2008 NFL Draft; Busts, Steals, and Predictions

Well the NFL Draft is upon us and I am stoked!  I love the draft.  I actually enjoy the draft more than the Superbowl most years.  The Superbowl is a bittersweet goodbye.  The draft is the promise of hope and the first blooms on the ever flowering tre…..uh…nevermind.

I have nearly every minute between now and 3 pm eastern time scheduled out so that I can accomplish my myriad husbandly tasks and still get a seat for six straight hours of drafty goodness! 

Now, being such a draftnik you would think that I would have created my own mock draft.  Not so.  I thought about it, but decided not to.  As much as I consider myself a fan of the NFL the reality is that I don’t have enough perspective on all 32 teams to know what they are going to do.  I have no idea who the Tampa Bay Bucs should take at the 19th pick.  But, that doesn’t mean that I can’t make predictions!  So, here is what I think I know about this years draft class. 

• Glenn Dorsey is going to be a special players who unfortunately will be too injured too often to create a long term impact.
• Vernon Gholston will be a good player….but not a star.
• On the other hand, Matt Ryan will be a star…if he lands on a team where he doesn’t have to run for his life!  The further he drops the better things will be for him.  I think that he is better than people are giving him credit for, but he isn’t mobile enough to avoid pressure. 
• Ryan Clady is going to be a mutliyear probowler at Left Tackle.  He will end up being the best Left Tackle in this draft class.
• Someone is going to draft Malcolm Kelly in the first round.  And someone is going to be sorry that they did!
• Brandon Albert is not going to go in the top twenty picks.  Two months ago Albert was listed as a mid-second round prospect.  In recent weeks he has shot up the boards.  I’ve seen him as high as the fifth pick to the Chiefs.  No way.  He might go as high as thirteen to the Panthers, but if I had to guess I would say he lands with the Skins at 21 or the Seahawks at 25.  The reason?  He’s a guard.  And despite playing well as a left tackle for two games….it was still only two games.  I think most GM’s know more than Mel Kiper and they realize that he is a Guard who might be able to play Tackle.  And that isn’t the kind of guy that you take with a top 10 pick. 
• This draft class is going to have a very weak first round.  Five years from now 20 of the first 31 picks will be out of the league!  OK, so that isn’t an earth shattering predicition.  But, I’m going to tell you who actually ends up making it!.  Here’s the list of guys who are actually going to work out; Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Ryan Clady, Brandon Albert, Keith Rivers, Chris Long, Phillip Merling, Sedrick Ellis, Mike Jenkins, Chris Williams, and Jonathan Stewart.  All the rest will bust.
• Ray Rice will be an amazing player….for as long as his body holds up!  But those tires already have a good bit of wear.  In a two back system he might get six or seven years in the league!

Well thats it.  Check back later to see just how right (wrong) I was!