Bradley’s Buzz: GT’s Dwyer is on Mel’s board; Tebow isn’t
Dwyer breaks another, and this wasn't even against UGA. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
First running back taken in April will be a Jacket
Here’s how big this Mel Kiper Jr. thing has gotten: Mel reveals his first Big Board of the 2010 Draft — which isn’t, as you might surmise, scheduled to occur until next year — and ESPN.com Insiders not only makes a huge deal out of of it but also gives us a feature entitled, “Behind Mel’s First Big Board,” written not by Mel but by Chris Sprow.
Because this is Insiders content, any link requires registration, we’ll do a deep dive — “deep dive” is a buzz phrase I took from last month’s AJC brainstorming — and give you most of the big names. Sam Bradford, the OKlahoma quarterback, is No. I overall. Eric Berry, the Tennessee safety, is No. 2. Carlos Dunlap, the Florida defensive end, is No. 3. Jevan Snead, the Ole Miss quarterback, is No. 7. And Dez Bryant and Russell Okung, a receiver and a tackle from Oklahoma State (which you’ll be seeing in 12 days), are Nos. 8 and 13.
The top running back in the draft is Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech, who’s listed as No. 13 overall. (And who is, we must note, technically a junior.) There’s also no Georgia player, not that you’d expect one. (A.J. Green is a sophomore and therefore not draft-eligible after this season).
And for those who are heavy into the conference-pride thing — certainly nobody around here falls under that heading — it should also be noted that the Big 12 claims 10 spots on Mel Jr.’s top 25, while the SEC takes six. And none of those six is the most famous player in the land.
That’s correct. Tim Tebow doesn’t crack the top 25. This debate has been raging for more than a year now, and it will get only hotter as the season plays out: Is it possible the guy ranked by some as the greatest colleagian ever won’t be a first-round pick? We will, I feel certain, offer our own two cents here at Buzz, but for now you can discuss among yourselves.
One Tech overrated, another Tech underrated
Reacting to the preseason Associated Press poll, Matt Hayes of Sporting News Today does a deep dive — infectious, isn’t it? — of his own and decides Virginia Tech is overrated at No. 7 and Georgia Tech is underseeded at No. 15. Of the latter Tech, Hayes writes: “No one in the ACC can stop that offense.”
And what of Georgia, which is ranked No. 13? Writes Hayes: “For those who think it’s 2006 all over again, understand this: Joe Cox is your starter because the freshman backups on the UGA depth chart aren’t close to what Matthew Stafford was in 2006.”
For the record, SNT has Georgia Tech No. 11, Georgia No. 15. As I noted when Sports Illustrated put the former No. 12 and the latter also No. 15, that sounds close to me.
A few quick words about my favorite pitcher
Smoltz makes a big debut for his latest franchise.
John Smoltz started a game for the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday and won it. Worked five innings, struck out nine, yielded three hits and zero earned runs. Kind of a comeuppance for those who believed, as I did, that Smoltz has nothing left. Then again: …
As Brandon Funston writes on Yahoo! Sports:
“This wasn’t Carl Hubbell striking out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin consecutively in the 1934 All-Star game. In fact, it was more like what you could conceive of if Smoltz had been asked to make a Triple-A start in advance of joining the Cardinals. After all the Padres are, without much argument, the worst offensive team in the league — Smoltz didn’t face a hitter with a batting average north of .275. But that said, you can’t help but be impressed.“
And you can’t. Smoltz struck out seven consecutive Padres over one stretch, which is good in any man’s league. That said, I hold to what I wrote when the Red Sox released him: There was no cause for the Braves to pursue the former Brave, for the basic reason that they don’t have a place for him.
And a few sobering words about your Atlanta Hawks
Esteemed former colleague Steve Aschburner of SI.com writes at length about the Hawks’ attempts to make inroads against the NBA East’s big three, and he quotes an unnamed scout as saying it won’t work. The quote:
“I think they’re a middle-tier team again. Still have a lot of talent but if you’re counting on [Josh] Smith and [Marvin] Williams, you’re only going so far. I like the Florida kid [Al Horford], but how many of those other guys have done anything with a team? [Mike] Bibby played in good systems in Sacramento and [in college] at Arizona, but most of them spent a year or two in college. Or none [Smith]. When most of your experience is from AAU teams, it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose.”
Aschburner believes — stop me if you’ve heard this one — the Hawks need a Hall of Fame talent to win the NBA title. But, having said that, what else is there to say? The only teams who have such guys have won titles already, and they’re not apt to part with them. Would the Hawks be better served dumping everybody and deep-diving back into the lottery every season in hopes they’ll get a John Wall? I think not.
Finally, a few cheery words about your Atlanta Hawks
Writing for HoopsWorld, Jason Fleming waxes enthusiastic about the job done this summer by Hawks GM Rick Sund. As Fleming points out, all three of the free agents retained by Sund — Bibby, Williams and Zaza Pachulia — agreed to deals that decrease in value in 2010-2011, which not coincidentally will be the first season of what the Hawks hope will be extensions of both Joe Johnson’s and Horford’s contracts.
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107 comments Add your comment
MiltonDawg
August 24th, 2009
11:48 am
Good Stuff MB- I think Dwyer could go first round provided he puts up good #s this year again. Look for UGA’s Owens & Atkins, possibly Jones to have a good year and slide in the 1rst round of the draft. Tebow = no 1rst round pick: too many better passing QBs to choose from that are better in the pocket. Smoltz looked great last night and the Hawks are 1 good player away from competing against the “Big 3″.
Name
August 24th, 2009
11:50 am
Enter your comments here
GeoffDawg
August 24th, 2009
11:54 am
Herschel’s NFL career was only above average. Factoring in his USFL stats, I think for a time, he was professional football’s all time all purpose yards leader.
Mark Bradley
August 24th, 2009
11:58 am
The reason the Braves signed Glavine and not Smoltz was that they wanted a starter who’d be ready to go in April, and they knew Smoltz wouldn’t be. They thought Glavine could make his first start April 17. He didn’t, but that’s what they thought.
AtlantaTruth
August 24th, 2009
12:00 pm
MARK,Who cares what you think….you have been a band wagon reporter forever. Always looking to see what someone in the national press thinks about certain teams and then going along with what ever they say. You NEVER seem to do your home work and really dig deep to study the teams in your own backyard. Could it be because your lazy?…I think so. It’s clear that your ennamored with Tech, a team that may I remind you gave up 407 yards passing to Georgia in last years game and almost 100 yards on the ground. Last time I checked Tech only has four starters back on defense and their replacements are a rag tag bunch of 2-3 star recruits.CPJ may be a good coach but he’s not a miracle worker.Are you trying to tell everyone that Tech will win most of their games 50-49? I don’t think so. Tech will lose 4-5 games this year….count on it. And I’ll bet that you’ll write a colum sometime this season that says I told you so like you always do. Please go cover NBA womens basketball and leave college football to people that do their homework and really know the teams.
LEEK
August 24th, 2009
12:05 pm
Tebow will not be a good pro qb he just isn’t a nfl qb im sorry i agree with mels big board 100%. And Dwyer will be a great pro
Cuz
August 24th, 2009
12:24 pm
Mark Bradley lazy. I don’t think so. I hear he can do five pushups at a time. With only a short break between 3 and 4.
murfdawg
August 24th, 2009
12:36 pm
Outside of Tebow and Snead, who would you rather have as a qb this year? Joe Cox will be better than JPW was at Bama and they did ok last year(with a great OL). LSU has gifted young qbs and the rest of the SEC has a punch of guys that don’t stack up to Cox. Cox will not be the problem this year, unless you expect him to put up 46 points a game to cover up WM’s defense. Oh no!! There’s that word again….defense!!!!
sal governale
August 24th, 2009
12:51 pm
Bradley, answer this. Why, for every bad game Smoltz has pitched, you think it’s news worthy of a headline and full-length article? But his brilliant performance yesterday (at age 42 after major shoulder surgery, no less) gets only a brief mention buried in a football column? Also, I’m glad to see you searched the internet to find the only national writer who even comes close to discrediting the significance of what he did. By the way, how many pitchers have struck out 7 consecutive Padres this year? Why not research that, you vindictive hack???
Reading between the lines, here’s what I got out of Bradley’s column:
BRADLEY: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SMOLTZ IS BACK! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep up the good work, Bradley.
MattDawg
August 24th, 2009
12:57 pm
People may say I am crazy but I would have taken Joe Cox over Matt Stafford anyday. Stafford is too much like Favre with the touchdown to interception ratios. He didnt even get very accurate until his last year at Georgia. Also, he never did a very good job of leading the team, especially when we were down late in the game.
OMG
August 24th, 2009
1:08 pm
Atlanta Truth,
It’s Mark’s job in this blog to report on what others are saying about our local teams. I’d say he does his homework pretty well. Unlike you. Tech has 8 returning starters on defense. And please identify the 2-star starters on Tech (as if it makes a difference where they were ranked out of high school anyway). You may be right, they may lose 5 games, but they have a young team with experience and are projected to improve. We’ll find out starting a week from Saturday, won’t we?
Manny
August 24th, 2009
1:11 pm
There is no way a NFL team takes Dwyer before Jahvid Best! If Cal had a better team the media would never stop talking about Best. Best would have been a 1st rounder last year if he was eligible.
7 tools in one
August 24th, 2009
1:17 pm
Atlanta Ruth just hopes the Diesel will turn pro after this season so it will not be three in a row over the doggz next year!
Another question similar to above…is Atlanta Ruth, Reality Checker and BuLL all the same person?
Atlanta False
August 24th, 2009
1:20 pm
AtlantaTruth…
Tech has 7 starters returning on D(Morgan,Jefferson,Jackson,Griffin,Burnett,Reese,Butler). If you count guys that were forced to start due to injuries, it’s more like ~10 (Taylor,Reid,Barnes). Four of Tech’s starters were 4* guys on Scout. Do your own homework before you flap your mouth about Mark not doing his.
We can argue about the stupidity of your rag-tag 2-3 star argument another time. Take a look at the NFL draft records, unless of course if you don’t feel like doing your homework.
OMG
August 24th, 2009
2:06 pm
Manny,
Cal is ranked 12th preseason and Tech is ranked 15th. So Cal has a fine team already. Dwyer and Best are considered the top 2 NFL prospect running backs in college football this year. So Best gets plenty of respect, but he is not going to get talked up as much in the South. Dwyer is 30 lbs heavier than Best and just as fast, thus the higher ranking, although they really are not the same kind of back. It depends on what each team is looking for in a back when draft ing to determine who will get picked first.
Mark Bradley
August 24th, 2009
2:30 pm
Thanks for playing D on my behalf, OMG. You, too, Cuz.
austindog
August 24th, 2009
3:39 pm
“For those who think it’s 2006 all over again, understand this: Joe Cox is your starter because the freshman backups on the UGA depth chart aren’t close to what Matthew Stafford was in 2006.”
Can someone explain this quote to me? What does “2006 all over again” imply?
GO DAWGS
August 24th, 2009
3:44 pm
Dwyer=GIMMICK OFFENSE
Tampa Wreck
August 24th, 2009
4:27 pm
Anyone that thinks Dwyer’s success is because of the “Gimmick Offense” is seriously kidding themselves. The #1 focus of every team that played GT last year was stopping Dwyer. Yet he gained over 7 yards a carry. Fact is the young man is big, strong and very fast. He can run around you or through you, and once he has a step, you aren’t going to catch him. He would succeed in any offense
austindog
August 24th, 2009
4:42 pm
Mark, can you decipher Matt Hayes remark? It’s brilliantly vague.
Gen Neyland
August 24th, 2009
4:45 pm
The walking wounded has Smoltz on the mound and Hudson taking his last rehab starts…Wouldn’t it be ironic (to a degree) to see them pitch against each other in SEP at St Louis..? or come OCT in Atlanta..?
Joe Cox
August 24th, 2009
4:51 pm
Dwyer is much stronger and has more prototypical NFL size unlike Jahvid Best. Plus Dwyer is faster than Knowshon Moreno so he could be a top 13 pick. I just hope he stays for a senior season.
Joe Cox
August 24th, 2009
4:54 pm
in 2006, Matt Stafford replaced Cox/Tereshinski at QB and led UGA to a 9-4 record. He is saying Metterberg or whatever his name is and Murray are not ready to handle the offense, which is true, because neither enrolled in the spring.
austindog
August 24th, 2009
5:12 pm
In 2006: The 5th year senior didn’t cut it and had to be replaced (that’s bad) and a freshman emerged as the QB of the future and took UGA to #2 the next year (that’s good). So is Hayes remark about this not being 2006 praise for Cox or an indictment on Georgia’s freshman.
Atlanta Truth
August 24th, 2009
5:19 pm
I am getting owned here and it hurts my feelings!!
Johnny Test
August 24th, 2009
5:19 pm
Correction… both freshmen QBs enrolled early and played in the spring game and Murry actually looked pretty good. IMO Murray is the real deal and may play this year.
Johnny Test
August 24th, 2009
5:21 pm
Cox is not Terishenski. He is way better than Joe was so the 2006 comparison is not altogether accurate.
98 WINS AND NO NC TITLE
August 24th, 2009
6:09 pm
Kipler is a joke everyone knows it.He never correct on anything. Kipler never has coached any sport or ever played football. get the point? How many said Tebow and the spread will not work in the SEC? Tebow can’t throw? How SEC,National Champs and Heisman does Kipler have?
Noodle_Arm_Stafford
August 24th, 2009
6:13 pm
Guys I’m looking great here in Detorit just like @UGA.
Mark Bradley
August 24th, 2009
6:20 pm
I was hoping one of you all would let me know what Matt Hayes was saying, AustinDog. I wasn’t quite sure, either. But I’m pretty slow, as we know.
GM
August 24th, 2009
6:21 pm
I’ve always felt that John Smoltz was one player you could count on to tell you when he was done, and I haven’t heard him say that yet. He may have some left.
I hope all the Dwyer hype does not go to his head. At least until after the season.
Mark Bradley
August 24th, 2009
6:22 pm
As I recall, both Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger played at G-Day, Murray rather well.
webhead
August 24th, 2009
8:50 pm
Tech Top 5 with a bowl game. Ga. sorry folks 7-4 with loss at the blue field!HAHAHA
gtforever
August 24th, 2009
9:03 pm
Kiper Jr, how in the world does he become an institution….. Good grief, Dwyer will not go pro until after his Senior year! Period!
gtforever
August 24th, 2009
9:04 pm
GT has NO defense and a tougher schedule this year….. Sure the offense will score some points, but it will NEVER out score every opponent this year. Look for 2 to 3 losses.
Cuz
August 24th, 2009
9:23 pm
Sorry webhead, we would not accept a bowl game at the blue field. It mesmerizes a team and puts them into football purgatory for years. I think you can relate to that statement.
On a more sober note, I think GT should have a fantastic year as long as Dwyer stays healthy. I, even as a Dawg fan, look forward to watching some Tech games. For the good Lord’s sake, beat the wannabe Tech, VT. I think you have the right cards in your hand to win some close games this year. Against teams that will be picked to beat the Bugs. Go Bees, Buzz Em. Bzzz, Bzzzz, Bzzz!
Mark Bradley
August 24th, 2009
9:32 pm
Dwyer won’t go pro until after his senior year, eh?
Tampa Wreck
August 24th, 2009
10:32 pm
Wishful Thinking.
Speak Easy
August 24th, 2009
11:16 pm
I think it’s possible that Dwyer stays for his senior year. He seems to be hell bent on winning a national championship and I really think the salary cap will affect the decisions of underclassmen a lot. But whether he does or not he is obviously a great player and not a product of a “gimick” offense. Anybody who has seen him play can tell you that. And as far as Joe Cox is concerned I will believe it only when i see it.
macrotech
August 25th, 2009
1:08 am
Reality Check, would you be talking about the defenses in the ACC? The conferense that sees MORE players go to the nfl than ANY other conference? THAT’S who JD has been shredding. For the record, seems like we had a player go pretty high in the draft a couple of years ago….Calvin Johnson ring any bells?! For the record, I don’t believe that the Reality Check on this blog is the real one… unless he has survived trauma to the brain….
Tokyo jacket
August 25th, 2009
3:07 am
Can someone tell me how those two QBs played “well” at the G-day game when the final score was 6-3? I’m really not trying to be a jerk, but any QB that can’t lead a scoring drive against Willie Martinez’s defense isn’t that solid.
Golden Hand
August 25th, 2009
7:09 am
Saying that Dwyer is a first-rounder is like saying that ice cream tastes good. Doesn’t take a genius to project that a big, strong back with good moves and sprinter speed is going to make the NFL salivate. Especially since he’s a decent blocker and works hard.
I’m am afraid that Cox will be much better than the doubters think, and that Richt will pull a tailback out of obscurity, and the mutts will win 8. If he doesn’t, 6-6 or worse is not out of the realm of possibility, starting with a frogstrangle by Okie State.
Mel Jr.
August 25th, 2009
7:31 am
You leghumpers thought i was great the last couple of years when i said Stafford would go Number 1. All you Mutts are a bunch of underachievers. Did i forget to say thugs also.
gtforever
August 25th, 2009
7:55 am
Bradley, I’ll bet you a Varsity hot dog and fries. Dwyer stays put for his senior year…..
Twitter Trackbacks for Bradley's Buzz: Dwyer of GT is on Mel's board; Tebow isn't | Mark Bradley [ajc.com] on Topsy.com
August 25th, 2009
12:19 pm
[...] Bradley’s Buzz: Dwyer of GT is on Mel’s board; Tebow isn’t | Mark Bradley blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/08/24/bradleys-buzz-gts-dwyer-is-on-mels-board-tebow-isnt – view page – cached Mark Bradley of the AJC notes that Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech is listed as Mel Kiper’s top back for the 2010 draft on ESPN.com, but Tim Tebow is absent. — From the page [...]
Joe O.
August 25th, 2009
12:21 pm
Max Sizemore is a KOOK !
Benjamin
August 25th, 2009
1:13 pm
gtforever just lost a bet.
Be glad he didn’t bet you a Varsity milkshake, Bradley. You would be sick for a week…
GatorMater
August 25th, 2009
3:34 pm
UF doesn’t put NFL-caliber QBs in the NFL. They’re great in college, sure (thanks to the WR-heavy offenses UF runs), but that’s about it.
Frank Wren
August 25th, 2009
3:51 pm
Biggest problem for Dwyer is that when he goes pro he will have to learn a pro offense instead of the years of pee wee offense he has been used to.
He have to learn the language of a pro offense and everything. Gonna be a struggle
Tampa Wreck
August 25th, 2009
4:31 pm
LMAO at Mr. Wren’s Comment. The young man is attending GT. I think he can pick up the terminology of a pro offense pretty easily. You dawgs are such a hoot sometimes.