Have you caught your breath yet? I'm talking about you, the NFL Draft junkies out there.
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| Brady Quinn is likely to be cashing in big time around this time next year. (AP) |
What a weekend it was. For the diehard draft crazies out there, it's a weekend orgy. For the casual fan, it's fun for at least a day.
When it's over, the grades come out, the thinking moves to training camps opening in three months and we start to speculate on which teams will be good in 2006.
Then there are those of us who start looking ahead to 2007. Yes, right now.
As the scouts who scour the nation looking for talent will tell you, it's never too early. So we thought it a good time to crank out a list of 32 players who could be first-round picks next year.
Some of the players on our list are juniors -- we're realists after all -- with an eye on them coming out.
A quick scan of the list will show that the positions of strength will be receiver, defensive end, linebacker and offensive tackle. It can be a good quarterback class if several players continue to improve.
So who's the top player right now? The guess is that it would Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, who would have been a high first-round pick if he entered this year's draft.
Quinn, Michigan's State's Drew Stanton and UTEP's Jordan Palmer, Carson Palmer's little brother, are the top senior quarterbacks. Right now, Quinn has the lead, but you never know what a senior season can do to a guy.
Ask Matt Leinart.
Just remember, this is a preliminary list. We have a year for things to change, players to emerge, players to fall off.
But it's never too early to start, is it?
