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Overrated & Underrated
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 |
Overrated & Underrated
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. |
Overrated & Underrated
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.
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Overrated & Underrated
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 . Quote:
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Overrated & Underrated
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[Edited on 22/4/2004 by Chuck] |
Overrated & Underrated
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 .... ;) |
Overrated & Underrated
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] |
Overrated & Underrated
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.
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Overrated & Underrated
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Overrated & Underrated
When was the last time SI was relevant? The 80\'s?
The only overrated player I agree with is Schweigert. |
Overrated & Underrated
We should pick me, as much as i know, i\'d be a for sure starter for the WNFL, lol... For all the slow people, Womens National Football League. Most players from big schools are overrated especially players from every conference except the SEC. The SEC is the only conference that has the college equivalent of the NFL and thus is where most of your better players would seem to come out of, except for Florida which doesnt produce much of anything. As for Eli, if he were Eli Brooks, he\'d still be sittin the bench in Mississippi, except he\'d be holding a clipboard.
Saints do not need a WR with the 18th pick, they have enough picks later on that they can pick a WR, I think with one of their later picks if Devery Henderson is still on the board we should think about picking him up, because you can never have too much speed and Stallworth needs a new insurance policy as much as he stays hurt. Osa Lama Laka My Peeps!! [Edited on 4/23/2004 by pakowitz] |
Overrated & Underrated
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[Edited on 23/4/2004 by Chuck] |
Overrated & Underrated
First you said:
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You just repeated what I said about Deuce being drafted, and you made the same point that I was making. |
Overrated & Underrated
Did you read both posts, becuase if you did, then you should understand but i\'ll explain.
Coaches go into the draft , Not with best player avaiable stategy, but to fill a desired position. When somebody of Dueces caliber falls, that throws coaches off their game plan and they grab that player. Right now Haslet is probally going line backer, but if Fitzgerald falls and only him, that is the only person that would set Haslet off his desired path. top ten prospects only happens like once or twice a draft, its rare and three years ago we were lucky to get Duece. Again, if everybody was doing best player avaiable then why don\'t Sean Taylor be the 1st overall pick, he might not even be a top ten [Edited on 23/4/2004 by Chuck] |
Overrated & Underrated
CHUCK !!!!!!!! .....Do you really think that Sean Taylor will slip past the 10th overall pick? If he slips past 7 or 8 the saints should trade up and get him. But as we all know (everyone but Chuck that is he will be gone like the wind). So please think before you just post something.
(The above listed post was not a personal attack on Chuck or any other party that post in this Forum) ;) |
Overrated & Underrated
Boccal, I know that chances are he will be a top 5 BUT he is a safety and that is high for a safety, history has shown that only 1 safety in the last TEN YEARS has been taken in the top ten, (williams). and becuase of what history has shown its a possibility that he might fall to a 11th or 12th pick although highly unlikely,
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So Mr. Boccal, You have to understand that there are going to be predictions that you don\'t agree with but in the end and when the draft actually happens your going to realize that nobody predicted it excatly right and you just like I and everyone else will be together in realizing that we were all clueless to the final results just like we are every year. ;) |
Overrated & Underrated
Ok..ok Chuck I see your point, but really do you see him slipping out of the top 10. Since he is the best prospect in the draft. I know that the draft is unpredictable...but i will go out on that limb and say he will be gone by the sixth pick and if thats wrong the 7 or 8 or 9 (I\'ll keep going till he\'s drafted If i have to lol).
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Overrated & Underrated
i guess that no team decides there picks on best player available. it was all a big smokescreen and we were goin for a defense end from the start. :casstet:
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Overrated & Underrated
Good call.
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Overrated & Underrated
What can i say Datfu, I\'m having trouble coming up with any kind of explanation for drafting will smith, right now im looking like an idiot for argueing the best player avaiable theory but I can\'t keep myself from thinking there is more to this than we know.
but your right, saints did draft best player avaiable |
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