We’ve finally reached the week of the 201 NFL Draft, in which four Oklahoma Sooners–Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy, Trent Williams and Jermaine Gresham–are thought to be locks for the first round. Dan Mogollon of NFL Draft Bible took time out from his busy draft week schedule to join Blatant Homerism to hash out the strengths and weaknesses of OU prospects.
Find out:
- why Mogollon wouldn’t take Bradford with the first overall pick;
- where McCoy could end up if things don’t go according to plan;
- Williams’ place in the offensive tackle pecking order;
- Gresham’s likely landing spot.
Mogollon also weighs in on whether or not Dominique Franks should have gone back to school and the chances that Brody Eldridge will be on an NFL roster in the fall.
*Even More Draft Talk
Sports blogging prodigy Aaron Torres invited me to discuss the big question surrounding this year’s draft: Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen? (I think you know which side I fall on.)
Aaron and I also touched on the inevitable topic of Tim Tebow.
*Scouting Sophistry
Chris Brown of Smart Football adroitly tackles a thorny dilemma facing pro football teams this time of year: What are their scouts’ opinions really worth?
Clearly, objective standards that are effective for evaluating talent, a la Billy Beane’s Moneyball approach to baseball scouting, have yet to emerge in the football world. Until they do, Brown says we’re left to the wisdom of scouting crowds, even though the evaluators’ individual opinions aren’t worth the paper I’m writing on.
If Brown is right, couldn’t NFL teams save a pretty penny by cutting their internal scouting functions and “outsourcing” their talent evaluation to independent consulting firms? Assuming the entire league went that route, the potential is there to gain some significant efficiencies.