RAIDERS
#172 BRETT RYPIEN QB BOISE STATE
Signed – DENVER BRONCOS
#173 JAZZ FERGUSON WR NORTHWESTERN STATE
Signed – SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
#176 ANTHONY JOHNSON WR BUFFALO
Signed – TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
#178 JOSIAH TAUAEFA LB UTSA
Signed – NEW YORK GIANTS
#180 ALEC INGOLD FB WISCONSIN
Signed – OAKLAND RAIDERS
#183 XAVIER UBOSI WR UAB
Signed – NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
#187 EMMANUEL BUTLER WR NORTHERN ARIZONA
Signed – NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
#188 PORTER GUSTIN ER SOUTHERN CAL
Signed – NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
#191 T.J. EDWARDS IB WISCONSIN
Signed – PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
#193 ADARIUS PICKETT S UCLA
Signed – CHICAGO BEARS
#198 JAMAL CUSTIS WR SYRACUSE
Signed – KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
#200 DIVINE OZIGBO RB NEBRASKA
Signed – NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Also, I want to mention an unranked prospect. MATHIEU BETTS is a Canadian college player, who I brought up in one of my team mocks, as being a player that I would have had in my rankings had I known whether his intentions were to play in the NFL or the CFL. He has signed to end to an NFL Training Camp.
MATHIEU BETTS DE LAVAL
Signed – CHICAGO BEARS
I might also point out in my self-defense, that at least this year, NONE of my Top 100 went undrafted.
Pigskin
