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 The 2010 NFL Draft, the 75th draft in league history, will once again held in Radio City Music Hall in New York and will kick off in prime time for the first time ever.
The first round of the 2010 NFL Draft will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on April 22, with the second and third rounds on Friday, April 23 at 6 p.m. ET, followed by Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m. ET. The draft will be televised by both ESPN and NFL Network.
Enjoy the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft with Xtra Point Football as we will have live blogging throughout the evening.
You will have the opportunity to interact with our CFB editor Danny Hobrock whose work for Xtra Point Football has garnered national attention and is critically acclaimed.
There will be some surprises no doubt, there always are. Join us in our comments section and participate in discussion with Danny and amongst yourselves as the picks are made and the draft board changes.
It's the usual debate of which quarterback is more worth your dime.
- 1993: Drew Bledsoe or Rick Mirer?
- 1998: Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf?
- 1999: Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb or Akili Smith?
- 2002: David Carr or Joey Harrington?
- 2005: Alex Smith or Aaron Rodgers?
- 2007: JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn?
- 2009: Matthew Stafford or Mark Sanchez?
Let's look at the 2010 quarterback debate...
This year, the debate centers on two quarterbacks from entirely different college systems. In one corner you have Sam Bradford, who comes into the draft following a year of relative inactivity after sustaining two shoulder injuries in 2009 that required surgery. Bradford is a product of Oklahoma's spread offense and played out of the shotgun for most of his collegiate career, although he did take snaps from center more than people realize.
In the other corner you have Jimmy Clausen. If you watched Notre Dame on NBC last season you probably saw Clausen running for his life. The offensive line play got a little better as his career progressed, but not much. Clausen comes from Charlie Weiss' pro style offense and played from behind for a lot of his career.
Accuracy, Arm Strength and All That Jazz
Both quarterbacks are accurate and possess good, but not great, arm strength. Accuracy is important and both will find this an asset in the NFL, but arm strength is grossly overrated. If your quarterback has out of this world, Joe Flacco arm strength, that's great. Really, it's great. But it's not the end of the world if he doesn't. Good arm strength and the ability to hit receivers on deep routes is enough to make a quarterback successful in the pros. Or you can draft JaMarcus Russell who can throw the ball a mile...to the other team.
Clausen finished with a 62.6% career completion percentage. Not bad considering he spent a lot of time scrambling to find an open receiver. Bradford had considerably more protection than Clausen and finished with a 67.6% career completion percentage. He was sacked 25 times as a Sooner in what was really 2 ¼ seasons.
Field Vision, Leadership and Poise
Clausen goes through his progressions and isn't afraid to check the ball down to the underneath receiver. He scrambled a lot out of necessity, but has happy feet sometimes. His leadership has been questioned and he's considered cocky by some observers. He's also showed a lot of guts in playing from behind and did prove that he can lead his offense through adversity. What's more, he played on NBC his entire career and is no stranger to pressure and hype.
Bradford had the luxury of a fantastic offensive line as a freshman and sophomore. I love that he takes what the defense gives him, but he had a lot of time to go through his progressions in the pocket. As a junior, he faced more pressure and got hurt. Twice. Teams are concerned with how he will fare when he faces an aggressive NFL defense with what will most likely be a shaky offensive line in front of him. He does show great leadership and led the Sooners to the National Championship game as a sophomore.
The Final Word
I'm giving the advantage to Clausen. I like his grittiness and that he's been through hell at Notre Dame. I like that he's faced tremendous hype, pressure, scrutiny and pass rushes and (arguably, I know) was able to live up to most of the hype and be productive. I like that he reduced his interceptions from 17 in 2008 to just 4 in 2009.
Not that Bradford will be a poor NFL quarterback. I actually like him to become a special player in the NFL. But he could benefit from a year on the bench; a luxury he is unlikely to be afforded as a St. Louis Ram. I will say that the whole 'he played in a spread offense and not a pro style offense' knock on Bradford is a lot more overrated than people think.
I guess a lot of what I'm saying is that Bradford has not been thoroughly tested against a real pass rush. Clausen has and for the most part passed the test. I'm just more comfortable taking a guy that I've seen make something out of nothing and show real guts in playing from behind.
Why the Rams Should Trade Down...If They Can
Word has it that the Rams are interested in moving out of the first spot. Word also has it that this is unlikely, meaning they'll probably be stuck with taking their favorite player and paying him roughly $13 million a year.
The Rams need everything, but a quarterback is the most pressing. For exactly this reason, they should take a long, hard look at trading down to take Clausen (with the 4th or 7th pick possibly) while picking up another high round pick or two.
As I pointed out, I see Clausen as the more NFL-ready of the two prospects, and thus a better option for the Rams who need somebody to step in immediately. Marc Bulger is gone and all that is left to carry the weight are Keith Null and A.J. Feeley. Whoever St. Louis takes, whether Bradford or Clausen in the first round or Colt McCoy in the second round, will likely be made the starter sooner rather than later. Besides, I'd be more comfortable paying Clausen a few million dollars less than the $13 million a year that Bradford is expected to receive as the top choice.
The Redskins and Browns, both teams still rumored to be interested in trading for the top spot to take Bradford, have their quarterback situation pretty much set for at least the next year or two. Cleveland has Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace on the roster, while Washington will start Donovan McNabb in 2010. This gives a guy like Bradford a year or two to develop and learn behind a veteran quarterback. Both teams seem stubborn about moving up (at least publicly), so neither scenario may come to fruition.
If I'm in the war room, have the first pick and can't get rid of it, I take Ndamukong Suh and wait until the second round to take Colt McCoy. I see Suh as the best player in this year's draft and don't mind paying him the big bucks. There's a stigma attached to taking a defensive tackle with the top pick, of course. Since 1990, five defensive linemen have been taken first overall and only two have lived up to the billing (Russell Maryland and Mario Williams).
But quarterback is no safer of a first overall pick. 11 quarterbacks have been taken first overall since 1990. Throw out Matthew Stafford because it's too early to tell and only four have really panned out (Drew Bledsoe, Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer and Eli Manning). Jeff George and Michael Vick were productive quarterbacks, but neither established themselves as an elite quarterback. So if you strictly consider the statistics, taking a defensive lineman first overall is no more risky than taking a quarterback. You could even argue that taking Bradford is riskier because you're taking a guy #1 who has durability issues and barely played last season.
General Managers have a much easier time paying a quarterback top dollar, but when you consider that there are no guarantees no matter who you take at #1, the risk should come down to who you grade the highest.
Danny Hobrock is a sports journalist primarily covering college football and professional baseball. His work for Xtra Point Football has garnered national attention and is critically acclaimed. Danny is the former editor of a political and current events website and the editor of our college football content.
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