2009 NFL Draft, NFL Mock Draft, Player Profiles

(April 28-29, ESPN & ESPN2)

Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home

ALSO: Visit The Scores Report, the National Sports Blog, to discuss and debate the draft.

The NFL Draft has become a spectacle. Football fans mark the days on their calendars and spend hours reading about the available college prospects and uncovering the latest trade rumors. Then, we spend all day watching ESPN, waiting for Mel Kiper to praise our team's selections and hopefully ridicule the picks of our rivals. And because the sorriest teams get the early picks, everyone has hope on draft day.

Much like 2007, there was a lot of uncertainty heading into the 2008 NFL Draft. But ultimately the Dolphins selected a franchise left tackle in Jake Long with the first overall pick, the Rams beefed up their defensive pass rush with the addition of Chris Long at No. 2 and the Falcons took the first quarterback of the 2008 NFL Draft in Matt Ryan of Boston College.

Below you’ll find links to mock drafts, articles, player profiles and much more. Don’t forget to check out The Scores Report too, which will have live blogs on draft day.
2008 Draft Order

1. Miami
2. St. Louis
3. Atlanta
4. Oakland
5. Kansas City
6. NY Jets
7. New England (from San Francisco)
8. Baltimore
9. Cincinnati
10. New Orleans
11. Buffalo
12. Denver
13. Carolina
14. Chicago
15. Detroit
16. Arizona
17. Minnesota
18. Houston
19. Philadelphia
20. Tampa Bay
21. Washington
22. Dallas (from Cleveland)
23. Pittsburgh
24. Tennessee
25. Seattle
26. Jacksonville
27. San Diego
28. Dallas
29. San Francisco
30. Green Bay
31. New England (Forfeited Pick)
32. NY Giants

NFL Draft Blog

Courtesy of The Scores Report, the National Sports Blog


Bears nab Unga, Cowboys select Price-Brent in the NFL supplemental draft: It took seven rounds before the two most popular players in this year’s NFL supplemental draft were selected, but BYU running back Harvey Unga and Illinois defensive end Josh Price-Brent eventually found homes. The Bears selected Unga in the seventh round of today’s draft and the Cowboys took Price-Brent in the ... [Continued at The Scores Report. Comments?]


Jeremiah Masoli and the NFL supplemental draft: If I were a NFL GM (and God willing someday I will be, thanks to my extensive sports blogging experience) there isn’t enough booze in an Irish pub to get me drunk enough to select former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli in July’s supplemental draft. Despite having one year of eligibility remaining, ... [Continued at The Scores Report. Comments?]


From inappropriate to plain stupid, NFL pre-draft questions getting absurd: A few weeks ago, Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland made headlines when it was revealed that he asked Cowboys’ first round pick Dez Bryant during a pre-draft interview if his mother was ever a prostitute. It was an insulting and unnecessary question, but it’s obvious that Ireland isn’t the only one ... [Continued at The Scores Report. Comments?]


Dolphins’ GM apologizes to Bryant for asking whether or not mother was a prostitute: Dolphins’ GM Jeff Ireland recently apologized for asking then-NFL prospect Dez Bryant in a pre-draft interview about whether or not his mother was ever a prostitute. From Yahoo! Sports.com: "My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I'm consider drafting. Sometimes that leads to asking ... [Continued at The Scores Report. Comments?]
Mock Drafts
2008 Prospect Profiles

Darren McFadden
Glenn Dorsey
Jake Long
Chris Long
Matt Ryan
Vernon Gholston







 
Past #1 Picks

2008: Jake Long, OT, Michigan (Dolphins)
2007: JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU (Raiders)
2006: Mario Williams, DE, N.C. State (Texans)
2005: Alex Smith, QB, Utah (49ers)
2004: Eli Manning, QB, Mississippi (Chargers)
2003: Carson Palmer, QB, USC (Bengals)
2002: David Carr, QB, Fresno State (Texans)
2001: Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech (Falcons)
2000: Courtney Brown, DE, Penn State (Browns)
1999: Tim Couch, QB, Kentucky (Browns)
1998: Peyton Manning, QB, Tennessee (Colts)
1997: Orlando Pace, OT, Ohio State (Rams)
1996: Keyshawn Johnson, WR, USC (Jets)
1995: Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Penn State (Bengals)
1994: Dan Wilkinson, DT, Ohio State (Bengals)
1993: Drew Bledsoe, QB, Wash. State (Patriots)
1992: Steve Emtman, DT, Washington (Colts)
1991: Russell Maryland, DT, Miami (Cowboys)
1990: Jeff George, QB, Illinois (Colts)
1989: Troy Aikman, QB, UCLA (Cowboys)
1988: Aundray Bruce, LB, Auburn (Falcons)
1987: Vinny Testaverde, QB, Miami (Buccaneers)
1986: Bo Jackson, RB, Auburn (Buccaneers)
1985: Bruce Smith, DE, Virginia Tech (Bills)
1984: Irving Fryar, WR, Nebraska (Patriots)
1983: John Elway, QB, Stanford (Baltimore Colts)

We just published our first 2008 NFL Mock Draft.

Search "mock draft" on Google and you'll be sorting through results for days since every sports site loves to post their own "expert" predictions on how the draft will shake out. Here are some convenient links to mock drafts around the Web:

Don Banks (SI.com)
Scott Wright (DraftCountdown.com)
HailRedskins.com (Web's largest mock draft database)
NFL Draft Dog
WalterFootball.com
Football’s Future
Consensus Draft Services
NFL Draft King
Huddlegeeks.com
CBS Sportsline
My NFL Draft.com


Columns & Commentary

The Calvin Johnson draft? Maybe not (A. Stalter, 11/06/2007)
Think back to last April when so-called experts were saying the 2007 NFL Draft class lacked elite prospects outside of star receiver Calvin Johnson. Anthony says it only took nine weeks of the NFL season for Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis and a host of other rookies to prove the critics wrong.

Rookie QBs: To play or not to play? (06/29/2007)
Word out of Browns camp is that Brady Quinn has a chance to start this year, which raises the age old question: should rookie quarterbacks line up behind center or carry a clipboard? Anthony looks to past examples like Peyton Manning, Daunte Culpepper and Tim Couch for answers.

Ten draft day moves that may dramatically affect the '07 season (05/04/2007)
While most NFL Draftniks say it takes at least three years to rate a team's draft, Anthony's not waiting. He's got 10 draft day moves -- five good and five not so good -- that could affect the 2007 season. Where did Cleveland's selection of Brady Quinn and New England's trade for Randy Moss rank?


Draft Information on the Web

ESPN.com: Draft coverage
The best sports site on the Web is also loaded with plenty of draft coverage every year. Expert chats, mock drafts and in-depth columns from guys like Len Pasquarelli and John Clayton are all extremely insightful, and the draft tracker lets you follow the action online, pick by pick. Plus, you can enter ESPN's free "First Round Forecast" contest for a chance to win great prizes, including a flat panel TV and NFL2K3 for PlayStation 2. Oh, and don't forget about draft guru Mel Kiper (below).

ESPN.com: Mel Kiper
This guy gets more TV time on draft day than Paul Tagliabue. We gave Kiper his own entry because his page is crammed with great information. Unfortunately, most of it is available to Insider members only, which is ESPN's way to pry open your wallet, but if you've got the spare cash, Kiper's online chats, draft boards, analysis and mock drafts are all top-notch.

Ourlads.com
Great site with lots of free content. This site has previews of the ’06 NCAA Bowls and links to NFL team’s depth charts.

NFL.com
With a little help from CBSSportsline.com, the NFL's official Web site features plenty of useful features, including a draft tracker, player profiles, positional analysis and a comprehensive review of the draft's history.

Football’s Future
This site is loaded with information ranging from mock drafts, player profiles, prospect rankings, team needs and combine news.

Scott Wright's Draft Countdown.com
This is probably one of the most organized draft sites on the web. The information is broken up into organized categories and has everything from mock drafts to player spotlights and rankings. All of the content is 100% free as well.

TheInsiders.com
With extensive pages for each NFL team along with draft notes, columns, player rankings and an NFL Draft Database, this site has it all. Also has fantasy football player news and rankings.

NFL Draft Blitz
Not a bad little site. Team columnists, early entry prospects, team needs, value boards, positional rankings and much, much more can be found here. The site is a little crowded on a whole, but the information is solid.

Football.com
Draft strategies, mock drafts, small-school prospects, positional analysis, draft-day rumors and more. This site is mostly lists and rankings than actual content, however.

NFL Draft Insiders
Self-described as the "premier NFL draft and free agency publication," this site is run by scout Frank Coyle. It's not organized very well but you'll find all the draft information you're looking for here.

KFFL.com
This is more of a general site for sports information than an actual draft guide. However, the information supplied by KFFL.com is some of the fastest. This is your site for quick tidbits on breaking sports news.

Rotoworld.com
This site is similar to KFFL.com, but with more graphics and in-depth information. This site is excellent for any kind of breaking sports news.

HailRedskins.com
If you're a Washington Redskins fan, check out HailRedskins.com for news, ticket info, blogs and much more. If you're just a mock draft nut, HailRedskins.com is the web's largest mock draft database on the web!

NFL Draft Dog.com
Excellent site for combine notes, player updates, mock drafts and weekly profiles.

WalterFootball.com
WalterFootball.com has everything from breaking NFL news, message boards and predictions, to over 100 mock draft links. The site isn't just for the NFL Draft, but also the MLB, NBA and college sports too.


2007 Draft Recap

2007 Prospect Profiles

Gaines Adams
Jamaal Anderson
Alan Branch
Levi Brown
Ted Ginn Jr.
Calvin Johnson
LaRon Landry

Amboi Okoye
Adrian Peterson
Brady Quinn
JaMarcus Russell
Troy Smith
Joe Thomas
Patrick Willis

After months of speculation the Raiders settled on strong-armed LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell with the first overall pick. From there, the Lions took highly touted Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson and the Browns scooped up Wisconsin left tackle Joe Thomas.

As it turned out, arguabing two of the best picks came at No. 7 and at No. 11. The Vikings chose Offensive Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson with the seventh overall pick, while the 49ers tabbed Defensive Rookie of the Year Patrick Willis at No. 11. Washington also got a fantastic pick at No. 6, with its selection of LSU safety LaRon Landry.

One of the more compelling trades of the draft came at No. 22. After dropping completely out of the top 20, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn was finally taken off the board as the Cleveland Browns traded a 2008 first round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for the rights to draft Quinn. The Browns easily had one of the better drafts of the year.

Recap the entire draft, pick-by-pick, with NFL.com's Draft Tracker. Plus, visit ESPN, FOX Sports, CNNSI.com, Sportsline.com and Pro Football Weekly for more draft coverage and analysis.