Dallas Cowboys fans are apparently disappointed, while the fans of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Green Bay, San Francisco and Jacksonville are rejoicing.
The truth is, no one knows how the 2013 NFL Draft went and won’t for at least two years or perhaps even three.
So pundits can assign grades, praise and criticism, but the simple fact is no one knows whether the New York Jets put all their draft eggs in the basket of quarterback Geno Smith out of West Virginia.
Drafting Smith, though, had nothing to do with Tim Tebow being cut. That was happening if the Jets hadn’t drafted a quarterback.
Tebow will probably catch on with another team, but no one should ever feel sorry for him. He has fulfilled the original goal he stated when the former Heisman Trophy winner was the 25th player taken in the 2010 draft.
He said he wanted to make enough money playing professional football to live comfortably when he turned his life over to being a full-time missionary.
He’s made that much money from the NFL alone, plus he gets a $120,000 fee for personal appearances.
Last season he made $2.1 million for not playing for the Jets. That’s like winning the lottery without buying a ticket.
However, there may be a team or two intrigued by his athleticism and will sign him to a one-year contract with some guaranteed money. It won’t be because of his passing, that’s not his strength, but he could do fairly well in a ball-control system that wants to move the chains and not score touchdowns quickly.
Anyway, the Jets, Washington and Cleveland arguably had the worst drafts, but everything is open for debate because the NFL Draft is about as exact a science as college recruiting.
Both have success stories, and both have failures.
The NFL Draft is full of names such as Brian Bosworth, Matt Leinhart, Jamarcus Russell and Adam “Pacman” Jones, and that’s just to name a few, who came into professional football with great expectations and either suffered injuries, were exposed as overrated or had off-field problems too severe to overcome their on-field capabilities.
The NFL is also full of guys who were undrafted and made it as free agents.
Cowboys fans may not always agree that quarterback Tony Romo was a great find, but he’s their starting quarterback, and one of his favorite receivers last year was Miles Austin, who also went untouched in the draft.
Victor Cruz, Wes Walker and James Harrison are also established stars who were undrafted.
Antonio Gates was a basketball player at Kent State for Stan Heath (one year) before getting a free-agent tryout with the San Diego Chargers.
If the unsigned Arkansas Razorbacks need some encouragement, just look at Jason Peters, who has had a great NFL career.
The key with going undrafted, and it is a plus over going in the last two rounds, is finding a team that needs a player at your position, then when you get to camp, doing something to get noticed that doesn’t include your mouth,other than saying “yes sir.”
Free agents need agents who are aggressive and knowledgeable. And this draft shouldn’t be graded for at least two years.
Shout out to Preston Tarkington from Searcy who was named National Junior College Baseball Pitcher of the week for games played April 15-21 when he went 2-0.
Tarkington is 7-0 with an ERA of 3.47 and has 75 strikeouts for Crowder College of Neosho, Mo. The Roughriders are ranked No. 6 in the latest NJCAA Division I poll.
Sports, Pages 17 on 04/30/2013