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Draft Q&A
PFW's Nolan Nawrocki answers readers' questions about this year's draft
By Nolan Nawrocki
April 9, 2008
E-mail your draft questions to Nolan Nawrocki at ASKquestions@pfwmedia.com. He'll be answering selected questions on this Web site every Wednesday preceding the draft.
Are Tommy Blake's well-chronicled problems at TCU the last year or two viewed by NFL teams as character concerns or medical concerns? Do NFL teams (any and/or all) draw a distinction between those two categories, or do NFL teams just view players as available or unavailable to play, regardless of the reason?
— Chris Varner, Signal Mountain, Tenn.
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TCU DE Tommy Blake
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Chris,
Teams are concerned about Blake first and foremost from a medical standpoint, given that he has been diagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder. Character, though, ties into his condition. Character can be broken down into many more elements and relates not just to what a player does off the field but what he does on it and in preparation for the game, such as work ethic, punctuality and commitment. Blake lost touch with the weight room as he concentrated on his health, and his weight ballooned. His medical condition clearly affected his conditioning.
Teams have also expressed some concern about his ability to relate to teammates and blend into a locker room, with team chemistry being paramount to success in the NFL today. So to answer your question, in Blake’s situation, it’s difficult to truly separate his medical and character evaluations, and both could affect not only his draft status but what kind of pro he eventually becomes.
Generally speaking, if teams judge an injury or character flaw to be not worth the risk of drafting a player, they will remove his name from their draft boards altogether. If the concern is considerable but not great, teams may leave a player stacked on their board but flip the card upside down, tilt it or shade it a color to reflect their biggest concerns, whether it be for character, injury or intelligence. When the later rounds come and there is still a player stacked high on the board, the pick becomes more attractive the less a team knows it has to invest in him. Most teams begin to seriously consider talent with serious flaws in the fourth round.
If the Cardinals cannot land a cornerback in the first round, what cornerbacks can they select in the second round?
— Anthony Edwards
Anthony,
From what I gather from sources in Arizona, there is no elite cornerback who stands out head and shoulders from the rest, and it's likely they will direct their attention more toward finding Edgerrin James' replacement early.
Midway through the second round, I would expect they may have a chance at Auburn CB Patrick Lee, Connecticut CB Tyvon Branch and perhaps even Virginia Tech CB Brandon Flowers. All of them are very physical and could bring the toughness desired by tough-minded Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
Why didn't Eddie Royal play in the Senior Bowl game? He looked great in the practices, but did not play in the game?
— Keith Sarson
Keith,
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Virginia Tech WR-RS Eddie Royal
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Great question. He told NFL clubs that he had tweaked his hamstring, but not all clubs believed it. Throughout college, he was known to have a bit of a track mentality. He has been known to take himself out of games, especially if everything was not perfect for him and he was not 100 percent. While he is a superb returner and could help a team readily in the slot, his toughness, or lack thereof, could keep him from reaching his potential in a big man's game. Nonetheless, he does not figure to slip beyond the second round because of his dual capacities.
Will (Chargers GM) A.J. Smith, stay pat [and if so, who is he secretly coveting] or will he trade down and wind up with a 2 and a 3 in exchange for his one.
I wake up at 5:00 am on draft day PST and start my preparations, food [for breakfast, lunch and dinner], newspapers, PFW draft guides, my favorite spot on the couch, everything and anything, my wife and the kids are gone, this is my Christmas darn it.
— Fab Mundo, Canyon Country, Calif.
Fab,
Your instincts are spot on. I fully expect the Chargers, who do not have a pick in the second, third or fourth rounds, to aggressively seek a trade that would better allow them to continue building through the draft, as A.J. Smith has shown he is very capable of doing. With how well they have drafted and re-signed their own players, they have few pressing needs. However, they could use depth at offensive tackle, cornerback, safety, running back and defensive tackle.
With Michael Turner out of the equation and many teams carrying the belief that you need two backs to keep an offense balanced, I would look for them to target a powerful, hard-charging back in a similar mold as Turner in the middle rounds. Matt Forté and Tashard Choice are two backs who would fit the bill, if they should happen to be available. Even though they just extended Clinton Hart to a long-term deal and gave up three picks last year to move up and secure Eric Weddle, they could upgrade the safety position early, as well.
However, Smith recognizes value as well as anyone, and there's a good chance he will draft the best player available when his time comes on the clock. They have had great success drafting talent that others have passed because of injury concerns, such as Antonio Cromartie, Marcus McNeill and Shane Olivea. Don't be surprised if they consider Wisconsin CB Jack Ikegwuonu sooner than others, recognizing how good he could be when he returns to full health.
How much will Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie having only one kidney affect how high he gets drafted? Are there many teams that have removed him from their draft board?
— Michael
Mike,
I don't see it affecting him much at all. He does not play physical and does not figure to be in a lot of collisions that could make him more susceptible to injury. He will earn his paycheck locking down receivers. A lot of teams were fearful of Terence Newman's neck injury when he entered the draft in 2003, with some teams going as far as to say he would never play more than four years. He just completed his fifth season as one of the game's premier shutdown cornerbacks and has not been fazed by the injury. It has made some decision makers uneasy with all the money given to rookies today, but it may not affect him at all.
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2008 Draft Preview
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If you would like to read more about the players who are about to enter the April 26-27 NFL draft, Pro Football Weekly has two publications that will fit the bill — the 2008 Draft Preview book and the 2008 Draft Guide.
The 200-page 2008 Draft Preview book, which sells for $19.95, contains detailed scouting reports on nearly 500 prospects with each player's height, weight, 40-time, positives and negatives. You'll also get our rankings of more than 900 draft prospects and a breakdown of each NFL team's needs, by position. Written by PFW personnel analyst Nolan Nawrocki and the editors of PFW, the Draft Preview book is widely recognized as the "bible of the draft." Books are now ready to be shipped.
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2008 Draft Guide
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Meanwhile, hot off the presses, the 2008 Draft Guide is a 152-page magazine that sells for $6.99, showcasing feature stories on Arkansas RB Darren McFadden and the secret to drafting success, a sleeper watch, a fantasy forecast and more. In addition, you'll find scouting reports on more than 350 players, draft previews for all 32 teams (including each club's top five areas of need and a "hot list" of prospects who fit the team's schemes) and rankings of the prospects by position.
The 2008 Draft Guide is available now at newsstands and bookstores throughout the country. Both of the above publications can be ordered now from the PFW store. You will receive a discount if you purchase both the 2008 Draft Preview book and the 2008 Draft Guide magazine from the PFW store with our Combo-Pack offer.
Related Articles:
Links to our online draft coverage
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