Draft stuff
Merry Draft-mas.
Forget the egg nog and the carols, this is about draft boards and, as Cousin Eddie might say, "Bet you could do you for a cold one."
Now you're talking, Ed.
Let's get to our five predictions for tonight. (As a side note: Here is TFP all-around ace and Press Row co-host David Paschall's story on what the Titans may do after Tennessee GM Jon Robinson joined us on Press Row on Wednesday. Really good stuff in there if you are a Titans fan.)
But before we get to our predictions, let's remind everyone about our "Dodging the Draft while Feeling the Draft and drinking a draft NFL Draft Contest." Here are the categories:
- Number of SEC players picked in round 1:
- First quarterback to be drafted:
- Titans' first pick:
- First team to trade its pick:
- Falcons' first pick:
We have had about 30 or so entries so far, which is not bad. You have until the end of BID-ness tonight to enter. (Here is the 5-at-10's entry: 12; Trubisky; OJ Howard; Titans; Charles Harris. We love the draft. You know this.) Each is worth a point, save the last one, which is worth 1.1 to help in tie-breaking scenarios. It also keeps you glued to the set though the entirety of round one. As for some clarifications.
First, if a player once was at an SEC school but transferred, he does not count as an SEC player. Clear? Crystal.
Second, you can answer not answer none to any of the questions. They are worded specifically, and if the Falcons trade out of round one, then their first pick will be made on Friday. If there is not a QB taken in round one - which will never happen - or if there's not a first-round pick traded - which is unlikely but could happen - then the contest rolls into Friday and the first QB and traded pick still stand.
For clarity on the traded pick, if the Titans look to trade down - which could very well happen - and say they trade No. 5 to Cleveland for No. 12 and other stuff, by the statement of these rules, the Titans are the first team to trade their pick, because their spot is higher. Clear? Crystal.
As for predictions for tonight. Well, everyone has Myles Garrett going 1, so that's more formality that prediction. Let's try these:
Titans trade with Cleveland, sending 5 to the Browns for 12, a second-rounder this year and a conditional pick in '18. With that 12th pick the Titans are overjoyed to take OJ Howard, a player they would have considered taking at five. (We believe that the Titans will run to the podium if Jamal Adams is on the board, as they should. Jamal Adams is the best player in this draft.) If either of those scenarios play out, Jon Robinson will be smiling through his Red Man.
With that pick, Cleveland takes quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who actually is the second offensive player off the board. LSU power back Leonard Fournette goes to Jacksonville, because, well, they are Jacksonville.
Temple's Hassan Riddick will be the first linebacker off the board, over Reuben Foster. It's an interesting dichotomy, too, considering Riddick was a walk-on with a college scholarship offer coming out of high school and Foster was a five-star everyone in America wanted before going to Alabama. We think Foster is going to be a superstar, but the red flags, highlighted by the "diluted sample" urine test will cost him several spots tonight.
A team desperate for a QB will trade back into the first round, and overpay to do it, so that they can pick before the Texans at 25. Houston would love to get Patrick Mahomes, but here's a thought that someone - we'll say the Jets, but it could be K.C. - will jump the Texans for the third quarterback on most boards and some say with the most upside.
It's a 100 percent certain, we'll watch almost all of tonight's activities. (That's the one prediction guaranteed to happen.)
UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen's standout freshman season includes being named to the All-Pac-12 team last week. Next on the to-do list for Rosen and the Bruins is Saturday's San Francisco Bowl, in which they'll face Nebraska.Decisions, decisions
Something not a lot of folks are discussing as we get closer and closer to the 2017 draft, is that the 2018 draft is going to feature way more high-ceiling, NFL-talented quarterbacks.
Sam Darnold looks the part of a No. 1 overall pick. As does UCLA's Josh Rosen. Scouts love Wyoming's Josh Allen, and there's familiar names like Mason Rudolph, Luke Falk and Baker Mayfield.
With that in mind, if you pull the trigger on a first-round quarterback, you theoretically can't be interested in a quarterback next year, can you?
Or would you be willing if you were Cleveland, to trade up to get Trubisky, and if he gets to camp and stinks, do you go first-round QB in back-to-back years?
Man, we love the draft.
FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2016, file photo, Trent Dilfer talks during ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown" before an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles, in Chicago. ESPN is laying off about 100 employees, including former athletes-turned-broadcasters Trent Dilfer, Len Elmore and Danny Kanell, in a purge designed to focus the sports network on a more digital future. The cuts will trim ESPN's stable of on-air talent and writers by about 10 percent. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) ESPN layoffs
Wednesday was a sad day.
Whether you vehemently disagree with everything a now-fired ESPN personality said or wrote, it's never a good day when people lose their jobs.
It's a math deal. Cable television has lost 12 million subscribers since February 2011. That means ESPN has lost 12 million customers - and Fox and the rest of the sports competitors for that matter too - and that stings the worldwide leader.
Big time.
ESPN is the channel that gets the largest cut of the cable bill for basic and extended packages. That share that ESPN gets from Comcast, EPB, et al., is somewhere between the $6-to-8 range.
Math tells us that losing 12 million customers at $8 a month, means revenue at ESPN is down about nine-figures monthly. That's a monster hit, and considering the billion-dollar broadcast deals ESPN did with the NBA and the NFL - and those deals contractually obligated - the cuts had to come from somewhere.
And that's a tough deal, and one that is lurking around the corner for every business - media or otherwise - that is not looking to embrace the changes and challenges of their industry. We had several questions about this, one we'll keep one for the bag tomorrow, but we will not speculate who we think "should" have been let go.
That's unfair and a little harsh, and in truth, most of the decisions are based a lot on getting to a certain number rather than who is better or worse than someone else. We will say that the three we were most surprised by were Danny Kanell, Trent Dilfer and Ed Werder.
The three we will likely miss the most that are not as widely recognized are legal analyst Roger Cossack, golf analyst Dottie Pepper and the always great Dr. Jerry Punch.
This and that
* This is a scary story. Joe Thomas, future NFL Hall of Famer, says he's already experiencing memory loss. He is 32. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/19249219/cleveland-browns-lineman-joe-thomas-says-experiencing-memory-loss
* Here's today's A2 Q and A with Ben Curtis, the Chattanooga actor who was internationally known as the "Dude, you're getting a Dell" guy. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/opinion/columns/story/2017/apr/27/greeson-catching-dude-youre-getting-dell-dude/425009/
* Dude, the Predators are rolling it right now. After sweeping the top-seeded Blackhawks in round one, Nashville went to St. Louis and grabbed home ice with an impressive win over the Blues.
* More draft details: Thought this was cool. Here are the composite five-star prospects from 247sports.com that are in this draft and have a chance to go in round 1: Myles Garrett, Texas A&M Solomon Thomas, Stanford; Leonard Fournette, LSU; O.J. Howard, Alabama; Jamal Adams, LSU; Jonathan Allen, Alabama; Reuben Foster, Alabama; Marlon Humphrey, Alabama; Dalvin Cook, Florida State; Malik McDowell, Michigan State; Jabrill Peppers, Michigan; Adoree' Jackson, USC; Cam Robinson, Alabama; Carl Lawson, Auburn. The record for more 247sports five stars in the first round is eight in 2015. That list above seems destined to break it, considering the first seven names are first-round slam dunks. You have to figure that two more from the athletic firm of Humphrey, Cook, McDowell, Peppers, Jackson, Robinson and Lawson will get to nine.
* Kirk Merritt has been dismissed from the Texas A&M program. The former receiver was charged last October with two cases of exposing and touching himself infront of two tutors. He did not deny the charge, but said it happened because of an extreme case of jock itch. Wow.
* Jonathan Demme, the director who orchestrated the magnificent "Silence of the Lambs," died Wednesday. He was 73.
Today's question
Have you entered the draft contest? If not, why not?
George "Iceman" Gervin turns 65 today. SAL-Loot.
Let's go with the Rushmore of the best NBA players never to win a title.
Does the Iceman make it?
Go, and remember the mailbag.