Ok like many of you I spend my off season researching the draft. It's a magical time where you can dream of getting the next fourth round superstar, or the steal no one considered.  I do this by usually reading every piece of info I can get my hands on, watching as many clips as a can, etc, etc. At 37 years old this is something I've been doing since the early 90's. and in the some 20 + years since I began there has been an increase every year in the number of sources you can get your info from (wow, what it was like before the internet). The one constant for me through out that time though has been the Sporting News Draft preview, that started as my primary source probably back in 1992, and I have gotten on every year since. It has always been the most well put together and best presented preview on the news stands. Now with all Draft Preview magazines it was never 100% right, it would miss a lot, I fully understand these issues are slowly put together through the whole college football season, and probably finalized in early January at the latest. Thats well before the combines, and a lot of information is missed. Still, back when I would sit with the issues watching the draft pick by pick, they were usually in the ball park. That being said the job being done by the Sporting News the last five years or so (could be a bit longer even) has been getting progressively worse. Like their analysts have gone senile and are just making random picks. Like the issue was finished in October, and has been sitting in a box since then.

So anyway here are some of what their amazing analysts done this year that stuck out to me, the number is the overall ranking placed on the player in the draft according to talent, not where they should be picked.

RB- Ryan Williams (10), Mikel Leshoure (25), Mark Ingram (49)

OLB- Robert Quinn (5), Bruce Carter (23), Dontay Moch (65), Justin Houston (81), Akeen Ayers (86), Brooks Reed (150), Chris Carter (177)

CB- Prince Amukamara (26), Aaron Williams (89)

DE- J.J. Watt (51), Allen Bailey (67) (9 other DE ranked before them)

DT- Drake Nevis (27), Jarvis Jenkins (44),  Kenrick Ellis (59), Phil Taylor (62) 

S- Jerrard Turant (64),Rahim Moore (69), Robert Sands was not even featured in magazine, they wrote articles on 30 S total.

ILB- Casey Matthews (91) Martez Wilson (93)

And there pick at #30 for the Jets: Muhammad Wilkerson (and Marcus Gilchrist in the 3rd).

And this is just a small sampling, lol.