Friday, May 26, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Draft Evaluation
Hopefully this is the easiest way to go about this. For picks that I nailed, I place them in bold and italic font. My really bad picks are just in bold. I'll comment further after the comparison below.
Player...My Pick/Team...Actual Pick/Team
Reggie Bush...1/HOU...2/NO
Mario Williams...2/NO...1/HOU
Matt Leinart...3/TEN...10/ARI
Vince Young...4/NYJ...3/TEN
A.J. Hawk...5/GB...5/GB
Vernon Davis...6/SF...6/SF
D'Brickashaw Ferguson...7/OAK...4/NYJ
Haloti Ngata...8/BUF...12/BAL
Michael Huff...9/DET...7/OAK
Winston Justice...10/ARI...39/PHI
Jimmy Williams...11/STL...37/ATL
Brodrick Bunkley...12/CLE...14/PHI
Santonio Holmes...13/BAL...25/PIT
Chad Jackson...14/PHI...36/NE
Donte Whitner...15/DEN...8/BUF
Antonio Cromartie...16/MIA...19/SD
Jay Cutler...17/MIN...11/DEN
Kamerion Wimbley...18/DAL...13/CLE
Jonathan Joseph...19/SD...24/CIN
Tye Hill...20/KC...15/STL
Chad Greenway...21/NE...17/MIN
Ernie Sims...22/SF...9/DET
Eric Winston...23/TB...66/HOU
Manny Lawson...24/CIN...22/SF
Jason Allen...25/NYG...16/MIA
Marcedes Lewis...26/CHI...28/JAX
Leonard Pope...27/CAR...72/ARI
Marcus McNeil...28/JAX...50/SD
Deangelo Williams...29/NYJ...27/CAR
Laurence Maroney...30/IND...21/NE
Ashton Youboty...31/SEA...70/BUF
Tamba Hali...32/PIT...20/KC
Ok, so I nailed 2 out of 32 pics for an accuracy of 6%. Good grief that sucked! I suppose the silver lining in this is that I only busted on 7/32 picks (22%); meaning that I correctly picked 25 of 32 picks (78%) to go in the first round. Of the 7 guys that didn't go in the first round, I am most surprised about Leonard Pope (TE/Georgia). The man is a 6' 8" TE!!! Arizona should consider it a steal to get such a rare talent so late in the draft. As for the picks I did fairly well on:
-New Orleans now has Reggie Bush and Deuce McCallister in the backfield. Wow, I don't know how that's going to work out, but if I were coaching a team opposing them, I'd be very worried.
-Mario Williams: A great pick for the Texans, but a star RB (a.k.a. Reggie Bush) is more likely to lead you to bigger and better things, as opposed to a star DE. My biggest problem with the Texans pick is that if you're not going to select Bush, at least help your QB David Carr with some offensive line help. During his career, Carr has been sacked more than anyone else in the league...why not select OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson?
-Vince Young: Good pick for the Titans since McNair is old news, but I thought they would select Leinart since their offensive coordinator is Norm Chow (former USC coordinator).
-A.J. Hawk and Vernon Davis: The future Brian Urlacher and Antonio Gates; respectively.
-D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold: Do the Jets think that is better to protect a bad QB rather than just get a better QB? Or are they just building for the future with their selections of the top-rated OT (Ferguson), top-rated C (Mangold), and the best QB (Kellen Clemens) not named Young, Leinart, or Cutler? Perhaps in three years the Jets will be thought of as having the best 2006 Draft Picks. Until then New Jersey will have to wait...if they know how to do that.
-Santonio Holmes: At #25, the only WR to be picked in the 1st Round. Clearly a good pick by the Steelers with the loss of Randle-El. Then again, other than throw a touchdown in the Super Bowl, what did Randle-El do? In due time this will be a tremendous upgrade at WR. Considering the lack of depth at WR in this draft, I'm a little surprised Holmes wasn't picked sooner by someone else.
-Jay Cutler: Kind of surprising pick on the part of th Broncos. Sayonara Jake Plummer, you were the most underachieving QB I ever knew.
-Tamba Hali: I am so happy for him and the Chiefs. Mel Kiper may be an expert in his field, but he clearly missed the boat on Hali. I had him ranked much higher than Kiper did and obviously so did the Chiefs. Another great pick out of Penn State (Larry Johnson) by Kansas City; a team that sorely needed defensive help. With the defensive-minded Herman Edwards coaching, the Chiefs should be a team to be reckoned with in the near future.
-Laurence Maroney, DeAngelo Williams, and Joseph Addai: Perhaps the biggest steals of the first round? New England smartly upgraded at RB with their pick of Maroney; an upgrade to the declining Corey Dilllon. Carolina seems to have quietly become better with their selection of Williams. Finally, Joseph Addai was an obvious pick for the Colts. With the loss of Edgerrin James, they needed a RB and Addai was their man after Bush, Maroney, and Williams were already taken. Kudos to my friend Jason Hurley for accurately predicting his beloved Colts would select Addai.
As for key picks in subsequent rounds...watch out for the following players to be potential star players in the future...
Round 2: #35-Redskins, Rocky McIntosh (OLB), Miami (FL).....#37-Falcons, Jimmy Williams (CB), Virginia Tech.....#44-Giants, Sinorice Moss (WR), Miami (FL).....#49-Jets, Kellen Clemens (QB), Oregon.....#64-Vikings, Tavaris Jackson (QB), Alabama State
Round 3: #66-Texans, Eric Winston (OT), Miami (FL).....#67-Packers, Abdul Hodge (ILB), Iowa.....#70-Bills, Ashton Youboty (CB), Ohio State.....#72-Cardinals, Leonard Pope (TE), Georgia.....#74-Lions, Brian Calhoun (RB), Wisconsin.....#90-Buccaneers, Maurice Stovall (WR), Notre Dame
Round 4: #105-Bills, Ko Simpson (FS), South Carolina.....#115-Packers, Will Blackmon (WR), Boston College.....#118-Patriots, Stephen Gostkowski (K), Memphis
Round 5: #148-Packers, Ingle Martin (QB), Furman.....#153-Redskins, Anthony Montgomery (DT), Minnesota
Round 6: #183-Packers, Johnny Jolly (DT), Texas A&M.....#203-Ravens, Sam Koch (P), Nebraska
Round 7: #239-Seahawks, Ryan Plackemeier (P/K), Wake Forest
Player...My Pick/Team...Actual Pick/Team
Reggie Bush...1/HOU...2/NO
Mario Williams...2/NO...1/HOU
Matt Leinart...3/TEN...10/ARI
Vince Young...4/NYJ...3/TEN
A.J. Hawk...5/GB...5/GB
Vernon Davis...6/SF...6/SF
D'Brickashaw Ferguson...7/OAK...4/NYJ
Haloti Ngata...8/BUF...12/BAL
Michael Huff...9/DET...7/OAK
Winston Justice...10/ARI...39/PHI
Jimmy Williams...11/STL...37/ATL
Brodrick Bunkley...12/CLE...14/PHI
Santonio Holmes...13/BAL...25/PIT
Chad Jackson...14/PHI...36/NE
Donte Whitner...15/DEN...8/BUF
Antonio Cromartie...16/MIA...19/SD
Jay Cutler...17/MIN...11/DEN
Kamerion Wimbley...18/DAL...13/CLE
Jonathan Joseph...19/SD...24/CIN
Tye Hill...20/KC...15/STL
Chad Greenway...21/NE...17/MIN
Ernie Sims...22/SF...9/DET
Eric Winston...23/TB...66/HOU
Manny Lawson...24/CIN...22/SF
Jason Allen...25/NYG...16/MIA
Marcedes Lewis...26/CHI...28/JAX
Leonard Pope...27/CAR...72/ARI
Marcus McNeil...28/JAX...50/SD
Deangelo Williams...29/NYJ...27/CAR
Laurence Maroney...30/IND...21/NE
Ashton Youboty...31/SEA...70/BUF
Tamba Hali...32/PIT...20/KC
Ok, so I nailed 2 out of 32 pics for an accuracy of 6%. Good grief that sucked! I suppose the silver lining in this is that I only busted on 7/32 picks (22%); meaning that I correctly picked 25 of 32 picks (78%) to go in the first round. Of the 7 guys that didn't go in the first round, I am most surprised about Leonard Pope (TE/Georgia). The man is a 6' 8" TE!!! Arizona should consider it a steal to get such a rare talent so late in the draft. As for the picks I did fairly well on:
-New Orleans now has Reggie Bush and Deuce McCallister in the backfield. Wow, I don't know how that's going to work out, but if I were coaching a team opposing them, I'd be very worried.
-Mario Williams: A great pick for the Texans, but a star RB (a.k.a. Reggie Bush) is more likely to lead you to bigger and better things, as opposed to a star DE. My biggest problem with the Texans pick is that if you're not going to select Bush, at least help your QB David Carr with some offensive line help. During his career, Carr has been sacked more than anyone else in the league...why not select OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson?
-Vince Young: Good pick for the Titans since McNair is old news, but I thought they would select Leinart since their offensive coordinator is Norm Chow (former USC coordinator).
-A.J. Hawk and Vernon Davis: The future Brian Urlacher and Antonio Gates; respectively.
-D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold: Do the Jets think that is better to protect a bad QB rather than just get a better QB? Or are they just building for the future with their selections of the top-rated OT (Ferguson), top-rated C (Mangold), and the best QB (Kellen Clemens) not named Young, Leinart, or Cutler? Perhaps in three years the Jets will be thought of as having the best 2006 Draft Picks. Until then New Jersey will have to wait...if they know how to do that.
-Santonio Holmes: At #25, the only WR to be picked in the 1st Round. Clearly a good pick by the Steelers with the loss of Randle-El. Then again, other than throw a touchdown in the Super Bowl, what did Randle-El do? In due time this will be a tremendous upgrade at WR. Considering the lack of depth at WR in this draft, I'm a little surprised Holmes wasn't picked sooner by someone else.
-Jay Cutler: Kind of surprising pick on the part of th Broncos. Sayonara Jake Plummer, you were the most underachieving QB I ever knew.
-Tamba Hali: I am so happy for him and the Chiefs. Mel Kiper may be an expert in his field, but he clearly missed the boat on Hali. I had him ranked much higher than Kiper did and obviously so did the Chiefs. Another great pick out of Penn State (Larry Johnson) by Kansas City; a team that sorely needed defensive help. With the defensive-minded Herman Edwards coaching, the Chiefs should be a team to be reckoned with in the near future.
-Laurence Maroney, DeAngelo Williams, and Joseph Addai: Perhaps the biggest steals of the first round? New England smartly upgraded at RB with their pick of Maroney; an upgrade to the declining Corey Dilllon. Carolina seems to have quietly become better with their selection of Williams. Finally, Joseph Addai was an obvious pick for the Colts. With the loss of Edgerrin James, they needed a RB and Addai was their man after Bush, Maroney, and Williams were already taken. Kudos to my friend Jason Hurley for accurately predicting his beloved Colts would select Addai.
As for key picks in subsequent rounds...watch out for the following players to be potential star players in the future...
Round 2: #35-Redskins, Rocky McIntosh (OLB), Miami (FL).....#37-Falcons, Jimmy Williams (CB), Virginia Tech.....#44-Giants, Sinorice Moss (WR), Miami (FL).....#49-Jets, Kellen Clemens (QB), Oregon.....#64-Vikings, Tavaris Jackson (QB), Alabama State
Round 3: #66-Texans, Eric Winston (OT), Miami (FL).....#67-Packers, Abdul Hodge (ILB), Iowa.....#70-Bills, Ashton Youboty (CB), Ohio State.....#72-Cardinals, Leonard Pope (TE), Georgia.....#74-Lions, Brian Calhoun (RB), Wisconsin.....#90-Buccaneers, Maurice Stovall (WR), Notre Dame
Round 4: #105-Bills, Ko Simpson (FS), South Carolina.....#115-Packers, Will Blackmon (WR), Boston College.....#118-Patriots, Stephen Gostkowski (K), Memphis
Round 5: #148-Packers, Ingle Martin (QB), Furman.....#153-Redskins, Anthony Montgomery (DT), Minnesota
Round 6: #183-Packers, Johnny Jolly (DT), Texas A&M.....#203-Ravens, Sam Koch (P), Nebraska
Round 7: #239-Seahawks, Ryan Plackemeier (P/K), Wake Forest
Welcome Back Reece
Ok, the hiatus lasted longer than expected and I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll start off by finally rating my NFL draft predictions, just for my curiosity. That is really old news now so I won't waste much time on it. Later this evening I will upload a couple weather forecasts and then maybe do some general blogging later tonight. Hopefully I can now post every couple days since things are calming down now. Talk to you again very soon.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Time for a hiatus
It's the last week of classes and exams are next week, so I will go on a "blogging hiatus" for about another ten days. When I resume my blog, I will attempt to grade my draft predictions. Taking a quick look at it, I think I may have correctly picked one or two picks out of 32. Perhaps I should stick to forecasting the weather! Then again, it's impossible to pick which teams are going to trade up or down in the draft. I will probably spend more time on the real winners and losers of the draft (especially a summary of the Packers' draft), rather than grading every team.
Also, I doubt I will post any more forecasts until I have more free time. In the meantime for those of you in the California, PA area, I can only recommend the latest forecast by my fellow classmates. So check out the links from the Cal U Weather Center for a solid, respectable forecast. As for anyone back home, I'll see what I can do. If I can't make a forecast for you, check out my old stomping grounds of WBOC for a decent forecast.
As far as any other matters are concerned, I'll do my best to keep in touch, but be forewarned, you may not hear much from me for the next week or so. You know how to reach me, leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Talk to you all again in a week to ten days. Take care!
Also, I doubt I will post any more forecasts until I have more free time. In the meantime for those of you in the California, PA area, I can only recommend the latest forecast by my fellow classmates. So check out the links from the Cal U Weather Center for a solid, respectable forecast. As for anyone back home, I'll see what I can do. If I can't make a forecast for you, check out my old stomping grounds of WBOC for a decent forecast.
As far as any other matters are concerned, I'll do my best to keep in touch, but be forewarned, you may not hear much from me for the next week or so. You know how to reach me, leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Talk to you all again in a week to ten days. Take care!
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