ping Alan Branch

[QuikSand]

So... I don't claim to be a serious draftnik. I read a bit about things leading up to the event, I usually pay attention on day one of the draft, and I enjoy following the offseason about as much as the actual season. But I don't watch enough games or "film" to have my own well-defined opinions about which players are being vastly overrated or underrated by the people who do this stuff for a living, like many seem to.

Regardless, I can't help but wonder what's up with a less-heralded draft day "faller" in DT Alan Branch of Michigan. I know weeks ago I had read a couple places suggesting he was falling, as questions about his work ethic or "motor" were weighing on teams. Yet, even through late this week, most mock drafts still were posting him as being taken somewhere in the 10-15 range, generally. The Solecismic mock draft, which I tend to look to foor keener insight than most, had him falling to #20, which was the most depressed spot I saw anywhere.

However, it seems he wasn't even mentioned by ESPN, presumably because on "Mel's List" he had been dropped way out of sight. Even when e was eventially picked at #33, he wasn't even one of the top ten or so players listed on Mel's "best left" list... and I don't recall even one mention of him during the telecast, though I could have missed a passing mention here or there, I suppose.


I know, I know, guys move up and down all the time, even weeks after the combine. But this case just seemed weird to me -- where even days before the draft, most experts had him Top 15, and when he fell to pick #33, it was a complete non-event. Was that mostly a function of the ESPN coverage, or were the draft pundits just behind the times in seeing that teams had *really* cooled on him for whatever reason?

[Atocep]

He has fantastic physical tools, but as you mentioned above, motor and motivation are issues. From what I read he was also horrible in team interviews and after posting solid numbers at the combine he showed up to his pro day out of shape, so there's a lot of concern that with a big paycheck he'll end up eating his way out of the league.

[QuikSand]

Yup - that's basically what I have read, as well. And I totally understand why a player like that would slip out of round one.

My principal question is why did seemingly all the experts still assign him to someone at pick #11 or #13 or so, even though they were all apparently saying the guy has all these liabilities?

[stevew]

Krumrie supposedly beat the hell out of him in one of the lineman drills...i think at that point a lot of teams were turned off on him, and that was probably one of the reasons he fell so far.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

My principal question is why did seemingly all the experts still assign him to someone at pick #11 or #13 or so, even though they were all apparently saying the guy has all these liabilities?

I think it's because there seemed to be a consensus thought that *someone* will take a mammoth DT, especially one that was a consensus Top 5 pick not long ago. DT isn't like QB, where you have one guy and are either set at the spot or not.

[JetsIn06]

There were also rumored reports of stress fractures in both legs.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Yup - that's basically what I have read, as well. And I totally understand why a player like that would slip out of round one.

My principal question is why did seemingly all the experts still assign him to someone at pick #11 or #13 or so, even though they were all apparently saying the guy has all these liabilities?

I agree with Logan that DT is usually a position where you're almost guaranteed to see the top 3-4 go in round one and the top 2 are usually off the board quick. This year we had 2 go in round 1 and Branch was the third taken with the first pick in round 2.

I also didn't see Branch's name anywhere on Mel's board during the draft, but as of the 18th Kiper had him rated as the 3rd best DT behind Okoye and Harrell.

It was an interesting draft as far as DTs go. Okoye is 19 and will be the youngest NFL player ever, Harrell played just 3 games as a senior because of injuries, Branch has the issues we discussed, and the next guy on Mel's board was Tank Tyler who was arrested for assualting an officer and kicked out of a game last season for spitting on an opponent.

[yabanci]

Alan Branch Says Stress Fractures Don't Slow Him Down

In an ESPNews interview Saturday afternoon, Michigan defensive tackle Alan Branch acknowledged that he has had stress fractures in both legs, but he said he has played with them for years, and he strongly denied that they were serious injuries that should cause him to drop on draft boards.

[Senator]

Please God, have Alan Branch respond to this ping.

k thx

[wishbone]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

My principal question is why did seemingly all the experts still assign him to someone at pick #11 or #13 or so, even though they were all apparently saying the guy has all these liabilities?

I think that the guy was probably rated high on draft boards across the league, the media fed on this and couldn't see him slipping after looking at the various team needs. I think a lot of people saw him as the 2nd best DT and on draft day he was the 3rd, which cost him 17 spots.

As a side note, it is interesting to look at the drafts by position, to see where the distribution of perceived talent was in a given year.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/drafts