Kiper just said on Sports Center that Michael Clayton's stock has dropped more than any other player because of the depth of the draft in terms of wide receivers, and his lack of blazing 40 speed. He started off by saing, "A guy I REALLY like..." before explaining why. The rest of the time he basically stated how much of a bargain this guy will be for whoever drafts him because of the extenuating circumstances surrounding his stock lowering. Kiper estimates that no less than 8 wideouts could conceivably be first round material, the most ever... Sounds like a interestingly rosy compliment, in a back-handed way...
You think Clayton still would have left LSU knowing how far he was going to drop?? I mean before Mike williams, Fitz and TO went to Philly, he was a mid-first rounder. I really don't see him getting drafted in the first round. Same thing will happen to what happened to Josh Reed, he will slide. This is even more unclear depending on which teams trade up and down...
I think that he would have been hurt from a production standpoint this year in the draft. The new quarterback, and the new offensive shift towards the ground game, as well as teams TOTALLY keying on him even moreso than last year...It all would have added to him going lower... I also think that him thinking that Fitzgerald and Williams staying and coming out this year caught him off as a surprise...He probably figured that they would wait till NEXT year, and that would have put him in an excellent position.... But, those are the breaks...I don't fault him for the decision...Trust me when I say he could prove no more nor accomplish anything greater at LSU...
Michael Clayton had to know about both Larry Fitzgerald and Mike Williams coming, it was posted on the net in many places. I posted both on the Lair and Mike's board, and this was before he said he was going pro. But not counting on Fitz and Williams this years wr class was very deep to began with: Roy Williams Texas Reggie Williams Washington Lee Evans Wisconsin Michael Jenkins Ohio St Rashaun Woods Oklahoma Derrick Hamilton Clemson Devard Darling Washington St. Keary Colbert USC Johnnie Morant Syracuse P.K. Sam FSU Devery Henderson LSU All off these were picked to go by the 4th round before Micheal said he was going pro. This wasn't a good year to come out early, next year he would have been a top 10 pick as wr; as wr was going to be weak, with Fitz and Williams being the other top wrs that may have come out. This years daft is the deepest ever and a team getting a player in the mid 2nd round will be like a first round player in a normal year. There will be many all pro players picked up in the 2nd and 3rd round this year.
The fact that it is a deep draft for WR creates a domino effect and might cause him to fall even more. Clubs know it's a deep draft and many will put off drafting a WR knowing that some great ones will be left in the 2nd and even 3rd rounds. They'll be working to make trades in other areas. The best thing that could happen (obviously) is for several WR to get picked very quickly in the 1st round thus breaking the perception that teams will be able to pick up MC as a 2nd or 3rd round bargain. On a positive note we all know coach Saban's word is well respected in the league and so is his teaching. Coaches will know they are getting a complete football player in MC that isn't a head-case. Hopefully the good word of coach Saban will help make up for this deep draft.
