Feeling Drafty? Re-light Your Boiler

Go home, NFL, you're drunk.

As you may know if you know us, we sort of loathe the NFL Draft.

Well, actually, that's not right. What we loathe is the nonsense surrounding it. Like weeks upon weeks of "mock drafts," endless hours devoted to it on TV and radio, and things like, you know... f-cking glass cases with the hats for each team in them. Just stop it, NFL. You're becoming as trite and forced and unwatchable as the Emmys.

But we'll put aside our dislike for the fanfare around the NFL draft to talk about a few prospects from Purdue, since we were asked by a couple people so... fine. We're here to serve.

Josh Johnson - CB

We've made no secret of the fact that we're big fans of Josh Johnson. He's someone we really enjoyed watching and felt very comfortable with knowing he was out there. In fact, I dare say we felt he was a little more "reliable" than the guy on the other side who gets all the accolades.

Johnson's write-up at NFL.com has him as a 67.2 grade, which puts him in the "Draftable Player" bucket, just below the threshold for "Eventual Starter."

I read this to mean he's a guy who should be drafted and regardless will find playing time in the NFL, with the potential of becoming a regular starter with some hard work. I don't think there's any doubt Josh will work hard and we look forward to seeing him playing on Sundays. He's an easy guy to root for (for us, anyway).

If you like the sometimes-arbitrary measures studied at the combine, Josh was a "top performer" in the 60-yard shuttle, finishing fourth among CBs. He was also sixth among CBs in the bench press. We'll choose to now selectively enjoy those measures and say that for these reasons, a team looking for a fundamentally-sound leader who can be quick and is strong should give Josh Johnson a good look.

Kawaan Short - DT

Short is another guy we've enjoyed watching and seeing develop over his time at Purdue. Is he an NFL prospect because of Danny Hope's staff.... or in spite of them?

Short showed freakish, next-level skills a number of times during his years in black and gold and was a two-time team captain. If you're wondering why there are no combine numbers listed for Short on his NFL draft page, I assume it's because he didn't attend. However, Short is graded as an 80.6, which is  a "quality player who will contribute to the team early on and is expected to develop into a starter. A reliable player who brings value to the position."

Skimming the analysis, you see what you would expect to see regarding his size, quickness and development. The concerns, though, seem to center on the worry that Short might let himself get fat and, if he does, he'll be out doing whatever it is JaMarcus Russell does these days. So work hard, Kawaan. Make us proud.

Akeem Shavers - RB

Prince Akeem has no NFL.com prospect page, which probably doesn't bode real well for him. However, he's hoping to play at the next level and did have a pro day that was generally reported to be a positive experience for him.

From GBI:

Shavers ran in the low 4.4s - perhaps as fast as 4.39 - in the 40-yard dash. It was his only opportunity in front of scouts from multiple teams, after not being invited to the Combine, making his performance all the more critical.

Right now, Shavers will be hoping for a call to be a post-draft free agent invite to a team's training camp. We loved seeing Akeem run and are pulling for him to get a chance to prove himself against the big boys.
The draft resumes today.