The NFL Draft Crapshoot: Sit Down (In the Green Room) and Shut Up
__________________________________________________________________________HERE’S WHAT I KNOW IS GOING TO HAPPEN
I KNOW that Tim Tebow will not get drafted in the first round. Tim Tebow has gained a lot of steam since being christened as Chris Leak II. The fact that he has now been invited to attend the draft should be considered a success in and of itself. Be that as it may, even if Tebow would have attended, this meant that he would have gone from Chris Leak to Brady Quinn circa draft day 2007. Or worse. 
Tim Tebow’s slow throwing motion, and lack of knowledge of how his new throwing motion would hold up at the next level, is the equivalent to buying a stock where the CEO is under investigation for insider trading. This is a classic buyer beware situation, and the lottery buyers will be looking elsewhere.
I KNOW that Sam Bradford will go #1 overall. More times than not, the suspense of who will go #1 overall in an NFL draft is about as intense as a Ben Stein sermon. Sam Bradford is the overwhelming favorite to be courted by a St. Louis Rams team that has been in dire need of a franchise quarterback. Even when Marc Bulger, one of the greatest stopgaps in NFL history, was under center the writing was on the wall. I fear that Bradford will be thrown into the fire only to be obliterated behind an under-built offensive line, to the detriment of his shoulder, however this is another story for another day.
HERE’S WHAT I THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN
I THINK skill position players will take a backseat less sexy positions. With DT Ndamukong Suh, DT Gerald McCoy, S Eric Barry, and OT Anthony Davis all projected to go within the first 15-20 picks, the sexier skill positions are sure to take a backseat role to the 2010 NFL Draft. With the exception of high profile quarterbacks such as Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy, don’t expect to see too many skill positions come off the board within the first round or two. I think.
I THINK The Oakland Radiers will make another befuddling lottery pick. It should be a quarterback here, however the Raiders likely may want to go with a veteran in order to help alleviate the pain of all that guaranteed money they still owe Jamarcus Russell. Look to any player projected to go in the second or third round (yes, even kickers) to possibly be drafted 8th overall by the Oakland Raiders. I think.
HERE’S WHAT I’M PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT
I’M PROBABLY WRONG, but the NFL Draft will post more than 7 million viewers. The past few seasons, in a daytime slot on the weekend, the NFL Draft has garnered over 5 million viewers. This year, for the first time ever, the NFL will be on prime time. It’s worth noting that the NFL will be going head to head with the NBA playoffs on what is arguably the biggest TV night of the week. Lucky for the National Football League, it is a freaking juggernaut in America. The NFL Draft posts a strong rating in prime time and continues its momentum.
I’M PROBABLY WRONG, but there will be no waiting games in the green room. Looking at the list of players invited to the NFL Draft who will be in attendance, the NFL seems to have gotten it right this year. In years past, players such as Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, and Aaron Rodgers were all invited to New York for the draft under the assumption that they would go early. They didn’t. The ensuing and uncomfortable wait doesn’t look good for anybody involved.
With the likes of Sam Bradford, Dez Bryant, and Eric Berry in attendance and Tim Tebow out, it could (almost) safely be assumed that the green room will be cleared before the end of the first round.
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