Tag: Matthew Stafford (Page 16 of 20)

      10 NFL Draft Observations from Mike Mayock

      April 7, 2009 /

      SI.com’s Peter King shares 10 draft nuggets that he got from Mike Mayock:

      1. “This is by far the worst year for the top 10 that I’ve seen. Down around 18, 20, you’ll get every bit the player you’ll get in the top 10 for a third of the price.”

      2. His gut feeling is Detroit’s taking Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford with the first pick of the draft.

      3. “I can’t bang the table for Stafford the way I did for Matt Ryan last year. I don’t see an elite player in him every time I watch, which you need to see if you’re taking a quarterback that high.”

      4. Mayock, if he had his choice of first-round picks for talent and value, would be around 22. “The value in this draft is at 15 and beyond.”

      5. He says eight or nine tight ends will be drafted in the first three rounds. He loves the best of the bunch, Oklahoma State’s Brandon Pettigrew. (I’d love to see the Bills land him, by the way. Perfect offensive weapon for a coordinator, Turk Schonert, who loves to use the tight end.)

      6. He likes Eugene Monroe over Jason Smith, if you’re picking a franchise tackle. “Smith’s got a better upside. Very aggressive. But Monroe’s got the best feet in the draft. He’s a really accomplished technician.”

      7. He thinks Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry — who Detroit would play at middle linebacker if the Lions made him the first pick of the draft — would be optimally used at strongside linebacker in the 4-3 because he can cover, he can play physically over the tight end, and he’s got upside pass-rushing ability.

      8. He’s scared of Brian Orakpo, the Texas defensive end who’s the apple of a few teams’ eyes in the top half of the first round. “Buyer beware,” Mayock said. “He’s boom or bust. I don’t know if he’s DeMarcus Ware or Vernon Gholston. I’ve seen him have some really good games, and I’ve seen what I considered to be Brandon Pettigrew tearing him apart. The point is, I don’t see it all the time from Orakpo, which concerns me.”

      9. Of the elite quarterbacks, he likes USC’s Mark Sanchez the best. “He’s the most ready made for the pro game right now.”

      10. If you need a cornerback in this draft, sit it out. There are no corners even well above average, never mind great.

      Those are 10 pretty solid observations and outside of maybe deeming Mark Sanchez an elite quarterback-candidate, I can’t find fault in anything Mayock said.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      2009 NFL Mock Draft Version 2.0

      April 6, 2009 /

      In my first attempt to project the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, I predicted the Lions to take Georgia’s Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick, Alabama’s offensive tackle Andre Smith to fall out of the top 15 and I also drummed up a potential swap between the Browns and 49ers so that San Fran could land USC signal caller Mark Sanchez.

      But to paraphrase that overactor Nicholas Cage in “The Rock”: Gee, kind of a lot has happened since then. Most notably the Bears sending two first round picks to the Broncos for quarterback Jay Cutler and the Giants’ release of receiver Plaxico Burress.

      Here’s my second attempt at projecting the first round of this month’s draft. As always, feel free to criticize in the comments section, but remember that I’m a human – I have feelings, too, damn it. So be gentle.

      (Click here to see Mock Draft Version 1.0)

      1. Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia
      Mock 1.0 Projection: Stafford
      Nothing in the past couple of weeks has changed my mind about Stafford eventually winding up in Detroit. GM Martin Mayhew reportedly wants to trade this selection because of the financial burden that is bestowed upon having the top overall pick, but other teams don’t want it for the same reason. In the end, Jason Smith (Baylor) and Eugene Monroe (Virginia) are both very good options here, but the Lions were reportedly very impressed with Stafford’s private workout and you know what? They simply need a quarterback.

      Continue reading »

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      Mark Sanchez excellent at USC Pro Day

      April 2, 2009 /

      Quarterback Mark Sanchez is making a strong case to be selected in the top 10 (or thereabouts) after dazzling at USC’s Pro Day.

      The consensus at USC on Wednesday was that Sanchez had an excellent performance in front of a full house that included NFL scouts and coaches, family and friends, and even a few fans in the stands. He showed balance, solid footwork and most importantly, accuracy on all of his throws.

      He estimated that he threw about 80 passes — a strong number for a pro day workout.
      There were even whispers that Sanchez’s pro day was better than that of Georgia’s Matt Stafford. Again, whispers. But Sanchez was confident and effortless, and did nothing but help himself.

      “I think he showed better arm strength than people generally give him,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “He’s not Stafford, he’s not [Kansas State’s Josh] Freeman; but his arm is every bit as good as Matt Ryan’s. And as Matt Ryan showed this year, when you’re accurate and you show good anticipation, a good arm is good enough. That’s what Matt is, and that’s what Mark Sanchez is. What he showed is consistency.”

      Mayock makes a great point about arm strength. Two years ago everyone marveled at how JaMarcus Russell could throw a 60-yard pass while sitting down. But having that much arm strength doesn’t amount to much if you’re only completing 53.8 percent of your passes, which is what Russell did last year.

      The one big knock on Ryan last year was that he lacked elite arm strength. Yet he proved last year that he can complete all of the NFL throws and he showed great touch on the deep ball. As long as Sanchez can do the same thing, it doesn’t necessarily matter if he doesn’t have the arm strength of Matthew Stafford or Josh Freeman. The key is whether or not Sanchez (or any of the quarterbacks for that matter) have the mental makeup in order to succeed at the next level. Ryan and Joe Flacco did and that’s why they succeeded.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Stafford won’t talk to shrink, so 49ers don’t want him

      March 31, 2009 /

      The 49ers are apparently concerned with quarterback prospect Matthew Stafford because he won’t open up to a psychologist about his parent’s divorce.

      Matthew StaffordA report in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests Stafford was uncomfortable answering questions at the NFL combine last month from a team psychologist regarding his parents’ divorce.

      Niners head coach Mike Singletary told KNBR (680 AM) in San Francisco this week that “if you’re going to look at drafting a guy in the first round, and you’re going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that’s going to be an issue, uhhh, then you know what, maybe he doesn’t belong here.”

      Stafford, a potential first-round draft pick, told the Detroit Free Press that the psychologist presumed Stafford had “unfinished business” about his parents’ split in high school.

      I guess Singletary has a point in that, if a team is going to pay a prospect millions of dollars in the NFL, then it has a right to know as much about the player as possible. But this is a bit absurd. Stafford is only 21 years old – he’s still a kid. Him not wanting to open up to a stranger about a painful topic doesn’t mean he’s a bad egg or that he has psychological problems. It just means that he’d like to handle the manner in his own way and that doesn’t involve talking to a shrink.

      Considering Singletary pulled his pants down in front of his team to make a point during a halftime speech last year, maybe he should be the one seeing a psychologist and not Stafford.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Lions to trade No. 1 overall pick?

      March 25, 2009 /

      Lions’ GM Martin Mayhew says he’s open to trading the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft.

      Martin MayhewWhen asked specifically about Jay Cutler and if Mayhew would consider trading the top pick for the unhappy Broncos quarterback, he didn’t shoot down the idea.

      “We’re open to all options with that pick,” Mayhew said during a break at the NFL Annual Meeting.

      “Obviously, it has value to us, and if it has value to somebody else, then we can talk about that.”

      On Sunday, Lions president Tom Lewand told Tom Kowalski of Booth Newspapers in Lansing, Mich., that the team was looking forward to discussions with “agents of players we’re interested in.” Speculation elsewhere has identified the Lions’ leading candidate as Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith.

      Before Lion fans start doing back flips about the possibility of trading out of the No. 1 slot in hopes to acquire more draft picks and essentially get better value for their selections, trading out of the top spot isn’t like shopping for toilet paper. It’s just not that easy – especially when there isn’t an elite prospect that multiple teams are after. (I know Aaron Curry is a stud, but he’s still not a prospect that multiple teams are going to trip over in trying to trade for the No. 1 pick.)

      The last time the No. 1 overall pick was successfully traded was in 2001 when the Chargers dealt the top selection to the Falcons for the 5th overall pick, a third round pick and a second round pick in 2002. But Atlanta wanted Michael Vick and didn’t know if he would slide to No. 5 if they waited. Guys like Curry, Matthew Stafford, Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe aren’t going to garner that kind of attention, so I would imagine that the Lions will still be drafting out of that slot come next month.

      NFL, NFL Draft

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