Wednesday, April 29, 2009
It seems that everyone’s an expert. But, despite the illusion of omniscience, I’m not sure enough of these gurus actually watched Big 12 football last year. In fact, I’m not sure they watched any.
How else can you explain Michael Crabtree being selected after Darius Hayward-Bay? You could simply grant that the Raiders’ brain trust is in fact brain dead and move on, but there’s more to it than that. Crabtree, because of a foot injury was unable to workout at the combine, and allegedly performed poorly in individual workouts. He was selected tenth, which means eight teams who aren’t run by Al Davis passed on him as well. And while every team in the top ten certainly had other needs, it’s awfully hard to justify not picking the best college wideout since Larry Fitzgerald who also ran underwhelming 40’s pre-draft.
Move along six more spots and you’ll find Missouri playmaker Jeremy Maclin. It’s said that you can tell how good a player is by how opposing fans react to him. By that standard, Maclin must be pretty damn good, because no one put more fear in the hearts of Kansas fans when he touched the football.
One of Maclin’s Mizzou teammates, Chase Coffman, had to wait until the third round to hear his name called. Frankly, it’s hard to see why. Coffman possesses the combination of size, athleticism, and hands that offensive coordinators covet. Production was never a problem either — he hauled in 90 passes last season, ten of which scored touchdowns. I’d say to expect big things from Coffman, but he was drafted by the Bengals.
Of course, disappointment in the draft is a relative measure. For Crabtree and Maclin, going 10th and 16th was bad. The same goes for Coffman’s third round selection. For Kansas linebackers James Holt and Mike Rivera, going 10th and 16th sound like dream scenarios.
In reality, neither were drafted, although both have since inked free agent deals. Holt’s production was lauded, as was his character, but teams couldn’t get over his lack of size. Being a good football player just ain’t worth what it used to be.
Rivera’s situation is more puzzling. At 6’3 and 254 lbs, his size is close to ideal. His 4.63 forty and 38 1/2 inch vertical both indicate superior athleticism and, as with Holt, production wasn’t lacking. Despite that, Rivera wasn’t drafted, while such nobod... err, I mean, noteworthy talents such as Weber State’s J.D. Folsom were.
How does one make sense of all this? On one hand, impressive workout numbers can rocket a player up draft boards; but they can also be dismissed as fool’s gold. Production, likewise, is treated inconsistently. Some players are credited with having “game speed,” while others are just called slow.
Coming out of this draft I am only sure of one thing: Josh Freeman, and his annual Sunflower Showdown MVP performance, will be dearly missed.
— — Edited by Chris Hickerson
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