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.
Arkansas' Darren McFadden Is Slipping Down NFL Draft Boards - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog
02-12-2008, 06:42 PM
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