ESPN's Mel Kiper has been scouting college players for some 25 years now, but the NFL Network's Mike Mayock is probably the best draft analyst on the teevees these days. Mayock had Jay Cutler ranked ahead of Vince Young and Matt Leinart in 2006, and never thought wide receiver Mike Williams would be much of an NFL wide receiver. Kiper was a Leinart guy and ranked Williams as one of the draft's best players in 2005.
The point isn't to call out Kiper, but to show that Mayock's pretty good at what he does. Which makes it kinda surprising that in his initial list of top-20 draft prospects doesn't include Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.
Mayock tells Paul Burmeister that he's just starting looking at the juniors, but he's watched three of McFadden's games and wasn't as impressed as he expected to be. "Great burst, great acceleration, but I don't touch Darren McFadden in the first 20 picks of the draft."
Wow. Obviously, it's still early in the process -- the combine, Pro Days and individual team workouts are all in front of us -- but given Mayock's eye for talent, I wouldn't be surprised if McFadden pulled a "Brady Quinn" come draft day. And who knows, maybe Jerry Jones will get his (rumored) wish after all.
By the way, Kiper currently has McFadden No. 1 on his big board.
Hat tip: Pancake Blocks
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Mel Kiper is a joke. No one actually takes that guy seriously do they? He's just another ESPN invention that is all smoke and no substance.
Posted at 1:36PM on Feb 12th 2008 by Jess
2. If you know football then you know that Felix Jones was the best running back at Arkansas. Jones will be the better pro and McFadden will be another Reggie Bush!
Posted at 1:58PM on Feb 12th 2008 by Matt
3. Anyone who thinks Jay Cutler should have been drafted as high as he was is an idiot. That one pick set the franchise back at least 10 years, Plummer was a MUCH better player.
Posted at 2:26PM on Feb 12th 2008 by Scott M
4. A guy says Cutler's better than Young and Leinart and that makes him a draft guru? Huh?
See no indication that Cutler is any better than Young -- they are both mediocre. Leinart by far shows the most promise of the three.
Posted at 2:40PM on Feb 12th 2008 by nickstoli
5. I can't tell if there is sarcasm there nick, but I hope there is. Cutler has shown great potential, and VY is a winner.
Leinart has the most to prove far and away I think.
Posted at 2:50PM on Feb 12th 2008 by RTO
6. CAN'T TELL WHAT THESE GUYS WILL DO UNTIL THEY HIT THE FIELD. MEL IS OVER-RATED BY FAR.
Posted at 2:55PM on Feb 12th 2008 by Phil
7. Leinart, by far, has the better pocket presence and accuracy. He's just got to get the Hollywood out of him. And stay healthy.
Culter, at best, will be another Plummer. Young, at best, a little better Vick.
Posted at 3:51PM on Feb 12th 2008 by nickstoli
8. D-Mac needs to go to the combine and run a sub 4.4 40 yard dash. After that, he will shoot back up the boards. Oakland is where he will end up.
Posted at 4:22PM on Feb 12th 2008 by ted
9. Leinart is garbage and Johnathan Stewart is the RB in the draft.
Posted at 8:37PM on Feb 12th 2008 by eagles8707
10. McFadden isn't falling down any draft boards. One single person says he's not as good on tape as he thought he would be. So what? It's not like Oakland, Atlanta, and the Jets all said they would not draft him in the first round, that would actually mean something! Mayock wants to be contoversial to get attention and so he picks on McFadden. All of this years RBs have weaknesses you could pick on, they also have a lot of great talent. Mayock complained that he didn't break enough tackles and that he carried the ball in the wrong hand sometimes. McFadden is known as a speedster, that's his game, not bowling people over. So as long as he runs a 4.3 at the combine like a lot of people report he will, NFL scouts will be more than happy to overlook that he isn't Larry Johnson. And the teams that need a strict power back in the first round will look at Stewart & Mendenhall who may not be as fast as McFadden but are bigger and stronger. A lot simply depends on the team's offensive scheme and what kind of RB is the best fit. I still expect McFadden to be the first runningback taken, even Mayock said he expects McFadden to be the first RB selected!
Posted at 10:21PM on Feb 13th 2008 by J-child PhD
11. Is this the self-annointed Guru who said,
"I think the obvious choice for Houston is Reggie Bush. "Reggie Reggie Bush is the best running back I've seen coming out of college, point blank."
Not the best running back in the past three years or 10 years. The best he's ever seen.
So what conclusions could be drawn from this
cosmically hyperbolic statement:
1. Maycock has been watching college football for
no more than three years (and somehow nver saw
Adrian Peterson play).
or,
2. Mike Maycock, to quote the late "Jimmy the
Greek", couldn't pick his own mother out of Duke Ellington's band.
Posted at 2:37PM on Feb 16th 2008 by John Carpenter