It’s 2019 NFL mock draft update time! With the Super Bowl now over, the full draft order is now set. Team needs were sometimes, but often not taken into account, as it’s still early for a 2019 mock draft in the purest sense.
Follow paulmbanksFour Clemson Football Players Who Could be First Round NFL Draft Picks
January 7, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Clemson football is the program that comes closest to matching Alabama’s dominance in recent years. At least in the College Football Playoff era. In this the fifth season of the CFP, the 20 berths so far break down like this: Alabama 5, Clemson 4, Oklahoma 3, Ohio State 2, Notre Dame, Oregon, Florida State, Georgia, Washington and Michigan State all have 1.
So of the 20 berths, 60% have gone to just three teams, and Clemson football is one of them. Dabo Swinney’s program beat Alabama for the 2016 national title, but lost to them in the 2015 national championship and 2017 Sugar Bowl semifinal. The odds makers have both teams as double digit favorites to win their semifinal games and play for the national title again; which would make it the third time in five years.
Follow paulmbanksClemson QB Trevor Lawrence Should Be the #1 Overall Pick in His Draft Class
January 7, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the kind of player that could hypothetically force a conversation about applying the NBA “one and done” rule to football. Much has been made in basketball about the extremely talented kids who shouldn’t be forced to go to school, ply their trade and not get paid, when they have the ability go pro and make money doing what they love right now.
No one talks about in football, and yes these players are rare, but the 6-5, Cartersville, Georgia native has a NFL caliber arm right now. Beyond the arm talent, he has the whole package in the eyes of NFL scouts. (Just needs to add a few pounds of muscle)
Follow paulmbanksFour Ohio State Football Players with First Round NFL Draft Stock
December 7, 2018 By 1 Comment
Ohio State football has become like a gridiron version of the Kentucky Wildcats, at least in regards to the draft, these days. We’ve seen plenty of Buckeyes “succeed and proceed” lately, leaving school early with eligibility still on the table in order to cash in. American online bookmakers are handicapping the first player selected in the NFL draft race, and one Ohio State player, DL Nick Bosa, has very favorable odds.
Let’s take a look at what 2018 Ohio State football players, underclassmen or other wise, could be drafted in the first round come April.
Follow paulmbanksRyan Leaf EXCLUSIVE: Former QB Opens Up About His Addiction and Recovery
November 29, 2018 By Leave a Comment
In the first college football game I attended as a student, the visiting team scored an 80-yard touchdown pass on the very first play from scrimmage. The visitors, Washington State, would go on to win and play in the Rose Bowl against that year’s eventual national champions, Michigan. The home team, my alma mater of Illinois, wouldn’t even win a single game that year.
More than 20 years later, I’m sitting in a Cadillac Escalade, rolling down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and the quarterback who threw that 80-yard TD pass, Ryan Leaf, is now granting me an exclusive interview; and the topic of football is ancillary to the purpose of our discourse.
Follow paulmbanksRyan Leaf Overcame Opioids, Prison to Become Inspirational Recovery Advocate
November 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Ryan Leaf is known by many football fans as perhaps the greatest bust in NFL Draft history. His career began with an endless debate about who should be taken first in the 1998 draft- himself, or the man who did get selected first overall, Peyton Manning. While Leaf only saw 25 games of action over the course of three seasons, Manning went on to win five MVP awards, two Super Bowls and get selected to 14 Pro Bowls.
Given the elite level of Manning’s many prodigious accomplishments, Leaf’s washing out of the league by age 26 seems even more disappointing by comparison. That’s extremely unfair on many levels to Ryan Leaf, but unfortunately that is how this chapter in the book of sports history has been written.
Follow paulmbanksMichigan Wolverines Boast Trio of 1st Round Draft Pick Prospects on D
September 29, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The #14 Michigan Wolverines are loaded with individual talent, and most of it resides on the defensive side of the ball. The Wolverines boast a trio of NFL first round draft pick prospects, The triad consists of DE Rashan Gary, LB Devin Bush and DE/OLB Chase Winovich. Go here to see where we have all three of these Michigan Wolverines in our latest NFL mock draft.
Gary, one of the highest rated recruits in the Jim Harbaugh era, was first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches last season as a sophomore. He had 66 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and six sacks in 2017. Through the first third of the season, Gary racked up 18 tackles (3.5 for loss), two sacks and three quarterback hurries.
Follow paulmbanksBuffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals Early Favorites to Be Picking #1 on Draft Night
September 18, 2018 By Leave a Comment
With the Cleveland Browns markedly improved in 2018, and thus likely to vacate their traditional spot in the National Football League’s overall basement, who will supplant them as being first overall on the clock come NFL Draft night? There’s a reason that the one movie that was ever made about the NFL Draft centered around the Brownies, but in 2019, they will almost certainly not be picking first.
There are four early contenders to take the top pick, and all of them are franchises that have endured a lot of losing lately. Yes, the NFL is a league where revenue sharing and overall infrastructure invites parity and quick mobility up the standings, but the league has seen remarkable consistency at both ends of the spectrum.
Follow paulmbanksMontre Hartage, Northwestern Secondary Have Off Day vs Duke Blue Devils
September 8, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Senior cornerback Montre Hartage could have the highest NFL draft stock of anyone on this 2018 Northwestern football team, but even his skill set couldn’t save the Cats at home versus Duke today. On a day with autumn like conditions, winter has come to the Wildcats’ nine game winning streak (which had been the longest among all FBS teams), as they fell 21-7 at Ryan Field.
Hartage is a stud, but the NU pass defense, as a whole, stumbled today. You can’t really single anyone on the Cats out specifically, as it was a total team let down. The story of the game was the Duke passing attack, as quarterback Daniel Jones was clinical, efficient and precise.
Follow paulmbanksNFL Goes Full On Meathead, Panders to Right Wing Troglodytes
May 24, 2018 By 1 Comment
Take care NFL- it’s been nice knowing you! This is certainly not the National Football League that us older millenials/younger Gen Xers used to know and love. While it’s been painfully obvious for some time that the NBA peaked long ago with its 1990s Golden Age, yesterday we learned that the NFL is over the hill too.
At least in this instance the league isn’t micro-managing itself into irrelevance by pandering to some corporatism middle ground. This time they shot themselves in the foot by taking a side- the wrong one. The ruling to penalize those who protest the national anthem is so stupid and maladaptive on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to even begin in vivisecting this. [Read more…]
Follow paulmbanksQB Shea Patterson Finally Cleared to Play at Michigan, Expresses Gratitude
April 27, 2018 By Leave a Comment
The long, drawn out, extremely tedious eligibility saga of quarterback Shea Patterson is now over! Michigan fans can rejoice because they now have their blue chip signal caller officially cleared to play this fall. Reports had surfaced last night that this might be coming, and the official announcement came in the traditional, industry standard Friday at 5 pm when everyone has already checked out for the weekend news dump.
The University of Mississippi QB and the U of M then sent out a joint statement that was so dull and boring that I won’t dare burden you with citing it.
Follow paulmbanks2018 NFL Mock Draft 4-26-18 FINAL EDITION
April 25, 2018 By 23 Comments
Welcome to the 2018 NFL mock draft. The big night, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas is now upon us. What will happen at Jerry’s World/The DeathStar? Our best projections follow below.
With only 32 picks to go around, yes, there will be a guy or two that you feel very strongly should be a first rounder, but got left out. Sorry, but it’s inevitable. Also, many of you will strongly disagree with the projections here, and with the write-ups, but try to be respectful about it in the comments section.
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