Who will Draft Matt Ryan in the 2008 NFL Draft ?

Who will Draft Matt Ryan in the 2008 NFL Draft ?

Matt Ryan can definitely be a franchise quarterback for any team that takes him. If Matt Ryan is taken with one of the first 10 picks he might be asked to play sooner than later. Matt Ryan is built much like Dan Marino, with a good size and big frame. He is extremely smart and knows how to read defenses very well. He displays great mechanics and great poise. Matt is not a great runner but is amazing at buying himself time in the pocket to find his open receiver.
In Boston College Matt Ryan was used to run a pro-style offense which will also be a great attribute in making a transition to the NFL. With the NFL draft just around the corner Matt will be wondering which team will make him their first pick. My belief is the team that gets this great young Quarterback will be the Baltimore Ravens. With the Atlanta Falcons picking in front of the Ravens and the Chicago Bears in desperate need of a Quarterback the Ravens will have to consider trading up to get him. The real question is who will be willing to pull the trigger. The Ravens have been in need of a Quarterback for the past 7 years and if he is available they will not pass him up. With Willis Mcgahee and a strong defense Matt Ryan might be the final piece of the puzzle to put the Ravens back in the Playoff hunt. Another team that might take a shot at Matt Ryan is the Minnesota Vikings. They currently have Tavares Jackson at the helm but I do not believe they are so sure he is the leaders they are looking for. The Vikings proved last year that they will take the best available player in the Draft. They had a large contract with Chester Taylor and than drafted Adrian Peterson. With a running game already in place Matt Ryan might be in the best position to excel. The Vikings have invested in their offensive line in the last few years which will allow Matt the time to throw and utilize the playaction passing game. The only problem the Vikings have is that they are picking behind Baltimore and will definitely need to trade up to get him. Even though I believe the Vikings will be making the right move to get him i do not think they will be able to make the move. They cannot afford to lose any draft picks to trade up to get him. If they are lucky and he falls in the draft to them they will not pass him up. Look what happened with Brady Quinn last year. By the way the Miami Dolphins screwed that one up! Wayne Huizenga made a good move in Getting Parcells in there to call the shots. No disrespect to Ted Ginn Jr. but Quinn was the better fit for the team. Especially with them having Chris Chambers on their team already until they decided to give him away as well.
Back to Matt Ryan. The only flaws that seemed to be in question about Matt was his Armed strength on the long ball. Some scouts believe it is fine but others believe with his frame and size he could be much better. He also lacked the accuracy in college that many NFL teams would like. He scored very well in the interviews at the combine and the buss around the teams is that he is a born leader. This is definitely a quality that is needed when drafting a quarterback.

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Miami Dolphins will take Chris Long #1 in the 2008 NFL Draft

Miami Dolphins will take Chris Long #1 in the 2008 NFL Draft

Chris Long will be the first player taken in the 2008 NFL Draft. Wayne Huizenga has stated at the NFL winter meetings that he will not be trading the number one pick in the draft. Chris Long is the best option for the Dolphins to rebuild. With Chris Long the Dolphins will get the best all round player with the least amount of risk. Unless they get a great trade offer to trade down, which does not look like that will happen, I dont not see a better option. They are strong or good enough at Running Back to get through the season so there is no need for them to take a risk on Darren McFadden. Even though Darren Mcfadden might be the Homerun hitter in this draft he also might strike out with all of his off the field issues. I don’t believe the Dolphins could afford to take this type of risk. Consider the fact that Bill Parcells is a defensive guy and he hired a defensive coordinator to run his team. This might also open the door for a possible trade of Jason Taylor for more draft picks. Even though they do not have any takers to trade the pick they can take Long, get younger on defense, and trade Taylor for more picks. Taylor will have a lot of people interested in him and Parcells has no problem cleaning house. Chris Long makes the most sense.

Chris Long is a 6?4? 284lbs. senior out of University of Virginia and is the son of Hall of Fame Defensive End Howie Long. Chris Long had a great coach in Howie Long and it definetly looks like it paid off. It turns out that Chris Long is the real deal much like his father. Long played 6 games his freshman year and had 6 tackles and 1 sack. In his sophomore year he got into some more games and ended up recording 46 tackles 10 for a loss and and 2 sacks. Last year he bettered his numbers with 57 tackles 12 of them coming as a loss and 4 of them sacks even though he was doubled teamed on nearly every play. Long is continuing his success this year and has 50 tackles 13 for a loss of yards and a huge increase in sacks with 10 so far. Chris Long is a hybrid Defensive End that can be just as effective as a dropping LB in a 3-4 scheme or very effective in zone blitzes. He will fit in well with any team that takes him.

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Should Darren McFadden go #1 in the 2008 NFL Draft?

Should Darren McFadden go #1 in the 2008 NFL Draft?

With Darren Mcfadden finishing runner up in the Heisman voting, not many people seem to be talking about Darren McFadden going number one overall. This talented Arkansas running back finished second in Heisman voting for the past two consecutive years. Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt, incorporated the Single Wing into his offense. This Arkansas “Wildcat” offense formation was used to confuse opposing defense and putting the versatile Mcfadden at the Quarterback position.

Arkansas Uses Darren Mcfadden in their Single Wing Jet Series formation

Below you see the Offensive Coordinator for Arkansas discussing the base formation and how it works. These football plays sure look like a lot of the stuff we and other Single Wing teams have been running for decades. This formation helped Darren Mcfadden take advantage of his overall speed to beet defenders in the open. This one on one match up creates a huge advantage for any speed runner. Arkansas ran their “Quarterback”, Darren McFadden very heavily out of this series, whereas most Single Wing teams typically spread the ball around quite a bit more. Arkansas realized that having Mcfadden in this formation would force defense to react and change their blitz formations.

The downside of drafting Darren Mcfadden over Jake Long

Darren Mcfadden has definitely had some off the field problems. He has 3 different children with three different women. You might ask the question how does this relate in anyway to football? Well the answer is pretty simple when you look at a teams franchise from a money point of view. When drafting a player in the first 5 pick of the NFL Draft a team must make sure that the player will hopefully be around for a while. With the salary cap playing such a major roll in a teams success, the team must take everything into consideration. Michael Vicks off the field debacle not only cost him two years in prison but helped cause the complete rebuilding of the Atlanta Falcons Franchise. A team does not want and nor can they afford a franchise player that has these type of off the field problems. Bill Belichick has stated over and over that chemistry is the most important part of a teams success and he has the super Bowl rings to prove it. Chris Long has been clean on and off the field and even though he might not have the sudden impact that Darren Mcfadden might have he will surly help whichever team drafts him. He might be classified as the safe pick but many people were questioning the Texans of drafting Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. It looks like Texans might have made the right decision. Mario Williams was an amazing force and an important element to the success of the Houston Texans. Reggie Bush is still trying to find his place in the Saints offensive scheme.

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2008 NFL Mock Draft

1. Miami Dolphins : Chris Long, DE, Virginia

2. St. Louis Rams : Jake Long, OT, Michigan

3.Atlanta Falcons : Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas4.Oakland Raiders : Glenn Dorsey, DL, Miami

5. Kansas City Chiefs : Sedric Ellis, DT, USC

6. New York Jets : James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State

7. New England Patriots : Dan Connor, LB, Penn State

8. Baltimore Ravens: Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College

9. Cincinnati Bengals: Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State

10. New Orleans Saints: Keith Rivers, LB, USC

11. Buffalo Bills: DeSean Jackson, WR, Cal

12. Denver Broncos: Kenny Phillips, S , Miami

13. Carolina Panthers: Andre Woodson, QB Kentucky

14. Chicago Bears: Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville

15. Detroit Lions: Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State

16. Arizona Cardinals: Calais Campbell, DE, Miami