2008 NFL Draft Thread-Jake Long Goes #1

[RedKingGold]

Honestly, I think it's more likely that Bill Cowher is the next coach of PSU rather than Schiano.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Honestly, I think it's more likely that Bill Cowher is the next coach of PSU rather than Schiano.

then explain why Shiano has turned down Miami and Michagan in consecutive years?

[Logan]

First of all, if he was going to leave, it would make sense to take the Miami job where he has a history and a ton of connections.

Second, if that wasn't good enough for him, he would take the Michigan job. PSU is a huge step below Michigan.

Third, the only reason people think Schiano is dying to go to PSU is because he called Paterno his idol about 10 years ago. Would you be dying to follow in the footsteps of the guy who, after Schiano accepted what he described as his dream job at Rutgers, said he made the biggest mistake of his life and commited career suicide?

Please. He's not going to PSU and I'll bet anything on it. If he leaves, it will be for the NFL when he gets his gameday coaching up to an adequate level.

Anyway...not necessary to have this discussion in this thread.

[Lathum]

well we agree to disagree then

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Your probably right, but my Dad went to RU and I grew up watching them and being a fan. It was nice to see them doing so well after enduring so many brutal years. With Rice leaving I have a feeling they take a step back. Plus as soon as the Penn State job opens up Schiano is gone, then it's back to the basement.

I think Rutgers may slide back a bit, but all teams go up and down. I still feel like they are set up to be successful in the long term. They now have the infrastructure in place to survive the loss of Rice and even Schiano. I think they will be a consistent competitor for the BE title.

I think, with Rice, he probably realizes that he will never be 6'0 and/or weigh 225 lbs and his sub 4.5 at the combine was pretty surprising to most folks, so he tested out as well as he probably could have and it would have been near impossible for him to be more productive than he did this past season. Even if he loved being in college, he probably measured the pros and cons and realized that best case, he could go in the 2nd or 3rd this year and prove himself, and that he could make some money on his second contract.

Going back to school, he could have set some records and enjoyed being BMOC, but he had to consider the risk of injury (Michael Bush-like, or even nagging injuries that could have slowed him down at the combine and individual workouts) and what that added work load of carries would do to his body.

[General Mike]

I agree with Logan. If Schiano ever leaves, it's gonna be for the NFL. New Jersey is broke as a state, and he still gets a $100 Million stadium expansion approved.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Honestly, I think it's more likely that Bill Cowher is the next coach of PSU rather than Schiano.

I think Bill Cowher is more likely to be the Carolina Panthers head coach than a college coach.

He felt like he was underpaid his final season with the Steelers when he was making between $5-6 million, so I doubt he would want to go live in Happy Valley, PA making $2-3 million.

I half think that he may choose to just stay retired, but I think if he does come back, it will be with a NFL team.

[st.cronin]

I see Schiano taking a Big 10 job someday, depending on what happens with the Big East, but I assume PSU is going to set up a chain of succession that does not include him.

[Logan]

Swaggs hit it. He wasn't going to be a 1st round RB next year and best-case would've improved his draft position by a half of a round. Not worth the risk. He would have a very good chance at breaking Dayne's rushing record, but 1300 carries entering the NFL is just insane. Get into the league and have an extra year being paid before your body breaks down.

[Swaggs]

I cannot see Schiano as a NFL guy any time soon.

His biggest assets as a head coach are his ability to generate excitement and recruit -- both of which would go to waste in the NFL.

I think he'd take PSU if offered, but I'm not sure he will get the offer. PSU has a huge coaching tree to work from.

Now that Rutgers has the infrastructure in place (facility and fan base-wise) and Schiano has proven that they can be a viable program, they will be fine with or without him, in my opinion.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I see Schiano taking a Big 10 job someday, depending on what happens with the Big East, but I assume PSU is going to set up a chain of succession that does not include him.

What B10 job do you think he would take if he passed over Michigan and you don't think PSU is interested?

When I say Schiano/NFL, I'm talking 15-20 years down the road when he has accomplished what he would want to at Rutgers. As cliche as it sounds, I think he wants to be known as the Paterno of RU.

P.S. Dear NFL, this is why you should have 3 rounds on Day 1!

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Logan

What B10 job do you think he would take if he passed over Michigan and you don't think PSU is interested?

Maybe someplace like Northwestern or Illinois, or maybe Notre Dame. And the circumstances would have to be that he believes the Big East is not tenable. Right now that's not the case, but it could be in the future. Right now he believes in the Big East.

[Swaggs]

I think Schiano is still somewhat unproven. Right now, he is riding pretty high, but what he does in the next 2-4 years at Rutgers will probably shape his career trajectory. Coming off an 11-2 record, I doubt most fans thought that Rutgers would have "only" gone 7-5 during the regular season in '07.

I'm guessing if Rutgers goes 6-6 or 5-7 (or worse) and the team misses bowl games in consecutive seasons over the next two years, Schiano is looking a lot less attractive and Rutgers fans may even be wondering if someone else could do a better job.

I'm not saying this will happen, but there is a pretty fine line between a 7 or 8 win season and a 5 or 6 win season (I know this because this was pretty much Don Nehlen's range during much of his time at WVU), so an injury here or there, and we could be looking at Greg Schiano going into his 10th season at a BCS school with a sub .500 record. So, to me he needs to have 3-4 more years of 8+ wins to cement himself as a very good head coach.

[Logan]

As I said in one of my prior posts, I don't think he's anywhere near a "good" coach yet. He has a lot of work to do to get better on gameday.

[Coffee Warlord]

Hey, anyone that knows more about college football than me (read: basically anyone) give me/us the rundown on Forte?

I do however, find it amusing that Angelo swallowed his pride and drafted a RB.

[st.cronin]

Forte, big power back, not too quick but should be strong in the passing game, both receiving and blocking. NFL Comp: Kevin Faulk, maybe.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Forte, big power back, not too quick but should be strong in the passing game, both receiving and blocking. NFL Comp: Kevin Faulk, maybe.

Make me feel happy. Just say..."Better than Cedric Fucking Benson".

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Hey, anyone that knows more about college football than me (read: basically anyone) give me/us the rundown on Forte?

I do however, find it amusing that Angelo swallowed his pride and drafted a RB.

He tested really well at the combine, has good size and 4.4 speed, and catches the ball well. The comparisons I've heard are to Edgerin James and as far as running style/receiving goes I think its a good fit. IMO, its an outstanding pick in the 2nd round and he should fit with what the Bears want to do.

[st.cronin]

Probably somewhere between Cedric Benson and Edgerrin James.

Worst case scenario, he'll have some situational value in the passing game, and he could be a pretty unique feature back.

[Coffee Warlord]

Personally, I vote more Edge and less Cedric.

[Logan]

I was surprised Chicago took Forte over Rice.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Logan

I was surprised Chicago took Forte over Rice.

I was bummed. I can root for the bears.

[st.cronin]

I actually like both of Chicago's selections. I think they did a good job on day 1.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Logan

I was surprised Chicago took Forte over Rice.

I am relieved the Bears took Forte over Rice. Rice is going to be a stud, ala Tiki Barber or Emmitt Smith (Smith may be pushing it)

[MikeVic]

Steelers draft seems god so far. I know I've seen mocks of Sweed being taken with their 1st, so to get him with their second seems like great value.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Lathum

what Schiano taking the PSU job or RU tanking again

The PSU job opening up. JoePa will be there forever.

[QuikSand]

So, the WR position seems baffling this year. I confess I didn't follow a lot of the hype too closely, but *every* mock I saw had two or three wideouts going in round one. Not only do we surprisingly get our of round one with zero WR off the board, but once they started going, it wasn't even the subset predicted who were the ones going off first -- at least two or three "other guys" got peppered in above the near-consensus first-rounders like Thomas, Jackson, Sweed, and Kelly. Just seems like an odd confluence of things at work there.

I have to wonder if some teams targeted WR for a round 2 or 3 pick, and basically didn't really even look at the top three or four guys (assuming they would be long gone before they were ready to pick their WR) and suddenly they ended up with "some guy" atop their WR target list while some of the big names were still sitting there. I don't know what you do in that situation (well, I guess if you're the Redskins, you probably just go ahead and take two of them, even if you haven't laid eyes on them).

Just seems odd to me. I'm used to specific guys falling further than expected, and I'm used to the occasional "wow, they took *some guy* while all these name players were still out there" but I can't recall seeing so much of both at the same position in any draft. This year's WR class is going to look odd in retrospect.

[MizzouRah]

Round 3 - I hope the Rams take LB Dan Connor. I know we need OL help, but we still need a run stopping LB.

[kurtism]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, the WR position seems baffling this year. I confess I didn't follow a lot of the hype too closely, but *every* mock I saw had two or three wideouts going in round one. Not only do we surprisingly get our of round one with zero WR off the board, but once they started going, it wasn't even the subset predicted who were the ones going off first -- at least two or three "other guys" got peppered in above the near-consensus first-rounders like Thomas, Jackson, Sweed, and Kelly. Just seems like an odd confluence of things at work there.

I have to wonder if some teams targeted WR for a round 2 or 3 pick, and basically didn't really even look at the top three or four guys (assuming they would be long gone before they were ready to pick their WR) and suddenly they ended up with "some guy" atop their WR target list while some of the big names were still sitting there. I don't know what you do in that situation (well, I guess if you're the Redskins, you probably just go ahead and take two of them, even if you haven't laid eyes on them).

Just seems odd to me. I'm used to specific guys falling further than expected, and I'm used to the occasional "wow, they took *some guy* while all these name players were still out there" but I can't recall seeing so much of both at the same position in any draft. This year's WR class is going to look odd in retrospect.

I recall Mike Mayock at NFLN saying that he did not have any WR with a first-round grade this year - could just be that there were a bunch of second-round-graded wideouts, and that teams went for "their guy" based on his primary skillset...

[Logan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, the WR position seems baffling this year. I confess I didn't follow a lot of the hype too closely, but *every* mock I saw had two or three wideouts going in round one. Not only do we surprisingly get our of round one with zero WR off the board, but once they started going, it wasn't even the subset predicted who were the ones going off first -- at least two or three "other guys" got peppered in above the near-consensus first-rounders like Thomas, Jackson, Sweed, and Kelly. Just seems like an odd confluence of things at work there.

I think it has to do with these guys having a couple major questions about them. Thomas: one year wonder, work ethic; Jackson: size, consistency; Sweed: consistency, speed, injury; Kelly: horrible timed speed, work ethic/maturity. These guys probably just didn't match-up with the skillset these teams were looking for.

[Comey]

I'm kind of irritated with ESPN Insider right now. Yesterday was a day that just seemed to fight me the entire way through.

The clinching blow was when I went to check out their pick-by-pick analysis. Being an Eagles fan, I was most interested in pick 47 and 49.

Well, Trevor Laws' analysis is there.

But DeSean Jackson's analysis is not.

In fact, he is the only pick to not have analysis. They completely skipped him. Kind of odd to me, but also rather fitting, in a day where not much seemed to go right. It made me laugh, though only to the point of a chuckle.

[DeToxRox]

Looks like Detroit traded up to the top of the third .. Come on Charles or Connor.

[DeToxRox]

Lions swap the 10th pick in the third it looks like plus a 6th for this pick. Not bad.

[Logan]

Kevin Smith.

[DeToxRox]

Meh. Smith is okay but 450 carries last year?

[MizzouRah]

Greco? DAMMIT!!! Connor was right there for the taking!

[Sublime 2]

In normal BB/Pioli fashion the Pats pick up an 09 2nd rounder and the 160th pick overall this year from SD for their 3rd rounder.

[Logan]

It's not an okay deal since they had so many picks anyway, but as long as SD doesn't collapse next season, they traded a high 3rd for a 5th and a very low 2nd, discounted for being next season.

[Coffee Warlord]

Angelo goes OL, RB, WR with his top 3 picks. I'm scared.

[Northwood_DK]

The 49ers have still not drafted a WR?

[Logan]

I don't think WR is as pressing of a need as people think. Jason Hill will be given a shot to earn the starting spot opposite Bruce.

edit to add: I do think they'll take a developmental guy, but with Bruce, Battle, Bryant Johnson and Hill it's a little crowded already, even if there's no #1.

[DeToxRox]

KC with two good picks this round in Charles and Morgan. Amazing draft.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, the WR position seems baffling this year. I confess I didn't follow a lot of the hype too closely, but *every* mock I saw had two or three wideouts going in round one. Not only do we surprisingly get our of round one with zero WR off the board, but once they started going, it wasn't even the subset predicted who were the ones going off first -- at least two or three "other guys" got peppered in above the near-consensus first-rounders like Thomas, Jackson, Sweed, and Kelly. Just seems like an odd confluence of things at work there.

Ted Thompson talked about this in his post draft press conference. He said a lot of people get caught up in measureables and don't think to ask if the guy can play football. He said that's why people thought Greg Jennings and James Jones were reaches in the past two drafts and why some will think Jordy Nelson wasn't the best pick this year.

[NoMyths]

I can't be more pleased with the Chiefs' draft so far -- all of a sudden I'm having to question my dislike of Carl Peterson, and that's maybe the biggest surprise of the draft for me so far.

[Logan]

ZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTAH!

[Arles]

I'd like to see GB go OL here (Oniel Cousins maybe?).

[Swaggs]

Steve Slaton goes a little earlier than expected.

Anyone know much about Houston's running back situation?

[Arles]

Need a second TE who can catch - Finley's solid.

[rjolley]

I think for the blocking scheme Houston uses, Slaton is a great pick. I also like NE picking up Shawn Crable out of Michigan and Indy picking up Phillip Wheeler out of GT. Very solid picks for established teams.

[Raiders Army]

I hope Steve Slaton will do a great job in the NFL.