Mariota or Winston?

Good question. Closest I can remember is Joe Thomas, who was.....the second pick maybe?

 

Third.

 

He reportedly went fishing with his dad. On a related note, Deadspin and 17 other Internet outlets just assigned a "That's racist!" column to explain people's inevitable hot takes on Winston not attending.

 

Yeah, I remember the fishing story now. Sounds like a fairly savvy move on Winston's part, IMO.

 

I don't know. If his agent was getting signals that he might slide, then yes. But if he goes first and he's a no-show, there will be a barrage of "He doesn't get it(s)!" Fair or not, the last thing he needs is more negative publicity.

 

Dan Wilkinson in 1994 I think, or at least no picture of him with the commish shows up in a Google images search.

 

And look how that turned out! #historicalhottake

 

Maybe. But then, you'll have just as many #ContrarianHotTakes about how great a decision that was and to hell with the #Haterz.

 

I wonder if the shoulder exam showed more than anyone is letting on.

 

Going back to this for a minute, but it's amazing how much of the last decade of football was shaped by this one decision.
It means the Saints don't sign Brees, of course, and don't have their 2006 resurrection season and there's a good chance they're now the San Antonio Saints. They almost certainly don't win their Super Bowl without Brees, at the very least, and remain one of the NFL's most mediocre franchises.
If the Dolphins sign Brees, maybe Saban has enough NFL success to stick around in Miami a while longer. Maybe he becomes the southern version of Bill Belichick, or perhaps becomes a credible AFC East rival to the Patriots and they don't have quite the success they've had over the years.
Which means Saban doesn't go to Alabama and build that college dynasty, which has helped influence a generation (in football terms) of players and coaches at this point, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
It's one of the great "what if?" sports debates of all time.

 

I remember arguing with someone who said, "Well, Saban took a QB who had been the runnerup for MVP over a guy who had just had a shoulder injury." Uh, no... Saban traded a No. 2 for a QB who had torn all three ligaments in his knee over a QB he could have signed in free agency. I've heard people say that Brees' shoulder injury was not nearly as bad as they made it out to be. Who knows? Even at the time, it was a horrible decision.

 

Reid: Winston no-showing at the draft is a bad look.

Also, these are real sentences from the column: "By showing up and conducting themselves well, players inspire confidence in the league's future workforce." and....."Family time, though, isn't supposed to occur when you're on the clock for work."

Jesus Christ.

Jameis Winston - It's Florida State star quarterback's obligation to attend NFL draft - ESPN