Out of all of the professional sports league drafts, the NFL's has the most intrigue. Here's my snap judgment on this year's:
- My golden rule in the NFL Draft: Trust the rich, because there’s a reason why they’re rich in the first place. Marcus Lattimore headed to San Francisco and Eddie Lacy to Green Bay seems almost too obvious for two solid SEC running backs. Ever since Jim Harbaugh and Ted Thompson took the reigns in their respected Bays, the Niners and Packers invested heavily in their teams’ stars, forcing them to do good work finding draft value picks.
- Pour one out for USC QB Matt Barkley and Oklahoma QB Landry Jones. Barkley and Jones were mentioned in joining last years' top-two picks, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, among the top echelon of prospects. But an additional year in college with middling seasons cost Barkley and Jones millions of dollars in crashed draft statuses. The guy most likely to earn his stripes first will be Jones, drafted by the Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger’s understudy. Big Ben has been battling injuries for years now.
- Everyone had their shivs out to prison shank Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o. Te’o’s poor performance in the national title game and subsequent crowning as the most gullible college bro ever transformed a Heisman Runner-Up and potential Number One Overall Pick into a punch line. Whoever drafted him would be a dope. Leave it to San Diego to be that dope (irony: Te’o thought the California area code on his phone was a prank from his friends. #protip Manti: get new friends). While whispers of "Manti Seau" have come from hesitant Charger fans—as a Charger fan, I hate the pick—let it not be denied that dude found the best team to land on. Since San Diego hasn’t been good in years, expectations are low for the Super Chargers. The Golden Domer won’t have to be a savior. He’ll just have to make tackles.