40 Acres Sports

Man, it sure feels good to see Vince get off the board so early in the draft. So much craziness happened with the top 2 picks I had no idea what was going to happen to Vince.

I think Tennessee is a good fit for Vince, considering he has a chance to learn from Steve McNair who had a similar playing style when he came out of college. What I think is most interesting about this pick though, is that even Norm Chow couldn’t get Matt Leinart to come to the Titans. Definitely a telling sign if you ask me.

More analysis to come later. Now it is time to go and buy a Tennessee Titans jersey.

Update

Titans just picked up LenDale White with the 35th overall pick, best overall running back in the entire draft for Vince to hand off to now. Kind of wondering why he fell this far, but could be an absolute steal for the Titans. (5:19 pm)

We did our mock draft yesterday and now it’s time for a little more background on the players taken in the first round and which top players I think have bust written all over them. And I’ll be sure to point yet another reason Merril Hoge needs to stop looking just at measurables and actually factor in onfield performance.

Houston Texans

Trade. Trade. Trade. That’s not going to happen, but it’s still the smartest thing the Texans could do. Reggie Bush is a remarkable player and has a huge upside, but the Texans need a lot more than another running back to turn the franchise around. The New York Jets are sitting at number 4 and likely would sell their souls for a marquee name to compete with the Giants and Eli Manning. The trade value chart says the Jets would have to give up their pick at #35 and #71 along with the fourth overall to move up those three spots, and I’m willing to bet they’d do it in a heart beat. The Texans could then pick up either D’Brickashaw Ferguson or Mario Williams (who they claim to be considering at number one) in the four spot, and help address their other needs (CB, OT or DE) with the extra picks. They committed the money to David Carr saying he was their future, now draft like you want him to be alive to see it.

Update: The Texans have signed North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams to a six-year, $54 million deal. They’ve could’ve gotten a a 3rd rounder for the pick and moved down to #4 and possibly still gotten Williams. Whoops. Morons.

Tennessee Titans

There appears to be a battle between the coaching staff and the front office over which quarterback they should take at number three. The latest word is that Titans G.M. Floyd Reese wants Vince Young and that he will be their pick on Saturday. I can’t stand the analysts that keep harping on whether Young or Matt Leinart is “most ready to play now.” If you’re drafting a quarterback and base your decision on the next year or two you’re an idiot. Whichever rookie QB you trot out there in 2006 will be terrible and slightly less sucky in 2007. Draft the guy you think will have the better career and help your team win Super Bowls, not two extra games in 2006.

Detroit Lions

I don’t know how Matt Millen is going to be able to contain himself when Florida’s Chad Jackson and Ohio State’s Santonio Holmes will still be on the board when the Lions pick at nine. More likely, they’ll end up taking yet another Longhorn in Michael Huff. That would give the Detroit Longhorns much needed help in there secondary to go with former Horns Will Matthews, Cory Redding, Shaun Rogers, and Roy Williams. Millen will find a way to botch this.

Jimmy Williams

The Virginia Tech cornerback is probably the best true corner in the draft but I’m hearing a lot of negative news about Williams lately and that it may cause him to fall. It sounds like it’s mostly an attitude issue, no criminal record and no off-field stuff. It will all come down to how he came off in personal interviews with teams such as the Cardinals and Dolphins, otherwise he could fall behind some other, less worthy players.

Brodrick Bunkley, Antonio Cromartie, Ernie Sims, & Kamerion Wimbley

Man, Florida State must have been an outstanding football team this year. Oh wait, they were really average. With three very hyped first rounders on the defensive side of the ball you’d think they could’ve stopped a team like Maryland from putting up 35 points. I’ve knew of Sims and remember Cromartie, but it seems like no one was talking about most of these guys until the last couple of months. Anytime a guy shoots up the draft board based purely on workouts I wonder why if they were so damn talented were they so quiet on the football field? I don’t doubt these guys’ talent, but it takes a lot more than talent to succeed in the National Football League. Cromartie started something like one game in his entire Seminole career and missed all of 2005 with another injury. Sure he’s got great size and speed, but so do some of the other available corners who actually have more than a handful games of experience.

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That noise you hear is thousands of Texans fans groaning & tearing up their season tickets.

Not bad to have the endorsement of one of the greatest QBs of all-time.

A quick look at the Longhorns I don’t think will be going in the first round on Saturday. At different points in their careers (and even at times this year) some of these guys were looked at as first round guys, but most likely Vince Young and Michael Huff will go in the top ten and be the only Longhorns drafted in the first round. Six former Longhorns are likely assured of being taken in one of the seven rounds in this weekend’s draft while three more sit just on the outside with their fingers crossed.

Cedric Griffin, Jon Scott, David Thomas, and Rod Wright

This set of Longhorns will likely all be drafted on the first day in the second or third rounds. Either Griffin or Wright could be the first one off the board. Griffin has good size & strength and the versatility to play either cornerback or safety at the next level. Unlike many of the corners being drafted ahead of him, he also has good cover skills. He doesn’t make perfect adjustments to the ball when it’s in the air, but he’s always in the right place. Better in zone coverage than man, he might end up becoming an excellent safety in the league. Griffin could go early in the second round to Buffalo or Arizona, two teams in need of secondary help but not likely to take a CB in the first round.

Wright also could go early in the second round, I’ve even seen him going as early as to the Steelers as the last pick of the first round in one mock draft. Wright has all the physical tools to make scouts drool, he’s big, strong, quick, and possesses superior athleticism. However, the production just wasn’t there the last two years while he battled double teams and injury and teams wonder about his motivation and effort. He has Pro Bowl ability and if he steps up the increased challenge of the NFL will be an absolute steal in the middle of the second or possibly even the third round. He might work as a defensive end in a 3-4 defense. I see him possibly going to whichever of Cleveland, Baltimore, or St. Louis doesn’t take a DT in the first round. If someone takes Michigan’s Gabe Watson over Wright they’ll regret it in three years.

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3-year deal to endorse service that allows fans to bid on right to purchase face value tickets.

During his recruitment, I thought Sanchez seemed like a good kid, now he’s in serious trouble.

Here’s our projections for how the first round of this Saturday’s NFL Draft will go down. After the first seven picks all hell breaks loose as Matt and I very greatly on who we think goes where. Just one of the many reasons why the NFL Draft is like Christmas and Opening Day rolled into one weekend for both NFL and college football fans.

We’ll have a little further analysis and thoughts on where the other Longhorns like David Thomas and Cedric Griffin will be headed in the next couple of days.

Here’s the picks for the First Annual BevoSports Mock Draft:

The Tennessean asks the three top quarterback prospects fifty useless questions but actually gets some interesting answers…

What’s in your CD player right now?

Matt Leinart: Billy Joel.
Jay Cutler: “I have XM radio.”
Vince Young: Yolanda Adams.

Biggest pet peeve?

Matt Leinart: People chewing with mouth open.
Jay Cutler: Slow drivers.
Vince Young: Losing.

Biggest fear?

Matt Leinart: Failure.
Jay Cutler: Heights.
Vince Young: None.

Leinart’s answer to that first question is really embarassing. Billy Joel? Are you kidding me? Do people still listen to him? Meanwhile Young’s biggest peeve and his biggest fear explain 41-38 in the Rose Bowl nicely. While Leinart was worrying about people with bad manners and thinking about failing, Vince was busy playing the game of his life with no fear. And of course Cutler was at home on his couch watching the game on TV.

Jamaal Charles in the top 5, we’ll see if he gets enough carries to put up big numbers.