Random Thoughts: Most Overrated Players in 2008 NFL Draft
Posted by thehuddlereport.com on April 14, 2008
Joe (Fiasco) Flacco QB Delaware – I’m not sure why this kid is being touted as a high draft choice but it has gotten to the point were I’m wondering why he is not being considered to be a top ten pick in this draft the way everyone is talking about him. I think the best way to get my point across is to quote an e-mail that was sent to me recently by one of our members.
“You’re the only guy I can vent to about all this Joe Flacco hype. I’m glad the draft is 3 weeks away because I can’t take much more of this. I mean, doesn’t something have to be said for the kid who actually goes to a big-time program (any program for that matter) and COMPETES for a spot on the roster? The guy completely chickens-out at Pitt and decides to go to Delaware! Delaware man!! Then he shows up at the Senior Bowl and completely sucks. The coaches had to give him the Ol’ Mercy pull out of the game just to keep his stock from dropping like Colt Brennan’s. Then he comes to the Combine where there is no defense in front of him and throws some pretty spirals. Now Kiper and Mayock have this joker rated as the #2 QB in the draft. Can you believe that? I think they should have their credentials stripped immediately and be made to scout women’s college track and field for a minimum of 10 years. Ridiculous. I seem to get laughed at a lot when I say that I’d draft Matt Flynn before Joe Flacco but I’ve got a feeling that you’ll agree with me.”
I could not have said it better myself. As I say “It takes more than talent to play in the NFL”. Someday Scouts, GM’s, and Coaches are going to realize that. We know the fans do!
Glen Dorsey DT LSU – If you think that Glen is going to be the impact player in the NFL the way he was in college then all I have to say to you is ask these players who were picked in the 2003 draft – Dwayne Robertson DT #4, Jonathan Sullivan DT # 6, Jimmy Kennedy DT # 12, Ty Warren DT #13, William Joseph DT # 25. Except for Ty Warren all of these players have struggled to come close to their college performance. The reason is very simple, on the field work ethic!
Devin Thomas WR Michigan St – I’m not going to suggest that Devin is going to be a complete bust because the kid has talent. I am suggesting that if he is taken too high in the draft and force him on to the field to produce right away like a #1 WR then there will be problems. Devin has a lot to learn about how to run routes. I mean a lot to learn. His impact route at the college level was an underneath crossing route against LB’s. That is not enough at the NFL. There is a reason he did not run the rest of the tree route. He has trouble going over the middle and it will take him some time to conquer that problem. Not to mention – learn to run the other routes and get separation. It takes more than speed to be a good WR in the NFL.
Jeff Otah OT Pittsburgh – Jeff does not like the LT position. He likes the money but not the responsibility of playing that position. He has the talent but he is not consistent and falls into very bad habits doing the game. Jeff can be a good LT or RT but he will not be a consistent offensive lineman to be a LT. If you draft him and think that he will learn to be more responsible and consistent then you are in for a big surprise. If Jeff is taken too high in this draft and forced to play LT he will struggle big time until you put him over on the right side and even then his lack of consistency will rear its ugly head at the worst of times.
Brian Brohm QB Louisville – Brian struggles with pressure at the college level. He has good skills but he goes to pieces against a hard pass rush at the college level. He did improve this year but only enough to be productive and not enough to win. I’m not sure if Brian will improve much beyond the level his is right now and that means he should not be taken in the first three rounds of this draft so that he can mature slowly. Brian has AJ Feeley disease. That means as long as he is a back up he looks like he could be a pretty good starter. But as soon as you count on him to be your starter his negatives outweigh the positives.
These are just some of the overrated players in this draft. If you go to Rob’s value board and look at the TBR column you will see the possibility for a whole lot more. Some owners are starting to use us to keep track of what is being said about players to keep a scorecard on their Draft Management teams. All I can say to that is – it’s about time. I pity the draft management team that drafts Joe (Fiasco) Flacco on the first day of this draft with the suggestion that this kid is going to come close to starting in the NFL. I can see it know. Joe will start, throw a touch down pass and throw for over two hundred yards but will also throw two interceptions and fumble the ball and the coaches will blame it all on the rest of the team. It will be the WR ran the wrong route or the LT did not do his job or on and on and on when the truth is that Joe is not mentally capable of handling a NFL pass rush and making decisions. I suspect that Joe will go through two head coaches and four offensive coordinators before somebody will have the guts to hold Joe responsible and then it will be too late.
April 15, 2008 at 10:54 pm
You all have a good website and I agree with a lot of your opinions, but you actually think NFL owners should judge their scouting system based on your opinion of players? If you’re that good, maybe you should consider actually trying to land a job with an NFL team.
April 16, 2008 at 7:50 am
Greg,
We started this site for the fans. The only thing we do that I think should be of value to a team in the NFL is Rob’s Value Board. Because Rob has such a good accuracy rating I would think the value board would be of interest to every team in the NFL. I am told they have a big intrest in the Mock drafts also but I’m not sure how true that is. We leave it up to the teams in the NFL to choose for themselves if they feel that anything on the site is of value to them. We do not solicite any NFL team about our site. They find us.
My profiles are for your entertainment. They are meant for you and to help you form your own opinions. They are meant for you to agree with or to disagree with. I try to be as honest as I can and profile the player without prejedice. My profiles do not reflect what everyone else is saying for two reasons,
1) I do most of my profiles from watching film of players during the college season. Rob and I both tape these games off our TV’s. I do not bother to tape the bowl games because that’s when players who have not shown up all season seem to all of a sudden find their legs for that one game because the whole world is watching. I watch the bowl games but I do not bother to tape them. This is my way of weeding out the pretenders.
2) I don’t listen to “inside” information or combine rumors. The combine for me is just to confirm some of my thoughts about a player one way or the other. Sometimes I’m surprised by a players lack of speed and will have to go back to some film to see how I screwed up but most of the time the combine confirms what I already knew. IMO “inside information” is information that is meant to sway a persons opinion of a player. For example “Vernon Gholston takes downs off ”. IMO that is just very sad, distructive and untrue statement and is meant to drop the players value in the draft to embarees the team who might pick Vernon as the first player in this draft.
The two board system that we use at THR shows you the fan - how the talent of a player and the politics of the draft interact. As far as the NFL owners starting to use us to evaluate their own management teams? All I can tell you is that for the first time in an NFL owners life they are getting information from an unbiased outside source and can use us as a tool to help them evaluate their own managemnt team. Now when mistakes are made on a players ability they can see for themselves if it’s the players fault because everybody had the same expectations of that player or if there management team is taking uncalculated chances.
So to answer your original question, the truth is we started this site for the fan. What ever comes of it after that is just gravy.
April 19, 2008 at 3:24 am
Flacco will need anxiety meds to succeed. I don’t get the hype.
I’ve caught more passes from finesse guys than strong arm types
who can’t move their feet or look off the primary receiver. If you
lock on one guy, it means you DO NOT HAVE VISION.
Otah won’t play a down at LT. Thomas will not be effective
unless in the Z in the west coast offense.
I’m glad some of this OBVIOUS stuff is being told straight up away from the stupid shttt one sees on TV or is written about
by those who propagate what others are saying.
April 24, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Joe Flacco will be a star in the NFL. Flacco left Dave Wannstedt in the dust and who wouldn’t. Dave Wannstedt is a complete idiot and its a wonder why he is still a head coach as he has never ever impressed me with his football accumen. Hell if Wannstedt kept Flacco just maybe his Pittsburgh team would of fared much better. Flacco also for all of those who don’t believe that he is a big time talent wowed everyone at the NFL pro and private workouts and at the NFL combine he was the most impressive of all the QB’s and he is a great deal more mobile than anyone thought. To those who think of Flacco as a chicken to play somewhere else. Well I for one admire a guy who took his chances to play and he believed in himself so much so that he had to forfeit his scholarship and pay his own tuition so that he could start somewhere else. This shows me that he has true character and that he has a tremendous amount of confidence in himself and that goes a long way with me for many wouldn’t of taken the chance that Flacco did so its ridiculous to think of him as being chicken and for anyone that thinks that way then doesn’t know what Flacco did to prove to others that he was worthy of starting. Now for the kicker, Flacco scored the highest wonderlic score of any QB at the NFL combine with answering 27 of 50 questions correctly the second best score came from Chad Henne who scored 22 of 50 questions right. Now if the reason of most who say that Flacco played at a small school and didn’t see the type of competeition that others did I say this then tell me why a small school QB answered more questions correctly than a Chad Henne who played at one of the biggest football programs in the country and was a starter not 4 years compared to Flacco’s 2 years. Flacco is special and most of the NFL GM’s are completely aware of his talents and how can you overlook his physical tools and to add to his physical presence he has the brains to go along with the rifle arm. I am a big time Jet fan and am hoping that the Jets move back in the first round and trade up to get him before Miami or Atlanta does in the second round.
April 25, 2008 at 11:57 am
Rudy,
I can appreciate your opinion about Joe. I’m not questioning Joe as a person. I’m sure all the things you said about his personality is true. All I can tell you is what I see on the film. I don’t care what happen at Pittsburgh but I do care what I saw on the film while he was playing for Delaware. I said in my profile that he is slow to set up, he is slow to make decisions, he is slow to get rid of the ball, and he struggled big time handling pressure in his face at that level of competition. Suggesting he is going to handle the pressure at the NFL level is ridicules.
Joe could be a good QB but it will take a long time. To rate him as high as most people have rated is a recipe for failure for this kid. He is not ready to perform at the next level for at least 4 or 5 years. If he is drafted too high and forced to go on the field because of a financial investment then IMO he will fail. The NFL does this all the time and it’s a shame they make the same mistakes over and over again and again. It is not Joe Flacco’s fault. He is just doing the best he can. The NFL has got to do something about developing QB’s for its league. Joe Flacco could be a pretty good QB in the same mold as Vinnie Testerverde was but he must not be drafted too high and most sit and learn the position and not forced on to the field before he is ready. Drafting Joe in the first two rounds IMO is a big mistake for his future but he will make a lot of money if he does fail so I guess it won’t be all that bad.