Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Saturday's Draft Nuggets #1

Saturday’s Draft Nuggets

Hello loyal P1’s and fans of Norm,

I am Jeff “Saturday” Bowers, Norm’s draft researcher, and this is the first installment of Draft Nuggets; a behind-the-scenes look at the massive amount of prep and information that goes into the construction of The Big Board. If you are a crazy Draftnik like me, then this is your favorite time of year. The evaluation, “speculation and procrastination” (Thanks Jerry!) involved in the building of a franchise holds as much nerdy sports drama for me as a last second touchdown drive in the Super Bowl. The opinions contained within are my own, synthesized from various sources. I am no expert (but is anyone in this process, really?) and look forward to any questions, comments or healthy respectful debate from the P1 masses. Reach me at thesportsnarrative@gmail.com

This year’s draft is especially important for the Cowboys, as the core of talent brought here in the Parcell’s era begins to age, and epic failures in subsequent draft classes have left the talent cupboard quite bare. Glaring holes on the offensive line and in the secondary led to the ultimate demise of this team’s playoff hopes. Luckily, the 2012 NFL draft is very deep at both OL and CB, but proper evaluation is still crucial to selecting that diamond amongst the “cow poo poo.” Future posts will hopefully help to identify both the Cowboys intentions and the future stars of the NFL. As described by Norm himself, the Draft process is a living, breathing thing that moves and shapes into new forms moment to moment. We are at the beginning of that process; a meticulous 3 month process that will decide the futures of hundreds of young men, coaches and teams and that will culminate on April 26th-28th at Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan, brought to you by 1310AM The Ticket and voiced as always by Norm Hitzges.

And now on to the info:

A record 56 undersclassmen declared themselves eligible of the 2012 NFL draft by the January 15th deadline (previous high was 54). Below is an alphabetical list of those players and a projection of where they may be drafted. Also, highlighted players are ones that could/should be on the Cowboys radar.


Player
Position
College
Class
Projection





RB
Wyoming
JR
Undrafted
TE
Clemson
JR
1st-2nd
RB
Michigan St.
JR
6th-7th
RB
Nevada
JR
Undrafted
WR
Oklahoma St.
JR
Top 5 pick
DT
L.S.U.
SO
1st-2nd
ILB
Arizona St.
JR
Top 25pick
TE
Georgia
JR
2nd-3rd
CB
L.S.U.
JR
Top 5 pick
DT
Mississippi St.
JR
2nd Round
OG
Stanford
JR
Top 20 Pick
DT
Miami (FL)
JR
3rd Round
CB
South Carolina
JR
2nd-3rd
WR
Wake Forest
JR
3rd Round
QB
Baylor
JR
Top 5 Pick
RB
Southern Illinois
JR
Undrafted
CB
Oregon
JR
4th-5th
ILB
Alabama
JR
1st Round
WR
Georgia Tech
JR
3rd Round
RB
San Diego St.
SO
4th-6th
DE
Boston College
JR
Undrafted
CB
Virginia Tech
JR
2nd Round
RB
Oregon
JR
2nd-3rd
WR
South Carolina
JR
Top 25 Pick
DE
Syracuse
JR
2nd-3rd 
OT
USC
JR
Top 5 Pick
CB
Alabama
JR
Top 10 Pick
C
Wisconsin
JR
1st Round
ILB
Boston College
JR
Top 15 pick
DE
Oklahoma
JR
2nd Round
QB
Stanford
JR
#1 Pick
OLB
North Carolina St.
JR
3rd-4th
OT
Stanford
JR
Top 15 Pick
DE
Troy
JR
2nd-3rd
OT
Ole Miss
JR
3rd-4th
DE
Illinois
JR
1st Round
RB
Miami (FL)
SO
1st- 2nd
QB
Arizona St.
JR
3rd-4th
DE
North Carolina
JR
6th-7th
WR
Toledo
JR
4th-5th
DE
USC
JR
1st Round
RB
Temple
JR
3rd-4th
DT
Memphis
JR
1st-2nd
RB
Washington
JR
2nd Round
WR
L.S.U.
JR
2nd-3rd
OT
Iowa
JR
Top 10 Pick
RB
Alabama
JR
Top 15 Pick
CB
Central Florida
JR
3rd-4th
WR
Rutgers
JR
1st-2nd
RB
South Florida
JR
7th-FA
WR
Miami (FL)
JR
2nd-3rd
QB
Oregon
JR
7th-FA
RB
Utah St.
JR
4th-5th
DE
Miami (FL)
JR
5th-6th
OG
Miami (FL)
JR
2nd-3rd
RB
Virginia Tech
JR
2nd Round
DT
Michigan St.
JR
2nd-3rd