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Matt Stafford, quarterback at Georgia, and he can throw, too

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NFL draft 2009 predictions

My how we all love to analyze and predict.

The top players for the 2009 NFL draft are already out.

Let us take a look at the top 5 quarterbacks for 2009.

Cream of the ‘09 crop
Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia (Jr.): He has that NFL passer look. There is no way he stays for his senior season, not with a chance to be the top passer selected.

Curtis Painter, QB, Purdue: He’s got a strong arm, plays in a pro-style offense and understands the passing game.

Hunter Cantwell, QB, Louisville: At 6-5, he has the size scouts love. He also has a big arm. But being behind Brohm, he hasn’t played much.

Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma (Redshirt soph.): At 6-5, 213 pounds, he has great size and a big arm. He started right away at quarterback.

Tim Tebow, QB, Florida (Jr.): He will have to adjust on the next level, but he throws it well enough. We know he’s tough enough.
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Matt Stafford is currently the odds on favorite to be the number one pick in the 2009 nfl draft, but before you go crazy about that, remember that Brian Brohm was the early leader for the 2008 nfl draft and Brian went in the second round when all was said and done.

NFL Football special comment America cannot get enough of these mock drafts. Include me in America!

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It was such a strange and long Saturday.

2008 NFL Draft day

Only 3 hours for round 1. Last year the NFL draft was over in 6 hours. No receivers taken in the first round. How odd. The fast guys must slow the draft down.

Jake Long

Jake Long officially became a Miami Dolphin. The first draft pick in 2008 for the NFL by Bill Parcells. Big Tuna could not get rid of the pick, so he overpaid a very good young tackle to the tune of 58 million bucks for 6 years. 30 mill guaranteed. 6 years of no playoffs for the Dolphins, but at least they have a tackle.

Jake Long - an even bigger Tuna

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Pacman - Ride ‘em Cowboy

Pacman is a Cowboy. It is official. Will Pacman even make the field is another question. The trade itself was very complicated.

The deal was agreed to in principle Wednesday. Then came all a convoluted series of talks between both teams, Pacman, the league and the union, a back-and-forth, forth-and-back series that team vice president Stephen Jones called the most complicated in his nearly 20 years in the league.

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Brett Favre is gone

Brett Favre was placed on the Packer reserved retired list and no longer counts as part of their roster. It is so hard to imagine playing the Packers and not seeing Brett Favre slinging the ball around.

Detroit Lions had to pull something

Too gun shy Read more

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More power to Jake Long. Power, as in 58 million bucks.

That is right. 58 million smackaroonies for an offensive lineman. That is a lot of dough. That is way too much dough. Jake Long will most likely be a great left tackle, but that is too much money to spend to find that out.

Jake Long can now afford those Gucci football shoes

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The draft needs to be fixed. It is a joke to pay a football player that has not even arrived in his first camp and make him the highest paid player at his position. It is an even bigger joke to make Jake Long the highest paid lineman and make him play for Miami, a team that does not expect to win a whole lot of games.

You realize that you just punished Miami. Now a fistful of dollars are tied up in an inexperienced rookie lineman.

Hey, give credit to Miami. They knew the fix they were in and put on their best face.

Long’s total contract package is for $57.75 million, said a person familiar with the negotiations who didn’t want to be identified because the Dolphins declined to reveal terms. Last year’s top pick, JaMarcus Russell, signed for $61 million with the Oakland Raiders but missed all of training camp before reaching a deal.

Long becomes the highest-paid lineman in the NFL and a 6-foot-7, 315-pound cornerstone in a rebuilding project for the new Dolphins regime led by Bill Parcells. Last season Miami went 1-15, and the offensive line has been a chronic problem in recent years.

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As a big football fan, maybe this would have been easier to digest if it was a unique skill player like JaMarcus Russell and Calvin Johnson were last year. It would have been easier to take if Matt Ryan or Darren McFadden had been a little higher rated, but this is a left tackle.

So take heart out there all of you left tackles that Read more

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This draft stinks.

It stinks so much that the NFL has to be bummed.

You see drafts have turned into media events and this one has the makings of low ratings.

Is this draft low on players? No, not really.

Is this draft low on talented skill players? No, there might be as many as 12 running backs taken in the first 3 rounds.

So, swami, just what is it that you do not like?Well, the simple answer is that Miami has the first pick and would love to trade down, but there are no sexy picks that make trading up all that worthwhile.

Darren McFadden asks, “You don’t find me sexy?”

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According to ratings by NFLDraftScout.com, the five top-rated players are Virginia defensive end Chris Long, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long and Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston.

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McFadden

Hey, what about McFadden? Read more

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It is a great draft year for running backs. The 2008 NFL draft is loaded with running backs. If your team needs a running back and wants to use one of its first 4 picks, then odds are, your team will get their man.

Thanks to an influx of underclassmen, this year’s NFL draft has excellence and depth at running back. As many as five are projected as first-round prospects, and eight could hear their names called on the draft’s first day, according to ratings by NFLDraftScout.com. The top five are underclassmen, and only two of the top eight completed their college eligibility.

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Let’s take a look at some of the prospects.

1. *Darren McFadden, Arkansas, 6-1, 211, 1st: probably don’t need to say much here. Already enough has been written.

Darren McFadden has the speed to burn

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2. *Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois, 5-10, 225, 1st: Mendenhall is moving to the NFL after a very productive junior season in 2007, when his 1,681 yards on the ground set a single-season school record. He was the Big Ten Conference offensive player of the year and ranked eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten in rushing (129.3 yards a game).

Mendenhall is short, compact and runs with a low center of gravity. He shows a good instinct for knowing when to be patient behind blockers and when to use his explosive running ability. He gained more believers at the combine, where he ran a 4.41 in the 40, benched 225 pounds 26 times and had a 331/2-inch vertical jump.

Although he was featured for only one season in Champaign, Mendenhall was able to show traits beyond running that NFL teams like to see. As a receiver, he has good hands and seems to be able to adjust to poorly thrown balls. His ability as a blocker was evident on many assignments he had in Illinois’ spread-read offense.

For his career, Mendenhall started 14 of his 35 games and carried 388 times for 2,539 yards (6.5-yard average) and 22 touchdowns. That ranks seventh on the school’s career rushing yardage list. He also caught 59 passes for 564 yards and five scores.

(Some say the Lions will pick Mendenhall).

3. *Jonathan Stewart, Oregon, 5-10, 235, 1st: Has it all, but coming back from toe surgery.

4. *Jamaal Charles, Texas, 5-11, 200, 1st-2nd: Fast, but can he play every down?

5. *Felix Jones, Arkansas, 5-10, 207, 1st-2nd: Get this, Felix is the man behind Darren McFadden.

All five are underclassmen and all five may go in the first round.

Gentlemen, start your draft selections.

NFL Football special comment Will this be called the year of the running back?

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There are some that say Felix Jones will go in the first round.

Just who is Felix Jones?

He was the other Arkansas back. Darren McFadden is known as the Arkansas back.

Felix Jones - catch me if you can

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Some say Darren may go as high as number 1.

The co-runner gets drafted has happened before.

It would be the third time in four years, following the 2005 selections of Auburn’s Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown and the 2006 selections of USC’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White, that two running backs from the same college were high picks in the same draft.

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So how good was Felix Jones?

As seniors, Jones carried just 133 times, McFadden 325. McFadden averaged 5.6 yards a carry, Jones 8.7, an impressive number. One lingering question is whether those carries for Jones, about 10 a game, were enough to demonstrate, among other things, that he has the durability the NFL demands?

The move in the National Football League has been towards two backs. So why not pick up on the successful two back systems in college.

Some say the 10 carries just Read more

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The hot rumor revolves around the Raiders at pick number 4.

At a time when many league observers believe that the Oakland Raiders won’t be able to resist the 4.33 speed of running back Darren McFadden with the fourth overall pick in the draft, a league source tells us that there are “strong indications” that the Raiders will select Ohio State linebacker/defensive end Vernon Gholston according to Profootballtalk.com

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Vernon Gholston to the Raiders?

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Still McFadden is hard to resist. Gholston would be a better long term build.

Meanwhile in Miami

Big Tuna is making a move or is he?

Parcells and the Miami Dolphins have begun contract negotiations with the agent for potential top draft pick Jake Long, a person familiar with the talks said Thursday. The person did not want to be identified because the Dolphins have been coy about their plans for the No. 1 pick.

Negotiations with Long’s agent, Tom Condon, don’t necessarily mean Miami has ruled out other prospects. The new Dolphins regime, led by Parcells, could use the talks to increase contract leverage with other potential picks.

The Dolphins also are interested in trading the No. 1 pick, but so far no suitors have surfaced.

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Miami is so far from winning that Jake Long would be a good solid pick for years to come. My guess is that Miami wants to trade down to get additional players.

Baltimore Ravens

Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens need a QB. Matt Ryan is there for the taking if they can move up or get lucky.

In reality, the Ravens really only need to worry about three franchises: the Miami Dolphins (first overall pick), Atlanta Falcons (third) and Kansas City Chiefs (fifth). Everyone else currently ahead of the Ravens appears fixed on other areas, and the quarterback-needy teams behind Baltimore don’t appear to have enough ammunition to move up. And regarding the Ravens’ troublesome trio, there have been encouraging signs in recent days.

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It has already been mentioned that Miami is looking at Jake Long, or even Chris Long. Atlanta is looking real hard at defensive tackle Glen Dorsey, and the Chiefs are looking at everyone, so Baltimore could sit still and get lucky.

It is all a jumble right now and teams keep positioning themselves for the draft.

Right now Miami holds the key.

NFL Football special comment Linemen are needed to build a team. So why are skill players so irresistible?

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Oh, please do not allow this to happen. The rich may yet again get richer.

The New England Patriots have scheduled a private workout with Darren McFadden.

NFL teams are allowed to host up to 30 out-of-town prospects before the draft, and the Patriots’ visit with the Arkansas back — scheduled for April 10-11 - should generate buzz relating to New England having the seventh overall draft choice.

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How in the world can the Patriots almost go undefeated and still have a chance at landing the best running back coming out of college?

The answer to that is easy. There is no justice in the world. Why else would my Lions have the 15th pick in the draft, while the Patriots, who already have Randy Moss and Tom Brady, have the 7th pick.

Darren McFadden running to daylight

If there was justice in the world, the Lions would have to have the whole first round to even think of catching up to half of the Patriots team.

Let’s see, the Patriots would then have the one two punch of Lawrence Maroney and Darren McFadden, while my Lions would have …. uhh, oh yeah, the guy who said he wanted out of Detroit last year, Tatum Bell. It seems that Tatum Bell found out that you are less desirable to the rest of the world if you absolutely fail with the Lions.

Anyway, the Patriots will probably not see McFadden at pick 7 as things look right now, so we all can breathe a sigh of relief.

Maybe there is some justice in the world.

NFL Football Fan Question Who will get McFadden?

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Chris Long points out the pain that the opposition will now begin to feel as he applies the heat

Here is the latest draft scoop out of Miami.

The Dolphins have scheduled private meetings with Long, Ryan and Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long in their college cities, according to officials who work with each player. (They have not requested similar sessions with Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Ohio State defensive end Vernon Gholston and LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, agents said.)

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WalterFootball.com gives us the scoop on Chris Long, the most likely prospect.

The Dolphins need a 3-4 rush linebacker. They’ll be able to grab a quarterback, nose tackle and right tackle later in the draft, but they won’t be able to obtain a devastating sack-artist like Long or Gholston at selection No. 32. Long played the 3-4 at Virginia and it doesn’t exactly hurt that his father is Howie Long. The Tuna has a history of drafting players who have NFL bloodlines (Bobby Carpenter).

To summarize, Miami has to acquire a 3-4 linebacker here, and Chris Long is currently the top prospect at that position, edging Gholston out by a nose. This could change in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. source

Matt Ryan would take years. Too much for the impatient Big Tuna.

Jake Long is great, but not great enough to warrant pick number 1.

NFL Football Fan Question Who would you take?

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Matt Ryan showing off his passing against my Michigan State University Spartans

Matt Ryan of Boston College had his workout day and it was good.

You mean great, right?

No, good. It was ok. Nothing really went wrong.

You mean that it sucks then, right?

No, you are not listening. It went well. Keep in mind, there is only one quarterback to evaluate for the top of the heap and it is Matt Ryan. So, good is good.

“I don’t think he slips (in the draft),” Minnesota Vikings vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman said. “He finds his wide receivers down the field. If there is anything lacking in arm strength – and I think he has enough arm strength – he knows where to go with the ball.”

Spielman was one of 42 representatives from 22 teams in attendance Sunday. But the group lacked star power, with only one head coach – Kansas City’s Herm Edwards – in attendance. The Chiefs’ Carl Peterson also was the only general manager in attendance, along with Kansas City offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and quarterbacks coach Dick Curl.
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It was like being introduced at the Prom and being afraid to fall down. Matt completed 48 of 52 passes.

When it was over, Ryan’s performance Tuesday seemed to dovetail relatively well with his scouting report: an adequate arm and the ability to make all the throws the NFL will demand, but with a ball that is not always perfectly clean. Many of Ryan’s passes had some wobble to them, which can be caused by gripping the football too tight at the release point and is considered correctable with coaching. At times his receivers had to wait a slight tick to let the ball catch up to them, and a few passes didn’t have perfect placement. But overall, there didn’t appear to be any glaring gaffes in the workout.

Seemed suspicious that Miami, Atlanta and Baltimore hardly had anyone there. They all need quarterbacks real bad! KC was there and along with the other four will probably invite Matt in for individual workouts.

Wow, this is getting nerve wracking!

NFL Football Fan question Which team will take Matt Ryan?

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