The made-for-TV draftniks (yes, we are using the term repetitively, and there’s a reason for it) would have us believe that there are dozens of incoming rookie who eventually will be dominating the NFL.
Those of us with a functioning long-term memory recall similar sales of snake oil from past draft seasons, and anything but across-the-board dominance once the rookie are competing with the adults.
We traffic not in trying to tell you what we think about these potential draft picks, but in sharing information from those who are sufficiently good at it to be employed by one of the 32 NFL teams. And one league source with extensive experience in assessing draft picks with real accountability for any blunders summed up the draft pool post-Combine in one word.
“Encouraging.”
It doesn’t mean there aren’t busts. It doesn’t mean that bronze busts are in the offing, either.
It means that this class has potential. It means that no one knows whether that potential will become performance. And it means that if any of the made-for-TV draftniks actually knew, they’d not only be running an NFL team -- they’d be winning the Super Bowl every year.