Nominees for Most Intriguing Selection…

Miami Dolphins draft Pat White: Is he a QB? Is he a WR? Is he a small cat native to Eastern Europe and regions of Asia known as a wildcat? I don’t know, we may never hear his name called on a field but he sure is intriguing.

Chicago drafting defensive end Jarron Gilbert: This guy turned heads by jumping out of pools and has been described as a classic boom/bust prospect. Maybe he becomes a Pro Bowler, maybe he leads the UFL in sacks in two years, but he is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Patriots draft Brandon Tate: This guy was considered first round talent at receiver a year ago, but a failed drugs test and a torn ACL saw him slip. Can New England resurrect this guy’s career?

Curtis Painter to the Indianapolis Colts: This guy was the number one QB a year ago and sitting him behind Peyton Manning can’t hurt. I’m just saying.

But the winner is…

Michael Johnson drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals: Physical. Freak. So where’s the production? Despite being blessed with a lighting fast 6-7 frame he can’t get it done on the field. If the Bengals can unlock his potential (they haven’t got a great track record) then they’ll have an absolute monster on their hands.

Nominees for biggest slide…

Alex Boone 256 picks: This guy can win the award whatever way you want to spin it. 12 months ago he was mocked as the number one pick overall in many places, one week ago he was mocked as a fourth round prospect. How did it all end? He was just picked up by San Francisco as an undrafted free agency. A DUI and alcohol problems were to blame.

Everette Brown 9 to 43: I’m basing these draft slide numbers on general consensus pre-draft feelings and many thought Brown would be a great fit for the Packers at 9. Something happened a week before the draft, and we may never know what, but all of a sudden Brown started to fall and people were looking towards the bottom of the first. When it all played out he was a Carolina Panther at 43.

Duke Robinson 32 to 163: Jamie Dukes said that the Steelers had the worst offensive line to ever win a Super Bowl, so his namesake Duke Robinson, the 330lb top guard prospect, was a sensible pick at the end of the first. Just like Jamie Dukes, NFL teams got things wrong and he slid, again to the Panthers, in the fifth.

But the winner is…

Michael Oher for having 7 teams pass on him or choose inferior prospects: I guess he isn’t statistically the biggest slider on draft day, but the teams that snubbed him is what made it shocking. I understand that Michael Crabtree and Brian Orakpo were too good to pass on for San Francisco and Washington, but Buffalo and the Lions have no excuses for passing on a phenomenal player at a critical position of need.

Nominees for the best use of your new found money now you go to work in an NFL uniform…

Save it wisely: You’d do it. I’d do it. So why won’t so many of the 256 nouveau-riche footballers do it?

Buy alcohol and/or marijuana and then drive fast: The classic Cincinnati Bengal… I mean NFL player pastime. A couple of guys failed marijuana tests at the combine, some of them have drinking problems, some of them fist fought their high school wrestling coaches, so what’s the over under on 8 convicts from the 2009 NFL draft?

But the winner is…

Buy your mom a house: As far as green room guys go this seemed the popular choice, so if you live in uptown Seattle or Jacksonville (is uptown Jacksonville an oxymoron?) say hi to Mrs. Curry, Mrs. Monroe or whoever else might have a talented son with new found riches.

Nominees for the biggest reach…

Darrius Heyward-Bey: Heyward-Bey was a first round talent to many people, and it almost wasn’t a shock when Al Davis decided to select him over Michael Crabtree. The only people who liked this move was Crabtree who didn’t get stuck in the worst run franchise in the NFL.

Mohamed Massaquoi: I don’t know what is a worse move by the Browns: taking a fifth round guy in the second, taking two receivers in a row, or being totally fine with having zero pass rush for another year.

But the winner is…

Mike Mitchell: One nomination and one win in the same category; congratulations Al Davis for again choosing a phenomenal pro day over 3 years of game tape and common sense. Just to put this into perspective: NFL Network had game tape on Mr. Irrelevant (the last player taken in the draft), but not a guy taken midway through the second.

Most likely to bust…

Aaron Maybin: This guy is very raw and what makes it all the more worse is that Buffalo selected him over Brian Orakpo, the consensus number one DE/OLB in the draft. Maybe he turns out fine, but he’ll need more than a blinding first step and athleticism to hold his own in the NFL.

Connor Barwin: I so want this guy to succeed, but a lot of the buzz around this guy came from his legendary combine performance and unless defences start requiring a guy to vertically jump 40 inches to reach the annoying little button on a smoke alarm, Barwin may be in trouble.

Percy Harvin/Vontae Davis: This isn’t really a reflection on their skills, more their off-field issues (entourages, fighting your high school wrestling coaches, marijuana, all the fun things adults get to do). I’m nominating them as a pair because what are the chances they both leave their pasts behind them and act like angels for the rest of their careers? Call this hedging your bets.

But the winner is…

Not a QB or one year wonder Robert Ayers, but Andre Smith: The talent is undeniable – he may be the best left tackle in the draft – but how do you turn up out of shape to the biggest job interview of your life? How can the combine freak your head out when you’re about to embark on a 12 year NFL career? Come to think of it, how can you draft him over Eugene Monroe Cincinnati?

Worst draft…

Oakland Raiders: The obvious choice with three laughable picks in the first three rounds, but it really makes you feel sorry for Darren McFadden. The only good player they’ve drafted in recent years, and he’s stuck with Al Davis’ ode to Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis around him.

Detroit Lions: No problem with Stafford, I’m not in the “Jason Smith should totally have been our pick” camp, nothing against Brandon Pettigrew or Louis Delmas, but the selection of the latter two is absolutely indefensible. They should have gone offensive tackle at 20 (like the Falcons did a year ago) and followed with the best available player in the front seven in the second. The fact that they passed on Michael Oher makes it all the more horrible.

But the winner is…

Denver Broncos: It all started pre-draft by getting rid of Cutler, and draft day was just as bad. Moreno is a great player but a horrible pick when your defence couldn’t stop me. Ayers is way too risky to spend a first on, when again, you couldn’t even stop me. Alphonso Smith is a sensible pick, but you traded away your 2010 first to get him. You then traded away all your third round selections to grab a TE not even ranked in the top 10 at the position to sit on the bench behind Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler. They really have no idea in Denver.

Best draft…

Green Bay Packers: BJ Raji is a quality player at their number one position of need, whilst Clay Matthews is a passing down specialist who will do no end of good in a pretty meagre pass rush. TJ Lang is a versatile lineman who can fill multiple positions in that battle worn Packers O-Line. Many project Quinn Johnson as the best FB in the draft, and Jamon Meredith is phenomenal value in the fifth. Just solid drafting all the way round.

New York Giants: Here is how you draft Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Oakland, and Denver: We cut Plaxico. We need a receiver. Hello Hakeem Nicks. Versatility and a strong front seven is the way to win Super Bowls. Come to New York Clint Sintim. Sometimes a player slides and he’s just way too good to pass up on. Welcome aboard William Beatty. Kevin Boss hasn’t really produced, so why don’t we take a punt on Travis Beckum to push him. We just lost Derrick Ward, so let’s replace him with a stylistically similar Andre Brown. Smart.

But the winner of the most coveted award in all of football is…

St. Louis Rams: I think pound for pound the Giants did better, but with so many terrible teams making an absolute hash of drafting, it was nice to see a bad team save some face. They didn’t try to out-think themselves like Kansas. They didn’t reach for anyone. They didn’t ignore their positions of need. They just sensibly went about rebuilding a pretty horrible franchise with solid young players to rally around. Jason Smith is a franchise left tackle for the next 13 years, whilst James Laurinitis was unlucky not to go higher and will be a great leader next to Will Weatherspoon in that linebacking group. They find a nice partner for the excellent Ronald Bartell in Bradley Fletcher at corner and realised that they just paid Marc Bulger too much to justify a top level QB, but a late round developmental guy in Keith Null is certainly a sage like move.

Its ironic that on Pro Bowl Sunday a former Pro Bowler will be spending the day in jail, instead of on the sunny beaches of Hawaii.

This has been one the busiest drug arrest weeks for big time athletes in recent history.  First it was Micheal Phelps and his bong, then is was Terry Glenn and his drunken tirade, we also had a incident from the far east involving a sumo wrestler, when will the madness stop.  It was just last Sunday that Ohio State Buckeye Alex Boone was charged and arrested.

Another athlete getting arrested on drug charges is no surprise to me, but Jamal Anderson always seemed to have his head on straight.  Until I saw these pictures of him looking absolutely wasted at a bar, that show him barely able to keep his head up.

Jamal Anderson Does the Dirty Bird

Boone made headlines a few years ago for coming clean about a severe drinking habit.  He then claimed to have quit drinking all together and turned his life around.  It looks like the big fellow is back on the wagon.  He was so drunk that the cops had to tase him.

“The 6-foot-8, 312-pound tackle was jumping on car hoods, yanking on a tow truck cable and trying to break a window when he was arrested late Sunday.”

Much will be made about his past drinking habits, where he would routinely drink 30-40 beers a day.  Since Sunday was the Super Bowl, I think his consumption of beer was even higher, causing his Incredible Hulk like rage.  Can you imagine this guy jumping on the hood of you new Toyota Echo?

It never seems like a good idea to do something like this, and for Boone the timing could not have been worse.  This is the time of year where all the hype in the world is sounding these aspiring NFL’ers, as the annual NFL combine is just around the corner.  Instead of working out and getting ready for one of the biggest months of his life, he is waking up in a jail cell.

He has severely damaged his chances of getting drafted this year, but at least he will always have a shot with the Dallas Cowboys.