steal of the 2008 draft so far?

Given the draft class have now had 3 years in the league, who out of them have proven to be a steal. In defining a steal the question comes up of how high can a steal be. Is some one in the first round a steal? Then you could include Chris Johnson, as 4 RBs were taken before? That would be up for debate, but i shall not include him.

Does Jamaal Charles deserve a shout at pick 73, after just puting up 1,467 yards and over 1,100 the year before? For me he is a good RB and very god value at that spot, but doesn't have enough TDs after having 12 in 3 years.

DeSean Jackson with the 49th pick, has proven to be an exciting WR and PR man. But he was selected quite high up, and although he has been very good, I think he would have to of been exceptional to be considered the steal of the draft as the 49th pick.

Matt Forte selected with the 43rd overall pick, has been very soild behind a weak O-Line. Has also been good catching out the backfield, and again I think he suffers from the same problem as desean.

Curtis Lofton was selected with the 37th pick. He turned out a year lasy year that could of been pro bowl worthy, but he didn't get near. An absolute rock in the Atlanta linebacker core and would of been well worthy of a 1st round pick.

Peyton Hillis will get some peoples vote because of last years performance and the fact he was taken 227th overall.His average YPC have always been good, and thanks to injuries he moved from a FB to a RB. But is his one year proven he can carry a large load and can catch out the backfield. BUt just too small a time to say if he is a steal?

Mario Manningham or Garcon could be in with a shout, but neither have gone over 1,000 yrads yet, so i think they fall short, and some say hightower deserves a shout, but as his YPC has gone up, his touchdowns have gone down. (as he was just used for 3rd downs and goal line chances.)

So who in your opinion is the steal of the 2008 draft?

Carl Nicks. 5th rounder and he's one of the best guards in the entire NFL right now.

Forte really isn't that good. He's not in the discussion.

You got any better suggestions GSC? Let's not forget that Forte has been running behind one of the worst offensive lines in all of football and he still puts up good numbers. He's also been Jay Cuter's top receiver.

Whether he's any good or not, he's been productive.

Ray Rice was a very good pick a 3 down back is never easy to find.

Ray Rice at 55 has been better than Forte

Jermichael Finley at 91?

Nobody else from the lower rounds has really stood out yet.

Great thread.
You'll think I'm biased but I'd point to Brandon Flowers who was a second rounder for the Chiefs, his ouput last season was exceptional and I'd have him as one of the top 3 CBs in football.
Charles did slip to 3rd round but it was a vintage RB crop, any other year he would have been a 1st rounder.
Hard to imagine that 5 RBs were off the board in the first 24 picks and CJ was the last of them to go.
Honourable mentions for Desean Jackson, Garcon (6th round) and how about Matt Flynn who the Pack picked up in round 7

Jermichael Finley and Stevie Johnson were in that draft too. Johnson was great last year and he was a 7th rounder.

Nicks is a good shout, did he not pro bowl this season?

As to forte, behind that line he has been good as a dual threat. His worst season being a 1,400. Last year having 1,600 total yards and a 4.5 avg. Thats got to be considered good surely, or as prawn said, atleast productive.

I think Nicks was injured so he didn't play in the ProBowl this season. Same goes for Aqib Talib

Eh on Garcon. Tamme was also in the draft, but I'm still wary of crowning a WR that plays with Peyton.

Finley is overated, well has potential but has not proven anything yet. The injury last year, which should of been his breakout year stopped him being mentioned i think.

Stevie Johndon had a good year, in with a shout, looks like a breakout year, as the two years before he did nothing.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:Eh on Garcon. Tamme was also in the draft, but I'm still wary of crowning a WR that plays with Peyton.

Very fair point.

How about Jordy Nelson and Rashard Mendenhall, well maybe not Mendenhall getting picked top 25 but still a very good RB with the ability to come to a complete stop and then burst in the other direction.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:Ray Rice at 55 has been better than Forte

Jermichael Finley at 91?

Nobody else from the lower rounds has really stood out yet.

Forgot to mention ray rice. Pretty poor effort on my part.

Finley as i said is all talent so far, no production to make him worthy of such an acalade.

Tyvon Branch is a very good safety for the Raiders picked in the 4th round.

Manning-to-Manningham wrote:How about Jordy Nelson and Rashard Mendenhall, well maybe not Mendenhall getting picked top 25 but still a very good RB with the ability to come to a complete stop and then burst in the other direction.

Nelson when desean jackson was selected after him?

Clifton Smith went to the ProBowl before he got injured.

Danny Woodhead and Law Firm were pretty good last season.

Davone Bess maybe? He's performed well with a rubbish QB throwing at him.

Virgil_Caine wrote:Tyvon Branch is a very good safety for the Raiders picked in the 4th round.

Very good choice, best defensive choice so far I think.

AdZacO wrote:

Manning-to-Manningham wrote:How about Jordy Nelson and Rashard Mendenhall, well maybe not Mendenhall getting picked top 25 but still a very good RB with the ability to come to a complete stop and then burst in the other direction.

Nelson when desean jackson was selected after him?

Fair point but how many post season TDs has Jackson got, let alone a win or even a ring.

Manning-to-Manningham wrote:

AdZacO wrote:

Manning-to-Manningham wrote:How about Jordy Nelson and Rashard Mendenhall, well maybe not Mendenhall getting picked top 25 but still a very good RB with the ability to come to a complete stop and then burst in the other direction.

Nelson when desean jackson was selected after him?

Fair point but how many post season TDs has Jackson got, let alone a win or even a ring.

There's absolutely no way that you're convincing anyone that Jordy Nelson is better than DeSean Jackson

I'm not saying Nelson is better, I'm just saying he has post season wins.

Nelson only has 1 more postseason win than DeSean...

*2

nelson did have a great post season, just under 300 yards and 2 tds, but desean has just under 3 times as many yards as jordy.

Pr4wn wrote:

Manning-to-Manningham wrote:

AdZacO wrote:

Manning-to-Manningham wrote:How about Jordy Nelson and Rashard Mendenhall, well maybe not Mendenhall getting picked top 25 but still a very good RB with the ability to come to a complete stop and then burst in the other direction.

Nelson when desean jackson was selected after him?

Fair point but how many post season TDs has Jackson got, let alone a win or even a ring.

There's absolutely no way that you're convincing anyone that Jordy Nelson is better than DeSean Jackson

I'd definitely rather DeSean Jackson over Jordy Nelson, post season stats or not!

Guys I'm not saying I'd have Nelson over Jackson

Then what are you saying? :huh:

I'm saying Nelson isn't gonna scare your DBs when he comes on the field and he aint gonna burn 70 yards and make a diving catch Santonio or Mike Wallace style, but he always delivers, he always makes the extra effort to pick up just one or two extra yards and has become one of Rodgers' go to guys when coverage is tight.

Jackson is better and can run away from anyone, but you can always rely on Nelson to make the clutch receptions.

Ok then, but it was a bit weird to bring up the post record then.

I'm a bit surprised you don't remember the Eagles marching into New York and beating the #1 seed New York Giants in 08 either.

Think he mentioned Jordy as bitter about Jacksons punt return this season with 0:14 on the clock

DeSean has tended to own the Giants in general the past couple of years.

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:Ok then, but it was a bit weird to bring up the post record then.

I'm a bit surprised you don't remember the Eagles marching into New York and beating the #1 seed New York Giants in 08 either.

For some reason my mind had erased that memory, like it will erase the punt return at the Meadowlands at some point.