Seeing as the Vikings have a significant need at QB, I have been paying extra attention to this years crop of signal callers. A lot, if not all, of the paid draft commentators spout about none being a Sam Bradford or a Matt Ryan. I remember when those very same QBs were not a Sam Bradford or a Matt Ryan. Bradford was always hurt. Ryan didn't have an NFL arm. The people who praise those young NFL QBs now beat them down something fierce before they were drafted. The very same people that rip Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Ryan Mallett, etc. ripped Bradford, Ryan, Joe Flacco, Josh Freeman in past years. All prospects are mysteries, but every year players are condemned to the trash heap before they even step on a football field. You would think that the draft people would learn. Discussing a players strengths and weaknesses is one thing, but actually stating that a player has no chance is something else. Enough draft projections are wrong every year that you would expect the professionals to back off a bit on the condemnations. In the past decade, I have been especially high on Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Josh Freeman. Each fell to the bottom half of the first round and Brees to the first pick in the second. I thought little of Matt Leinart's and Alex Smith's chances. I wasn't always right. I thought that Jay Cutler had a backbone. Actually, the 2006 draft is a perfect example of the supposed experts incorrectly piling praise. Vince Young and Matt Leinart were considered can't miss prospects. Jay Cutler was a bit behind them. At this point Young and certainly Leinart look like wild misses. The book is still out on Cutler but I wouldn't read it.
I realize that all this predraft nonsense is for entertainment purposes. To spark debate. To prompt some knucklehead with a computer to toss out a blog. The constant criticism just gets a bit old. There is so much guesswork in drafting that any definitive comment really needs to be softened. I really should keep in mind that the only opinions that really matter are those of the 32 teams. They're not talking.
RIP Joe "the Jet" Perry
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