Quick shout out to walterfootball.com and dcprosportsreport.com for including Draft Daily's mock draft on each site's mock draft database! Thanks!
Here are the links to their databases:
Quick shout out to walterfootball.com and dcprosportsreport.com for including Draft Daily's mock draft on each site's mock draft database! Thanks!
Here are the links to their databases:
Now that the combine is wrapped up, I just wanted to give everyone a quick look at two major features upcoming on Draft Daily!
Draft Daily will be introducing its first DOUBLE-D BIG BOARD on Saturday, March 2nd ranking the top prospects in this year's draft class!
Then the following day I'll be introducing my first MOCK DRAFT on Sunday, March 3rd taking a crack at how the first round will unfold!
And of course I'll report and break down major draft stories should something develop before then! I hope you're excited for what's to come and as always, thanks for reading!
Former LSU CB Tyrann Mathieu. There may have been players coming in with higher grades today but there's no one I wanted to see more than the honeybadger. How would he look after a year off? Would he test poorly as expected? These questions were answered for me as he looked to be in great shape and turned in an overall solid day at the combine. The biggest concerns scouts have, outside of his off the field troubles, are his size and speed but he helped alleviate some of those issues today by posting an okay 4.50 40 time. On top of that, he looked very smooth in his backpedal and in transition, and he displayed the natural ball skills that made him such a playmaker at LSU. He had one of the best overall workouts in the drills portion and may have improved his stock today more than anyone else. If he interviewed well with teams this week, I could see him being a Day 2 pick which is great for him considering where he was a few months ago.
I was asked on Twitter by a loyal follower to address the Star Lotulelei situation. For those of you who don't know, the star Utah defensive tackle and likely top 10 pick was held out of all workouts this week after combine doctors discovered he has a heart condition, where according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, his left ventricle is pumping at 44% efficiency, well below the 55-70% average. (Photo Credit: Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports)
Notre Dame LB Manti Te'o. All eyes were on the Heisman trophy runner-up as he worked his way through Monday's on-field work. He started off the day posting a 4.82 second 40 time which was below average among the LB group but I'm not sweating it. Recent years have shown us that fast 40 times aren't necessary to perform at a high level at inside linebacker in this league. Look at Bengals starting linebacker Vontaze Burfict and Patriots starting linebacker Brandon Spikes as recent examples, who ran wretched 5.09 and 5.06 40 times in their respective years. Te'o's time didn't help his stock but I don't think it really hurt it either. He looked smooth in drills and I expect him to go in the first round despite the highly publicized catfishing scandal.
SPEED. With seven players running their 40s in under 4.40 seconds, speed defined the day. The two with the most buzz were Texas' Marquise Goodwin (pictured right) and WVU's Tavon Austin who each had unofficial times of 4.25 early, just .01 slower than Chris Johnson's record 4.24. Eventually they settled for official times of 4.27 and 4.34 respectively but their wheels were certainly impressive. Both were expected to test well and neither disappointed. For Goodwin, he worked his way into the Day 2 conversation. Austin, who I compare to DeSean Jackson in his prime, improved his stock and could be a late first rounder.
The small school OT prospect Terron Armstead. While he did have solid showings in the Shrine Game and Senior Bowl, not many knew about this guy out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff coming in but he certainly made a name for himself on Day 1. He owned the top 40 time among offensive linemen with a 4.71 and at just under 6'5" and 306 lbs., that's certainly impressive. He also performed in the top 10 on the bench press logging in 31 reps. While these numbers aren't nearly as important as game film, he's gotten the attention of the scouts and they'll certainly go back and do more research. Clearly he's a physical freak and his performance today certainly improved his stock and he is now firmly entrenched in the Day 2 conversation. (Photo Credit: AP Photo/Ben Liebenberg)
Hello world! And welcome to Draft Daily! My name's Joe and at this point, most of you know me. But for anyone that doesn't, all you need to know is that I'm completely obsessed with the NFL Draft. I literally spend hours on a daily basis watching college film of prospects on youtube, reading analysis and scouting reports, and evaluating players for myself. So needless to say, this blog is going to revolve around the draft. Will it be biased? Of course. Much of the content will be my opinions on players, team needs, etc. so with those opinions comes inherent bias. That's just how it is. To quote The Princess Bride, "anyone who says differently is selling something." But with that said, disagreements are welcomed. I don't expect you to agree with everything I write. If you share a similar viewpoint as I do on a topic, great. If you don't, well that's fine too. I encourage you to share your opinion. You'll find that you'll have the ability to comment on anything I post, and in addition, you can email me at DraftDailyMailbag@gmail.com if you prefer.