2014 NFL draft thread (no longer too early)

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Kiper had Manziel going No. 1 overall.

Another example of why I refused to quote or even mention Kiper EVER in my days covering the NFL.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

I'm not sure I'd go that far... It would not stun me if Manziel goes No. 1 based on who has the pick. Clowney and Watkins going 1-2 would stun me a lot more. Kiper knows his stuff and does his research, but what he lacks that McShay has is that McShay bases his mocks more on talking to front office guys than just on what he sees.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

No. He would have lost his scholarship.

A friend of mine told me one of players was offered $200,000 by a college - Vandy gave him a full ride.

If a kid is a borderline player, he is not going to live on an NFL roster for 3-4 years. He will get cut after a year or two, but if he has a chance to get a degree, then be a marginal NFL player for a few years, that is a better way to go.

Now if a kid is a heartbeat from flunking out of school, that if a different story, but if a kid is a decent student, he should stay if he is a borderline pro.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Devil --

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Kiper said in explaining his mock draft that he DID talk to scouts and front-office guys and the consensus was that Manziel was a top-five pick, so he pegged him for the Texans since they are in need of a QB. Kiper said he is not in the top 10 on his overall rankings.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Manziel going first ... that is a place that I just can't go right now. On an unbiased note, the local media seem to think that Clowney will be the first pick. At least for now.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

I think Clowney has the potential to be a greater impact player than anyone else available. Will he? Who knows how any of these guys will pan out?

A team that is rebuilding might go the route Kansas City went last year. If they don't really like any of the QBs available, get a veteran QB via trade or free agency and spend your top pick on someone at a different position.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

Totally agree. I think JF is going to get crushed in the NFL. I wouldn't take any of these QBs in the top 5. MAYBE Bridgewater, but not that high. I'd wait til the 2nd or 3rd round for a QB who might be nearly as good. Is Schaub a complete lost cause at this point? He was terrible last season after the first couple of games, but he threw for 4,000-plus yards three of the previous four years. Maybe he's getting too old -- or maybe he just needs get his confidence back and work with a new coach.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

And no rich kids are there to party, but are forced to study because of their parents.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

What in the hell does that have to do with what LTL is saying?

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

How many business majors are there for the education in business? Or are they there for the piece of paper that allows them to go work Price Waterhouse?

Under LTL's logic, if a kid has a chance to work for PW for say $100,000 a year, he should jump at it instead of finishing school, even though finishing school will probably allow him to make $200,000 after he graduates. He also has no real knowing if PW will even keep him after two years?

If a kid is a lock for a first or second round pick, he should probably leave early. But to leave college football to be a seventh-round pick? No.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/washington-redskins/chris-thompson/

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/washington-redskins/jawan-jamison/

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/leveon-bell/

Thompson stayed all four years and became a fifth-round pick. He has $185,000 guaranteed. Jamison went pro after two years of college, was drafted in the seventh round and has nothing guaranteed. Bell went in the second round and has $2.276 mil guaranteed.

 

Re: (Way too early) 2014 NFL draft thread

This is going to be a good entry for the ever-growing "Devil is dumb" crowd.

Perhaps you didn't see my huge type, but I am talking about players that aren't going to get a degree anyway -- which, I would suspect, is nearly all of the early entrants minus maybe a few high first-rounders striking while the iron is hottest. (And in those cases I would further assume that the player makes arrangements to get his degree either in the off-season or by correspondence or independent study.)

You need a degree to work at Price Waterhouse. You don't need a degree to work in the NFL.

Take a 2013 early entrant and assume he does indeed end up on a practice squad. By 2014 he can either have:

--At least $100,000 in income, no degree, and a year of NFL training
--No income, no degree, and no NFL training

Of the guys on your list, Thompson finished the season on IR. He made $405,000 this season, which is nice because his college eligibility was up. Jamison was promoted to the 53-man roster on Dec. 10 and stayed there for the final three weeks. His total pay was $184,000, which is really REALLY nice because he was going to make nothing at Rutgers. So whatever he earns next year is just added to the plus side of the ledger as opposed to what he would have gotten after two more years of wear-and-tear in college. And as this story notes, he and his mom and his daughter needed the money.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/24/mom-driving-force-redskins-running-back-jawan-jami/?page=all

Thompson is 23, Jamison is 22. If Thompson had ditched his final two years at Florida State and gone pro, even by ending up on the practice squad, he'd have earned almost $250,000 more in a career that now could very well be over.