Bad news surrounds everything NFL these days. It appears a deal will not be reached any time soon. But they extended the negotiating deadline another week. And there’s always a bull market somewhere. And good news for all you home-gamers is…the NFL Draft is right around the corner, and the combine just concluded.
We updated out second round mock a couple days ago. And a new update for both rounds will be here by Monday.
In the meantime, this is the first of two lightning rounds of winners and two more of losers from Indy.
John Clay, RB, Wisconsin Badgers
The big bruising back who took home 2009 Big Ten player of the year slimmed down to 230 lbs. That’s good, but his 40 time of 4.77 wins over nobody; neither did his performance in the drills. Since he got demoted to third-string in 2010, it’s probably a good thing he declared early for the draft, but what position will he play? Too slow for tail, he’ll have to go the route of ex-Illini Robert Holcombe and Howard Griffith; halfbacks who converted to full in the NFL. Possible round 5-7 guy.
Isaiah Thompson, G, Houston
Sure, he’s an OL (allowed to be the slowest on the field) but a 40 time in the 6s??!!! LOL! That’s bad for a high-schooler. And his broad jump (not sure how that applies to blocking skills, but still) was really awful as well.
Greg Little, WR, North Carolina
Character concerns. Bad interviews. Little has a lot to worry about with his draft stock. Unless NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to abolish to attempts to legislate morality through his conduct policy.
Written by Paul M. Banks, President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Midwest webzine. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports
He does a weekly radio segment on Chicagoland Sports Radio.com and Cleveland.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank