NFL's Future

Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell

After months of dodging ‘real work’ to evaluate prospects, it has come to the finality stages. My team and I have put in hundreds of hours evaluating prospects, attending events, and arguing over who should be where to develop a list of the top 300 prospects in the 2013 NFL Draft.

All the mock drafts are fun debate but this is where the rubber meets the road. Remembering that mock drafts are best guesses where players land, a ranking of prospects is a true barometer of where you stand as an evaluator of talent.

With tape evaluation completed, Combine and all-star games completed, and arguments settled, we give you our 2013 NFL Draft top 300 prospects. Read the rest of this entry » «2013 NFL Draft Top 300 Prospects»

Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Kyle Long – Oregon

Height: 6061

Weight: 313

Age when drafted: 24

Hometown: Ivy, Virginia

Position: OT/OG

Collegiate Number: 74

Combine notables: 4.94 40 with 1.68 10 split, 28” vertical, 8’11” broad jump

Games Viewed: 2012 – USC, Arizona State, Stanford

BACKGROUND:

Kyle Long attended St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, VA. He played baseball and football and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 23^rd round of the 2008 MLB Draft. Long didn’t sign with the White Sox instead choosing to play baseball at Florida State.

A DUI in January 2009 combined with academic struggles led to Long leaving Florida State. Long opted to return to home, get his life together and enrolled in Saddleback Junior College in Mission Viejo, CA. Long would return to the football field and played two years at Saddleback before enrolling at the University of Oregon. Long’s first season at Saddleback was spent at defensive end before settling in on the offensive line in year two. Long has one year of major college football under his belt at Oregon which will be the major knock on him entering the draft.

Long has pedigree in spades as his father is Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long and his brother was the No. 2 overall pick for the St. Louis Rams, Chris Long. Read the rest of this entry » «Kyle Long Scouting Report»

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Tavon Austin – West Virginia

Height: 5084

Weight: 174

Age when drafted: 22

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Position: WR

Collegiate Number: 1

Combine notables: 4.34 40 with 1.45 10 split, 14 bench reps, 4.01 short shuttle, 10’ broad jump, 32” vertical

Games Viewed: 2012 – Maryland, Texas, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, TCU, Syracuse 2011 – LSU, Clemson

BACKGROUND:

Tavon Austin attended Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland. As a senior he rushed for 2,660 yards and scored 34 touchdowns. Austin led Dunbar to three consecutive Class 1A state titles. He set Maryland records for points, touchdowns, total offensive yards, and rushing yards.

Austin was converted to wide receiver when he stepped on campus in 2009. He saw action as a true freshman as he accounted for 15 receptions for 151 yards and a TD. In addition he rushed for a TD and returned a kickoff for a TD as a true freshman. Austin broke out as a sophomore with 58 receptions for 787 yards and a team leading 8 TD’s. As a junior, Austin caught 101 passes for 1,186 yards and 8 TD’s and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. Austin’s senior season saw him grab 114 receptions for 1,289 and 12 TD’s. Austin proved his versatility as a senior, lining up at running back and toting the ball 72 times for 643 yards and 3 TD’s. Read the rest of this entry » «Tavon Austin Scouting Report»

The league’s annual meeting is always interesting for NFL fans. First and foremost for our purposes is that the compensatory picks are doled out. 32 additional picks were added to the 2013 NFL Draft.

These picks were awarded to teams that have lost more or better compensatory free agents than they signed in the previous year. Teams that have gained or lost the same number of players but lose higher valued players than they gained can be awarded 7th round compensatory picks. The placement of picks is based on player’s salary, playing time, and postseason honors with new team. These picks cannot be traded.

So without further ado, here’s the remainder of the 2013 picks.  Read the rest of this entry » «NFL Compensatory Picks Set»

David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

Travis Kelce – Cincinnati

Height: 6047

Weight: 255

Age when drafted: 23

Hometown: Cleveland Heights, OH

Position: TE

Collegiate Number: 18

Combine notables: Didn’t workout at Combine

Games Viewed: 2012 – Syracuse, USF, Connecticut, Duke

BACKGROUND:

Travis Kelce was a three-year letterwinner at Cleveland Heights High School at quarterback. Kelce was  two-star recruit that had offers from Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Akron, and Miami (OH). His brother, Jason, is a center for the Philadelphia Eagles.

He redshirted in 2008. Played 11 games as redshirt freshman in 2009 as a wildcat quarterback and tight end. Cincinnati coach Butch Jones suspended Kelce for the 2010 season due to a violation of team rules. After his suspension, Kelce recorded 13 receptions for 150 yards and 2 TD’s in 2011. Kelce burst onto the national scene as a senior when he grabbed 45 receptions for 722 yards and 8 TD’s. Read the rest of this entry » «Travis Kelce Scouting Report»

The initial surge of free agent signings is in the books. Now will come some bargain buys on veteran players. But for the most parts the rosters aren’t likely to fluctuate much more leading up to the draft. Now it’s time to get serious evaluating team needs and paying attention to mock drafts.

As you know, Saturday’s are reserved for our Play the Draft stock watch. If you haven’t joined our league, I’m not sure what you’re waiting for. Mel Kiper kicked this thing off more than a month ago and the ball hasn’t stopped rolling. It’s THE game for draft fans, of which you can count yourself as one. Prove your draftnik abilities and take home a 2013 subscription for NFL Game Rewind…the ultimate prize for (true) fans of the game. Join our league today, it’s free.

Each week we offer some tips for the week with our bulls and bears. The bulls are guys that we are recommending as strong buys this week and the bears are guys you want to exercise caution with. And by exercise caution, I mean stay far, far away. Read the rest of this entry » «Play the Draft Stock Watch – Free Agency Edition»

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

NFL free agency has been crazy to say the least. This mock draft was changed four times to adjust for the additions made before this thing went to publishing. It’s been a crazy ride and was set to be a three-rounder but time frames and adjustments made it just a two-round effort. Next week, we’ll knock out at least a three-rounder and maybe more for making you wait.

If you aren’t involved in NFL’s Future Play the Draft league, you need to be. Now’s the time to join, it’s blowing up before our eyes. Not only is it free, it’s fun and you get a chance to show us your the best draftnik around. If your reading this mock it means you’re interested in the draft. Take that interest to a new level and Play the Draft. If you needed more incentive the winner of our league wins a subscription to NFL Game Rewind. Trust me when I tell you…there’s no better prize than that.

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M

The Chiefs made some solid signings early on in day one by adding the underrated Mike DeVito and a young, promising QB in Chase Daniel. Prior to going to publishing the Chiefs have agreed on a deal with CB Sean Smith, eliminating a huge hole at corner. Add these moves in with franchising Brandon Albert, re-signing Dwayne Bowe, and dealing for Alex Smith the Chiefs have filled some major holes. They have really set themselves up to take the best player on their board and I think it comes down to one of the tackles.

The Chiefs appear to be locking into a tackle at this spot. The question remains which one will it be? Eric Fisher or Luke Joeckel? Depending who you ask, the answer will vary. Joeckel is the definition of safe pick and offers the Chiefs someone to build around for the long-term. Read the rest of this entry » «2013 NFL Mock Draft: Geno resurfaces in top five»

Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE

The free agency frenzy is a lot to digest. Our server about exploded with the amount of information being entered into the site and the enormous traffic to the site. The NFL is unlike any other sport in that there’s is no offseason. The offseason is becoming a full-fledged spectacle between the Combine in February, free agency in March, and the draft in April.

Today we will breakdown all the signings and trades over the course of the first two day of free agency. This list is very fluid as there’s a lot of players (and some good ones) still on the market. He will do our best to keep this updated, so bookmark it and keep checking back. Read the rest of this entry » «Team by Team Free Agency Breakdown»

The new league year is upon us as it begins on Tuesday at 4:00 PM EST. With rumors abounding throughout the three-day ‘legal tampering’ window we opted to start a live thread that will take us through all the action.

You can find all of the latest news as it breaks via this thread. So bookmark it and check back as we inch closer to deals becoming official.

Wednesday

6:00 pm: Thanks to everyone that followed along. We will officially be signing off our live free agency thread. If any big signings happen we will be posting a story as soon as possible. It’s been fun and thanks for helping us break our single day pageviews mark yesterday. The growth of our community has been overwhelming as we continue to do what we love. Big thanks to all those avid readers and we are currently working on a new three round mock draft that will be out Friday morning.

5:31 pm: Adam Schefter reports the Oakland Raiders have inked former Brown OLB Kaluka Maiava to a 3-year, $6 million deal.

5:27 pm: Per his agent, Drew Stanton has signed a three-year deal to join the Arizona Cardinals. It’s a reunion of former Michigan State quarterbacks as Stanton joins his MSU predecessor, Brian Hoyer.

5:14 pm: Matt Maiocco reports there’s mutual interest between the San Francisco 49ers and Nnamdi Asomugha.

5:13 pm: Alex Marvez reports the Cardinals have signed WR/KR Josh Cribbs. Cardinals also inked Lorenzo Alexander.

5:04 pm: Jason La Canfora reports the Cardinals have cut safety Kerry Rhodes.

4:52 pm: Albert Breer reports the Broncos and Wes Welker agree on a two-year deal.

4:35 pm: Ian Rapaport reports the Titans reached a 3-year, $11.4 million deal with DT Sammie Lee Hill.

4:27 pm: Pro Football Talk reports TE Dustin Keller is taking a physical in Miami and working on terms of a deal.

4:26 pm: Adam Schefter reports CB Drayton Florence agrees to one-year deal with Panthers.

4:16 pm: John Elway tweeted the Broncos agreed to a one-year deal with LB Stewart Bradley.

4:08 pm: Mike Giardi of CSNNE reports Wes Welker has went back to the Patriots to see if they will match the Broncos offer.

4:05 pm: Rob Demovsky reports the Packers and free agent RB Steven Jackson are talking about a three-year deal.

3:55 pm: Adam Schefter reports the Titans have reached an agreement on a 3-year deal worth $10 million with former Jet RB Shonn Greene.

3:23 pm: Greg Bedard reports deal between Broncos and WR Wes Welker is “very likely”. Read the rest of this entry » «2013 NFL Free Agency Live Thread»

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Many of the big fish have been bagged on day one but certain position groups have been ignored early on in the process. If your a team in need of a corner or defensive end you have to feel  good about the chances of landing a solid one at the right price.

The corner market has become saturated with talent as last minute cuts added Nnamdi Asomugha and Antoine Winfield to an already crowded crop of corners. With a few exceptions, the corner market was untouched leaving the big names for the taking. Likewise, the defensive end group went relatively unfazed on day with plenty of options left out on the open market.

While some teams started with a bang, it’s the days after day one that you normally find the bargains and this year appears to be no exception. It’s likely that many on the market will sift through visits and contractual details as the pace slows to a snails pace (in comparison). With this fact in mind we look at the best of what’s left of the 2013 NFL free agent crop.

Quarterbacks

Jason Campbell, Drew Stanton, Josh Johnson, David Carr, Brady Quinn, Bruce Gradkowski, Matt Leinart

If you are looking for a starter, you’re in trouble unless you plan on making a trade. The best of this group (Chase Daniel) was snatched up early by the Chiefs. Drew Stanton is a name getting some attention. He’s is reportedly meeting with the Cardinals. Jason Campbell will have his suitors as a veteran backup as well.

Couple of predictions: Jason Campbell – New York Jets, Drew Stanton – Arizona Cardinals Read the rest of this entry » «2013 NFL Free Agency: Best of the rest»