Saturday, September 13, 2008

Who Are You Watching Now?

Greetings, G-Force.

I have decided to take the "Who Are You Watching Now?" portion in a semi-different direction. Come draft time next year - we will turn to sites such as nfldraftcountdown.com for draft intelligence. While I won't be strictly dependent on other sources for information, I will turn to them as a point of reference. For example, the Packers might be looking for CB come the '08 draft. I've watched Wake Forest play this year & for one reason or another I did not notice Alphonso Smith. He did not jump out at me yet he is widely considered a top CB for the '08 draft. We should know who this guy is...the same can be said for Wake Forest's OLB Aaron Curry.

Additionally, this type of web site informs me that guys like Knowshown Moreno, Jeremy Maclin, Michael Crabtree, and Matthew Stafford are all draft eligible.

We won't be fully dependant on these web site because we have been talking about guys like Brandon Tate and Mike Mickens for a year. This web site as yet to list Tate as a prospect. Mickens has finally arrived and they've now got him as the #4 ranked CB for the '08 draft.

Tate is a speedy WR who has showed the ability to run after the catch and to get deep. Definitely worth a look. He's a Butch Davis style WR who has a knack for the big play. Hakeem Nicks is North Carolina's other WR. He, too, has NFL potential. Good hands. Makes plays in traffic. Great build.

Javon Ringer excites me. Michigan State's back has a knack for turning nothing into something big. He always seems to find the open field.

Ian Johnson, RB, Boise State is a unique talent. I can see him being a solid special teams return guy as well as a utility RB.

While Michigan is a poor team this year, I believe that they are loaded with NFL talent across their defensive front 4. Tim Jamison looks the part. He's active against the run. He runs plays down from behind and he applies pressure on the QB. Terrence Taylor might be the best DT in college football. Will Johnson is a run stopping fighter on the inside. His weight is a bit light, but he's agile he never gives up on a play.

Morgan Trent, CB, Michigan also has the size, speed and make to play in the NFL. He's going to be a guy that I pay attention to in today's game against ND.

As for USC vs Ohio St, we know what Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurinaitis, Rey Maualuga but what can Fili Moala, Brian Cushing & Marcus Freeman do? Also, how can Todd Boeckman and Brian Robiskie perform against top flight competition?

In the WI-Fresno State game, I want to watch Casillas. He's been a big disappointment to me. All the speed. Yet, often times he fails to find the football. It'll also be exciting to watch Beckum in his 1st action of the year. I'm curious to see what the Badger defense can do against Tom Brandstater, Fresno State's QB. Brandstater has been mentioned as an NFL prospect. I watched him against Rutgers and he was not overly impressive. We'll see what happens tonight.

I'm going to pay large attention to DL & DB this year. Along with the OL & RB, they'll most likely be positions of need for the Packers in the '09 draft. While I don't openly follow OL, I'll hope to narrow down my top 10 DL, DB, and RB's by the end of the year.

Enjoy.

Talkin' S-Mac.

2 comments:

Grammy said...

Do I clean my apartment or do I play a round or two of Tiger Woods Golf '06 and watch college football today? It's raining so I'm going to be lazy.

Here are a few notes about these websites like NFLDraftCountdown.

They are a necessity for any football fan and provide great names that would be difficult to find anywhere else. However, like most things, these will change with every passing month.

There will be at least 1 devastating injury to a top player deeming him a possible steal if he becomes healthy after a year. Frank Gore comes to mind with this scenario.

There will be at least 1 top QB that will fall out of the first round or two (Stafford seems to be the top candidate for this one) but this year could be unique considering Tebow could go number 1 or in the 7th Round. And at least 1 QB to come out of nowhere and steal the first or second pick or be the guy every team drafting in the mid-first round will try to get...Flacco.

You will also see at least one or two of the top defensive players on these lists fall into the realm of the unknown come mid-season. Then on draft day you will hear Kiper and the GM that drafted him tell everyone how he is a First Round talent but for some reason he slipped.

I think the most fun about this is trying to figure out who these guys are.

After watching the Kentucky LSU game last year I was sold on Woodson being the Bears starting QB this season...the dope head slipped in the draft and then gets cut.

...I guess this is why they play the game of college football.

Grammy said...

The guy I'm excited to watch is this Mark Sanchez from USC. I obviously didn't watch much college football last season and will probably not watch a whole lot, even though I watched some shitty game last week and watched the first 3 quarters of ND sucking balls again.

I think this Sanchez has the possibility to be the one QB to shoot up the charts come bowl season...granted I've never seen him play but he just has that make-up. He's got the size 6-3 225lbs. and the speed 4.6 40 time. The question is whether or not he'll declare after his Junior season. And I think today will be a big game in whether or not this comes to fruition.