Lessons From The Draft Part 2

When I was a kid there was a lot less college football on television but a lot more coverage in the press.  There was also more in-depth discussion of the sport with college football as a whole being a topic followed by the major programs and coaches and then the top players.  Don't get me wrong, the blocking schemes at Syracuse were never a topic of discussion, but fans knew who the top players were in the country.
Now?  College football's television ratings are through the roof.  We fans can watch our fair share of games on TV even if we go to games on Saturday afternoon.  We think we have a good grasp of the sport and the players who lead the best teams.
But then the draft rolls around in the spring, like Christmas the anticipation and coverage begins earlier and earlier every year.  But coverage of the draft uncovers a problem.  Why are the draft experts talking about a player that we barely know as if he is the second coming?  If ESPN and other media outlets did their jobs from May until March, why is it that we are now being introduced to key players from major college programs?
Part of the problem of course is that they are over-hyping these guys prior to the draft.  And some guys project to be better pros than college players.  Take Shariff Floyd of Florida who may go as high as number three tonight.  A huge recruit out of Philadelphia Floyd has had a solid but underwhelming career in Gainesville.  He did make All American teams this past year but he is being drafted on his size and speed combination and not his production (31 tackles in 2012 including 8.5 for a loss).
But the player who really sticks out for me is Oregon defender Dion Jordan who is being compared to Jason Taylor and Aldon Smith.  How does a guy who has been recognized as an All Pac 12 performer and praised by scouts for his physical skills and play on the field go virtually unknown while playing for a school that is usually ranked in the top ten?  That would not have been possible in any other time in American sport.
Who is to blame?  The American sports public cannot be taken off the hook.  They demand coverage of celebrity and a guy who was excellent at dropping back into coverage was never going to become one of those.  ESPN is a major factor here, which is ironic as it then over reacts to anyone who is a draft prospect.  So Dion Jordan gets ignored until this spring then gets covered as future star and then goes to the pros while Collin Klein gets press while KSU is undefeated but then gets ignored now as he is not expected to be drafted too high if at all and then hopefully goes to the pros.  Sadly guys who are very good college players but not pro prospects tend to get ignored all the time unless they are, like Klein, the QB for a top team.
ESPN is to blame because they have adopted a policy that it is better to talk non-stop about one player, say Johnny Manziel or Manti Te'o, than to mention anyone else.  I guess this began with Michael Jordan and some meeting in Bristol, Connecticut at which a producer was dressed down for a piece on Mitch Richmond that was done before the network had reached its 100-per-week segments quota on MJ.  While that is a really bad way to cover the NBA and its dozens of stars it is an impossible way to cover college football and its hundreds of major players.  ESPN is also to blame because they break sports coverage down to quick hits.  Once they establish a story line it is easier to just run with that than delve deeper.  Oregon is know for a speedy offense.  So why bother mentioning Jordan?
And major newspapers fall into the same stupid trap based on laziness. They will over-cover the stars and provide coverage of their area of interest but do not even bother with the nation as a whole.  If you polled 100 college football fans from throughout the country, how many members of the 2012 AP All America first team could they name?  Sure Manziel and Te'o would be easy.  So too Marqise Lee and some of the many Alabama players that earned the recognition.  But Terrance Williams, Will Sutton or Phillip Thomas? How about a first team AA RB who topped 1,900 yards?  Of the 100 fans polled how many know Ka'Deem Carey of Arizona?  But how many of those polled could rattle off the names of the first team AA RBs from earlier generations?  When did rushing for that many yards in a major conference not earn you some press?
So do not be surprised when your favorite pro team drafts guys you never heard of even if they are from big-time programs.  It is not that they are not good players.  They were just not as good a story as Johnny Football.

ESPN is a Silly, Sometimes Dangerous Place

There is so much to complain about with ESPN that I thought I would make a discussion of their problems a regular rant.
Today, while discussing BYU's code of honor Colin Cowherd admitted that he had no idea what the word "chaste" meant. Seriously. While his ignorance is bad enough, the reality is that hosts like Cowherd regularly comment on issues that go beyond the field. BYU hoopster Brandon Davies was suspended for breaking the very stringent code the school holds every student, athlete or non-athlete, to in keeping with the tenets of the religion of the founders and operators of that school. To be so ignorant of a common word such as chaste when discussing the situation--and I do not know what rule Davies broke--is the equivalent of not knowing what the word "margin" means when discussing business. We would not tolerate that with the thousands of people discussing business issues on television, why in the sports world?

View From Bennett Avenue

ESPN is at it again. The show "The Experts" on ESPNU yesterday spent hours trying to sort out who would go to the BCS title game. Instead of evaluation of players and teams or a dissection of the season, these talking heads just focused on who would pass Boise and which undefeated BCS conference team was the best. It is the same conversation they had last week but they all thought Alabama was the best team then. There was absolutely no conversation on conference races or evaluations of the teams. With Michigan State moving up the ranks they spent time on them this week that they did not last week. But except for a mention of the QB Kirk Cousins and LB Greg Jones, the team was described as tough like their coach Mark Dantonio. But they were tough last year when they opened the season 1-3 so more analysis is warranted. The Spartans have been recruiting better of late and one of their top signees is RB Edwin Baker, who has rushed for 683y. Their leading rusher last year was Larry Caper with only 468y. So, clearly, that is a difference and worthy of more discussion than we get from "The Experts".

So ESPN can focus on projecting teams for January and SMQBs can give you some analysis.

View From Bennett Avenue

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.

Viva College Football!

They are doing it again. Despite great ratings and soaring popularity, the sport of college football is being reduced to a minor leagues for the NFL, again, by ESPN. Not knowing what to talk about in the off-season, ESPN.com has launched a ridiculous poll and accompanying stories to determine which college program has produced the most NFL stars. The constant focus on the NFL draft, which players will play "on Sunday" and the now crowning of a best program for producing pros, weakens their college football product while constantly reminding folks that the pro game is superior. Add in the fact that the great majority of their analysts consider the BCS and lack of a playoff ridiculous--and constantly say so on television--and the network seems to spend more time pandering to the sports radio callers from the Northeast and less to anyone who actually cares about college football.

Which is not to say that ESPN should become a shill for the NCAA, BCS or any university. I just want them to give me college football coverage that is about college football and not the NFL. I love the NFL and I love college football. They are separate and equal in my mind and should each be treated with respect. No one goes to college football games to see guys who may play on the next level, they go to watch good, hard-hitting football played by guys whose main interest should be winning that game and whose goals should be conference titles and bowl games. Did Texas fans not go see Colt McCoy play because he was not considered a better pro prospect than predecessor Vince Young? Should Wake Forest fans not be grateful for the four years of excellence given to them by departed quarterback Riley Skinner because he was then not drafted by the pros? Should all the teams that beat Oklahoma last year forfeit those victories back to the Sooners because OU had so much great NFL talent on their roster?

College football is a joy for a million reasons. Developing a small percentage of the players into eventual NFL roster fodder is not one of them.

View From Bennett Avenue

Coverage of the NFL Draft on ESPN has grown from humble beginnings during the infancy of the network to a two-day affair each spring featuring a host of talking mouths. I admit to keeping an eye on the proceedings, although I tend to focus solely on the picks of my Giants.

That said, the great need for ESPN to evaluate college players during the college season largely in terms of their future draft worth is unsettling. Within minutes of reporting the suspension of Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount earlier this season, the network trotted out of their draft experts, Todd McShay, to tell us that he then considered Blount a second round talent. When Dez Bryant was suspended in mid-season for lying to the NCAA (don't get me started) we found out that he was considered the top WR prospect in the junior class. Sam Bradford? Still a top 10 talent. His teammate Jermaine Gresham, also out for the year with an injury? The top TE.

Who cares? The draft is months away and except for fans of the Browns, Lions, Chiefs, Rams, Buccaneers, etc of the NFL (I will not put the Raiders in this category as fans of the Silver and Black must no longer care about a draft that never seems to help their club), hardly the focus in the fall of a fan of the NFL. I would not mind so much if this discussion of the draft futures of injured and suspended players was part of a large picture of analysis regarding the loss of these players to their teams. But no, they do not discuss the talent and experience of the guy's replacing this unfortunate crew, except for Landry Jones as he is now the Oklahoma QB. There is no discussion of changes to the playbook with these replacement players in the lineup. No analysis of the potential of opposing teams to exploit the absence of the players. Nope. There is no time for that but plenty of time to promote an event airing in five months. And this is despite the fact that these artificial rankings will change myriad times between now and April after huge factors such as the rest of the regular season, bowl games, all-star games, combines and workouts.

While most of this issue is simply annoying there is one aspect of it that is particularly troubling. When ESPN continually mentions that an underclassman is projected to go high in the draft that player may decide to go out even if he is not ready. Or that player may play differently knowing that he has NFL money waiting for him. The more they discuss the draft during the season the tougher it is for programs to keep their kids focused on the game at hand.

There is something else too that sticks in my craw. Discussing a player's worth to the NFL treats his college play as just a set-up to his future pro career. It hammers home the notion that college play is inferior to the pro game. I find that both college football and pro football are great sports. College football has so much going for it that considering it secondary to anything is ridiculous. ESPN, which has been airing college football games for a very long time, should know better.