NFL Draft Thread 2011

[jbergey22]

I wanted create something different from the negative NFL offseason thread.

Which teams will be taking QBs in round 1?
Where with Mallet/Locker go?
How the hell can Cam Newton be considered the #1 prospect in this years draft?
Why did they have to mess with something that was great the way it was IMO? First 3 rounds on Saturday, Final 4 rounds on Sunday.

I had a friend that always would throw a party on draft Saturday since it was changed its just not the same. Its really not that exciting going to a party for the 4th-7th rounds while sitting around watching 3-4 hours of draft coverage on Thursday without beverages flowing and some talk of football with your friends isnt nearly as exciting.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

I was burned out after I saw the 3,742nd mock draft.

[stevew]

I hate the Thursday night draft, and would personally like to tell Roger Goddell/whomever thought of the idea to get fucked.

[Honolulu_Blue]

While I enjoyed the old Saturday and Sunday format, I am ok with this new one. If anything, it frees up my weekend a bit more, since I watch Round 1 on Thursday, Rounds 2-3 on Friday and then can kind of keep tabs on Rounds 4-7 on Saturday and still do stuff if need be and have Sunday free.

[Honolulu_Blue]

After Saturday, however, I am pretty much done with the NFL until they sign a new CBA. I have no interest in any updates about negotiations or the court cases or who "wins" or "loses" or any of that. I don't give a shit.

Just figure it out, let me know what the new rules are regarding free agency, draft, etc, and move on.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by stevew

I hate the Thursday night draft, and would personally like to tell Roger Goddell/whomever thought of the idea to get fucked.

This.

I will for the 2nd straight year not watch the NFL draft (after about 20 straight years of not missing it). They took something that was special on Saturday with friends and completely screwed it.

[albionmoonlight]

The Saints need front seven help. The draft is deep with front seven players this year, some of whom will be available when the team picks in the mid-20s. I think that it will be a pretty ho-hum draft for the Saints.

[jbergey22]

I know he has talent but has anyone else seen what is making Cam Newton the probable #1 pick?

From the limited sample size I seen he was very inaccurate, would force the ball into coverage, and had a release that was very slow.

I was much more impressed with Mallet as a passer. He wasnt accurate at times but his arm is a cannon and I would assume the accuracy will get better as he makes any throw look easy.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

I know he has talent but has anyone else seen what is making Cam Newton the probable #1 pick?

From the limited sample size I seen he was very inaccurate, would force the ball into coverage, and had a release that was very slow.

I was much more impressed with Mallet as a passer. He wasnt accurate at times but his arm is a cannon and I would assume the accuracy will get better as he makes any throw look easy.

Zero clue on Cam. He has done nothing from the clips I have seen to raise his stock and yet there he is. He looks like a bust from what I have seen.

Big armed, but not as accurate as need be QBs are the ones that go high, but don't pan out versus the weaker armed QBs, who are accurate. As long as the QB has enough strength then they are fine.

[stevew]

I agree that he has more than enough red flags and absolutely should not go #1 overall. There's no way to predict the way that he will act once he gets a shit ton of money. As of July last year, he would have been a virtual unkown. He's only thrown 292 passes in Division 1 football. His brother is an NFL offensive linemen---absolutely reasonable to question his genetic makeup if he decides to lounge too much. What does that mean exactly? Who knows. He's a very good runner in game, but his 40 time isn't that impressive.

If he was a TE in this draft, he'd probably be drafted in the top 10. As a QB I dunno.


Hell, it probably pays for people to hype him up in the draft, so that some other team in front of you will waste a pick on him.

[CU Tiger]

Cam Newton will is more Jeff George than JeMarcus Russell but neither is a good person to be compared to.

As arrogant as he may be Bill Parcells has forgot more about personnel than anyone in the league today not named Billechik or Polian. His famous 4 rules
for drafting a QB
1)He must be a senior, because you need time and maturity to develop into a good professional quarterback.
NEGATIVE

2)He must be a graduate, because you want someone who takes his responsibilities seriously.
NOPE

3) He must be a three-year starter, because you need to make sure his success wasn’t ephemeral and that he has lived as “the guy” for some period of time.
Afraid Not

4) He must have at least 23 wins, because the big passing numbers must come in the context of winning games.
0 for 4 equals BUST...

[Mike Lowe]

How many successful NFL starting QB's fit that mold right now? I ask a bit skeptically, but honestly do not know.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

How many successful NFL starting QB's fit that mold right now? I ask a bit skeptically, but honestly do not know.

Well I know Peyton Manning does. Drew Brees I believe stayed 4 years. Tom Brady was an off and on starter but stayed all 4 years I believe as well.

Probably the 3 best to be compared with right there.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

How many successful NFL starting QB's fit that mold right now? I ask a bit skeptically, but honestly do not know.

Garrard?

[Mike Lowe]

From Wikipedia...Not the best source I know, but here is Brady's info for Michigan:

Brady played college football for, and graduated from, the University of Michigan.^[14] He was a backup his first two years, while teammate and future NFL quarterback Brian Griese led the Wolverines to a share of the national championship in 1997 in the Rose Bowl. When he enrolled at Michigan, Brady was seventh on the depth chart and had an intense struggle to get some playing time. At one point, Brady hired a sports psychologist to help him cope with frustration and anxiety and even considered transferring to Cal.^[15][16] Brady battled for the starting job with Drew Henson, ultimately starting every game in the 1998 and 1999 seasons under Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. During his first full year as starter, he set Michigan records for most pass attempts and completions in a season (214).^[17]

[stevew]

Newton's contract is gonna pay him in excess of 14 million a season which will place him near the top 10 paid players in the league. Maybe Richardson knows that he is getting a rookie cap?

[JPhillips]

Instead of being excited by whomever the Bengals will get at #4, I'm worried about how they'll fuck it up.

I hate being a Bengals fan.

[miked]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

How many successful NFL starting QB's fit that mold right now? I ask a bit skeptically, but honestly do not know.

Matt Ryan. Carson Palmer?

[Thomkal]

I think it would be a huge mistake for Carolina to take Newton #1 after taking Clausen with their first overall pick in the last draft. Clausen needed to sit a year and learn how to play in the NFL, and you saw the result when he wasn't given that time. Newton needs that time even more given his less experience overall and especially no experiene in a pro offense. His character issues also make him too risky for a #1 pick. I really don't want to sit through another season of Panthers games on TV watching that potential disaster happen in front of me. They should pick WR A.J. Green so that Claussen actually has a WR besides rapidly aging Steve Smith to throw to, because there's nobody else there good enough to start opposite him right now.

But of course, I hope Carolina or one of the teams above Arizona take him because I worry that my beloved Cards will take him if he's available. I don't really think they will because Whisenhunt doesn't like character issues with his QB's-see Matt Leinert. I suspect they will take Gabbert if Newton is gone, which I'm okay with I guess but I'm not sure he's the franchise QB they really need. But god can he be any worse than the guys they had at that position last season? I'm pissed at the union and NFL for not getting an agreement before the draft because I think they would have traded for Kolb or McNabb and spent the pick on defense where they desperately need help.

If they don't go QB (or both Newton and Gabbert are gone before their pick), they might try to trade back into the first round or just hope Jake Locker drops to them in the second round.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by stevew

Newton's contract is gonna pay him in excess of 14 million a season which will place him near the top 10 paid players in the league. Maybe Richardson knows that he is getting a rookie cap?

I don't know labor laws at all, but as the NFL players have no more union and the NFL was ordered to unlock the doors. . . do they have to pay the rookies what they used to pay them? Couldn't they just dictate the salaries (or if they were required to pay the same in the rookie pool as last year split it out more evenly) which would essentially force the rookies to either take the salaries or sit out the year and try it again in the draft next year?

As much as Newton would love to sit out, doing so would be incredibly risky. There is no way he's #1 next year (Luck) and it's likely he wouldn't even be #2 (Barkley) or #3 (Landry Jones) and he's even competing for best athletic QB with Pryor.

For a guy like Darius it doesn't matter. He's top 10 either way. But for certain players the NFL could really strong arm them and force them into difficult decisions.

[JPhillips]

The NFL can't institute a rookie cap without going through collective bargaining. If they tried it would kill them in their court battle with the players.

[bulletsponge]

i hope newton and gabbert go before the Vikes pick. both are going to be busts

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

The NFL can't institute a rookie cap without going through collective bargaining. If they tried it would kill them in their court battle with the players.

They don't have to institute an official cap though. They can just say they'll pay them what they want. Each team gets to decide for themselves. No worries about a slotting system.

As it is, if the players win and have no union, you can't tell me the owners won't react to that by simply reducing the overall salaries each team pays. No union and no contract means no ceiling. . . but also no floor. Certain owners already went on the cheap this year (including the team with the first pick) There will be more that will go on the cheap next year.

If the Panthers tell Newton they'll pay him where #15 was payed last year, how can it be illegal? They are playing without a union and without a contract.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

How many successful NFL starting QB's fit that mold right now? I ask a bit skeptically, but honestly do not know.

I would love to have the time to go team by team on this but dont.
I think the better question would be how many starters are 0-4. And Id bet that is closer to 0.

BTW if you read Parcells whole gammet. He dosnt say a successful QB must av those 4...he says in order to DRAFT a QB he must have those, otherwise he is too much of a risk. I think the past 20 top 10 QBs comparedagainst that list would bear out his philosophy.

[Mike Lowe]

I wasn't trying to sound arrogant in asking my question earlier...sorry if I came across that way:

Let's see how this really looks. These are guys who, without doing "official" research I remember having some decent playing time at QB last year.

D. Anderson*
Boller*
Brady
Brees
Brohm*
Campbell*
Cassel
Clausen
K. Collins*
Croyle*
Cutler
Delhomme*
Favre
Fitzpatrick*
Flacco
Freeman
Frye*
Garrard
Gradkowski*
Grossman*
M. Hall*
Hasselbeck
Henne*
Hill*
Kolb*
E. Manning
P. Manning
McCoy*
McNabb*
Orton
Palmer
Pennington*
B. Quinn*
Rivers
Rodgers
Roethlisberger
Romo
Ryan
Sanchez
Schaub
A. Smith*
T. Smith*
Stafford
Tebow*
Thigpen*
Vick
Young*

*Basically refers to a player not usually pegged as a "futures" starter. May have seen time, big or small, for whatever reason. They're not (or weren't in 2010) considered any of a starter/staple/franchise/lock in the organization I guess...

I'm heading to bed for now, but if someone wants to make a pretty grid...that was my next step!

[CU Tiger]

grrrr...got me working on it now.
BTW didnt take your post as arogant in any way sorry if I came off that way myself.
Ill give this 30 minutes or so pt up what I have and if anyone wants to finish it off later...

[Mike Lowe]

Haha, no worries. After this weekend, this is all the NFL we got unless we get a surprise from Jim!

[CU Tiger]

[stevew]

Wouldn't Sanchez be a pretty good comp for college playing time and questionable moral character?

Or even Roethlisberger? I suppose I'd rather have a guy who tore up the SEC vs a MAC starter. Is Newton gonna be that Sanchez/Ben type who can play at a decent level for a few years before breaking out?

If he goes to Carolina, I don't see it working out for him.

[fantom1979]

I think you were already heading down that road, but one nice thing going for Sanchez/Big Ben is that they both were drafted by teams that were ready to win. All they had to do was not turn the ball over and those teams were contenders.

Carolina is interesting because they have a pair of 23 year old receivers and a pair of 24 year old running backs that all got playing time last year. I wonder if the Panthers can turn it around like the '07 Falcons did with Matt Ryan. I think Jonathan Stewart could be the next Michael Turner, but I am not sure if they have a Roddy White on their team.

[fantom1979]

After looking at Carolina's receivers last year, I noticed that Dwayne Jarrett has just about disappeared. Its really surprising to me how USC receivers have continued to disappoint in the NFL.

R. Jay Soward, Keary Colbert, Mike Williams, Steve Smith (NYG), and Jarrett were all taken in the first 2 rounds since 2000. Only Smith has had a 100 yard season.

[Mountaineer]

The Carolina Panthers drafted 3 QBs last year.

2nd Clausen
3rd Edwards
6th Pike

Why in the world would they need to draft another QB? I think both Clausen and Pike need more time to develop.


I say it is a bluff to try and get another team to trade up and take a QB. I also think they are behind this whole Cam Newton PR crap storm.

I look for them to trade down or take Marcell Dareus.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by TroyF

They don't have to institute an official cap though. They can just say they'll pay them what they want. Each team gets to decide for themselves. No worries about a slotting system.

As it is, if the players win and have no union, you can't tell me the owners won't react to that by simply reducing the overall salaries each team pays. No union and no contract means no ceiling. . . but also no floor. Certain owners already went on the cheap this year (including the team with the first pick) There will be more that will go on the cheap next year.

If the Panthers tell Newton they'll pay him where #15 was payed last year, how can it be illegal? They are playing without a union and without a contract.

If the players win in court the union will recertify. Remember, the court case is built around unfair labor practices. Skipping the bargaining process and unilaterally making compensation decisions will only prove the players' case.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

The Carolina Panthers drafted 3 QBs last year.

2nd Clausen
3rd Edwards
6th Pike

Why in the world would they need to draft another QB? I think both Clausen and Pike need more time to develop.


I say it is a bluff to try and get another team to trade up and take a QB. I also think they are behind this whole Cam Newton PR crap storm.

I look for them to trade down or take Marcell Dareus.

They didn't actually draft Edwards to be a QB, they thought they could make him a WR, and they traded up to get him wasting yet more draft picks-all those established WR's out there when you so desperately need one-and you pick a project QB to WR player. Yet another reason why their GM needs to be fired.

I don't think anyone is going to trade up with Carolina to get Newton-the spectre of Jamarcus Russell is hanging over this draft and no team wants to get burned like the Raiders did. Too many questions about him on and off the field.

[gstelmack]

I'd much rather see Carolina go WR or DL or fill any of a huge number of other holes than pick another QB. Get a veteran who can hold things together for a season and let Clausen / Pike develop and gain experience. Taking either Newton or Gabbert #1 overall, even if a rookie cap is in place that means they don't have to pay a ton of money for them, would mean wasting all of last draft. And QB wasn't the huge gaping hole, they haven't had a WR worth throwing to since Steve Smith a few years back. Maybe Smith can have a good season again if someone takes the pressure off of him, but with no one to throw to, even a TE, how do they expect Newton/Gabbert/Dalton/any of these guys to be successful?

[Thomkal]

with you 100% there gstelmack-they've done a terrible job drafting and developing receivers-you just can't expect a rapidly aging Steve Smith to carry the team on his shoulders anymore-he needs help and a lot of it.

[QuikSand]

I'm comfortable going on record saying that Jimmy Claussen and Tony Pike have no business at all appearing as a meaningful part of any discussion about what Carolina ought to do with a cornerstone-type draft selection.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm comfortable going on record saying that Jimmy Claussen and Tony Pike have no business at all appearing as a meaningful part of any discussion about what Carolina ought to do with a cornerstone-type draft selection.

if Andrew Luck had been there for Carolina I would agree with you Quik. I have serious doubts Newton can be a cornerstone-type draft selection though, and what if they end up at #1 again and Newton isn't showing the progress they expected and/or has off the field issues? Draft yet another QB with their third first pick of the draft in a row? Do you think Newton can be the franchise QB Carolina needs? Carolina apparantly does.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

I'd much rather see Carolina go WR or DL or fill any of a huge number of other holes than pick another QB. Get a veteran who can hold things together for a season and let Clausen / Pike develop and gain experience. Taking either Newton or Gabbert #1 overall, even if a rookie cap is in place that means they don't have to pay a ton of money for them, would mean wasting all of last draft. And QB wasn't the huge gaping hole, they haven't had a WR worth throwing to since Steve Smith a few years back. Maybe Smith can have a good season again if someone takes the pressure off of him, but with no one to throw to, even a TE, how do they expect Newton/Gabbert/Dalton/any of these guys to be successful?

This + it's always been my view that you put the other pieces in place and then LAST you draft the QB, since the QB will have the largest impact on your W-L total once drafted, and will thus mean you're drafting lower down in later drafts if you take him first.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm comfortable going on record saying that Jimmy Claussen and Tony Pike have no business at all appearing as a meaningful part of any discussion about what Carolina ought to do with a cornerstone-type draft selection.

This is very true. It doesn't matter if they selected 100 QBs last year. If they're not confident that those guys are The Franchise and they feel that someone like Cam Newton is, you grab him without hesitation.

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

I look for them to trade down or take Marcell Dareus.

I'm sure Carolina would like to trade down. There's just no one to trade with. There's no reason that anyone under Carolina would move up to the #1 spot because there's no outstanding must-have player in this draft. If Luck had come out, then Carolina would have had a number of offers for that #1 pick.

It's true that Carolina has no one to throw the ball and no one to throw the ball to and the FA pickins' are rather slim. Santonio Holmes, Sidney Rice and Braylon Edwards may be the best WRs on the open market and you'll have to overpay to get one.

But I'd still go with a QB if I thought he might be The Guy. Clausen looked downright awful last year and so did Matt Moore - neither broke 60 with their QB rating. Furthermore, they just looked entirely ineffective. You could put AJ Green on that team and he's not going to do anything unless someone can get him the ball. Look at Sam Bradford - he did well with a bunch of awful WRs last year. It's a chicken and egg thing, and I'm a firm believer that you get the QB first and then worry about the WRs later. Now if I didn't think Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert were The Guy, then that's a whole different issue.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

if Andrew Luck had been there for Carolina I would agree with you Quik. I have serious doubts Newton can be a cornerstone-type draft selection though, and what if they end up at #1 again and Newton isn't showing the progress they expected and/or has off the field issues? Draft yet another QB with their third first pick of the draft in a row? Do you think Newton can be the franchise QB Carolina needs? Carolina apparantly does.

I'm not saying I am sold on Cam. Not at all, honestly. I'm just saying that no NFL team should be looking at those guys and concluding anything at all about the future of their team's QB position. If you don't think you have a build-around QB in this draft, fine, go somewhere else. But for crying out loud, you don't decide you're set at QB because you have pocket lint like Jimmy Claussen already on hand. I'm pretty much with Blackadar above.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm not saying I am sold on Cam. Not at all, honestly. I'm just saying that no NFL team should be looking at those guys and concluding anything at all about the future of their team's QB position. If you don't think you have a build-around QB in this draft, fine, go somewhere else. But for crying out loud, you don't decide you're set at QB because you have pocket lint like Jimmy Claussen already on hand. I'm pretty much with Blackadar above.

It all depends on how they like that "pocket lint" (love that!) Jimmy Claussen. He was a good college QB and the general consensus was that Carolina stole him when they got him in the 2nd round.

What bothers me about Claussen is that he didn't show any real signs of improvement. Even once he knew the team was his, he posted QB ratings of 54, 51, 107, 33 and 70 in his last 5 games. He was sacked 17 times, threw 4 picks and only 2 tds in that span. He never showed even a glimmer that he might be potentially a good starting NFL QB. There was never an "ah-ha" game or even a moment. He reminded me of Chris Wenke, who went 2-17 with a 54 career passing rating for the Panthers.

I'm most certainly not sold on Cam Newton either. How could anyone be with only 280 throws in his entire college career AND who ran an offense that was simpler than most high school offenses? The guy has some unbelievable skills, but whether or not he becomes a decent NFL QB is far from certain. Frankly, I don't feel good about any of the QBs in this draft. I think that Ryan Mallett, Ricky Stanzi and Greg McElroy may be the best of the bunch.

Personally, I'd put the odds at 75/25 that Cam Newton is a bust. I'm not sure he has the aptitude to understand the NFL game nor the attitude to work at it to get it. I like what I see on tape, but man oh man is he going to have a learning curve. But then again, that's why the NFL has the combine, private workouts and so forth...to figure out the "unknowns" about a player. And that's stuff none of us are privy to.

Personally, if I were selecting and only knowing what I know now (which isn't all that much compared to a NFL GM), I'd take Patrick Peterson with the #1 overall selection.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Personally, if I were selecting and only knowing what I know now (which isn't all that much compared to a NFL GM), I'd take Patrick Peterson with the #1 overall selection.

Agree 100 percent with this.


I also think that NFL teams other than the Pats tend to waste draft picks looking for something that is not there. The teams in the NFL will pass on great players just to try and hope that X player will become the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. I will never understand why they arent building up their roster for that time they find that franchise QB. If we look at 3 of the top 4 qbs in the NFL right now only one of them was drafted early in the first round.

[Radii]

Since there are so many QBs in this draft Carolina should just boost their defense with #1 overall and take a QB in the 2nd round. Oh, they traded their 2nd round pick last year? To the Patriots? For the right to draft Armanti Edwards? The QB Carolina thought they could turn into a WR who ended up inactive 15 out of their 16 games last year to the surprise of absolutely no one? Oh, right. Right. In that case I recommend that the panthers fire Matt Millen or whatever his name is and hire a GM who isn't so fucking stupid before they go draft a QB with one year of experience who has character issues.

Draft Dareus and hope you suck just as bad next year, Andrew Luck can't dodge Charlotte two years in a row!

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Agree 100 percent with this.

I also think that NFL teams other than the Pats tend to waste draft picks looking for something that is not there. The teams in the NFL will pass on great players just to try and hope that X player will become the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. I will never understand why they arent building up their roster for that time they find that franchise QB. If we look at 3 of the top 4 qbs in the NFL right now only one of them was drafted early in the first round.

9 of 12 NFL playoff starting QBs were 1st round picks and 19 of 32 teams have a 1st rounder starting for them. Sure, Brees was a 2nd rounder and Brady we all know about, but look at the rest of the upper-echelon of QBs:

Peyton: 1(1)
Big Ben: 1(11)
Aaron Rodgers: 1 (24)
Phillip Rivers: 1(4)
Matty Ice: 1(3)
Vick: 1(1)

Take the next level of QBs - Romo, Schaub, Eli, Sam Bradford, Josh Freeman, Cutler, Palmer and Orton...only Schaub (3rd round), Romo (UFA) and Orton (3rd round) weren't drafted in the 1st round.

So, that's what? 6 of the top 8 and 11 of the top 16 QBs were 1st round picks?

It doesn't mean that you should reach for a QB, but the evidence suggests that if you're looking for a QB, you're highly likely to find the best guys selected in the 1st round. Everyone after that is pretty much a long-shot.

[Passacaglia]

Also, why would you only look at 3 of the Top 4 QBs? Why not just look at all 4 of them?

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Radii

Since there are so many QBs in this draft Carolina should just boost their defense with #1 overall and take a QB in the 2nd round. Oh, they traded their 2nd round pick last year? To the Patriots? For the right to draft Armanti Edwards? The QB Carolina thought they could turn into a WR who ended up inactive 15 out of their 16 games last year to the surprise of absolutely no one? Oh, right. Right. In that case I recommend that the panthers fire Matt Millen or whatever his name is and hire a GM who isn't so fucking stupid before they go draft a QB with one year of experience who has character issues.

Draft Dareus and hope you suck just as bad next year, Andrew Luck can't dodge Charlotte two years in a row!

don't think they should go for WR Green? He certainly has a better chance at being the WR the Panthers have been searching for than any of the others they've drafted over the years-Clausen or whomever gets a little better just from having that second (hopefully) solid WR lining up with Smith.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Also, why would you only look at 3 of the Top 4 QBs? Why not just look at all 4 of them?

Well the top 4 were all super bowl champs which is the goal of most NFL teams.(Manning, Brady, Brees, Rodgers)

When we start getting deeper in the rankings we have a lot more debate on the order and a lot less super bowl champions qbs.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

It doesn't mean that you should reach for a QB, but the evidence suggests that if you're looking for a QB, you're highly likely to find the best guys selected in the 1st round. Everyone after that is pretty much a long-shot.

I think more of the point is how many great players have been passed on to find these upper mid QBs like Eli and Cutler.

along with how many early 1st round qbs have turned out to be busts.

If I have the #1 overall pick I am looking for something more than an upper mid tier qb.

What is the ceiling for Cam? If he reaches his potential will he be as good as Josh Freeman?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

don't think they should go for WR Green? He certainly has a better chance at being the WR the Panthers have been searching for than any of the others they've drafted over the years-Clausen or whomever gets a little better just from having that second (hopefully) solid WR lining up with Smith.

No, I don't. Green can't be an impact player if he doesn't have someone who can get him the ball. Larry Fitzgerald scored 6tds last year because he had Derek Anderson and John Skelton throwing him the ball.

Besides, I think WRs are one of those positions you can draft later and get good value, especially in this draft class. There's some good depth in the 3rd and 4th rounds for WRs. WRs are different than QBs - good ones come from everywhere. Look at the top WRs from last year. Brandon Lloyd was a 4th rounder. Roddy White went 1(27). Reggie Wayne 1(30). Greg Jennings 2(52). Mike Wallace 3(84). Interestingly enough, the next 5 all went in the 1st round, but the next 5 after that none were 1st round picks. While you have a better chance of getting a stud if you pick him in the first, you can usually find talent at that position throughout the entire draft.