<p>Among QBs in particular, there is so little correlation between college success and NFL success, it’s not even funny. How many NCAA legends have been busts in the NFL and how many unknowns have had hall of fame NFL careers? </p>
<p>That said, I think the Panthers made a stupid decision choosing Newton. This was a weak draft class so might as well hoard the top defensive players and wait until next year for a QB, where a much much better crop will be eligible for the draft (Luck and Barkley in particular).</p>
<p>Jake Locker will need good coaching (something he lacked in college) and a good amount of luck. If Tennessee throws him into the fire pit right away, he’s doomed. I wish the Patriots or Giants had picked Locker, teams that would be patient and give him a chance to learn the pro game.</p>
<p>Agree that Cam Newton is a big risk. I wish him well but my mind wasn’t changed by his anti-media comments and the seemingly insidious grin, LOL. The guy whom impressed me was Von Miller from Texas A&M. Articulate. Calm manner. No stereotypical jockspeak.</p>
<p>I love football but I can’t stand the hype. And who’s idea was it to let the potential draftees stand with the NFL Hall of Famers? There’s something not kosher about that idea. The Hall of Famers have already proved themselves as pros, unlike the college kids. Perhaps having members of the College Hall of Fame on the stage would have made more sense.</p>
<p>Panthers made a big bet and a big mistake IMO. Cam is too risky for the No.1 pick. Running QBs are too injury prone in NFL, plus he doesn’t look like a good decision maker.</p>
<p>Roughly 50% of the QB’s taken in the first round have failed during the past decade. I’m betting that that stat will hold true for this crop as well.</p>
<p>Oh my, the Steelers chose an Ohio State player. I live in Columbus and just don’t like the Buckeyes. Too much hype is my belief. We will have to see how he turns out.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that first-round QBs often fail for reasons other than talent. The NFL teams with less talent in the executive/management office pick players who aren’t ready, and pick players they know are a big risk, just to $ign them for relatively less. That’s one of the reasons the owners want a rookie salary scale, which IMO makes sense. I mean, look what the dim bulb Oakland Raiders wasted on JaMarcus Russell, a guy who had one great and memorable game in college. Just one!!! Lucky for him it was a BSC bowl game! Sure, the management of the professional sports leagues often get away with murder (the public tax trough, for example), but I never understand why these businesspeople pay big bucks to untested players. Heck, the NFL teams would probably fare just as well by eliminating the draft entirely. Let it be an open market with rules about salaries. No one team could afford or be allowed to stockpile more than a couple of highly paid stars. The NBA did this in limited fashion when it reduced the draft to two rounds. And everyone knows most 2nd round NBA picks don’t make the team. And the difference in contract money between 1st and 2nd round picks is huge.</p>
<p>Post 24 - I agree. Way too much risk in having the QB running around the field. If they have to, fine. But if the sole reason they’re running around is that the blocking and passers failed, then shame on the team.</p>
<p>I’m so glad to have a football thread. This is the time of year I start counting down to the first game of the new season. I get cold sweats and twitches by July.</p>
<p>^^ That’s how I feel about college basketball. I just got to breathe a huge sigh of relief because my team’s 3 stars are returning and not declaring for the draft (they care about their degrees, if you can imagine…) but now I have to wait until November for actual games.</p>
<p>Jake Locker has all the physical tools and great “intangibles”–fierce competitiveness, will to win, ability to lead and inspire, intelligence to learn and execute schemes, read disguised defenses, etc. The only thing he lacks is passing accuracy: he’s a career 55% passer. I’m not sure that’s coachable, unless it’s just a correctable flaw in his mechanics—but if it were something that simple, I think he’d have gone higher. In the NFL 55% passing doesn’t make the grade. Too many stalled drives, and at that level a lot of those errant passes will turn into picks. Dubious choice, I think. Of course, I could be wrong, but that’s half the fun of the draft—it all seems so clear on draft day but then the guys you expect to be a bust turns out to be a star, and the guy who had “star” written all over him never cracks the starting lineup.</p>
<p>Move that impressed me—and as a Packers fan scares me—was Detroit picking up DT Nick Fairley from Auburn to play side-by-side with Ndamukong Suh. Yikes! What a wall! King Kong teamed up with Godzilla—try to run against that up the middle! Both those guys are ferocious pass rushers, too; with that much pressure up the middle it’s got to open things up for the DEs and blitzing LBs as well, because you almost need to double-team one or both of them and that creates mismatches in the pass blocking assignments on the outside. Wow! After years of ineptitude the Lions finally seem to have made a smart draft move!</p>
Me, too, hayden! We live for football and, though I always look forward to game day, I’m always sad when it’s over because it means we’re one game closer to the end of the season. We schedule all our other activities around football during the season. </p>
<p>I’m excited about the Jake Locker pick. I’ve been reading about him and I’ve heard a few things from others that make me feel even better about the selection. With the lockout being lifted, at least for now, I am hopeful that we’ll be able to pick up a veteran QB to lead our team until Locker is ready. Our team dynamics have changed a lot for the upcoming season with the new coaching staff and our lack of QB’s. I certainly expect this upcoming season, and probably the next, to be one of rebuilding (isn’t that what everyone says when they don’t expect their team to do well?) :)</p>
<p>Bring on the Vikings … I’m ready to go. TITANS!</p>
<p>Hate the titans hope you guys go 0-16. I saw vince yesterday and wanted to tell him as much but he probably feels the same way. Of course my team is run by idiots but I’ll support them - GO TEXANS!</p>
LOL! I don’t like any other teams, but the team I hate is the Colts. We can’t all choose our owners, front office, etc., but it would be nice if we could! If you’re looking for a immature, baby of a QB, VY is available and Texans still seem to love him. I, for one, will not miss him in the least!</p>
<p>bc- I heard Jon Gruden interviewed and he loves Locker. He said that he counted 66 times where Locker threw the ball away because he had no open receivers and it was absolutely the correct play. That obviously will hurt your passing completion percentage.</p>
<p>And that 55% was actually inflated. When it became clear that he couldn’t hit the side of a barn down field, they redesigned the offense so he could throw lots of dinks and check-offs to make up for the lack of a running game.</p>
<p>To me, he looks like a deficient version of Pat White.</p>
<p>I’m hoping for the best with Locker. I stood behind Vince as long as I could, but his work ethic sucked (I have a connection with the team that makes this statement not just a rumor). I am sad to lose Jeff Fisher, but I’m willing to give our new coach all my support.</p>
<p>I am also a huge Eagles fan and there sure isn’t a QB problem there…</p>