The draft is coming up. What would you like to se your favorite team(s) do? Who do you think will be this year's bust? This year's diamond in the rough?

Clearly the Vikes need help on the defensive side of the ball, mostly a pass rushing DL. A big pass blocking OL would be nice too. In later rounds they'll need to address TE and K. Jimmy Kleinsasser is a nice player but a TE who could factor into the passing game more could be huge.

10 more days . . . 10 more days . . . 10 more days . . .

I cannot wait! It's like a holiday in my house!

I am interested in seeing if the Chargers trade away their #1 spot. If the Giants take Manning, I swear they are going to have to put Collins on suicide watch.

Packers need help in the secondary (Antuan Edwards is gone and Mike McKenzie doesn't want to stay in Titletown) and also TE -- and maybe QB, since specter of Favre's replacement continues to haunt them. It's just too soon to speculate -- they're talking with Cleveland about obtaining Tim Couch -- which might mean giving up an early pick this year.

just in ....

as of now Clarett and Mike WIlliams are out of the draft due to the court ruling.

Then so are these \"prospects.\"

To quote a friend of mine: Williams will be fine, he'll go back, get a few more college credits, good for him. Clarrett on the other, well, this just gives him another year to go to jail.

meanwhile, cash registers may be ringing in Lee Evans' eyes, since his stock goes up if Williams is indeed not in the draft.

Seriously! I think that right now ROY Williams is pouring some whiskey in a cup thanking Jobu for the voodoo he did to take Williams out.

depends on some circles ... some draftniks already had Roy ahead of Mike .... personally whoever gets Evans might end up makin out like a bandit.

No trade, and the Chargers are about to go


ON THE CLOCK

Gotta love the "ELI SUCKS" chants.


If I was going to get paid millions to play and live in San Diego, I wouldn't be complaining!

Even the Chargers fans were booing him.....

tick tock tick tock

Giants take Rivers, now we all wait for the deal

IMO, I think the Giants may have dropped the ball themselves. New York could've traded down to any slot from 8-10, picked up Rivers there, gotten some extra draft picks (maybe even a 2), then traded for Manning.

[ April 24, 2004, 10:04 AM: Message edited by: Breesboy ]

At least Rivers handled it with class!

Breesboy, why don't the Chargers try to get more picks? They need help in so many areas.......QB shouldn't be that high of a priority, at least in my opinion.

[ April 24, 2004, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: illini n milwaukee ]

ELI IS A GIANT!!

The Giants gave up WAY too much - a 3rd round pick this year, and their 1st and 5th round picks next year.

WOW!!

[ April 24, 2004, 10:12 AM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

BUH BYE ELI!

N.Y. Giants get Eli

San Diego gets Rivers, a 3rd this year and a 1st and 5th next year.

oops, double post......

[ April 24, 2004, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

Well they got some now, which I think could be dangled for another first rounder this year.

ed: if neither of the 1st rounders are given up next year, this will be unfamiliar territory after the Beathard era, TWO 1's next year.

[ April 24, 2004, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: Breesboy ]

I think Eli Manning has a very promising future in New York. He handled a very difficult situation today beautifully - a very classy appearance in front of the usual cretins attending the draft, and that bodes well for how he'll handle himself in New York. I'm happy because I think he's as good as his brother, and he's a hunkahunkaburninlove to boot.

Looks like Kerry Collins is on his way out of New York, though. I'll miss him; I thought he did a decent job and really reestablished himself after a difficult time in Carolina.

well now we get some silence, until the Minnesota pick :cool:

So...this means with Rivers AND Brees, the Chargers have 2 of the best butts in pro football. What does this say about the Chargers' confidence in Brees, though? A lot of non-confidence, it appears. My fave sign so far: ELI STORMS PENNINGTON'S NEIGHBORHOOD!

it's been that way for a while

The Giants didn't give up way too much for Manning. They gave up waaaaaaaaaay too much!

As I posted elsewhere in these forums earlier this year, Philip Rivers will have a better pro career than Manning and Rothlesberger.

Vikings: Will they have a clock violation this year?

No just trade w/everyone to have as much time as they'd like.

ed: they pick Udeze with 10 minutes left.

[ April 24, 2004, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: Rivers Deep ]

bobby/Rivers, well that was the debate in Chargerland. Drew struggled last year, but obviously it wasn't just him struggling and he wasn't the one making the team struggle by far. A lot of people seem to forget his first year, where he performed very well as a first year starter for a rather poor team. If you remember, the Chargers were rather close to making the playoffs. Then the Chargers felt it'd be great to get rid of their best defensive players....way to go!

In my opinion, I think the Chargers are one year early on drafting a QB. That seems to be wasting a lot.....2 first/second round picks on QBs in the last few years. The Chargers GM did say that Brees was going to stay and there would be competition in training camp, so Rivers isn't getting some shoe-in. I would think they'd keep Brees as the starter for a bit and see how things go, cause you'd always want a rookie on the sidelines watching/learning if it's possible.

[ April 24, 2004, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: illini n milwaukee ]

It seems that if they keep Brees around and he doesn't do well and Rivers wins the job, they'll get less when they trade Brees. On the other hand, if Brees establishes himself then do they have to trade Rivers?

So is this true that Eli Manning was booed when he was drafted? I can't wait to hear the howls of protest from the media. (He said sarcastically, knowing full well that the media hypocrites will find a way to excuse or justify it since it wasn't Philadelphians booing... )

I have noticed quite a few boos today during announcements, but the "Eli sucks" chant was probably the most shocking moment of the day. Well, that and Roy Williams' tacky yellow suit. Good heavens, I didn't know K-Mart sold 3-piece suits! Speaking of Williams, Michael Irving sure gave the talk of the day after the Wiiliams announcement saying that Williams "is not a 24-hour football player...he doesn't take it seriously enough." I blame any accusations like that on the lousy coaching he got in college. It isn't Eli Manning who sucks...it's Mack Brown.

Michael Irving also gave Williams crap about staying in school for four years. I don't think I'd really care what Irving says to begin with though......

He was booed, and subjected to chants of "Eli sucks" while he stood there with his parents. The element that attends the NFL draft was then chanting for him to put on a Chargers cap. Clearly it had all been choreographed in advance, as no cap was offered and no member of the Chargers front office joined the circus on stage. Manning took the boos like a man, and really handled himself in an exemplary manner. The ESPN guys acknowledged the reaction, and said it was too bad Manning's "moment" was being marred that way. When interviewed by ESPN afterwards, Eli again was classy and declined to lash out, merely saying he'd played four years in the SEC and was accustomed to being booed.

He had the cap in his hand. Each playewr that went up was handed a cap and shirt as he walked on stage.

And to speak about Manning showing "class" is kind of absurd. His unpopularity was entirely of his own making. Every player that tries one of these shakedowns -- J.D. Drew, Eric Lindros, even Elway -- is disliked for it. He displayed hubris and arrogance all week. His "class" on Saturday didn't begin to make up for it.

And another thing -- the Giants got taken for a ride on the trade. There's every chance that Rivers winds up being as good or better than Manning in the NFL, AND the Chargers get three picks from the Giants, including a first rounder next year.

The Giants have a tough year ahead of them -- new coach, roookie QB in a division that has Parcells and a hugely improved Redskins team.

I'm guessing that the Giants' first round pick will be a high one, so that the Chargers will have LT, Rivers, and a two high first rounders from next year's draft.

I hate the Giants, and think Eli Manning is a schmuck -- a perfect marriage.

If you consider it being 'classy' when Eli deferred everything saying "you know how I'll feel" and after the trade "I'm a much happier guy now".....then he and Shockey will make NY the classiest team in town!

I just hope the Charger fans don't wind up feeling as betrayed as the Baltimore Colts fans did when John Elway made a very similar "don't draft me" proclamation. Does anybody even remember, or care, who Baltimore got from Denver for Elway?

[ April 25, 2004, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

This whole episode was extortion, Manning style.

Anyone see the ad for NFL caps where Manning is juggling a Chargers and Giants cap, alternately saying "Chargers? Giants?" and at the end has a bunch of other caps and finally saying "What happened to the Chargers?" Yeah that's classy!

Actually, I thought that ad was VERY funny, George -- it made me laugh out loud every time I saw it....in my opinion, it also shows that Eli (who is known for being much more laid back and relaxed than his intense older brother) doesn't take things too seriously and was willing to play off the humor of his "selfish demands" that the media made this out to be all week -- which, I might add, was SOLELY a result of the CHARGERS going public with the confidential conversations that took place between thelselves and Eli's family and agent (not the other way around as some people would have you believe).

I've been a fan of Eli's throughout his career at Ole Miss (and not just because he's cute in that "aw shucks" country-boy kind of way, either wink ) and the classy way that he has handled himself over the past few days has done nothing to lessen my respect for him....besides, a little self deprecating humor is a refreshing change nowadays compared with the scowls exhibited by a few of his greedy contemporaries.

Manning could have lashed out at the Chargers for the classless way they went public with private conversations (which pretty much confirmed his assessment of their professionalism as an organization), he could have declined to go out on stage after the Chargers picked him, he could have delivered ultimatums. He did none of those things. Instead he graciously took questions, deferred any opportunity to publicly go negative, stood there while he got jeered for exercising the right we all have - that is, to choose where you work and for who. We should all be as classy and mature.

Munson, last I checked, the whole idea of a draft is that you DO NOT have the ability to choose where and with who you work.

The Manning's making 'demands' not in front of the media does not warrant them being private discussions. The players talk to the media about how they feel about teams and the owner's do the same. If they have been told that a player didn't want to play there, they have the right to state that, particularly in a situation like the draft where there are the possibilities of trades, etc. To not let that out would that Eli doesn't want to be there, would greatly affect the trade situations.

Therein lies the rub, Illini. Professional league drafts are an anachronism. We all get to work where and with who we work. The fact is Manning insisted on deciding where he wants to work - a right WE all exercise. I think one of the reasons the NFL was so concerned about this is because it's clear that at some point in the near future another player who feels exactly as Manning does is going to sue the league, and at that point the draft will probably be outlawed and found to be an illegal anachronism that articially restrains trade. I'm glad Eli insisted on calling the shots regarding his career, and I'm pleased that he did it in a way that maintained his dignity, while exposing the Chargers for the unprofessional laughingstocks he already knew they were.

I am ohhhhhhhhh so close to feeling sorry for Eli. ALMOST there! I mean, heck, it would have been absolute HELL to live in San Diego, California during the year. And how awful it would be to be paid millions a year to do so! Oh the terror! :confused:

I fold, Illini....there is no way any sane, rational thinking American can argue with that post!

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be kicking him outta my bed.... wink

My take is that Eli wasn't worth the price - time will tell.

I was actually pleased with my Niner's picks. They kept trading down - which was pissing me off - but in the end we filled some holes.

And on this board, we're all into filling holes.

While I don't know why Eli didn't want to play for San Diego, two of the things that have batted around here is Oxford is that:

1. They didn't feel that SD was commited to winning.

2. More Ole Miss players have played for the NY Giants than any other franchise. Eli is a two time receipiant of the Charley Connerly Award which is awarded to the best college football player in MS. Connerly was a legendary qb for NYG. It was also published in today's state paper that Connerly's widow had been lobbing the NYG to draft Eli as well. Lastly, Eli's grandfather Buddy Manning was a huge Giants fan during Connerly's days and Archie was raised a Giants fan as well.

hehehe that reminds me of the line from the Sports guy on Page 2. He said: By the way, could somebody break the news to Eli that there isn't a better place to live in America than San Diego? Does he know this? Who cares about wins and losses? San Diego has seals! And hot chicks! And 80-degree weather! Somebody remind Eli of this stuff when he's shoveling snow in front of his condo in Hoboken next November.

SEALS! I have lived in NYC for 7 years, I have yet to see a single freaking seal!

Eli is going to have a long and hard road to win back the heart of NYC. They LOVE to hate. . .

Is Philly's first pick going to be Andy Reid's new eating buddy?

While I disagree with Eli's tactics, I'm happy that he is with the Giants and that the Chargers got what they wanted. I think Eli did handle the situation well on draft day.

I'm looking forward to seeing him play during the year. And is he aware that if he played in San Diego he'd be going against the defense of Oakland, KC, and Denver. Did he not see how his brother dismantled the Broncos last year in the playoffs? Yet he chooses to go play in a division against the defenses of the Eagles, Redskins, and Cowboys. While I hope he develops into a great player, I will be smiling next year watching his TD/INT ratio!!

NY Newsday is reporting that the Giants will release Kerry Collins within a week. Apparently Collins wouldn't renogiate his contract. Guess they are going to throw Eli Manning right into the fire since I don't see the Giants starting Jesse "The Bachleor" Palmer. Giants GM Ernie "Hairclub for Men" Accorsi says no decision has been made.

Is Manning the Man for G-Men?

Maybe he sees the possibility of a Manning Brothers Super Bowl someday. (Manning Brothers? Sounds like a furniture store...)

I think that the Detroit Lions, (yes, I cant believe it either), had the best draft of any team. Not only did they address their needs, but got much faster and more explosive! I expect them to be a sleeper team this season and do better than anyone anticipates!! Getting both Roy Williams(the best WR and best overall player on a lot of teams' boards), and Kevin Jones(most explosive RB in the draft)was great, but getting the speedy Teddy Lehman at LB, as well as their players made them the king of this draft. My Cowboys had one of their worst drafts ever, and they get a big fat "F" IMHO!

A football writer here gave Detroit the only A+. Dallas got a C-, second-worst. Cincinnati got a D. The full list -- except the Eagles. Their writeup was printed in a separate box in the paper and they didn't integrate it with the list here. The Eagles got a B.