As most of you probably know, the NFL draft was last weekend. The popularity of the draft has skyrocketed over the last 10 years so that they are now even considering moving it to primetime television for next year, or possibly even to a format with the first round in primetime on one night, the second round in primetime the next night, and the rest of the rounds on the weekend. I hope it doesn't come to that because I really love spending a saturday afternoon hanging out and checking in on the draft as I do other things. I know you feel the same... so much so that you just gave me a knowing wink. *WINK* Right back atcha slick.
This year's draft wasn't so great if you are a Virginia Tech fan. The Hokies only had two players who were projected to go in the draft, and only one of those players (Victor "Macho" Harris) actually did get selected. Macho went in the 5th round to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was an absolute steal. An All-ACC caliber cornerback going in the fifth round is an abomination, and every single NFL team will hear from my lawyers. Macho was projected to go 1-2 rounds earlier than his actual selection, and the bad news continued to pile up for Macho as Philadelphia went out and got Ellis Hobbs to fill their 2nd/3rd cornerback spot along with Sheldon Brown. Asante Samuel is already their clear number 1 corner. That leaves nothing but special teams duty for Macho, who isn't anticipated to be used for punt returns like he was for VT. I'm not sure what it was about Macho that caused his draft stock to fall so far, but I'd be ecstatic if my NFL team (The Cleveland Browns) traded for him or better yet, landed him off of the free agent wire after the preseason.
The other VT player who was expected to go in the draft was defensive end Orion Martin, but he was never selected. I can kind of understand this one because Martin is a tad undersized at 6'2" and 260 lbs to play defensive end in the NFL, and he hasn't shown to anyone (yet) that he is capable of playing the defensive end/linebacker hybrid that is necessary in 3-4 defenses. Martin was given an invite to the Miami Dolphins' training camp and will get a chance to show Bill Parcells and company what he is capable of doing at the outside LB position.
Other Hokies who were given invites to participate in training camps were quarterback Sean Glennon with the Minnesota Vikings, center Ryan Shuman with the Green Bay Packers, and fullback Devin Perez with the Cincinnati Bengals. I don't anticipate any of those 3 making a roster by the end of camp though.
I want to take this last paragraph just to laugh at the Oakland Raiders and officially declare that franchise "defunct". For starters, their owner, Al Davis, is an absolute moron who seems to get stupider as he gets older. To add to the fun, let's also consider the fact that Al Davis makes it a point to meddle with the NFL draft and the personnel on the field, effectively cutting the balls off of his puppet-coach. How is a franchise like that supposed to compete? The culmination of the ineptness of the Raiders seemed to happen on Saturday during the draft when the Raiders selected Darrius Heyward-Bey with the 7th overall pick when Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin were just sitting there waiting to be selected. Heyward-Bey is thought to be a raw and unrefined receiver in spite of his blazing 40-yard dash time of 4.3 (best at the NFL combine for WRs). Once again, it looks like Al Davis got distracted by the shiny paint on the car without noticing that the engine is on fire. It must suck to be a Raiders fan.
7 comments:
Macho ran a 4.68ish 40 at the combine which is extremely slow for a cover corner. I've heard from a few places they are considering moving him to safety, which seems like a good fit because he's a hard hitter and has a nose for the ball.
Also I'm pretty excited about 2009 Rookie of the year Sean Glennon.
With the way Dallas was reaching I'm surprised they didn't draft Glennon in the fourth.
I don't understand how Jacksonville could use a 3rd round pick on a corner from William and Mary over Macho. That's just insulting.
James, you and I both know Macho is faster than 4.68. He must've had a stomach bug that day or something. Either way, as an NFL GM you need to be able to see past that and see results. Macho gets results. If they want to move him to safety, that could work, but he's a little small for a safety. I think he'd be fine as an NFL corner. Better than fine... great.
P@ sorry to say Macho isn't great speed. The combine didn't lie he barely improved his numbers at Tech's pro day. What he does have is great agility though he ran strong 3 cone drills and 10 yard sprints which is what Corners need. He will be able to play in Philadelphia as James said they are talking of a safety position. He will also get to show in practice that his lack of 40 speed isn't a hinderance.
Your other estimate that no one outside of Orion and Macho has a chance to make a roster. Shuman will make a roster, and I expect Glennon to as well. The kid has the brain to impress he is a definite 3rd or 4th string guy.
Lastly this wasn't a bad draft for us. Other than Macho going way later than expected everything else right about what could have been expected. I would say given that we graduated so little it was a great draft. Now if its the same story next Draft then we will have had a bad day.
Marty... there's no way Glennon makes a roster unless it's on the practice squad. You can quote me on that.
The guy who recruited Glennon is Minnesotas QB couch. I'd say there's an outside chance of him landing a spot on the Vikes.
PS, don't hate on the Raiders too much. They're the odds on favorite to acquire Vick. Weird, huh?
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