Brady Quinn, Alan Branch, Troy Smith – B5 NFL Draft Roundtable part 3

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Coach Weis tells Brady to relax, what’s a few million dollars, you will be drafted

As part of b5media’s continuing coverage of the 2007 NFL Draft, we’ve brought our football experts together to discuss this year’s proceedings. Our panelists are
Aaron Brazell (Suicide Fan Podcast),
James Edwards (Squib Kick), and
David Kindervater (Every Morning Quarterback).

This is Part 3 of the series. Part 1 is at Suicide Fan Podcast and Part 2 is at Every Morning Quarterback

Geoff: What player in this year’s draft was the biggest surprise in terms of where he was taken?

James: We won’t find out until next year, but it looks like to me that Arizona got a steal by getting Alan Branch in the second round. Bad combine or not, this guy stuffed the run against some high-quality opponents and that is just what the Cardinals need.

If you watched the draft, you had to be surprised at Joe Thomas going to Cleveland. On top of that, you had to figure that someone, the Vikings maybe, the Dolphins for sure, was going to take Brady Quinn.

Closer to home, the Lions traded down to get Drew Stanton from my MSU Spartans and while it is always a good thing to have some Spartans on your team, most of us were sure the Lions would go after a defensive player.

Aaron: Troy Smith. Sure, he’s short. Sure, he’s had some character issues. But for a guy that was a Heisman Trophy winner and dominated the competition in college ball, and for a guy who was touted as a potential #1 pick at the end of the BCS Championship, being picked in the fifth round just surprises me.

David: I have to list two. Brady Quinn, who was in the running for the #1 spot, fell all the way to #22 to the Browns. And then Troy Smith, the Heisman trophy winner who wasn’t picked until the final selection of the 5th round. I was wondering if it was ever going to happen for Troy. I was shocked that so many teams passed on him. But, the Ravens came through and I think they got a real bargain.

Geoff: Any closing thoughts on the draft?

David: Being there at Radio City Music Hall, the fan interest was overwhelming. Naturally, there was a strong Giants and Jets following, but I would say most of the 32 teams were represented by jersey clad fans. The NFL Draft Fan Central across the street was packed and the turnout clearly showed how in love with the NFL these fans are. They came out in droves to celebrate their favorite sport.

James: The draft has become a big time production and it has led to more commercials and more analysis than one person can take. If you watched the whole thing there is a special award waiting for you at the Looney Bin.

The announcers for ESPN were amazing as usual. Mel Kiper takes a lot sniping from the media, but really digs for his information, Ron Jaworski is just incredible with all his details, and Chris Berman with all his nicknames (i.e., Andre “Bad Moon” Rison) just keeps the show rolling.

Brady Quinn will probably get the last laugh on all of us, as he seems to be going into an ideal situation to prove himself.

Finally, did you catch JaMarcus Russell tossing a football 64 yards from on his knees? What that has to do with playing quarterback, who knows, but it was still worth seeing, if not believing.

Geoff: Thanks, gentlemen, for your insights. Be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2 of our roundtable discussion as well.

Special Geoff Young factoid – Even though NFL Football rules, we sometimes take time out to read about that other sport, Baseball. Catch Geoff Young as he expounds about baseball at Knucklecurve, another fine B5 blog. (Squibster full disclosure – Ok, he is the boss and all)

NFL Football Fan Question And so ends the Roundtable. Would you like to see more roundtable discussions?

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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