nice job !

Maybe I'll re-create it later, and just keep the first, easiest pick I made that you DID like !

I would hope for April to hurry up and get here, but we have way too much work and research, etc,

to get done about our farming/gardening, like finishing our bigger greenhouse.

@alo said:

I'm just not a big fan of his game.

I like the Haden pick. He's going to be a good one.

However, the 3rd rounders don't seem like particularly good fits. D'Anthony Smith lacks the strength at the point of attack necessary to hold up as a two gap end; his ideal fit may be as a 4-3 DE who moves inside on passing downs.

Kam Chancellor may lack a true NFL position: he's not very effective in coverage, but he doesn't have the necessary build to move to linebacker. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up playing at the next level.

Demaryius Thomas is raw and had a devastating drop against Georgia, but I doubt he falls all the way to the 4th round. Too much talent for that to happen.

Same thing with Garrett Graham; nfldraftscout currently has him projected as a 3rd round pick.

Yowsa! Thanks for the awesome footage Alo! He's got everything you want in a corner from closing speed, to staying on the hip to great recovery when necessary. He also understands how to use the sidelines. GREAT athlete! I'm definitely intrigued.

Playing devil's advocate because we're the FREAKIN browns and we have to: The ONLY thing he's rarely asked to do at Florida is extend the length of coverage that some of the elsuive QBs in our division/league may require him to do. He's defintitely got the intangibles to do it. It's just that you can be more of a risk taker when you've got one of the faster defenses in the country because someone always has your back. Does this courage change if you go to a defense that ranked near the bottom? I bring up the 2001 season here in Cleveland alot because it was the ONLY time in the new era our defense has led the conference in something as wonderful as INTs. I looked at names like McCutcheon, Fuller, Bush, Little, Elsworth and Henry (a rookie 3rd corner w/ 10 INTs) and understand what a Pro Bowl pass rush can do for an average group of cover DBs to fully understand how often this occurs at Florida.

Aside from that, in the 2nd Pittsburgh game when our front 7 was all over the QB - it looked like we had some air tight coverages we weren't used to seeing so that pass rush makes a difference in how GOOD our cover guys loook (recent history vrs Pitt and 2001 behind Jamir Miller's pass rush)

- Tom F.

@alo said:

Thanks. I am most interested in how teams go about reconciling the needs of the team with the available talent to set draft priorities. I would think that the head coach and GM would prioritize need, the pro personnel department would rank talent, and then they'd put their heads together to set the board. I'm also curious about the general mechanics of the process. Is it piles of spreadsheets? Is there really a big board with names on magnetic strips that move around? I think the team not only has to be on the same page as far as the thinking process, but the method has to be one that brings out the best in everyone and optimizes the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.

When a publications says a given player is projected to be taken at a certain spot, who's making that decision? Do teams pay any attention to that, or are they the ones who are making the projections to begin with?

@calfoxwc said:

Graham mainly overpowered Calloway. However, I've also seen him show less than adequate agility trying to mirror speed rushers, like LB Chris Borland in the Wisconsin game.

I'm just not a big fan of his game.

@calfoxwc said:

You know tons about this stuff, Mr. Al, what about the rest of my dumb draft?

I like the Haden pick. He's going to be a good one.

However, the 3rd rounders don't seem like particularly good fits. D'Anthony Smith lacks the strength at the point of attack necessary to hold up as a two gap end; his ideal fit may be as a 4-3 DE who moves inside on passing downs.

Kam Chancellor may lack a true NFL position: he's not very effective in coverage, but he doesn't have the necessary build to move to linebacker. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up playing at the next level.

Demaryius Thomas is raw and had a devastating drop against Georgia, but I doubt he falls all the way to the 4th round. Too much talent for that to happen.

Same thing with Garrett Graham; nfldraftscout currently has him projected as a 3rd round pick.

@kshutchins said:

I'm kind of hazy on the specific details. As I recall, Pete Williams has some good info in his fascinating book, The Draft: A Year Inside the NFL's Search for Talent. By clicking on the link, you can check out some of the relevant passages in Google Books (particularly pg. 87-88).

Brandon Graham can run a 4.65 forty? Maybe a little NFL coaching can help him with speed rushers?

What I would like to see, is for this guy to be there in the second round, but I don't know if he

can adapt to RT ... ???

Jason Fox OT 6'7" 314 Miami, but he is a real LT, and will also probably go in the first round, so "they" say.

I think the RT you really WANT this year, you need to nab in the second round, just my dumb hunch.

OT's will be falling off the board this coming year. Too many edge rusher specialists who can get to the qb, too many

blitzes by a safety...

Why, if Black goes in the third round, and is there for the Browns, I'd go out at 1 AM, and run through our woods with no flashlight

wearing only my boots. @@

You know tons about this stuff, Mr. Al, what about the rest of my dumb draft?

@alo said:

Black's a solid character guy and a good run-blocker but may have to kick inside to guard at the next level. It'll be interesting to see how he does at the Senior Bowl practices.

Calloway got destroyed by Brandon Graham (DE Michigan) early in the year, then curiously was asked to move to right guard for Iowa's bowl game: I suspect the coaching staff didn't think he'd fare well against Derrick Morgan (DE GTech). I don't like him all that much.

I haven't watched Barker this year, but he's rated a late round/UDFA prospect by the folks at nfldraftscout.

What's the general process that goes into preparing the draft board for a team?

@calfoxwc said:

Ciron Black OT 6'5" 320 LSU

OR

Kyle Calloway OT 6'7" 318 Iowa

OR

Will Barker OT 6'7" 308 Virginia

You probably can get all three of those guys in the 3rd Round.

Black's a solid character guy and a good run-blocker but may have to kick inside to guard at the next level. It'll be interesting to see how he does at the Senior Bowl practices.

Calloway got destroyed by Brandon Graham (DE Michigan) early in the year, then curiously was asked to move to right guard for Iowa's bowl game: I suspect the coaching staff didn't think he'd fare well against Derrick Morgan (DE GTech). I don't like him all that much.

I haven't watched Barker this year, but he's rated a late round/UDFA prospect by the folks at nfldraftscout.

He deserves a shot to make an NFL squad, but he needs to work on his accuracy. One of the reason Dez Bryant's '08 was so impressive was he did a great job catching a lot of poorly thrown balls.

I'm not very high on Robinson. But he might be worth a look in the later rounds or as a UDFA.

From what I remember, that is probably mostly bad.

@flugel said:

One name I really liked in that 5th round was Zac's Robinsons. I've seen that guy about 4 or 5 times in the last 3 years and he's enabled a WR Dez Bryant and a TE Pettigrew to reach All Conference/All American honors so he's doing something right. I think his last year at Oklahoma State might have turned out much differently if he had access to Bryant. Anyway, Robinson had unbelievable athleticism and foot speed when the shit hit the fan up front, which is an underrated intangible at the next level. Nothing better than having a guy that can tuck it up and go on 3 and 7 if things aren't desirable downfield or the protection breaks down up front.

I remembered saying last year if we were going offense - it would have been nice to add a weapon like Percy Harvin. I was told we were drafting too early to consider him. Today, he's the NFL Rookie of the Year on Offense so what's too early? That said, I think we hit a home run with Alex Mack on the trade down and adding starters for our Defense from a 9-7 team. Fraley is in his 30s and 3-4 years removed from being replaced as a starting Center in Philly so the Center position was a bigger need than people think.

I know RT is very important but we gotta get some LEGS in our skills positions that can put points on the board. I hate the thought of 1 more year of Goose-eggs Stallworth. He hasn't impressed 1 team that reached out to overpay him yet. He's been here 2 years and he's hit more people on the highway than he has endzones. Some people VALUE being in the NFL some just care about cashing paychecks and bonuses. We've had too many of those types.

Our struggling QBs could use a reliable TE target. Moore looked really promising and could develop into something good but it would be nice to find that dual purpose gem that we don't have to take off the field for betting blocking on the edge or get open with better hands downfield. Like a HEALTHY and younger version of Heiden if you will.

Does anyone have a list of this year's All America teams? How about All Conference teams? Usually I can say I've seen alot of the prospects names we talk about; but I had season tickets to Vandy Games which took me away from the tv alot on Saturdays.

- Tom F.

Flugs I like Robinson. It's funny he was brought up, as I kinda wondered why he was never talked about more and thought the kid was pretty athletic. He could be the kind of guy we can groom and very worthy of that pick. He has a little Luke McCown to his game, although I'm not sure if that is good or bad.

I say stay away from TE and go with what we got. TE's can be had anywhere around the league as Gaines and Moore proved. I'm beginning to think it may be one of the most overrated positions on the field. A solid football player can fill the role, no superstars needed.

@calfoxwc said:

for being totally wrong again.

LOL! Thanks for putting that together Cal. Seems like you did a good job matching up needs with some promising prospects.

One name I really liked in that 5th round was Zac's Robinsons. I've seen that guy about 4 or 5 times in the last 3 years and he's enabled a WR Dez Bryant and a TE Pettigrew to reach All Conference/All American honors so he's doing something right. I think his last year at Oklahoma State might have turned out much differently if he had access to Bryant. Anyway, Robinson had unbelievable athleticism and foot speed when the shit hit the fan up front, which is an underrated intangible at the next level. Nothing better than having a guy that can tuck it up and go on 3 and 7 if things aren't desirable downfield or the protection breaks down up front.

I remembered saying last year if we were going offense - it would have been nice to add a weapon like Percy Harvin. I was told we were drafting too early to consider him. Today, he's the NFL Rookie of the Year on Offense so what's too early? That said, I think we hit a home run with Alex Mack on the trade down and adding starters for our Defense from a 9-7 team. Fraley is in his 30s and 3-4 years removed from being replaced as a starting Center in Philly so the Center position was a bigger need than people think.

I know RT is very important but we gotta get some LEGS in our skills positions that can put points on the board. I hate the thought of 1 more year of Goose-eggs Stallworth. He hasn't impressed 1 team that reached out to overpay him yet. He's been here 2 years and he's hit more people on the highway than he has endzones. Some people VALUE being in the NFL some just care about cashing paychecks and bonuses. We've had too many of those types.

Our struggling QBs could use a reliable TE target. Moore looked really promising and could develop into something good but it would be nice to find that dual purpose gem that we don't have to take off the field for betting blocking on the edge or get open with better hands downfield. Like a HEALTHY and younger version of Heiden if you will.

Does anyone have a list of this year's All America teams? How about All Conference teams? Usually I can say I've seen alot of the prospects names we talk about; but I had season tickets to Vandy Games which took me away from the tv alot on Saturdays.

- Tom F.

I'm adding this guy in as an alternate somehow. I'd love the Browns to get him, but I don't know

where to put him in my draft. Well, unless the Browns make a trade for an extra 2nd rounder with him still on the board.

He'd be a mean, 3-4 lb butt kickin machine.

"sigh"