QuikSand
04-29-2007, 03:49 PM
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?
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?