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April 30, 2007

Some Draft Thoughts

Filed under: Big East,Conference,Draft,Football,NFL — Chas @ 4:05 pm

Every year, the NFL Draft surprises me with some of the players not selected. Tyler Palko not getting drafted was something of a surprise, but in the context of this draft, it seemed that a lot of teams either were not overly enamored with the QBs available or just didn’t even come close to having a need. Only 11 QBs were drafted and there was no point where a run on QBs happened.

Other QBs of note, not drafted: Jared Zabransky (Boise St.), Chris Leak (Florida), Matt Moore (Oregon St. — and who Jaworski was banging the drum hard both days) and Luke Getsy (Akron). Yeah, thinking about it, the QB play in college football this past season was hardly awe inspiring. Conference USA had more QBs drafted (2) than the combined total of the SEC (1), Big 12 (0), ACC (0) and Big East (0). Yes, some has to do with underclassmen who start and a couple who came back for a senior season. Still, that says something about the overall quality of QB play.
That Clint Session went in the 4th round while H.B. Blades was drafted 6th is just one of those things that boggles my mind. I get that physically Session looks like the better prospect; but after 3 years or so of muttering/screaming/sighing “tackle, don’t hit” when Sessions gets in on a play, some attention should have been paid to which player was more productive. I hate ripping Pitt players, even when they piss me off, but Sessions has a more extensive injury history and less productivity than Blades. Sessions has never gotten the fundamentals with any consistency. He’ll do it for a while, but he quickly slips back to trying to hit and not thinking. Well, at least Sessions thanked the coach that got him to this point.

“I owe a lot to Coach Wannstedt for my development the past couple of years at Pitt, and he raved about me,” Session said. “I dreamed about this for a long time, and it finally played out for me. I’m going to get a chance to play in the NFL, I’m so excited about that.”

If you watched the draft coverage, you know it was a surprise to ESPN that Sessions was selected. They had no film ready for him.

Glad that Palko and TE Steve Buches are getting free agent shots with New Orleans and St. Louis respectively. Kind of surprised Punter Adam Graessle hasn’t signed a deal yet.

Only one Big East team didn’t have a single player drafted. Not Syracuse. Not UConn. Not Cinci. West Virginia. Go figure. That’s stunning. Their Center, Dan Mozes, won the Rimington Award for best Center and teams didn’t even blow a 6th or 7th round pick on him. All because he lacks ideal size.

It was great seeing Revis drafted at #14 by the Jets. On opening day, that means he’ll be lining up against either Donte Stallworth or Randy Moss of the Patriots.  Welcome to the League, Darrelle.





Its because Session wont be playing linebacker he is targeted to be a special teams standout.

Blades cant play special teams.

Comment by Jamie H 04.30.07 @ 4:34 pm

Blades played special teams all 4 years at Pitt. That is actually one of the things the draft books have all said works in his favor to get drafted.

Comment by Chas 04.30.07 @ 5:10 pm

Jamie you are an idiot.

Comment by Chris 04.30.07 @ 6:21 pm

Thats fine but my point was I dont see Blades being as good as Session on special teams at the NFL level

Comment by Jamie H 04.30.07 @ 11:14 pm

Based on what I saw of them at Pitt, I think Blades would be better than Sessions at just about everything. Mowing the lawn, washing dishes, making pancakes, whatever.

Comment by Jeff 04.30.07 @ 11:39 pm

Looking at New Orleans’ roster, with the second year QB who is, if anything, smaller than Palko and the 13 year veteran who has hardly played in years, I have to like Tyler’s chance to stick as the backup to Breese.

Comment by Mitch 05.01.07 @ 9:02 am

Come on fellow Pitt fans, open your eyes.

I like H.B. Blades as much as the next Pitt fan, and I HOPE he does well at the next level.

It’s just that NFL coaches and scouts love raw talent, size, and speed. They want to mold players to their liking, and in order to do that, they need someone who matches what they need physically. Just look at Matt Jones getting drafted 2 years ago in the first round as a receiver. Poor example because he hasn’t produced much…but it shows how NFL teams think.

Tremendous college production does not equal success in the NFL. Just look at many of the past Heisman Trophy winners. Hell, look at Tyler Palko not getting drafted, being labeled as having a “weak arm”. H.B. Blades is thought to be undersized and that scared away many teams. Being engulfed by NFL lineman at the “point of attack” was a concern.

As much as we want him to be the next Zach Thomas…I don’t think that it is likely.

Regardless, I wish him and Session the best of luck in the future.

Comment by Ryan M 05.01.07 @ 9:34 am

From Washington Post about Blades: “Isn’t the tallest of players, but he’s an inch taller than Redskins MLB London Fletcher. ‘They’re not going to see my height as an issue as long as I go in and make plays and bust my tail,’ Blades said.”

Comment by Cris 05.01.07 @ 10:19 am

Ryan,

I understand what you are saying but isn’t Sessions only an 1″ shorter than Blades?

On a side note, I wish I had a dollar for every tackle Sessions missed while he was at Pitt.

Comment by Jon in NOVA 05.01.07 @ 10:49 am

Just be happy that anyone other than Revis got drafted. Any player selected from Pitt is good for the program. It would have been nice to have that 4th player selected though.

Hail to Pitt.

Comment by Dave 05.01.07 @ 11:36 am

What Dave said. I can’t figure out these past few days why we are busting the balls of guys who got drafted or signed as FA’s. The team hasn’t been that good the last couple years, for sure … but getting a shot to play for pay proves that these guys were not (or at least not most of) the problem!

Comment by geeman2001 05.01.07 @ 11:22 pm

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