2012 Draft Preview: Where Will They Go?

In addition to our Mock Drafts here on the Thread, MarkRod wanted to do a draft profile of his own. He has chronicled 5 players going into the draft who come from different walks of life looking to take the next step in their careers. The floor is your’s, my friend.

You remember them from their days in college. Maybe they were destined for greatness since signing day. Surely they will make big time impact in the NFL. How come I’m not hearing anything about these guys from Mel Kiper and Todd McShay? Wait, Ryan Tannehill is being drafted above this guy? That’s insane! Let’s take a look at five guys who were household names at one point during their college careers that none of the NFL scouts and talking heads are talking about.

Kellen Moore

Moore won a lot of games in college, but will he have an impact in the NFL?

There has been a lot of debate about Moore and his Boise State the entire duration of Moore’s career.  The debate used to be whether or not his Broncos could beat the big boys of college football and whether or not they deserved to play for the national title. Now that he has graduated, the debates have quieted down. There is no debate on where Moore should be drafted. He’s a sixth or seventh rounder that will be fighting to make it out of training camp on the roster. Moore has always been one of my favorite quarterbacks because of how he was always able to put his team in the best position to win, and how he made the game look so easy, even when he was lighting up big time defenses like Virginia Tech and Georgia. In reality though, Moore may be Ken Dorsey 2.0 – a great leader who was surrounded by even better talent. If Moore is going to have any chance at having an NFL career, he needs to be drafted by a team that excels at developing back-up quarterbacks. Teams that come to mind are Green Bay, Philadelphia and San Francisco (New Orleans was on that list, but with Sean Payton out for the year, that doesn’t seem like an ideal spot for him). Green Bay and Philly have done a great job of not only developing QBs, but also helping them reach a point where they later become starters.  Look at what Andy Reid has turned out over his tenure with AJ Feely and Kevin Kolb (you heard it here first: Mike Kafka will be the next QB Reid is trading for a 2^nd round pick). If Moore is lucky enough to be drafted by one of those franchises, I like his chances of eventually panning out and evening starting a number of games for a team in the future.

Russell Wilson

Was giving up all that baseball money the right decision for Wilson?

We all remember Russell Wilson as the guy who was the only reason NC State scored any points to the reason Wisconsin was able to win it’s second straight Big 10 title and second straight Rose Bowl loss (all the Wisconsin fans reading this are wincing after that statement). What a lot of people may not know that Wilson is also turning down a baseball career with Colorado Rockies and having to give up half of the $200,000 signing bonus the Rockies gave him when he was drafted in 2010. A high total of strikeouts and ability to carve up secondaries would make me want to try my hand at the NFL too. Wilson has skill set to compare with some of the top QB prospects in the draft; where he comes up short is his height (insert lame laugh track)  Wilson actually measures in shorter than Moore, and apparently that will keep Wilson out of the first round and more likely in the fourth round. To me, Wilson is the third best QB prospect in the draft and I’d rather have him as my QB of the future over the likes of Brock Osweiler, Nick Foles, and even Ryan Tannehill.  Don’t be surprised if Andy Reid gives Wilson the call and brings him into his QB Academy. He actually fits into the system great, and Reid knows how to build an offense around the strengths of whoever is under center for him.  I think we will be seeing a lot of Russell Wilson in the NFL.

Darrell Scott 

From this.....

To this.

Here is someone who is very familiar to Texas fans, as he spurned the Longhorns on National Signing Day and joined the Colorado Buffalo instead… and then promptly washed out, transferred to South Florida and was really never heard from again. Now he is draft eligible, is has been given a very, very late round grade and will actually be lucky if he is drafted in the seventh round. I mainly wrote about him to show that just because you are the top recruit in your class doesn’t mean that guarantees you are destined for an NFL career. If you happen to be watching the late round coverage on Saturday, you may see Scott’s name roll across the ticker in the seventh round. Just know that it is THAT Darrell Scott.

Travis Lewis

You expect us to take you seriously with this hair cut?

After spending the past four years as the leader of the Oklahoma defense (and making it his personal M.O. to be public enemy #1 for all Texas fans), Lewis is looking to take his game to the NFL.  Lewis has a lot of positives going for him, including be the leader one of the more complicated defensive schemes college football as well has being one of those “high motor” guys who will always play hard.  Look for Lewis to go somewhere between the fourth and sixth round and make an immediate impact in the special teams game.  Lewis has the ability to have a very productive career in the NFL.

Blake Gideon 

Our last memory of Blake Gideon

We round out our look at these stars of college football by talking about the whipping boy of Texas fans for the past four years. Whether it was dropping that crucial interception against Texas Tech in 2008, the constant unnecessary roughness penalties, or the regression in his cover skills as a safety, we all have found new ways to hate Blake Gideon over the years (I may have been his last fan, constantly sticking up for him until finally I saw the light).  Don’t expect to hear his name on draft day. Don’t even expect to hear his name within the following weeks as an undrafted free agent signing. From what I saw, he performed pretty well at UT’s Pro Day, but yet is nowhere on any draft prospect list I have researched, and looks to be happy about ending his football career and ready to move on to the next stage of his life. Honestly, I’m a little surprised that he isn’t a serious prospect to be drafted.  Remember, he started every game he played in as a Longhorn.  Normally, when you see a guy who starts for three or four years, this is someone who at least is drafted and makes it through first contract. I guess we all will have as our last memory of Blake Gideon as a football player will be him getting torched by RGIII and the Baylor receivers.

Check out our entire Mock First Round HERE!

-Mark Rodriguez

 

2012 Thread Mock Draft Part 2

Welcome back folks. As Dexter Morgan infamously says, tonight’s the night. And by tonight, I mean, of course, Thursday night! THE NFL DRAFT BEGINS!!! We’re here for the final 16 picks of our mock draft first round. CHECK OUT PART 1 HERE. Enjoy!!!

Mark: With the 17th pick in the 2012 Thread Mock Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select Dre Kirkpatrick, Cornerback, Alabama.

It was very tempting to give the Bengals Janoris Jenkins with this pick (who may actually be the most talented corner available). It fits their philosophy to draft or sign extremely talented players who’s stock has taken a hit due to character red flags.  Also, just the idea of the dream team of Jenkins and Pac Man Jones as your starting corners is unreal. Opposing receivers would fail drug test just from the second hand smoke coming from Jenkins and Pac Man.  Children of strippers would have college funds started because of the money “raining” down from Jenkins and Pac Man. I’d want a season long edition of a Hard Knocks like show to follow them around all season if they ended up on the same team.

Anyway, the Bengals are trying to clean up their image, so they go with Kirkpatrick because of his great man-to-man coverage skill, which is something Cincy likes to do a lot, and the fact that he is a good character guy.  It also helps that the Bengals are picking again in four picks (this is originally the Raiders pick, thanks a lot Hue Jackson), so the Bengals have some flexibility to go after another need here if there is a more highly rated player available and still get some help for their secondary at pick 21.

 

2012 Thread NFL Mock Draft Part 1

Welcome everyone to the 2012 Thread NFL Mock Draft. The NFL Draft officially starts on April 26th this year and will prove to be as fascinating as ever. The 3 of us that brought you the Thread Mock Draft of last year, are all back for another go. If you’ve forgotten who we are, the trio consists of myself, MYH, and friend of the Thread, Mark Rodriguez. The picks will be alternating after the first two picks (Which I’m writing up) like this: 1st: Mark 2: MichaelYoungHistory 3rd: Myself. *Note that we’ve done some moving of picks to allow all of us to make the announcement for our favorite team or teams. And with the ground rules in place, the Indianapolis Colts are on the clock.

With the 1st overall pick in the 2012 Thread Mock Draft, the Indianapolis Colts select, Andrew Luck, Quarterback, Stanford.

The consensus number one pick for the last 2 years, Andrew Luck, is just as advertised. The best QB prospect since Peyton or John Elway. We’ve heard it all before. And as of this morning, the Colts have finally made it official that he will be the #1 pick. He has all the skills to make a difference in this league from jump. But this guy has a very empty cupboard to go to in Indianapolis. Plus there’s the whole replacing that #18 guy. Oh, and Jim Irsay might be crazy. So good Luck…Andrew (see what I did there?)? The good thing for Andrew is he’s in a weak division (aside from the defenses) right now. He’s going to get beaten up pretty badly by the defenses at least, especially Houston, but he could win a possible game from both Jacksonville and Tennessee. Plus, Reggie Wayne was crazy enough to want to stay in Indianapolis. So it isn’t a total loss. If Andrew Luck has half the career Peyton Manning has had for the Colts, the Colts fan base can’t be too disappointed in letting Peyton go.

 

How the Name on the Front Used to Mean Something

OK....Maybe not this jersey... *shudders*

Morning everyone. So I thought about this while at the gym this morning…. Remember growing up and seeing players you loved actually stay with the team that drafted them throughout their career? Me neither. And it’s kind of tragic really. There are dozens of factors for why it happens these days. Most of them financially driven. Others are stars that just want help and aren’t getting it where they are and go elsewhere. And I’m not even talking about the athletes that stick around for a season or two too long in another team’s jersey. I’m talking about the people in the prime of their careers doing it. We’re seeing a rash of those these days. Baseball and basketball see this the most. Our parents and we grew up seeing Willis Reed and Patrick Ewing the Knicks, Larry Bird Kevin McHale the Celtics, MJ the Bull, Magic and Worthy the Lakers, Hakeem and Calvin Murphy the Rockets, Ozzie Smith the Cardinal, Carl Yastrzemski and Ted Williams and Nomar the Red Sox, Johnny Unitas the Colt, Joe Namath the Jet, John Elway the Bronco, and so on and so forth. Now we get a pocket of those athletes on a few teams in all the sports. And I’ll never judge a person for their want at a payday or their pursuit for a championship…. It’s just a shame that sports can’t be about the essential rule that we’ve all heard a billion times over the course of playing or watching sports… The name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back. I want to take a moment and talk about a few of those current day players that still fit under the premise of this blog.

 

Why Fandom is the Best and Worst Thing Ever

So…I promised you guys a blog that would discuss the Texans and Niners seasons ended, but after the Niners loss… I didn’t have any initiative whatsoever to write anything. Sorry, grieving fan. So now I have the wherewithal to actually write/finish it. So without further adieu….. Here’s the rundown….

*Then it’s gotten so late after the fact, I thought of just trashing this thing… Then I saw Bill Simmons article about him questioning “Why does this (sports) matter so much?” So I have to finish this thing.

 

When Sequels Attack

Hey readers, a few days ago I thought what are the movie sequels that actually manage to surpass the original films so I decided to make a post here of some of my favorites. Along with some help from outside forces. So here we go.

Bad Boys 2

I am a huge fan of this movie but not really of the 1st one. Don’t know why. This one just clicked with me so much easier and had me laughing the entire way through. “What’s plan B?”

 

Top 10 Dominant Sports Teams in Video Game History

So it’s been quite awhile since any of us have posted here. We’re sorry for the long absence. We’ll try to get back on the ball and give you guys the kind of content you’ve all come to know and love from us. With that said, I had this thought to do this list last Friday as a sort of tribute to Sports Games which is one of my favorite video game categories. So without further adieu, here’s the list!

 

College Football 2011 Preview: Big 10 (Or 12)

Ahhh, yes. It’s August September, meaning that college football is right around the corner HERE!!!!! Need to know who to watch this season? Well, we got you covered! Myself, MichaelYoungHistory, and friend of the Thread Mark Rodriguez will break down the entire field by conference and tell you the players, teams, and dark horses to watch for this year. We’ll also let you know who is entirely overrated and won’t be making much noise come December. We’ll break down all of the conferences, so check back with us! You can check out our other posts on the ACC, Pac-12, Big East/Independents, Big 12 and SEC, . And as always, leave us comments to voice your opinion. This will mark our final blog entry into this year’s college preview

The Big Ten

The Big Ten is the conference known for being all about 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Oh, and the fallout from this guy over the last 7 months……

So there’s multiple questions swirling over this conference from jump:

1) Will Nebraska come in and instantly take the conference crown in their first year of membership?

2) Will OSU survive the Tressel/Pryor fallout?

3) Will Russell Wilson walk off the street and lead Wisconsin to a BIG TEN conference title?

4) How will Brady Hoke fair in his first year in Michigan (this is more so a question for me here than anybody else)?

 

College Football 2011 Preview: SEC

Ahhh, yes. It’s August, meaning that college football is right around the corner. Need to know who to watch this season? Well, we got you covered! Myself, MichaelYoungHistory, and friend of the Thread Mark Rodriguez will break down the entire field by conference and tell you the players, teams, and dark horses to watch for this year. We’ll also let you know who is entirely overrated and won’t be making much noise come December . Today, we’ll break down the SEC. We’ll break down all of the conferences before the season kicks off, so check back with us! And as always, leave us comments to voice your opinion. And with that said…

You can check out our other posts on the ACC, Pac-12, and the Big East here.

South Eastern Conference (SEC) (MarkRod)

The SEC looks to continue its unprecedented run of dominance

S-E-C! S-E-C!!

Overview

Some think it’s complete media bias from an all-powerful network with a huge financial stake in a property (and no, I’m not talking about The Longhorn Network).  The cult following believe that their brand is the most dominant and can’t be compared with any other.  Yes, it seems like too much is always made of the SEC and how that brand of football is far superior to the rest of the country, but you have to give the conference its credit.  The SEC wins its fair share of nonconference matchups against the other BCS conferences. Oh, and you can’t forget about five straight BCS championships.

This year looks to be no different with eight teams ranked in the initial AP Top 25 poll.  Alabama leads the still-loaded West division while Steve Spurrier looks to finally lead his South Carolina Gamecocks to an SEC title. Will these two teams square off in Atlanta?

 

College Football 2011 Preview: Big East and Non-BCS Conferences

Ahhh, yes. Its August, meaning that college football is right around the corner. Need to know who to watch this season? Well, we got you covered! Myself, MichaelYoungHistory, and friend of the Thread Mark Rodriguez will break down the entire field by conference and tell you the players, teams, and dark horses to watch for this year. We’ll also let you know who is entirely overrated and won’t be making much noise come December . Check out our previous entries on the ACC and Pac-12.

Today, we’ll break down the Big East. We’ll break down all of the conferences before the season kicks off, so check back with us! And as always, leave us comments to voice your opinion. And with that said…

It’s my spot in the rotation for the preview so HERE WE GO!

The Big East

TCU can’t get here fast enough.

The Big East is still trying to fit in at the adult table with a kid’s table mentality. Of the 6 major BCS conferences that are deserving of automatic BCS bids in January, the Big East is always under fire for its lackluster play. It was just 5 years ago that this conference was stacked with talent. It was a 3 horse race running down to the end of the season as entering November of that year, Louisville, West Virginia, and Rutgers all entered the month undefeated. That month would see all 3 thrash on each other in what was a phenomenal month of football to see who could make it out of the month the least damaged. Louisville threw the first punch as they defeated West Virginia 44-34. Rutgers then defeated Louisville 28-25 and then West Virginia would beat Rutgers in Piscataway on a Thursday night, 41-39 in a triple overtime thriller! Since then…. not so much. But to be fair, with their automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, they are victorious in 3 of their last 5 contests. Including the always great bowl fail between West Virginia and Oklahoma.

This literally has nothing to do with this post in particular but I felt it necessary to post anyway...

The conference starts up with zero hype this year with the only team getting any sort of national buzz is West Virginia. Even that came with a mix bag because of the coaching blowup between former Coach Stewart and new Coach Holgersen. Again showing us all that the Head Coach in Waiting title, is completely flawed on just about every level.

The Lone Wolf 

WVU's chances for success lies solely on Geno's shoulders.

Now that Dave Wanstedt is fired, we all can stop believing that Pittsburgh is going to make a return to prominence. That leaves us with WVU who returns the only recognizable QB in the lot. Geno Smith will need some help as they have to find a RB to replace Noel Devine. The other thing to key in on is how fast this offense is able to pick up Dana Holgerson’s system (former OC for OKST). With no clear 2nd team in this conference, it’s hard to see how this isn’t a clear cut hand the title over to WVU kind of situation.

The Dark Horse(s)

Can B.J. Daniels be a difference maker?

This spot could very well go to one of two teams. Either Cincinnati who brings back Isaiah Pead the only returning 1,000 yard rusher, or USF who returns the often estranged starting QB, BJ Daniels. Daniels seemingly has the talent to be a great QB, but he never seems to be able to put it all together on the field and that is often disastrous for the Bulls.

Players To Watch

Isaiah Pead is picked here again because if Cincinnati is ever going to reach up to the spot that Coach Kelly had them before bolting to Notre Dame, it’ll be primarily based on Pead’s overall play in developing the Bearcat offense.

Key Games

September 24th pits LSU vs. WVU. It’s a statement game not just for WVU, but for the conference as a whole. LSU being a top 4 team in the country, could bring some much needed credibility to the Big East in what’s considered to be a pretty down year for the conference. WVU also gets to have this game played in Morgantown as opposed to Death Valley in Baton Rogue. They will need all the help they can get for this one.

Non-BCS Conferences

This section will solely be dedicated to two teams… The Boise State Broncos and the TCU Horned Frogs of the Mountain West Conference.

Boise State

After being a missed fg away from possibly crashing the BCS party, Boise State looks to still be in the national title discussion with a few new faces.

Of all the QBs of the last ten years (my full coverage of the sport) to return for another year when they could’ve gone pro, Kellen Moore might be the strangest of them all. When compared to Andrew Luck, Kellen has much less going for him in Boise. His top two WRs from last year (Austin Pettis, Titus Young) are both playing on Sundays this year and the national scope has never been higher for this team. But then again the alternative was to play for Carolina so he might’ve made the right choice.

Key Games

Every year Boise has to play some big name school on it’s 1st game of the season to gather early season respect from the nation and this year is no different with the Broncos making a trip between the hedges to face #19 Georgia, This could prove to be quite a matchup as both QBs will have new options to throw to as Aaron Murray’s top guy, AJ Green, is also playing on Sundays now.

As this is the first year in the Mountain West for Boise and the last for TCU, their week 9 game could be one for the ages. It’s late enough in the season to really count towards something as both teams could be undefeated and staring at BCS possibilities. Due to the fact that TCU is bolting to the Big East, the Mountain West is granting this game be played on the blue turf instead of Ft. Worth as a final sendoff to TCU. Should be a good one.

TCU

After reaching the highest peak in their program's history, can they do it again?

2010 Rose Bowl Champions. Is this where their story ends? After beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl in an epic game that I (and everyone else for that matter) thought they had no chance to win, the cupboard is quite bare for the Horned frogs with the departure of Andy Dalton and Jeremy Kerley along with several other key members of the team. Coach Gary Patterson has to hope that new QB, Casey Pachall, can come anywhere close to redoing what Andy Dalton did for them in terms of success and leadership. Lucky for them, they have one of the easiest schedules in the country after opening up at Baylor and then cruising until their week 9 matchup with the aforementioned Boise State. If TCU plays their cards right, this could be the beginning of their national dominance as they look to come and steamroll the “competition” that is the current Big East next year.

-MichaelYoungHistory, The Big Socrates, and MarkRod