Being prepared for the 2017 NFL Draft

[sabotai]

Year in, year out, I don't watch college football and when the draft comes around, I'm clueless about the players entering the draft, other than the highlight/draft breakdown videos I see on YouTube.

Next time, I want to be prepared. So what say you, college fans of FOFC? If I want to have a decent general knowledge of the players that will are expected to enter the 2017 Draft and be highly rated (though certainly throw in some guys that might be mid-late round diamonds in the rough or players that could make a career out of being a role player), what players and teams should I keep an eye on? Any specific games I should make an effort to see (for example, "Team A has a top rated WR, Team B has a top rated DB, so it'll be good to see them go against each other" type of games).

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Year in, year out, I don't watch college football and when the draft comes around, I'm clueless about the players entering the draft, other than the highlight/draft breakdown videos I see on YouTube.

Next time, I want to be prepared. So what say you, college fans of FOFC? If I want to have a decent general knowledge of the players that will are expected to enter the 2017 Draft and be highly rated (though certainly throw in some guys that might be mid-late round diamonds in the rough or players that could make a career out of being a role player), what players and teams should I keep an eye on? Any specific games I should make an effort to see (for example, "Team A has a top rated WR, Team B has a top rated DB, so it'll be good to see them go against each other" type of games).

Purchase Phil Steeles college football magazine. He will label the top 50-100 NFL prospects at each position going into the year. He does the work and you just follow. Otherwise just watch the top SEC teams each week as most of them are just stacked with 1st round talent.

[Suicane75]

Just watch a ton of college football and get excited when the QB that you absolutely loved watching from Western Kentucky gets drafted in the 7th round. Then forget him when you never hear about him again in your life. It's a mean world we live in.

[Solecismic]

The ACC misses out on a Clemson/Miami game this year, denying us the extreme hype of a DeShaun Watson/Brad Kaaya shootout.

Of course, Cleveland fans were asking to "fail for Cardale" around this time last year, so it's a little early to think about these things.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Purchase Phil Steeles college football magazine. He will label the top 50-100 NFL prospects at each position going into the year. He does the work and you just follow. Otherwise just watch the top SEC teams each week as most of them are just stacked with 1st round talent.

Thanks. Made a note to keep an eye out for it.

[MrBug708]

Watch Josh Rosen. He'd be the top pick in 2017 if he could be. He would have been the top pick this year. He'll be the Top pick in 2018. I'm only partially kidding.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Thanks. Made a note to keep an eye out for it.

You are welcome!

Phil Steele

[Logan]

If you're a podcast guy, I recommend The Solid Verbal. They do a pretty good job going through the games each week, previewing matchups, etc but they keep it moving quick and fun.

[Butter]

Best thing is just to watch a lot of college football.

One personal example I have from this year is Christian Hackenberg. This guy has been touted as a prototypical pro-QB since the day he stepped on Penn State's campus. It was literally talked about in every game he played in.

Yet, on the field, I never saw the results all of this talk promised. It didn't surprise me to see him as the 5th-10th best QB available on most boards. Could he develop? Yes. Penn State didn't surround him with a lot of talent, and it was pretty clear that lack of protection was bothering him in his last year... but even so, he almost never had any wow games as a starting college QB. He was solid but never great and sometimes terrible.

Watching multiple games that these guys play in really helps, and paying attention to the players you are interested in specifically. It's obviously much easier to do this with skill guys on offense and defensive players when they are making plays.

[tarcone]

Watch Sports News shows on Saturday night. I dont watch sports center but that would be a resource.
The BTN has an hour show every night recapping the day. I imagine the SEC does too on their network.

[Kodos]

I gotta say my interest in the draft has really plummeted. I mostly just want to see which IU guys get drafted.

[CU Tiger]

Steele used to be great. He is below average now. Something like 10 of his top 50 last year went undrafted.

Opening week Clemson travels to Auburn. There will be no less than 12 high to mid Draft picks in that game. Clemson's mostly on O and Auburn's on D. It is a cant miss affair.

FSU will have a high number of picks next year.
Bama will as always.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Steele used to be great. He is below average now. Something like 10 of his top 50 last year went undrafted.

Opening week Clemson travels to Auburn. There will be no less than 12 high to mid Draft picks in that game. Clemson's mostly on O and Auburn's on D. It is a cant miss affair.

FSU will have a high number of picks next year.
Bama will as always.

Below Average compared to? Who is better? His primary goal is college football and their projections. As a secondary projection he will take aim at projecting pro prospects. The detail to which he breaks down every single player that sees time on every single school is off the charts. The amount of pure information is his magazine each year is also amazing. If his preview of college football is below average I cant wait to read something by someone else that is even average. Id be able to find out when each college player last got laid and who threw the most keggers last year.

[QuikSand]

I don't claim any deep expertise, nor have any deep insight into whether this guy is good at forecasting what teams will draft which players -- but this guy's main report is well written and pretty engaging.

https://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2016-draft-analysis/

He is also a fairly regular contributor on the FootballGuys podcasts, which are pretty engaging and free. But apparently his strong suit is college football prospect analysis.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Best thing is just to watch a lot of college football.

One personal example I have from this year is Christian Hackenberg. This guy has been touted as a prototypical pro-QB since the day he stepped on Penn State's campus. It was literally talked about in every game he played in.

Yet, on the field, I never saw the results all of this talk promised. It didn't surprise me to see him as the 5th-10th best QB available on most boards. Could he develop? Yes. Penn State didn't surround him with a lot of talent, and it was pretty clear that lack of protection was bothering him in his last year... but even so, he almost never had any wow games as a starting college QB. He was solid but never great and sometimes terrible.

Watching multiple games that these guys play in really helps, and paying attention to the players you are interested in specifically. It's obviously much easier to do this with skill guys on offense and defensive players when they are making plays.

And Hackenberg had great college WRs to throw to Allen Robinson, Jesse James, Kyle Carter, Deshaun Hamilton. I think a team drafting him in the 2nd is a case of ego and thinking they will be able to fix all of the flaws with him and make him into that prototypical pro QB. Is is the only reason I can think of how a team could draft him ahead of someone like Cook or a much more productive QB.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I don't claim any deep expertise, nor have any deep insight into whether this guy is good at forecasting what teams will draft which players -- but this guy's main report is well written and pretty engaging.

https://mattwaldmanrsp.com/2016-draft-analysis/

He is also a fairly regular contributor on the FootballGuys podcasts, which are pretty engaging and free. But apparently his strong suit is college football prospect analysis.

This looks well done!

[JAG]

This can get you started Sab...this guy puts some pretty heavy work into the draft year round:

Super-early 2017 NFL Mock Draft: Pass rushers, RBs and Bama rule

Fun note: He looked back into his first 2016 mock draft and had 31 of 32 picks in the first round wrong. The one he had right was Elliott to Dallas (though that was projected at pick 27). He did have Hack to the Jets also, though in round 1 instead of 2.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Below Average compared to? Who is better? His primary goal is college football and their projections. As a secondary projection he will take aim at projecting pro prospects. The detail to which he breaks down every single player that sees time on every single school is off the charts. The amount of pure information is his magazine each year is also amazing. If his preview of college football is below average I cant wait to read something by someone else that is even average. Id be able to find out when each college player last got laid and who threw the most keggers last year.

Seems I struck an emotional chord unintentionally.

Steele's quality has fallen off a cliff the last 4 years. There is a lot of detail, sure. But a large swath of it is flat out wrong. I know last year there were several teams where he had projected starters who had graduated and left the program the year before. He also throws shit against the wall to see what sticks, a lot. He isnt called on it much and when he is he always says something like "when you go as deep and with as much volume as I do you get some wrong"

Sorry if I hurt your feelings, it wasnt intentional. But Steele has jumped the shark.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Seems I struck an emotional chord unintentionally.

Steele's quality has fallen off a cliff the last 4 years. There is a lot of detail, sure. But a large swath of it is flat out wrong. I know last year there were several teams where he had projected starters who had graduated and left the program the year before. He also throws shit against the wall to see what sticks, a lot. He isnt called on it much and when he is he always says something like "when you go as deep and with as much volume as I do you get some wrong"

Sorry if I hurt your feelings, it wasnt intentional. But Steele has jumped the shark.

No problem. I have been buying the digital copies lately which I dont end up reading nearly as much and easily could have missed some of these things. Im pretty loyal to him as Ive been reading and looking forward to his preview mag for 17 years and nothing has ever compared IMO. I respect your opinions on college football so his quality has apparently went down unnoticed from myself. As far as preview issues to you have a go to that works better for you?