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MelK
01-18-2003, 11:52 AM
Field set; 2003 draft takes hit...Those NFL execs wearing black around Mobile this week are from teams with picks in the second half of the top 10 of this year's draft. Indeed, the big story coming out of the stampede of underclassmen into the 2003 draft may be less who's in than who's not. At one point just a few weeks ago it looked like there could be as many as 8-9 true elite prospects for this year's draft, but an injury, plus several surprise decisions by underclassmen to stay in school severely depleted the ranks of potential elite prospects for this year's draft. The injury, of course, was the serious knee injury suffered by Miami sophomore RB Willis McGahee who would have been selected in the top 2-3 picks this year.

McGahee will still be in this year's draft, but after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left knee early this month may not even be drafted at all. Meanwhile, Ole Miss QB Eli Manning, Texas WR Roy Williams, and Miami DT Vince Wilfork, who all would have drawn serious interest from teams with top 5 picks this April, all decided to remain in school. In fact, not only is the Longhorns' Williams staying in school for a final year, but he is talking about wanting to play some DB along with his receiving duties.

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:52 AM
Underclassmen deadline passes...The deadline for underclassmen to apply to this year's draft passed yesterday afternoon with few new names added to the list.

Full attendance at Senior Bowl by NFL...Any doubts that the Senior Bowl is the king of post-season college all-star games were squashed by the fact that the 32 NFL teams have over 700 coaches, scouts and other personnel people on site in Mobile this week. That's almost 20 staff per team.

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:52 AM
Larry Johnson is a big, physical runner who showed good hands out of the backfield as a receiver and was very quick and explosive to the hole. He missed a practice because of dehydration caused by flu-like symptoms, but was back in action on Thursday.

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:53 AM
Draft picks out as coach bait?...Several sources are reporting that the NFL has placed a moratorium on the practice of using draft picks to, in effect, trade for a coach unless such a deal is approved by the league. According to the sources, the NFL is concerned that the practice could ultimately undermine the draft, the intent of which is to equitibly distribute player talent throughout the league

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:53 AM
Big board still in flux... Normally at this time of the year the top of the draft board really starts to come together. Indeed, this year's top 10-15 appears to be coming togther quite nicely, although, of course, there will still be plenty of movement between now and April 26th. The rest of the first round, however, is another story. In fact, there is about as much flux in players in the 15-50 range as any draft in recent years.

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:54 AM
UGA TE decides to stay put...Georgia junior TE Ben Watson, who had anounced earlier this week that he would be entering the 2003 draft, has changed his mind and will be back in Athens next fall for his senior season.

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:54 AM
Speaking of the week of practice in Mobile, John Murphy of Draft 2003 reports that the 10 players that helped themselves the most this week were California QB Kyle Boller; WR Doug Gabriel of Central Florida; OT Eric Steinbach of Iowa; OG Montrae Holland of Florida State; DTs Kenny Peterson of Ohio State, Kevin Williams of Oklahoma State, and Ty Warren of Texas A&M; LB Pisa Tinoisamoa of Hawaii; and CB Marcus Trufant of Washington State.

MelK
01-18-2003, 11:56 AM
1-17 Washington State DT Rien Long will also be entering the draft. Long was the Outland Trophy winner who said he would stay, but apparently changed his mind and had the paper work done by 4:00 Wednesday.

...Washington State junior DT Rien Long's final decision on whether or not to enter the 2003 draft may go down as one of the most agonizing in history. Long applied to the NFL for admission to this year's draft on Wednesday, but still has reportedly not decided whether to rescind the application before this evenings 6 PM ET deadline for underclassmen who have not signed with an agent to back out of their entry into this year's draft

. Long won this year's Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the nation's top lineman, after posting 13 sacks

MelK
01-18-2003, 12:04 PM
Speaking of a trade, The Chicago Bears have approached USC quarterback Carson Palmer at the Senior Bowl and had short discussion with him. It is no secret the Bears are looking for a quarterback in this April's NFL Draft and Palmer is their highest rated player at that position on their draft board. They loved the idea of Eli Manning leading their team, but he has decided to stay in school for his Senior season. The Bears have Jim Miller, Henry Burris and Chris Chandler on their roster and it seems like this team only needs a capable signal caller to unleash a potentially explosive offense. Palmer could be their man. Look for the Bears and Bengals to talk trade.

MelK
01-18-2003, 12:07 PM
Football.com (http://www.football.com/cgi-bin/posters/printPost.cgi?category=my2cents&at=my2cents1.shtml)

All Pro Scouting (http://www.allproscouting.com/seniorbowlnorth03.html)

Boomers Draft (http://www.boomersdraft.com/)

Mel Kiper- ESPN (http://espn.go.com/melkiper/)

GREAT BLUE NORTH DRAFT REPORT (http://www.gbnreport.com/)

DraftBook 2003 (http://www.draftbook.com/)

Rob's Scouting (http://users.adelphia.net/~leboss25/draft_news.htm)