Now that I am finished complaining about something SI did I can turn my angry gaze toward ESPN. Of the many stupid things that network does on a daily basis, one of the biggest is the discussion of the NFL draft during the college football season. Today, draft experts Bozo 1 and Bozo 2 had to debate the draft potential of the top college QBs. They both are enamored with Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and predict that he would be the first QB taken in next year's draft and would, therefore, be in the hunt for the no. 1 pick overall.
This type of debate annoys me on many different levels. First of all, it is SEPTEMBER. The f'ing draft is seven months away. These guys are wrong most of the time in the spring build-up to the draft. Who cares about what they have to say now?
Secondly, Luck is only a sophomore on the field, junior in the classroom. Constantly talking about underclassmen as the top pick usually forces the issue with these kids. That probably will not happen in this case as the family is incredibly, almost annoying, smart and therefore are probably fully aware of Luck's potential. His father Oliver also combined academics and athletics at West Virginia, graduating magna cum laude after starting for three years as the team's quarterback. He then played four years as a Houston Oiler and is now the athletic director at his alma mater. So, the family does not need the two bozos influence, but they do affect others. Either way, let the kid continue to develop as he has only started 16 games and has yet to perform under the pressure he will be in this Saturday against Oregon.
The final reason this stuff drives me crazy, and I have complained about it before, is that like the Bednarik reference in Sports Illustrated, discussions like this make college football a secondary sport to the NFL game. The time they devoted to Luck's draft status should have been devoted to the upcoming game. From what I saw of Luck against Notre Dame, he is very good but is not a finished product yet. Let's enjoy his college play against the no. 4-ranked Ducks in a hostile environment. If he continues to play well and comes out for the draft early, we can then devote the months and months available leading up to the draft to discuss his pro potential. Until then, let's enjoy his contributions to the glorious game of college football now as they happen.
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