pakowitz

By Stewart Mandel, SI.com

Theoretically, NFL execs are evaluating the same players you and I and other college football fans watched for the past four years, but you'd never know it sometimes by the way they mysteriously inflate or deflate some prospects' stock. What exactly are they seeing that makes Florida State's Greg Jones one of the top three or four running backs in this draft despite not finishing among the nation's top 100 rushers last season? What exactly did Rashaun Woods do wrong to be ranked behind at least six receivers whom he outperformed the past two seasons?

Here is my second annual "Overrated and Underrated" list of prospects at each position, based solely on my impressions after watching them throughout their college careers.

Quarterback


Overrated: Eli Manning, Ole Miss.
Is he a very good quarterback? Yes. Would he be considered the No. 1 overall pick with any other last name? I highly doubt it. By any measure, Manning, who completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 3,600 yards, 29 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, was no better than the fifth-best quarterback in the country last season (he actually finished 17th in pass efficiency). And that was a big step up from the previous two seasons, when his production wouldn't have merited inclusion in the top 20. You'd expect a "franchise" quarterback to have monster performances in his team's biggest games. Manning had his worst game of the season (16-of-36, 200 yards) in the Rebels' first-place showdown with LSU. He's a solid performer with a strong arm, but he simply doesn't dazzle you like some of his peers at the position in this draft. You could argue that he also didn't have as good a supporting cast -- can you name one Ole Miss receiver? But the Rebels were good enough to go 7-1 in the toughest conference in the country last season and only on a few occasions was it the direct result of Manning taking over the game.


Underrated: Philip Rivers, N.C. State
Rivers' college career -- the second-most productive in NCAA history, capped off by a senior season in which he led the nation with a 72.1 completion percentage to go with 4,491 yards, 34 touchdowns and just seven picks -- was the ahtletic equivalent of graduating with a 4.0 from Harvard. Only the NFL would say, "That's nice, but there's two guys we like better." Is it because of Rivers' unconventional release? Try asking Florida State's defenders from the past four years, many of whom have gone or will go on to the pros, whether that motion hinders him at all. Rivers was one of the most intelligent, mistake-free QBs college football has seen, very reminiscent of a Tom Brady or Joe Montana. Week in and week out he led N.C. State against teams that often had superior talent but were quickly neutralized by Rivers' leadership. Witness his two wins and near-miss last season against the 'Noles, his dramatic comeback against Ohio State that ultimately fell just short, or his four impressive bowl-game performances. Someone is going to get this guy later than they really should and be very happy.



want more? click here:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...der/index.html

DatFu

Overrated: Jonathan Vilma, Miami
Vilma gets a lot of credit for three reasons: 1) He\'s a recognizable face from a Miami team that played for two national championships, 2) he played the anchor role in the \'Canes\' dominant defense and 3) he\'s a hard hitter who often made the SportsCenter highlights with his bone-crunching tackles. Fact is, the middle of the field is where Miami was the most vulnerable the past couple seasons (see their past two Virginia Tech games and in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl), and the \'Canes\' more versatile linebacker was Vilma\'s classmate D.J. Williams. What\'s most puzzling about Vilma\'s high NFL stock is that he\'s noticeably undersized (6-2, 220), usually a death knell for such prospects. Chances are he\'s benefiting from the success of his \'Canes predecessors (Ray Lewis, Dan Morgan) and the assumption, based on Miami\'s long track record, that he\'ll follow in their path.

i tooken this from the same article. not real smart to draft a guy that aint gonna help us none against the run. clayton or woods is gonna be the best we can get in our slot pick in the round 1.

Chuck has a girlfriend? What\'s her psi?

chRxis

you can\'t be serious with thinking for a second that woods or clayton would be our pick at 18... you can\'t be friggin\' serious... with all the holes on defense, you would rather pick an offensive player?... wow....that\'s retarded.... are you mickey loomis? is that you mick? it\'s gotta be to come up with that insane pick.

DatFu

its a draft plan lots of teams use called best player avialable. if the best player is a wide receiver, then its retarded not to take him.

other than that read the forum rule .

[Edited on 22/4/2004 by saintz08]

Chuck

No coach uses that, its a smoke screen, people ask the coach who they are going to draft and they say best player avaiable becuase they don\'t want anyone to know untill draft day. If best player vaiable was true then the 1st overall pick should be Sean Taylor but lets see if that holds water.

chrxis attached your post, not you so technically he didn\'t break a rule. Thats like last year when i was all in favor of passing on Trufant and getting Sullivan, That idea like your posts are retarded. The only thing he called YOU was mich, are you really going to cry about that.

This is a personel attach

but keep it on there becuase im pretty sure its the only slightly interesting thing you have posted.


[Edited on 22/4/2004 by Chuck]

saintz08

Alright DatFu , here is your chance to respond to a post without any cuss words or verbs that imply any profane actions .

For instance :

Saintsfan , I am King and you shall bow behind me and kiss my *** .

This is not an acceptable response .....

I am working with you , rather then editing you here ....

saintfan

move your nose

Wait. How\'d I get dragged into this here? I\'ve had a busy week defending my right to seek proof. I deserve a little R&R dangit.

Eli is overrated...and he\'s a punk too!

[Edited on 22/4/2004 by saintfan]

DatFu

yeah you guys is all totally right about everything you ever say in here. we got long term answers for wide receivers for the next 10 years. it would be dumb to take a wide receiver if any other player would be a stretch to get. we should just pick will poole and be glad to get him.

turbo_dog

How can you say no coach ever uses it. Don\'t you think that Deuce was the best player available when he was drafted? I think the Patriots are one team that has done well using the best player available technique. Sure you want to address areas of need, but sometimes there may be a player you just can\'t pass up.

classic.

BlackandBlue

When was the last time SI was relevant? The 80\'s?

The only overrated player I agree with is Schweigert.