THE GREAT BLUE NORTH MAILBAG

November 2, 2006:

GBN: You asked for it (in response to the Scouts Notebook article earlier this week on the draft prospects of Ohio State QB Troy Smith). OSU's Troy Smith would be the #1 overall selection without a doubt if he was 6'4". His poise, accuracy, ball control, running ability, elusiveness, and ability to take over a game are better than Vince Young last year. His ability in the pocket right now is better than Vick or Young. His ability to make plays within the confines of the offense and ad-libbing it on the fly as he often does when things break down make him so valuable. I would be stunned if he fell below the 20th pick in the first round, and I think teams that pass on him will be trying to explain why for years to come. He's been durable, and the only mental mistake he's made was accepting cash from a booster before OSU's bowl game 2 years ago. Comparing him to Stanton and Quinn, there's no comparison. Hands down he's outperformed them in college. The only reason his passing totals don't dwarf Quinn's is because OSU has done a better job of dominating the competition, so he doesn't have to throw much at all in the 2nd half of games. Put yourself in a draft room, if you had the chance to draft a guy who almost never turns it over, completes nearly 70% of his balls, makes good decisions, and can run with this kind of ability, why wouldn't you draft him? Size doesn't matter, right? OK in the NFL at some positions it does, but Grossman, Brees, Vick, Alex Smith, Brunell, Delhomme, Favre, Bruce Gradkowski, Jon Kitna, McNabb, and Tony Romo are all under 6'3". If you could pick a QB with height, accuracy, athletic ability, leadership, and arm strength, you would, but if you had to sacrifice one of those traits, giving up a little height, when others have done it successfully in the league, seems like a small trade off when a guy is so good elsewhere. I've gotten that off my chest, I hope he ends up in the NFC, the Bengals clearly wouldn't stand a chance against him. MAP.

GBN: It would really be great if you guys were realistic in your projection of the Raiders top pick. (ed. Note… we had Oakland taking Brady Quinn in our last 2007 draft projection.) Andrew Walter is obviously the QB of the future in Oakland. And he's relatively cheap as a 3rd rounder. When was the last time the Raiders drafted a QB this high? Eldridge Dickey in 1968? And with our cap situation, Al Davis is not gonna pay #1 pick QB money. Let's get real. Putting Brady Quinn in that spot is taking the easy way.

GBN responds: Trying to predict what any particular team will do with their top pick is something akin to trying to herd cats, and with the Raiders its closer to trying to herd cats on steroids. The Raiders may in fact opt to stick with Walter for a year or two longer, however, Oakland fans probably need to be realistic in assessing Walter’s potential. Walter does have a strong arm, but one really has to question his decision-making to date. He’s a third year guy with a 47% completion rate, has throw three times as many picks as TD passes and has been fumbling at the rate of about one per game. Obviously, Walter doesn’t get a lot of support from his mates but those are not good numbers. Of course, the fact that that Raiders have now one a couple of games may make the whole Quinn deal academic as they likely won’t get a shot at him anyway.

GBN: Don't forget (in the Rookie Report about Ryan O'Callaghan, New England's 5th round pick. He has been starting most if not all of the year at RT. Not bad starting on a 6-1 team for a 5th rounder. There has not been any mention of him in your reports, that I can recall. L.C.

GBN responds: Actually he did get a mention a couple of weeks back, but otherwise point taken.

GBN: I know it's early but in 50 years of watching football I cannot remember a class as good as this years. There are more players playing than ever before and even undrafted free agents are making an impact. A review might be in interesting. JA

GBN responds: Indeed, we will have our mid-season 2006 draft grades for all teams up sometime early next week. And yes it has been a pretty good season to date for this year’s rookie class, especially the undrafted free agents.

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