Angela asked me for thoughts on this week's draft-related happenings and of course I have them, so here they are.
1: On Stephen McGee getting drafted in the 4th round:
I am very proud of young Stevie. So proud! During his senior season, it seemed like he wasn't going to get drafted at all. And sure, the fourth round isn't as glamorous as getting drafted the first day, but it's entirely respectable. And he was the fifth quarterback taken--only Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman (who I still think is going to be a bust), and Pat White were taken ahead of him.
While it's disappointing that I'll have to care about the Cowboys to some extent, it does warm my heart that Stevie and Tellus are reunited.
And it feels so good!2. On Mike Leach saying, "I'm happy for Stephen McGee. The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did."
I'm annoyed, sure. (Although it's hard to tell who exactly he's insulting, even though it's clear he's insulting somebody.) Am I surprised? No. It's well established that Mike Leach says anything that pops into his head. I don't think this incident in particular will do much to hurt Leach's job-market stock. For one thing, it's part of a pattern (I really doubt it's the most outrageous thing he's ever said) and, frankly, that stock is already really low, as evinced by the failure of anyone to try to hire away a coach with such a good winning record.
Also, as this ESPN article insinuates, he's just bitter that Graham Harrell didn't get drafted at all. (And here's an article from CBS sports that doesn't insinuate anything, it just flat out lambastes Leach.) And you know what? It can't even be the "system quarterback" thing, where people believe a QB puts up misleadingly good stats just because of the system his coach runs. He must have done poorly at the combine too, because if draft status was only tied to college performance, you know who wouldn't have gotten drafted? Stephen McGee.
(But then again, the "system quarterback" thing clearly has some legs, at least as far as Leach's QBs go: "Kliff Kingsbury is in charge of quality control at the University of Houston. B.J. Symons is with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League and Sonny Cumbie was with the AFL's Los Angeles Avengers, a team that folded last week. And Cody Hodges is out of football." I mean, I don't know where Mark Ferris [shudder] is today, but still. Dang.)
It's a little odd that Crabtree didn't get drafted higher, but I think that was because A) he hurt his foot and B) just the way the draft played out--the first team that wanted a wide receiver was the Raiders, and they picked a less highly regarded guy because Al Davis is a crazy old coot. I'm not convinced it was a personal insult to Crabtree, but I could be wrong. (Oh, the idea of a burgeoning Leach-Mangini feud? [Leach: "Crabtree as a receiver has been more successful than that guy has been as a coach."] LOVE IT.)
I'm annoyed, sure. (Although it's hard to tell who exactly he's insulting, even though it's clear he's insulting somebody.) Am I surprised? No. It's well established that Mike Leach says anything that pops into his head. I don't think this incident in particular will do much to hurt Leach's job-market stock. For one thing, it's part of a pattern (I really doubt it's the most outrageous thing he's ever said) and, frankly, that stock is already really low, as evinced by the failure of anyone to try to hire away a coach with such a good winning record.
Also, as this ESPN article insinuates, he's just bitter that Graham Harrell didn't get drafted at all. (And here's an article from CBS sports that doesn't insinuate anything, it just flat out lambastes Leach.) And you know what? It can't even be the "system quarterback" thing, where people believe a QB puts up misleadingly good stats just because of the system his coach runs. He must have done poorly at the combine too, because if draft status was only tied to college performance, you know who wouldn't have gotten drafted? Stephen McGee.
(But then again, the "system quarterback" thing clearly has some legs, at least as far as Leach's QBs go: "Kliff Kingsbury is in charge of quality control at the University of Houston. B.J. Symons is with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League and Sonny Cumbie was with the AFL's Los Angeles Avengers, a team that folded last week. And Cody Hodges is out of football." I mean, I don't know where Mark Ferris [shudder] is today, but still. Dang.)
It's a little odd that Crabtree didn't get drafted higher, but I think that was because A) he hurt his foot and B) just the way the draft played out--the first team that wanted a wide receiver was the Raiders, and they picked a less highly regarded guy because Al Davis is a crazy old coot. I'm not convinced it was a personal insult to Crabtree, but I could be wrong. (Oh, the idea of a burgeoning Leach-Mangini feud? [Leach: "Crabtree as a receiver has been more successful than that guy has been as a coach."] LOVE IT.)
3. It is still my hope that the Packers pick up (undrafted but very good) Aggie punter Justin Brantly.
It just is.
2 comments:
You're awesome! Graham Harrell did in fact not do well at the combine...from what I heard he kinda sucked hard core. But I'm pretty confident that he'll get picked up by someone, if he hasn't already. I'm not offended by Crabtree getting drafted a bit lower than anticipated. I mean, it was still the first round and he had been injured. The "personal" attack was the whole Mangini not liking Crabtree's attitude. Leach defended Crabtree's non-diva like personality, but ya gotta admit, the guy doesn't sound like the most intelligent person when being interviewed. I mean, I LOVE him and think he's a pretty badass WR, but it's very likely he will become a diva in the NFL if he's successful. Plus Tech had a player drafted in each of the first 4 or 5 rounds, which I think is pretty good for a "lesser" program. I'm happy for Stevie, too, but I do wonder how this will work out for him. I even defended him at a bar to some Tech people on Sunday. You would be proud. :)
I am proud! I really hope Stevie does well, but I have a hard time picturing him starting at any point. It's hard to say what will happen to Graham Harrel, because certainly you need to get drafted to be successful. (I'll be pretty surprised if he's the next Tony Romo, though.)
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