Monday 22 December 2008

Big Update

One week to go in the NFL regular season and here's a big update to get your teeth into.

Sam Bradford was named the Associated Press player of the year today, beating Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy to the award. Will he declare for the draft?

Vontae Davis, corner back from Illinois says he will declare for the 2009 draft. I would be surprised if Seattle took a CB in the first or second round, an assumption based on the talent pool and the selection of Kelly Jennings and Josh Wilson in recent drafts. Marcus Trufant was also signed to a multi-year deal last off season.

Scouts Inc. have published a big board. Top of the list is Andre Smith, tackle from Alabama. He scores a 98 approval rating, the same score as Sam Bradford in number two. Matt Stafford, Michael Crabtree, Malcolm Jenkins and Aaron Curry all scored 97.

Talking of Smith, Steve Muench wonders whether or not he can handle elite speed rushers. He studies the film to come up with conclusions on the offensive tackles technique and talent. He also looks at the recent match up between B.J. Raji and Nick Marshman and Juaquin Iglesias' performance against the Missouri defense.

Todd McShay looks at his top five pass rushers who might declare for 2009. He has Everette Brown from Florida State ranked highest. Should he have been in our poll to find out the top rated defensive prospect?

Now for some mock drafts. J.R. Glymph at NFL Draft Blitz has Seattle selecting Ole Miss tackle Michael Oher fifth overall.

Pete Dymeck at Sideline Scouting has the 'Hawks taking Michael Crabtree, quoting that the pick "makes too much sense".

Draft King agrees and has the Seahawks taking the Texas Tech receiver. He also has Sam Bradford going first overall to the Lions.

Finally, Kyle Rota from College Talent Scout has a report on Oklahoma guard Duke Robinson. To see what Kyle thinks check the link, there's also other prospect analysis on his blog and it's well worth a read.

4 comments:

Aaron Weinberg said...

Rob, do you think Cinci would take Crabtree? I think TJ is a FA this year and 85 seems on the decline... obviously they have tons of needs though.

Rob Staton said...

I think it's a very real possibility Aaron. I like Crabtree a lot and I think he could go to any of the teams in the top five except Detroit, whose fans would probably invade Ford Field if they take another receiver. The Bengals have a lot of needs but they won't reach on prospects to fill them. If they like one of the tackles Smith, Monroe or Oher they are a possibility, but I'm not sold on Monroe or Oher going in the top five. They need help on defense but again I'm not sure there's any defensive talent worthy of going that early. The Bengals could easilly wind up taking Crabtree if he falls to them. My current mock draft will be updated this week and I'm anticipating some big changes.

Anonymous said...

I read on www.draftguru.wordpress.com that Crabtree is going back to school.

Rob Staton said...

It's almost certain that Crabtree will declare for the draft. A few weeks ago he was asked at his school whether he wanted to stay at Texas Tech and he mumbled something that wasn't a definite yes or no. Since then, his father has suggested he is likely to declare and Crabtree himself said he had 'nothing else to prove' when he won the Biletnikoff for a second time. It's not just that his stock will never be higher, he's losing QB Graham Harrell and has just led Tech to a great season they will not repeat next year. He will be in the draft.