The 2014 NFL Draft may finally get here. I had some doubts. This two week delay has been fairly painful. That pain is near an end. A funny thing happened on the way to the draft. Quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and Tom Savage passed each other as they went in opposite directions on the grand media draft rankings. It may not have gone that far. Bridgewater ended the 2013 college football season as the top quarterback in this draft that may finally take place. He was even thought to be a candidate for the Houston Texans choice as the #1 pick in the draft. Savage was at the other end of the quarterback spectrum. Even though he was highly praised by NFL.com's Gil Brandt during the college football season, Savage was considered, at best, a late round pick. Brandt has been deeply involved in the drafting process for over fifty years. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the draft commentators caught up to Brandt and his thoughts on Savage. Fast forward a few months and Bridgewater is teetering on the brink of falling out of the first round. The Savage momentum has tapered off over the last couple weeks but he's still thought to be a possible second round pick. That's a far cry from the 6th-7th round grade that many had put on him. Bridgewater's fall and Savage's rise stopped short of their passing.
I enjoy the draft process. I enjoy learning about the college players that I never really had the opportunity to see play football. There's a nice pace to the draft evaluation process. College All-Star games to the Scouting Combine to the individual and college Pro Days and team visits. The media coverage of all of it borders on excessive. I love all of it. Despite that enjoyment, some of it can be a real pain-in-the-ass. That aspect has been magnified during this year's two-week delay. There is really no reason at all for a player to drop or rise in the draft rankings as Bridgewater and Savage have done. Teddy Bridgewater was the top quarterback, the very deserving top quarterback, back in January. He deserved that top spot due to a terrific three-year run at Louisville. He put the basketball school on the college football map. He had a very bad Pro Day and his draft stock dropped. Three years of excellent college quarterbacking or a shitty Pro Day. Which is more important? Which is a better indication of a player's ability to play football? It's a puzzle that a player's worth is so dependent on what is basically a practice. Bridgewater was at the top a few months ago so there was only one direction for his stock to go. I get that but there's no reason for him to drop as far as he supposedly has due to a shitty Pro Day. Savage's movement is more understandable. Despite starting at Pitt, he was still mostly an unknown. He moved around too much in college to gain any footing with scouts and personnel people. First stop Rutgers. Next stop Arizona. Finally landing at Pitt. Physically, Savage looks like the quarterback ideal. He can throw like it too. His ascent in the drafting world would have made more sense if it wasn't so swift. Sixth round one day. Second round the next. It made no sense. Funny.
Tomorrow we'll finally see the rankings that really matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment