NFL Draft Thoughts

With the 2009 draft behind us, I want to talk about a few things that have been on my mind.

First off, let's talk about Oakland. With Michael Crabtree available, the player ranked one overall by most draft experts, Oakland inexplicably drafted the player ranked 4th at the same position. Al Davis, what were you thinking?!? drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey with the 7th pick?!?! Mike Lombardi summed it up best in his column on the National Football Post: “It might be 2009 here in America, but in that room, it’s 1960.”

Honestly, I really liked Heyward-Bey going into the draft… as the 25th pick for the Dolphins; however he is a terrible value at seven overall. He may have tremendous upside potential, especially as a deep option to go with JaMarcus Russell, but it bothers me when teams reach and overvalue players who aren’t sure things this early in the draft. If you are that in love with a player, then trade down and get him later. I know he has 4.3 speed, but he has yet to develop into the everyday playmaker a top ten pick must be. This past season at Maryland, he had two games where he didn’t even register a catch.

He has already been labeled as such a potential bust, that it would be a surprise if he actually does well. It’s hard enough to be a rookie in the NFL, but now Heyward-Bey is in a tougher position because he will always be compared to Michael Crabtree. Unless he becomes a superstar, this is a can't win for everyone: the organization, the fans, and Heyward-Bey. To make matters worse, Oakland then took a player ranked by most as a 7th rounder or undrafted free agent in the second round. The two groups that I feel the worst for are Raiders fans and sea monsters. If I were a sea monster I would not want to be part of the same species as Al Davis.

The next thing I wanted to talk about was Percy Harvin going to the Vikings with the 22nd pick. I know a lot of readers have already accused us at Guys Who Like Sports of being complete Percy Harvin homers because we got to watch him for four years at Florida…and all I can say is that we are. If we were writing a blog just about Percy Harvin, the blog would be called, “Guys Who Have Extreme Heterosexual Man Crushes on Percy Harvin and Don’t Care Who Knows”. That being said, we are extremely excited about the prospects of Percy Harvin playing alongside Adrian Peterson. Having a versatile, explosive player like that alongside the best running back in the league will elevate both of their games. So much so that PERCY HARVIN WILL BE OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. That’s right, I said it and here’s why.

The Vikings are the perfect team to utilize Percy because they already run the ball well. They can use Percy as a decoy to take one guy out of the box in order to open up space for Peterson, and they can also use Peterson as a decoy on reverses and end-arounds to open up space on the edge for Harvin. The common thought around the National Football League (we have to spell it out at least once a post like Jaws so we sound smarter) is that defenses are too fast to allow even speedsters like Percy to run East-West, they have to run North-South. However, with a great runner like Adrian Peterson having eight or nine guys in the box keying on him, the opportunities for Percy to get to the edge on quick outs, bubble screens, reverses, and end-arounds will be almost endless. I really can’t think of many players who will be able to tackle Percy Harvin in space.

On top of that, Percy gets to play 8 games a year on fast astro-turf, and their schedule isn’t stacked with great run defenses. They do have to play the Steelers and Ravens, but they get to play the weak NFC West, as well as two games against the Lions. There it is, Percy’s path to Rookie of the Year. Hopefully, Brad Childress doesn’t stifle him, and allows him to turn into the great player he should be.

NFL Draft Countdown T-minus 3 days

With three days until the NFL draft, we're continuing our NFL draft preview. In this edition, we take a look at the Bush Effect (not our 43rd President but rather Reggie Bush of the New Orleans Saints).

2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush was supposed to be the next can't miss star of the National Football League (emphasizing it like Ron Jaworski would, because it’s cooler to say than just NFL.) However, since being drafted by the Saints with the second pick in draft, Bush has been labeled a disappointment by many football pundits. He has certainly kept a high profile, as dating Kim Kardashian will do (but is anyone actually keeping up with the Kardashians?) However, he was supposed to be a transcendent NFL player after his electrifying career at USC, but he has underachieved in the NFL…or has he?

Some like ESPN's own Mel Kiper thought he was always going to be limited even when they scouted him in college. Many experts said he was going to be a game changer but doubted his ability to be a feature back. If Reggie Bush's career was to be a Coors Light Commercial, Dennis Green would be the coach and not Jim Mora. Reggie Bush is who draft experts thought he was, and he isn't off the hook yet.

Since Bush isn’t a feature back, he hasn’t had the conventional impact that most Football pundits were expecting. However, Bush still electrifies the NFL with his punt returns and his big play ability. Since entering the league, the Reggie Bush effect has become apparent upon the league. He was seen as a “can't miss” player; however, he couldn't fit into any existing schemes as a feature back. His skill set doesn't allow him to take the pounding up the middle and break big runs out of base plays and schemes. To get yards he needs big holes and gadget plays. When he is in the game, defenses automatically play for a draw, screen, end around or reverse. As a result, his talents and abilities are now even more defended against limiting his productivity.

The Bush Effect can be seen on both sides of the ball. Look at all the coaches who take their retread players with them to their new teams because they know they will fit into their schemes. Eric Mangini alone has taken Jets defensive lineman C.J. Mosley, cornerback Hank Poteat, outside linebacker David Bowens and safety Abram Elam with him to the Browns. Now, look at a player like Percy Harvin, who is falling down draft boards. He doesn't fit into a particular scheme because of what he did as a Gator, so now teams are labeling him as a bad route runner, or not durable. Translation: we are afraid that we can't fit Percy into our schemes and we don't want to make packages for him so we just aren't going to draft him. He was a do-it-all back/receiver of the Gators Spread Offense leading them to two national championships. Just because he had success in a non conventional college offense doesn't mean he can't fit into a traditional NFL offense. He can.

Here at Guys Who Like Sports, we urge coaches and GM’s to be creative. Just because you can't envision an electrifying player in your system doesn't mean you shouldn't take him. Don't punish players for having good all around games, like Bush, without doing one thing extremely well. Percy Harvin could end up being one of the best wide receivers in the league, but if you can’t think outside the box and envision a way to put a playmaker like him on the field, you might pay for it down the road.

-Guy #2

NFL Draft Countdown: T- 4 days

With four days to go until the NFL Draft, we decided to focus on things we've got issues with heading into Saturday.

Here at Guys Who Like Sports, we don't understand the sudden drop of Florida receiver Percy Harvin. Well, actually we do understand why he's falling, and it's because of so-called "character issues." As someone who's watched Harvin play for the past three years, I honestly can't see where this is coming from. Let me throw out a number for you: 0. That's the number of times Harvin's been suspended and the amount of times that he's been arrested at UF. It's insulting that NFL teams are acting like he's been a thug his whole time at UF when that's clearly not the case.

Harvin has gotten the dreaded "character issues" label because of a suspected positive marijuana test at the NFL Combine. Apparently, smoking weed will negate three stand-up years of no character issues in college. Is Harvin the first NFL player to smoke marijuana? No. Will he be the last player? No. Frankly, I would be more concerned if he were caught using steroids, as that does impact performance on the field. But, if the NFL draft has taught us anything in recent years, it's that you can be forgiven for using steroids. Don't believe me? Luis Castillo, who admitted to using steroids before the 2005 draft, appeared on the cover of the Spanish version Madden 2008.

If you want to degrade Harvin, then cite injury problems or transition to an NFL offense, because those are legitimate concerns. Harvin's missed at least two games in each of his three seasons at Florida due to injury, and as everyone knows, Gator receivers haven't fared all too well in the NFL.

However, at UF, Harvin's been nothing short of a warrior. If NFL teams should take anything away, it should be the grit and determination he showed when rehabbing from a hairline fracture in his ankle, so he could play in the BCS Title Game against Oklahoma. And how'd he do in that game? How about 171 total yards in a Championship Game win. If I'm an NFL executive, I'll take a guy like that on my team anyday.