Tag: 2011 NFL Draft (Page 13 of 20)

      NFLPA tells players to boycott 2011 NFL Draft

      March 14, 2011 /

      Imagine you’re one of the very few athletes blessed with enough talent to be considered a top NFL prospect. You’ve earned the opportunity to hear your name called by the commissioner, to walk on stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York and to snap a photo holding that #1 jersey for your new team.

      You’ve earned the opportunity to enjoy that experience. But because of an ongoing labor dispute, it’s highly likely that you’ll be stripped of that opportunity now.

      According to ESPN.com, the NFLPA is in the process of blocking prospects from attending next month’s draft in New York. So instead of a prospect standing on stage at Radio City Music Hall enjoying the moment with his family, he’ll be elsewhere because the owners and players can’t figure out how to best divvy up the fans’ money. Apparently the Players Association is considering showing the players on another competing network to do post-pick interviews, but it won’t be the same experience.

      It’s easy to see where the NFLPA is coming from here. It’s in the middle of a financial battle and doesn’t want to take a brief timeout so that the draft (a production put on by the league) can go on as usual. The NFLPA is trying to prove that the league is nothing without the players, so why have this year’s prospects attend the draft so that the NFL can once again profit? (Plus, the NFL has already told prospects that it won’t pay players a fee in an attempt to have them present this year, so the league isn’t make the NFLPA’s decision any easier.)

      That said, I feel bad for the prospects. They’ve worked hard to reach this point and now because of the labor dispute, they’ve been dealt a rough hand. If they skip the draft, then they’ll never get that moment back. If they go, then they’ll always be known as the players that defied the union. (How bad would they get it from veteran players if that happened?)

      Either way, a sacrifice will be made on behalf of the 2011 NFL Draft class but oh, well. There’s always a price to be paid in situations like this and the top prospects from this year’s class are finding that out the hard way.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      2011 NFL Draft to be canceled now?

      March 12, 2011 /

      As if the NFL and NFLPA haven’t bent over the fans enough, now it appears as though there may not even be a draft.

      According to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal, the NFL players’ lawsuit in a U.S. district court is seeking declaration that the NFL draft violates antitrust laws. Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller is even named as a plaintiff in the suit. (How is his draft stock looking these days?)

      Throughout this entire absurd process, fans have been under the assumption that, at the very least, there would be a draft in 2011. But hey, seeing as how there’s no free agency, no trades and there may not even be a season next year, what’s the point in having a draft? Why not take everything away from fans? Clearly the league is not for them anyway. It’s for the greedy players and the even greedier owners.

      My apologizes for sounding like a scorned lover but this is ridiculous. The draft was the last and only thing fans had to look forward to this offseason and now that could be stripped from us as well. Maybe this was a naïve thought but I kind of felt that the draft represented hope that there will be a season next year. But now? Who knows. I’m feeling less optimistic about this situation than ever this morning.

      Buckle up fans, it’s about to get bumpy.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      More concerns emerge about Da’Quan Bowers’ knee

      March 11, 2011 /

      Earlier this week, I wrote a post about how Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers’ draft stock may be falling due to a knee injury and this report from the Denver Post does nothing to refute that claim.

      According to the report, “several teams” insist that Bowers’ knee surgery was more serious than the defensive end claimed. Bowers had arthroscopic knee surgery following the season and was only able to participate the bench press at February’s scouting combine. He has also postponed his Pro Day from March 10 to April 1 as he continues to try and recover from what was thought to be a minor knee scope.

      For Bowers’ sake, I hope he performs well at his Pro Day and he can put the concerns about his knee to rest. He’s a bona fide top 5 prospect and was a terrific player at Clemson. He’s strong, long-armed and extremely athletic. He has excellent closing speed for his size and could turn out to be a very good edge rusher in the NFL. But the concerns about his knee could cause him to drop out of the top 10 and while he would wind up being a steal for whichever team drafted him later in the first, it would cost him millions in the process.

      One thing to keep in mind is that some teams will attempt to sabotage a prospect in hopes that he’ll fall in the draft. But it’s not like this is the first time that a media outlet has reported problems about Bowers’ knee. We’ll just have to wait and see if he can perform at his Pro Day in April and convince teams at the top of the draft that he’s still worthy of being selected among the first five of picks.

      College Football, External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      Is Da’Quan Bowers’ stock falling?

      March 10, 2011 /

      Nick Fairley can take solace in the fact that he isn’t the only defensive line prospect whose stock appears to be falling the closer we get to the draft.

      Clark Judge of CBS Sports is reporting that Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers was “flagged” by physicians on his medical examination at the scouting combine two weeks ago due to a knee injury. Bowers only participated in the bench press at the combine and has postponed his Pro Day from March 10 until April 1 as he continues to recover from what was thought to be a minor knee scope.

      Since the end of the college football season, Bowers has been viewed as potential top-5 pick. But players with medical concerns fall all the time in the draft. Texas’ linebacker Sergio Kindle was viewed as a top-15 pick last year before concerns about his medical history caused him to drop all the way to No. 43 (Ravens) in the second round. After having surgery to repair a sports hernia in 2008, Maryland Clemson defensive lineman Phillip Merling (also considered a first round pick) fell to the Dolphins at No. 32 at the top of the second round.

      Of course, just because Kindle and Merling fell doesn’t mean that Bowers will, too. Kindle and Merling were considered first round picks by many draft pundits, but neither of them was viewed as a top-5 prospects like Bowers is. Still, Bowers’ knee injury is a major concern and there’s a possibility that he could fall out of the top 10 if enough teams are scared off by this latest information. (Or if he doesn’t perform well at his Pro Day in April.)

      This is considered a very deep draft for defensive linemen, so who knows how far Bowers will fall if he gets out of the top-10 picks. That said, assuming he fully recovers from the knee surgery at some point this offseason, he could wind up being the steal of the first round depending on how far he drops.

      In my latest mock, I have the Bills selecting Bowers at No. 3 (although this latest information may have considerably changed things).

      College Football, External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      2011 NFL Mock Draft 3.0: The Rise of Cam Newton

      March 9, 2011 /
      Auburn Tigers Heisman Trophy wining quarterback Cam Newton warms up for the Tigers game against the Oregon Ducks at the BCS Championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, January 10,2011. UPI/Art Foxall

      I’ll tell you what sports fans, I don’t know how anyone can compile a mock draft these days without wanting to slam his or her head on their desk about 25 times. I’ve made roughly 6,000 changes to this latest mock since the scouting combine wrapped up and I still hate it.

      I hate it!

      One thing I don’t hate is the addition John Paulsen has brought to Mock 3.0. He’s a statistical madman and recently thought of the idea to use players’ combine numbers to draw comparisons to prospects from previous years. He explains in more detail below.

      More Draft Content: NFL Mock Draft 1.0 | NFL Mock Draft 2.0 | Ten Combine Winners | Ingram’s 40 Time an Issue? | Thoughts on QBs

      John: I compared each prospect’s combine scores with players from the last six combines to determine the best athletic comparison. There are eight categories: height, weight, 40-yard dash, shuttle, 3-cone, vertical leap, broad jump and bench press. Not all prospects compete in all six tests, so certain comparisons are more confident than others.

      Realize that we’re not suggesting that these players will turn into their comparisons – we’re simply saying that athletically, this is whom each prospect compares to based on their combine numbers.

      All right, let’s rock out with our mocks out…what?

      No. 1 Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
      I’m not going to run from the fact that this is now the sexy mock pick, but it does make sense. Ron Rivera attended Newton’s Pro Day recently and the Auburn QB looked sharp. Blaine Gabbert is still a possibility here and so is Patrick Peterson but at the end of the day, the Panthers might as well go big or go home. There isn’t a more polarizing player in this entire draft than Newton, who is the very definition of “boom or bust.”
      Combine Comparisons: Vince Young; Tim Tebow.

      Continue reading »

      College Football, External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

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