Mebane, Hughes also first day draft picks

DT Brandon Mebane and CB Daymeion Hughes have both been selected in the third round of the NFL draft. Congratulations to them both.

Mebane was selected as the 22nd pick of the round (85th overall) by the Seattle Seahawks. Hughes was selected as the 35th pick of the round (98th overall) by the Indianapolis Colts. Mebane’s selection comes much higher than most draft projections predicted. To be honest, I was very surprised to see Mebane picked earlier than Hughes, but it may be for the best as Hughes will be a great fit in the Colts’ Tampa 2 defensive scheme.

Some news articles on the picks:

• CalBears.com: Mebane and Hughes Join Lynch On First Day Of NFL Draft
• Associated Press: Seahawks wait, choose … DT Brandon Mebane
• Seahawks.com: Seahawks Take DT Brandon Mebane in the 3rd Round
• Colts.com: Getting Defensive: Colts Use Third-Round Selections on Defense
• Seahawks.net (Scout): Seahawks 2007 Draft: As It Happens
• ColtPower.com (Scout): Colts grab corner in third round

From ESPN/Scouts Inc. draft analysis:

Cal CB Daymeion Hughes’ stock plummeted after he turned in an abysmal 40-time at the combine, but he has the tools to develop into an excellent Cover 2 corner. He is physical, reads routes well and is a playmaker. Indianapolis should be happy to have landed him in the third.

Lynch drafted by Bills at #12

It’s now official… Marshawn Lynch will be playing next year in Buffalo. He was selected 12th, the second running back after Adrian Peterson went to Minnesota at #7.

EDIT by ERIC: Here are some additional news articles about the pick:

• CalBears.com: Cal’s Marshawn Lynch Selected in NFL Draft’s First Round
• BuffaloBills.com: Bills OL Merz Calls Lynch ‘Great Teammate’
• Associated Press: NFL DRAFT: Bills open with RB Lynch

Here’s a cool Photoshopped image of Lynch in Bills uniform courtesy of a Buffalo fan on their message boards:

And here’s ESPN/Scouts, Inc.’s draft analysis:

Buffalo placed need over value with this pick. Lynch has shown flashes of developing into a difference maker. He’s big enough to carry a heavy workload and his speed should make him a home-run threat in the NFL. In other words, he can pound the ball inside and turn the corner as an outside runner. There’s also reason to believe he’ll emerge as a dangerous receiver out of the backfield, so he compares favorably to Peterson in a lot of ways. However, Lynch isn’t on the same level as Peterson… (blah blah)

In addition, Lynch, much like Peterson, has had some problems staying healthy, so this is a bit of a reach and Buffalo may have been better served taking a corner. However, running back is clearly a need and this could prove to be a great pick if Lynch pans out.

From Keith Kidd during the ESPN Live Draft Chat:

With the 12th pick the Bills select Marshawn Lynch. The Bills addressed a definite need on their team since they traded McGahee. Patrick Willis was a guy they had targeted, but he ended up in San Francisco. There were concerns about Lynch’s durability and character issues, which had him possibly falling down the draft board. But the Bills felt strong enough about him to take him at 12. He is a big back, with the size and acceleration to be a home run threat in the Bills offense and take pressure off Losman. To us this is a definite reach. The Bills could have addressed their CB situation with both Hall and Revis, but they can look to address their corner situation with a second round pick, with a guy like Eric Wright.

8 players are candidates for 2007 awards

Eight Cal players are listed as candidates for honors in 2007:

• LB Zack Follett (Butkus Award)
• RB Justin Forsett (Doak Walker Award)
• WR/PR DeSean Jackson (Biletnikoff Award, Randy Moss Award)
• P Andrew Larson (Ray Guy Award)
• QB Nate Longshore (Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award)
• C Alex Mack (Rimington Award)
• PK Tom Schneider (Lou Groza Award)
• TE Craig Stevens (Mackey Award)

Marshawn in Nike’s 2007 “Rookie Class”

Following up from our recent post on Marshawn Lynch in Nike’s new football ads, our boy is now featured on Nike’s new “Rookie Class” website. I have to say that it all looks very good, and I’m happy that Marshawn is already going on to be incredibly successful in the professional realm of football. The word from Nike:

… check out exclusive interviews, view behind-the-scenes videos, grab a draft countdown widget, scroll through a bevy of images and download the press kit containing the official press release on Lynch’s Nike signing and high-resolution imagery. Lynch is part of Nike’s 2007 rookie class that boasts nine of the most heralded prospects entering this year’s NFL draft including JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, Adrian Peterson, Gaines Adams, Amobi Okoye, Calvin Johnson, Leon Hall and Greg Olsen.

Take a look: Welcome to Sunday.

Positive press for Marshawn

Well, the negativity is out the window and the positive press has begun pouring in for Marshawn Lynch.

First of all, a NFL network article states that teams don’t buy these alleged “character concerns”:

Teams have done extra homework on Lynch, which helps explain why the running back visited Kansas City on Tuesday, Buffalo on Wednesday, and is scheduled to visit Detroit on Thursday and Green Bay on Friday. …

Teams told Lynch’s agents that their character questions had been answered, and each is comfortable with what it heard. Lynch is expected to be the second running back drafted.

Next, USA Today has a great feature article about Marshawn and his mom. In addition to describing Marshawn’s on-field success and strong family ties, the article quotes Coach Jeff Tedford addressing the “incident” as well.

Tedford thinks the incident was a learning situation for Lynch. “As you grow in the public eye, you just never know what people will say or do or what their motives are,” he says. “It boggles my mind, people who are motivated to say things that aren’t true.”

Finally, SI’s Don Banks (who made the ridiculous mock draft dropping Marshawn from the first round) has made a sudden U-turn and splashed Marshawn on the top of his “Instant impact rookies” article. It’s about time. TBIOOTF has a blurb about this turnaround also.

Lynch has a package of skills that make him likely to be in contention for this year’s offensive rookie honors. …

Lynch has proven he can both catch the ball out of the backfield and line up in the slot as a receiving option, creating potential mismatches in coverage. He can pound the ball inside, but has enough speed to make the edge and turn the corner. He can even offer a bit on the trick play front, because the former high school quarterback has been known to throw a 70-yard pass.

Cal players in the draft

Along with Marshawn Lynch being projected to Green Bay in the first round, other Cal players are also being projected in the draft. Todd McShay over at ESPN projects other Cal players in his draft projections.

Marshawn Lynch – 1st Round, 16th pick, Green Bay
Brandon Mebane – 3rd Round, 68th pick, Tampa Bay
Daymeion Hughes – 3rd Round, 77th pick, Pittsburgh
Desmond Bishop – 5th Round, 164th pick, N.Y. Jets
Tim Mixon – 5th Round, 169th pick, Indianapolis

While it is great to see 5 Cal players projected to be drafted, it is a bit disconcerting to see how far Hughes has dropped in draft projections. Before the combine, Hughes was being projected in the late 1st round by the same guy. Apparently the speed concerns are really dropping Hughes. My bet is that he will come into the league with a vengeance and show himself to be the best CB of this year’s draft.

It is good to see that Mebane is projected into the early 3rd round, and even Mixon, who sat out all of last season will probably have a chance to prove himself in the NFL.

Marshawn update

First, take a look at Marshawn in the new Nike football ads. Awesome.

So, despite some negative vibes from uninformed mock-draft wannabes (i.e. SI’s Don Banks – who?) over the past few weeks, it seems we should still expect to see Marshawn Lynch taken in the first round of the draft. This article in the Journal Times sings Lynch’s praises and talks about his discussions with the Green Bay Packers.

According to Doug Hendrickson, who is Lynch’s agent, his client will be flying to Green Bay next week to meet with Packers officials. …

Most NFL officials are convinced Lynch is the only other back worthy of being chosen in the first round. He is projected to go in the middle of the first round, which is precisely where Packers will be picking with the 16th overall selection. Hendrickson said Green Bay is among a spate of teams that have shown keen interest in his client. Hendrickson said Lynch has already visited Detroit (which has the No. 2 pick), Cleveland (3), Atlanta (8), Buffalo (12), Tennessee (19) Dallas (22) and Baltimore (29).

Meanwhile, draft guru Mel Kiper of ESPN still projects Lynch to be taken with the 16th pick by Green Bay. We’ll be happy to see Lynch taken high in the draft as he deserves. He was spotted watching the spring scrimmage on Saturday, afterwards throwing around the football with some kids on the field.

SI/Rivals: Jackson the #1 WR in CFB

WR DeSean Jackson is on the cover of SI.com’s NCAA Football homepage, taking the #1 spot in their Wide Receiver Power Rankings. Michigan’s Mario Manningham (pictured left) is in the second place spot.

It’s good to see some national publicity for DeSean and the team overall. I think the yellow jerseys are growing on me too.

Heater’s blog, with insider position info

EDIT: Jay’s done with all the positions, so check them out.

The Contra Costa Times’ Jay Heater is on a roll, with a special series on his blog detailing the situations of each of the team’s positions. It’s very informative stuff, so take a look:

• 2/28: Middle linebacker: Coach Kenwick Thompson, Zack Follett, Greg Van Hoesen, Matt Russi
• 3/01: Outside linebacker: Justin Moye, Anthony Felder, Eddie Young, Worrell Williams, Shea McIntyre, Mike Mohamed, Devin Bishop, Alex Cook, more
• 3/02: Cornerback: Syd’Quan Thompson, Darian Hagan, Charles Amadi, Brandon Jones
• 3/03: Offensive line: Alex Mack, Mike Gibson, Brian De La Puente, Noris Malele, Mike Tepper, Chris Guarnero, Chet Teofilo, Matt Laird
• 3/03: Safety: Thomas DeCoud, Bernard Hicks, Brandon Hampton, Robert Peele, Marcus Ezeff
• 3/05: Defensive line: Matt Malele, Mika Kane, Derrick Hill, Mike Costanzo, Cody Jones, Rulon Davis, Tad Smith, John Allen, Scott Smith, Phillip Mbakogu
• 3/06: Running back: Justin Forsett, James Montgomery, Tracy Slocum, Bryan Schutte, Jahvid Best, Shane Vareen
• 3/07: Fullback: Will Ta’ufo’ou, Brian Holley, RJ Garrett
• 3/08: Wideout: DeSean Jackson, Robert Jordan, Lavelle Hawkins, Sam DeSa, Sean Young, LaReylle Cunningham, Jeremy Ross, Daniel Lofton
• 3/09: Tight end: Craig Stevens, Cameron Morrah, Julian Arthur, Skylar Curran, Garry Graffort
• 3/09: Special teams: Tom Schneider, Andrew Larson, DeSean Jackson, Nick Sundberg, more
• 3/09: Quarterback: Nate Longshore, Kyle Reed, Kevin Riley

Enjoy.

Feldman: Cal has #7 top trio

ESPN’s Bruce Feldman has put together a list of what he believes are the top trios (QB, RB, WR) in the country. Cal takes the #7 spot:

7. Cal DeSean Jackson is the headliner. He’s the most explosive player in the Pac-10. I also like the improvement that QB Nate Longshore made last season. The Bears do lose TB Marshawn Lynch, but Justin Forsett is a pretty good replacement. Forsett ran for 999 yards in 2005 and did run for 124 yards in Cal’s bowl romp over Texas A&M in December.