The Tao of Mel
The second day of the NFL Draft is usually full of guys you've never heard of, interspersed by "Hey, I remember that guy in college. Why wasn't he taken yesterday?" and "Why hasn't (popular player X) been taken?" There's always that talk about these late-round picks making or breaking a team's draft because you can get a lot of starters on the cheap from this part in the draft, which is true. However, many college football fans wonder what all the hubub is about because they know some of these players can produce. There's a reason why some of these guys were successful in college, and it has nothing to do with cones or benchpresses. (If workouts are a huge part of the scouting process, my brother could be drafted as a late-round "project" despite the only football experience being some flag football games.)

Sometimes you've got to wonder if NFL scouts watch college games, and if they do, do they start subtracting points for 300-yard games and other stats (as if they were playing a suck league)? Granted, most people knew Ken Dorsey probably isn't NFL star material with his arm, but at least he got drafted by the 49ers in the seventh round, where he'll likely compete with Tim Rattay (another great college player who has only gotten marginal work) to hold the clipboard. What about guys like Jason Gesser and Brad Banks, who had outstanding seasons? Banks seemed to be a one-year wonder with no real outstanding skills, so that's not a big surprise. But Gesser put up big numbers for a couple of years at Washington State. Were NFL teams that afraid to take another Cougar after Ryan Leaf? I mean, there is that Bledsoe guy in Buffalo who's not too bad.

Plus, Kilff Kingsbury was taken after Brooks Bollinger by one pick in the sixth round. I suppose Kingsbury was looked at as a "system" quarterback while Bollinger's "athleticism" (BTW, he's white) got him a slight nod. If either of those guys do anything in the league (and that's a longshot), please don't be surprised. Some of us are still laughing about the "out of nowhere" story of Marc Bulger.

Oh yeah, it doesn't look to be a good draft class if you're playing for this year. Time will tell, however. And I'll have another column about later-rounds pick tomorrow.