Mock Draft

Here’s my first ever NFL Mock Draft.
My assumptions to note:
Based on all of the talk lately, it appears Braylon Edwards is on his way out of Cleveland.
Same with Chad Johnson and Cincinnati
With that in mind, here’s my projected 1st Round.
1st: Detroit Lions
Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia: The Lions need many things, and unfortunately no one wants [...]
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Feldman: 10 teams that can win the BCS

ESPN’s Bruce Feldman breaks down ten team that have the best shot to win the BCS in 2009. There’s some familiar favorites on the list (Florida, USC, Oklahoma… yawn), but a couple of fresh faces on the list that are sure to raise some eyebrows.

Ole Miss: This may look crazy, but keep reading. The Rebels are fearless. They won at both Florida and LSU last season. They have a budding star at quarterback in Jevan Snead, some terrific receivers, and potentially the best D-line in the country. They also have the luxury of playing the softest nonconference schedule in the country, with two games against FCS teams, UAB and a Memphis team they beat every year. Better still, they get Alabama and LSU at home. Can the Rebs handle success and expectations now? We’ll see. A Thursday night trip to South Carolina appears to be the toughest road game.

OK. I’m not Nutts about the pick (ba-da-dum-ching!), but this is just crazy:

Oklahoma State: I love the Cowboys’ offense, and I think bringing in Bill Young to run the defense was a great move, but OSU has to go to Norman late and gets a visit from Georgia early. Also, playing Houston in Week 2 right after a big, physical Bulldogs team might be more treacherous than people think.

In my opinion, Feldman tends to fall in love with the personality of a team and that clouds his perception, but… he makes a strong case for several “dark horses”, including Virginia Tech and ((gulp)) Notre Dame.

Check out the whole thing over at Bruce’s blog.

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WGLF: Ohio State Heads to Georgia for the 37th Annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic

Buckeyes return to tournament action after six-week hiatus ranked 28th in latest Golfweek/Sagarin standings
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Who are the nation’s greenest units?

The ESPN bloggers are getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit by breaking down the least experienced units in college football. Some highlights below, with links to the full reviews….

Graham Watson:

BYU offensive line: The Cougars will have to fill four of the five starting spots on the offensive line, but do have some depth there since several players received playing time due to injuries and some shuffling last year.

Boise State wide receivers: Boise State lost its three starting receivers, including Jeremy Childs, who left early for the NFL. Childs led the team in receiving yards and receptions last year and now quarterback Kellen Moore is going to have to break in some new playmakers.

Brian Bennett:

Louisville: The biggest bunch of newbies are at quarterback, where there are four candidates for the job but not one who’s seen any significant playing time at this level.

South Florida: Look no farther than the offensive line, where four of five starters need to be replaced.

Tim Griffin:

Oklahoma offensive line: The departure of starting center Jon Cooper, tackle Phil Loadholt and guards Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker means that Sam Bradford will have an inexperienced group protecting him next season. Trent Williams moves to left tackle and Bob Stoops likes his incoming talent, if not its early work habits.

Texas defensive line: The major question dogging the Longhorns’ national title hopes will be rebuilding a defensive front that loses All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo, defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive tackleAaron Lewis and defensive end Henry Melton from last season.

Texas Tech offensive line: New quarterback Taylor Potts will be relying on a retooled offensive line protecting his blind side after left tackle Rylan Reed, left guard Louis Vasquez and center Stephen Hamby all departed from last year.

Chris Low:

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are replacing three-year starter John Parker Wilson at quarterback, but losing the threesome of Andre Smith, Marlon Davis and Antoine Caldwell on the offensive line leaves the biggest void. They were at the crux of just about everything Alabama did on offense last season.

Georgia: Much of the focus this spring will be on Joe Cox and the quarterback position, but the Bulldogs’ most glaring weakness is the lack of a dominant pass-rusher from the defensive end position. They’ve got to find somebody who can consistently get to the quarterback.

LSU: Jordan Jefferson started the final two games at quarterback last season as a true freshman and enters 2009 as the favorite to win the job. His main competition will come from another true freshman, Russell Shepard, who graduated early and is going through spring practice.

Heather Dinich:

GEORGIA TECH — Having lost three of four starters on the defensive line, it’s easily one of the greenest groups in the whole conference.

MIAMI – The Canes are still young everywhere, but remember quarterback Jacory Harris has only started two games and his backups have no collegiate experience.

NORTH CAROLINA — The Tar Heels lost their top three receivers and will be counting heavily on inexperienced players to replace Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.

Ted Miller

Arizona State — QB: Combined starts of the five candidates to replace Rudy Carpenter at quarterback? Zero.

Oregon – DT: Both starting defensive tackles are gone and this unofficial depth chart shows 14 combine tackles for seven potential replacements.

Oregon State — DE: Sackmasters Victor Butler and Slade Norris and their 41.5 combined sacks over the past two seasons are gone. Sophomore Kevin Frahm and senior Ben Terry, who split two sacks between themselves in 2008, are in.

Adam Rittenberg

Ohio State’s offensive line — Don’t be shocked if Ohio State enters 2009 with three sophomores (Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts) and a transfer (Justin Boren) on its starting line.

Penn State’s defensive ends — Jerome Hayes should be back from another knee injury, but Penn State will be on the lookout for a proven pass rusher after losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines.

Purdue’s wide receivers — New coach Danny Hope made wide receiver a peak priority in his first recruiting class after losing Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, who combined for 136 receptions and 1,596 yards last year.

Wisconsin’s defensive line — The Badgers lose three multiyear starters (Matt Shaughnessy, Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman) and don’t return many proven players aside from ends O’Brien Schofield and Dan Moore.

And — of course — everyone’s favorite green unit:

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Florida, Oklahoma odds on favorites for 2009

The Wiz spotted BodogLife’s updated odds for the college football season. Long story short… it looks like the Gators and Sooners are the early picks, followed by USC, Texas, and Ohio State.

Here’s the complete rundown:

Alabama 22/1
Arizona 100/1
Arizona State 150/1
Arkansas 150/1
Auburn 150/1
Boise State 100/1
Boston College 100/1
California 60/1
Cincinnati 90/1
Clemson 60/1
Colorado 100/1
Florida 7/4
Florida State 30/1
Georgia 50/1
Georgia Tech 50/1
Illinois 80/1
Iowa 75/1
Kansas 75/1
Kansas State 175/1
Kentucky 125/1
Louisville 150/1
LSU 20/1
Maryland 200/1
Miami 35/1
Michigan 120/1
Michigan State 100/1
Missouri 90/1
Nebraska 55/1
North Carolina 45/1
North Carolina State 100/1
Notre Dame 30/1
Ohio State 17/2
Oklahoma 5/1
Oklahoma State 50/1
Oregon 20/1
Oregon State 100/1
Penn State 35/1
Pittsburgh 60/1
Rutgers 125/1
South Carolina 100/1
South Florida 80/1
Tennessee 100/1
Texas 8/1
Texas A&M 150/1
Texas Tech 60/1
UCLA 150/1
Utah 125/1
USC 5/1
Virginia 100/1
Virginia Tech 20/1
Wake Forest 80/1
Washington 200/1
West Virginia 75/1
Wisconsin 100/1
Field (Any Other Team) 20/1

And remember… entertainment purposes only… of course.

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The Real World: College Football and Why We Love The Drama

Everyone who follows college football knows that there’s more to the game than the game itself. It’s all about the hype and the hatred. And that’s what makes it that much more popular.

We all love the hate, the rivalries like OSU-Michigan, Florida-Georgia, and USC-UCLA. There’s also the pregame scuffles before the game where the teams shout obscenities at each other. In some instances, there’s…
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SB: No. 24/20 Ohio State Heads to NFCA Leadoff Classic in Georgia

Buckeyes  take field of nationally-ranked teams with 12-3 record.
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Early enrollee rankings feature Michigan, PSU

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
Scouts Inc. national recruiting director Tom Luginbill recently published his Top 10 classes of early enrollees. Not surprisingly, Michigan comes in at No. 2 behind Georgia, while Penn State ranks No. 8.
Check out the full list, but here's a tidbit from Luginbill on Michigan's class:
"The Wolverines' seven early arrivers will all have…
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NFL Scout Puts Wells at the Front of the Herd

AN NFL SCOUT BREAKS DOWN 2009 DRAFT CLASS

Tom Dienhart
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

Rivals.com talked to a director of college scouting for an NFL team. Here are his early position breakdowns on the NFL draft heading into the NFL Scouting Combine, which begins in earnest today in Indianapolis.

Ohio State’s Chris Wells is part of a big group of quality running backs.

INTRO: I try to put most of my weight on what guys do in the fall. The tape doesn’t lie. You have the Mike Mamulas and Vernon Gholstons, guys with big biceps who run great, then can’t play. The one thing workouts like the combine are good for is you get a view of how athletic they are and how fast they are on a clock. And, hopefully, it matches what you see on tape. If it doesn’t, then it causes you to go back and look at tape again.

RUNNING BACKS: I think the juniors really boosted the running backs class. Teams should be able to get a good back through the first three rounds. … Look at the underclassmen: [Ohio State's] Beanie Wells, [Pittsburgh's] LeSean McCoy, [Connecticut's] Donald Brown, [Georgia's] Knowshon Moreno, [Wisconsin's] P.J. Hill, [Iowa's] Shonn Greene. That’s a pretty strong group. I think there is real value there, and I think you’ll be able to get them a little later with a chance to hit on one. … I think Wells is the guy who has pushed out in front of everybody. He is the bell cow right now of this group.

Click here to view full article > http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=914271

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Final Grades: A look back at the preseason AP poll

It’s time to pay the piper. Here’s a look back at the 2008 pre-season AP poll contrasted against the final 2008-2009 AP poll.

2008 AP College Football Poll Comparison – Preseason vs Final Poll

TEAM	FINAL RANKING	PRESEASON
Florida	1	5
Utah	2	NR
USC	3	3
Texas	4	11
Oklahoma	6	4
Alabama	6	NR
TCU	NR	NR
Penn State	8	22
Ohio State	9	2
Oregon	10	21
Boise State	11	NR
Texas Tech	12	12
Georgia	13	1
Ole Miss	14	NR
Virginia Tech	15	17
Oklahoma State	16	NR
Cincinnati	17	NR
Oregon State	18	22
Missouri	19	6
Iowa	20	NR
Florida State	21	NR
Georgia Tech	22	NR
West Virginia	23	8
Michigan State	24	NR
BYU	25	16

The big standout poll flops are Georgia (P-1 F-13), Ohio State (P-2 F-10), Missouri (P-6 F-19) and West Virgina (P-8 F-23). And — of course — the teams that never even made it to the final poll, including LSU, Clemson, Auburn and Wisconsin.

The Cinderella stories of Utah, TCU, Boise State, and Alabama surprised pollsters and fans alike. (Outside of Alabama, of course, who always expects the Tide to be #1… and they’re not afraid to tell you about it, as well. Still, I suspect there were more than a couple of surprised Bama fans out there this season when the Crimson Tide rose to the top of the polls.)

The biggest surprise for me was how many of the teams were actually ranked consistently from pre-season to final poll. That shocked me, actually. I have long advocated not doing any polls at all until the fourth week of the season, but there’s enough balance between the good & bad of the pre-season poll to suggest that *some* of the pollsters might actually put some thought into this whole thing.

What stands out to you and where do you stand on pre-season polls — sacrosanct or sacrelidge?

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