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smallcollegefbfan
April 29th, 2013, 12:23 AM
I have been talking to as many people around the league as I can and going through the numbers digesting what NFL teams basically said in this draft.

1. Cooper Taylor passed the medical and the Giants have one of the best medical teams in the NFL. He should be fine. Solid pick in 5th round.

2. Da'Rick Rogers, Dax Swanson, Jayson DiManche, and Jakar Hamilton are the only names that anyone is surprised did not get drafted and Rogers only fell due to character. Keith Pough and Tyrone Goard didn't have a good enough postseason to really get much chatter in the late rounds. Most teams had them as free agents.

3. I kept preaching Sam Martin. 5th round. I expected 6th round to Detroit but there you go. Great player and best kicking talent in FCS, proven by the opinions of teams. Lions aren't the only ones who had him in the draft. I'm told the Jets, Giants, Broncos, Eagles, Vikings, and many more had him in the 5th-7th round range.

4. Despite the pleas from App fans Steven Miller was never considered to get drafted. He got a free agent shot like expected. There will never be a 5'6, 172 pound RB drafted from FCS unless he has years of production, major all-star game, and lights up workouts.

5. NFL teams were clear this year in downgrading skill guys. So many fell. About 6-8 less WRs were drafted than on average so they did not value them and they fell this year. A lot more DL and OL got drafted than usual.

6. Brad Sorensen really fell. Went from a guy I had 4th round entering the year to a 7th-PFA who barely snuck in the draft. I'm told he was going to be really sought after if not drafted and thus why a team took a flyer on him late trying to keep from fighting others. He could be a #3 as a rookie for sure. He's got the tools.

7. Just as expected Alford and Armstead were the first two taken. I have been loving them for a long time and they showed they belonged in the postseason. They were no surprise at all.

8. 3 Ivy League players taken and they came right off the board just like expected.

9. There were a few combine snubs drafted with Harvard's Kyle Juszczyk leading the way followed by Sam Martin, Mike Catapano, Cooper Taylor, and Nate Palmer. The only one who surprised me was Palmer. I had him as a pure PFA grade.

BY CONFERENCE
SoCon- 5
CAA- 4
Ivy League- 3
OVC- 2
Big Sky- 1
MEAC- 1
MVFC- 1
Southland- 1
SWAC- 1

As usual, SoCon and CAA lead the way. App and GSU leaving will hurt that number though and likely make the CAA the leader alone, especially with Stony Brook and Albany joining. Those two programs have potential draft picks on their teams for the future.

And I know SeanTaylor and Chattownmocs made some bold predictions on players. Guys, I don't make up what I'm telling you. I keep watching these guys and I talk to teams. That's why maybe 1 or 2 surprise me and get drafted. To be honest, this draft was by the book for the most part except Rogers would have gone had he not had character issues, Mellette fell a round, and Dax Swanson and Jakar Hamilton were two players that I think only fell out of the draft because of pro day and character for Hamilton, respectively.

The one player I think teams missed the boat on is Jayson DiManche. He's better than people think and a player who is going to be developed. I have no doubt he will have a solid career (3-5 years or more).
Saint3333
April 29th, 2013, 09:35 AM
Not sure any App fan predicted Miller would get drafted. Most thought he would be a FA signing.
Lehigh Football Nation
April 29th, 2013, 09:39 AM
I'll be honest, I thought Brandon Kaufman slipping to PFA really surprised me. When I saw Mellette falling to the 7th round (and going to the Ravens, of all teams), I knew it was a tough year for WR. FCS had a ton of awesome WRs last season.
Ivytalk
April 29th, 2013, 10:45 AM
Good info!
smallcollegefbfan
April 29th, 2013, 11:42 AM
Not sure any App fan predicted Miller would get drafted. Most thought he would be a FA signing.

A few seemed to think he might. The buzz on the boards was him but like I said right after the pro day, the show was Sam Martin. He was the reason many teams came. I know of at least 8 teams who had a solid draft grade on him and 4 of those 8 were teams who drafted or signed a punter this year.
Pard4Life
April 29th, 2013, 12:22 PM
I would like to reiterate that since the Ivy League had third most players drafted in FCS, and since they do not participate in the playoffs, Ivy teams are inferior, Pioneer League-like quality and should not be ever considered for the AGS Top 25.
gotts
April 29th, 2013, 12:28 PM
I would like to reiterate that since the Ivy League had third most players drafted in FCS, and since they do not participate in the playoffs, Ivy teams are inferior, Pioneer League-like quality and should not be ever considered for the AGS Top 25.

SELA had a player drafted in the second round and they didn't sniff the top-25 either. Your point? (Yes, I'm fully aware of the sarcastic tone)
danefan
April 29th, 2013, 01:56 PM
I would like to reiterate that since the Ivy League had third most players drafted in FCS, and since they do not participate in the playoffs, Ivy teams are inferior, Pioneer League-like quality and should not be ever considered for the AGS Top 25.

SWAC usually has a bunch of guys picked....those teams aren't good either.

Having an NFL player does not ALWAYS equal quality teams.
danefan
April 29th, 2013, 01:57 PM
SCFBF - Out of curiosity - what guys from Albany do you have on your radar for next year?
seantaylor
April 30th, 2013, 01:55 AM
Don't think Eubanks getting drafted was bold. He didnt, so what can you do? It's a very inexact science. One year Barkley is a top 3 pick in a QB strong draft, next year he is a third rounder in a weak draft.
smallcollegefbfan
April 30th, 2013, 04:17 PM
SCFBF - Out of curiosity - what guys from Albany do you have on your radar for next year?

I have 2 names on my list. I won't have my list completely done until August.
smallcollegefbfan
April 30th, 2013, 04:20 PM
Don't think Eubanks getting drafted was bold. He didnt, so what can you do? It's a very inexact science. One year Barkley is a top 3 pick in a QB strong draft, next year he is a third rounder in a weak draft.

Don't let the media fool you! Barkley was never a top 10 pick. Teams were breaking him down and he likely would have been a late first round pick. He fell to the 4th because of the year he had but he was not quite a top 5 pick. That's just where the media had him.

Draft is not as inexact in terms of names as people think. Yes, there are surprises. But if you look at my list of names I posted as possible draft picks, every one of them was drafted or got in a camp, and nobody was drafted that was not on the list. I won't put names out there of players who aren't legit and on the NFL radar.

Eubanks was not rated high enough to get drafted. I think he has a good shot to stick though because of his skill set.

The only surprise draft pick for me was Nate Palmer because Ericksen was the best player on that defense. GB just took Palmer because they felt he fit their scheme and is athletic. Most teams had him as a free agent. That pick, Mellette falling from 6th to late 7th, and then Rogers not getting at least a 7th round pick were the only real surprises from FCS after talking with scouts.

Don't let the lack of media hype on Sam Martin surprise you. Martin was 5th-7th round on a lot of boards. There were teams who did not need a punter but wanted to sign him after the draft, however they knew he would not go undrafted.
smallcollegefbfan
April 30th, 2013, 04:23 PM
SELA had a player drafted in the second round and they didn't sniff the top-25 either. Your point? (Yes, I'm fully aware of the sarcastic tone)

Exactly. No Ivy League team had multiple draft picks and the entire league wasn't littered with them. There were 3, as expected. The Harvard kid is the best of the group in the eyes of the NFL folks.
seantaylor
May 1st, 2013, 05:49 AM
Media never skews my opinion. Barkley would have been a top 10 pick last season. Not saying he deserved it, but it would have happened. NFL draft is the weakest draft in all sports in the first round in terms of busts. Jamarcus Russell was the ultimate mulligan. No other draft in the 4 major sports would a guy with that resume gone first.
asumike83
May 1st, 2013, 09:20 AM
A few seemed to think he might. The buzz on the boards was him but like I said right after the pro day, the show was Sam Martin. He was the reason many teams came. I know of at least 8 teams who had a solid draft grade on him and 4 of those 8 were teams who drafted or signed a punter this year.

I think having only one year as the feature back hurt him. If he had started 2-3 years at App with that kind of production, he could have possibly snuck in there because his impressive workout would have been at the combine instead of App's pro day. The Lions were the team I saw him linked to the most leading up to the draft and I hoped maybe they would take him late but I'm glad he's getting a shot.
smallcollegefbfan
May 1st, 2013, 10:43 PM
I think having only one year as the feature back hurt him. If he had started 2-3 years at App with that kind of production, he could have possibly snuck in there because his impressive workout would have been at the combine instead of App's pro day. The Lions were the team I saw him linked to the most leading up to the draft and I hoped maybe they would take him late but I'm glad he's getting a shot.

With his size I can guarantee you there is no shot he could get drafted. If Danny Woodhead didn't get drafted, Steven Miller doesn't. He's a good player but just too small to get drafted.

I hope he can make it but I think he ends up in the CFL or AFL.
smallcollegefbfan
May 1st, 2013, 10:45 PM
Media never skews my opinion. Barkley would have been a top 10 pick last season. Not saying he deserved it, but it would have happened. NFL draft is the weakest draft in all sports in the first round in terms of busts. Jamarcus Russell was the ultimate mulligan. No other draft in the 4 major sports would a guy with that resume gone first.

I would not say the NFL Draft is weak. It's just that sometimes one owner falls in love with a player. I can tell you that many in the NFL had Russell as a 2nd or 3rd round pick. It only takes one team to make it seem a player's stock is higher than it is by most of them when the team picks the player. Although, this year's draft had little surprise for FCS guys. I didn't see much that was not dead on what I projected.