NCAA Football Nfl Draft

A number of talking heads believe that the Texans picked Virginia Tech left tackle Duane Brown too early. They believe the Texans could have traded down again and still got their target. Those people would be wrong.

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that the Chargers wanted Brown with the 27th pick:

"Funny that the Chargers finally got a tackle with their final pick. They had been stymied from starting off the draft with one when an unprecedented eight tackles were selected before they picked at No. 27.

'We came up one pick short,' said [Norv] Turner, who along with the rest of the Chargers brass watched Houston trade into the 26th spot and take tackle Duane Brown of Virginia Tech."

At the Texans draft party, someone told me shortly after the trade down from 18 that Brown was going to be the pick. I didn't believe it until I heard the pick later. If Brown was the target, then trying to trade down again was going to get too cute.

If the Texans only have offensive line guru Alex Gibbs for a short period of time, you should probably get him the tackle he wants pronto.

It's not a big secret that the Texans were looking for a running back in the draft. They acquired West Virginia standout Steve Slaton in the third round as a change of pace back.

While discussing the NFL trend toward having at least one receiving-type playmaking RB, Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan gave Reggie Bush a left handed compliment in the process (video above):

"I think Steve Slaton pretty much fits any offense to tell you the truth. The reason I think that is because he's a good runner, and a good enough runner can fit into any scheme. What we like most about Slaton, is I think he's got a chance to be a special-type player. You look at guys around the league like Kevin Faulk, a guy like Reggie Bush; guys who come in and fill a specific role on third downs.
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I think when a guy is 197 pounds and if you look at the history throughout the NFL there are not too many guys that are first and second down player for long periods of time. When you look at a guy that people are projecting as a third down type guy or a change of pace guy I believe a lot of teams have more important needs that go early in the draft. One exception is Reggie Bush; he is the highest guy that I've seen go that is a third down type player. The third round is when these guys start popping out."

That's about as direct as the Texans have come to talking about why they didn't pick The! Best! Running Back! Evaaaar! that a lot of people thought was a no brainer pick in the 2006 draft.

Darren McFadden attended EA Sports' launch party for NCAA Football '09 last night, and the Arkansas standout who will likely be the first running back selected on Saturday took a couple minutes to answer questions about the most pressing subjects a blogger could have on the eve of the NFL draft: the pimped-out Ford Crown Victoria he owns, and his penchant for dressing in drag.

McFadden stated that his first priority after signing his first pro contract will be to take care of his mother and father, but when pressed, he admitted that he may also get some new cars. Although his present ride is a black Escalade, he assured me that he still had the Crown Vic and had no intention of selling it. All is well in the world.

Knowing D-Mac's zest for costumes -- that's him as Fred Flintstone -- I encouraged him to wear a dress to the Draft on Saturday. C'mon! No first-rounder has ever done that before! (Although on Day 2 of the draft, anything goes.) "I don't think so," he chuckled, "I'm trying to take it seriously."

But when will we see him in women's clothing again? "Oh, you know, when the time is right."

Aqib Talib was considered by many to be the No. 2 cornerback in this year's draft.

I say was because Pro Football Weekly is reporting that Talib told teams at the NFL combine that he tested positive for marijuana three different times while he was playing as Kansas. In one of the cases, Talib told coach Mark Mangini that he would test positive even before the coach got the results back.

According to PFW's Nolan Nawrocki, several teams have taken Talib completely off their draft boards.

"There is no way I'd touch (Talib)," one team told PFW. "He's gotten into a lot of trouble, and he still does not get it."

"He's got a laundry list of issues," another team executive said of Talib's off-the-field behavior. "He's not a one-time offender. Give a guy like him money, and it never gets better. It only gets worse."

What will work against Talib is that this is a relatively deep crop of first/second-round cornerbacks, with little to choose between them. With several other comparable cornerbacks to choose from, Talib might slide into the second round. A similar situation happened last year with cornerback Eric Wright, a first-round talent who fell to the Browns in the second-round because of his pot problems in college. Wright played well in his rookie year and will likely start for the Browns this season.

Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall may turn out to be an outstanding NFL running back, but if he does, he'll be bucking a lot of history.

Mendenhall is considered one of the top running backs in this year's draft, and he's pegged by some to be a mid to late first-rounder. But he'll have to overcome a somewhat accurate stigma that Big Ten backs are more trouble than they are worth.

Category	Big 10	Pct.	Others	Pct.
Elite	1	10%	13	31%
1,000-yards in a season	4	40%	23	55%
Busts	5	50%	7	17%
To early to rank	1	10%	7	17%

Over the past 10 years, 10 Big Ten backs have been picked in the first two rounds. Four of them rank among some of the bigger draft busts of the past decade. First-rounders Curtis Enis, Ron Dayne, Chris Perry and T.J. Duckett and second-rounder Joe Montgomery never lived up to the hype and the hopes of the teams that drafted them. Of the other five, Larry Johnson has turned into an elite back, while Ladell Betts, Michael Bennett and Anthony Thomas have each had one 1,000-yard season in careers that have largely left them on the bench. Lawrence Maroney hasn't had a 1,000-yard season yet, but he has shown promise, so it's too early to put any kind of stamp on his career yet.

I picked 10 years as a simple round number. But if you go back further it doesn't get any better for the Big Ten. The conference does get to add Eddie George's greatness, but that gets washed away by busts like Tim Biakabatuka and Ki-Jana Carter. Going back even further gives you epic busts like Blair Thomas, Darrell Thompson and Vaughn Dunbar.

If you're looking for a theme, most of the Big 10 busts have been power backs who have pounded their way between the tackles to big college careers. Dayne, Duckett and Enis were all among the biggest backs in their draft. They all proved unable to hit the hole quick enough to be a consistent every-down back in the NFL. The argument that the Big Ten is a slow-man's league seems to gain some credence from their struggles. Mendehall isn't nearly as big as Dayne or Duckett, but his scouting report mentions questions about his lack of breakaway speed, which should be a concern considering the league's past history.

The Texans need more competent players in their secondary. Iowa CB/Safety Charles Godfrey went to high school in Houston, is a huge Texans fan and wants to be drafted by them.

He loves them so much that he sports a Texans logo on his right hand. He didn't mention it to the Texans when they interviewed him.

If he becomes a Texan, maybe it is a win-win. If he goes to one of the other 31 teams in the league, well then, rookie hazing might be a little rough for a guy with a logo of another team on his hand.

For what it is worth, here's one of those internet scouting reports on Godfrey, and an interview where he says that his favorite team growing up was the Dallas Cowboys. Various reports predict that Godfrey could be drafted anywhere from the second to the fourth round.

As Michael David Smith has already spelled out, Darren McFadden helped arrest any worries of a draft day decline with a blazing fast 4.33 official time in the 40-yard dash. But McFadden wasn't the only running back to help his draft stock.

East Carolina's Chris Johnson ran a 4.24 40-yard dash, which will likely clock in as the fastest time at this year's combine, although the cornerbacks have yet to run. It's also ranks as one of the fastest times ever recorded at the combine by a running back.

So he's fast, but can he play? The answer is quite clearly yes at least at the college level. Johnson rushed for 1,468 yards with 17 touchdowns and a 6.0 yard per carry average. He also had 37 catches for 528 yards and averaged 28 yards on 36 kick returns. His 2,960 all-purpose yards led the nation by nearly 300 yards.

The concern about Johnson is that his small size (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) and skinny legs may keep him from being an every-down back. But with world-class speed, good hands and kick return ability, his combine workout should make him plenty of money, as he now looks to be at worst a very talented third-down back/returner. And as the Chargers showed with Darren Sproles (pictured at right) last year, an undersized tailback can still be pretty valuable if you pick his spots.

We've already chronicled for you the decision of Wisconsin cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu to enter the 2008 NFL Draft.

Back in November, I said that Ikegwuonu would have a tough decision to make. In the end, I thought he would stay in school and try to prove himself a better player, person, and draft prospect. Our own Michael David Smith agreed, saying Ikegwuonu needed to show more consistency and better define what his best position would be in the NFL. That said, Ikegwuonu decided to turn pro, anyway.

Now, he's probably second-guessing that decision a bit.

Ikegwuonu suffered tears of both his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments as well as damage to his kneecap, according to a source close to the situation, and will need reconstructive knee surgery.

He was working out at Perfect Competition, a training facility in Davie, Fla., when the incident occurred. Ikegwuonu, who earlier in the month decided to leave UW a year early, was pulling a sled designed to improve his speed when the injury occurred. He exploded out of a start, planted his leg and the knee buckled.

The injury will all but eliminate Ikegwuonu's chances of being selected April 26-27 in the National Football League draft. It's possible a team might take him in a late round and bring along for 2009.

In Bob McGinn's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel update, he quotes a scout as saying Ikegwuonu is "screwed". Among the concerns scouts had were his on-field production and character. There's no questioning his measurables, but six interceptions in three years isn't impressive for anyone trying to call themselves an elite college player.

When Ikegwuonu turned pro, he signed with agent Drew Rosenhaus. Super Agent will probably go on ESPN next week and proclaim Ikegwuonu worthy of a first-round pick in the draft.