The Mandatory NFL Draft Posting
Being part of the Award Winning SFist news desk, we suppose we should say something about the NFL draft tomorrow. So we started up with the researching and decided we were so sick about hearing about the thing that we just couldn't take it anymore. Somewhere along the umpteenth story along the lines of "Reggie Bush Sneezes at Combine-- Could Cost Him Five Spots on the NFL Draft!" or "Does Leinart Rooming With Nick Lachey Show He Is a Good Decision Maker?" we decided to beg off. We mean, both ESPN and CNNSI had lead stories recently about a player dropping positions on their Mock Draft. And we're talking big, headline grabbing, front stories about, say, Vince Young going from #3 to #10. ON A MOCK DRAFT. It's like us writing this big, huge, posting saying that we're leaning towards going to a party over the weekend with Natalie Portman instead of Salma Hayek. Yes, there's probably (probably) more of a chance that Young really could be drafted late in the draft than us having a date with either actress, but, and not to get too Buddhist here, both are based on the exact same level of real-ness. Which is none.
ANYWAYS, this draft is actually kind of exciting here in Bay Area land because both the Niners (sixth) and the Rai-duhs (seventh) have high draft choices. This makes makes people excited because there will be a good chance they'll draft somebody people have actually heard of. Who is the big question because when somebody asks: "what are the team's needs?" the answer for both teams is "what don't we need." More exciting is the Niners’ draft policy this year. According to coach Mike Nolan, the team is looking to draft people who could start. This, apparently, is different from previous seasons when the Niners drafted on things like People Who Already Fit Into a Used Jersey (last year) and People Who Were Born in June (three years ago).
Speculation has it that the Niners will use one first round pick to draft someone on the offense and the other one on somebody on the defense. Unless they decide not to. Most mock drafts have the Niners going after monster TE Vernon Davis. This is making the Faithful giddy. We, however, are not sure as we think TEs are more luxury than necessities. People point out the Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates as proof of what a really good TE can do, but we would like to point out that the Chief's have Larry Johnson (used to be Priest Holmes) and the Chargers have Tomlinson. The Niners have neither. If a good defensive player is available (A.J. Hawk and his girlfriend or Mario Williams) we think Nolan would take them. If they aren't, well, say hello to your new Tight End.
As for the Silver & Black, Al has been rumored to be drooling over Vince Young, although at Al's age, one can never be sure what the drooling is caused by. On the one hand, Young is at least a year or two away from starting and the Rai-duhs need help now. Drafting young QBs is also not something the Raiders are known for. On the other hand, Young represents a bit of a risk and scares a lot of people. Al is just crazy enough to do it. We would be psyched if they did draft Young as we think he has the potential to be one of the greatest QBs ever and will also have at least a year or two of QB controversy stories to look forward to. Giddy-up!
If Young isn't available (the Titans are supposedly undecided between him and Leinart), look for the Raiders to draft Michael Huff, DB from Texas. He's good, he's fast, and the Raiders have always had a fondness for secondary types.
As for the rest of the draft? It's sunny outside. Who cares.