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1) Let's start with the overriding NFL Draft thoughts. This weekend didn't go well for Missouri. In fact, it went probably about as poorly as it could have. Going in, we thought Drew Lock was a sure fire first rounder, Emanuel Hall was sure to be gone by the end of the fourth and Terry Beckner was pretty sure to get drafted. A minimum of three would have been expected, but many people (both around the program and around the NFL) expected that number to be more like five or six. It's not a crippling blow or anything, but it's less than ideal certainly. Gary Pinkel's program really took off when he started having multiple guys going in the draft, including frequent first rounders. That's what Barry Odom needs to happen. We thought this year would be that time. It was not. When I talked with Odom in Nashville this week, I asked about that step:
"Absolutely. And I think really, you look at Terez Hall have a chance maybe to get drafted, Kendall Blanton, we’ve got a group of guys that are in that conversation whether or not they get drafted or free agent, but I really think we’ve got a broader draft class, maybe more numbers, in next year’s class. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then, but if somebody would roster evaluate, I think we’ve got a handful of guys, both seniors and then a couple underclassmen that will have the opportunity to get drafted next year and that’s exciting."
In recruiting, the number of guys you can put in the NFL is a huge thing that you sell. It's not the only thing. And I know people will point out that programs like Tennessee and Nebraska didn't have any this year. And you're right and it hurts. But those programs also sell history more than Missouri does. The draft is something that helps Missouri sell. It could have gone better.
2) So why didn't it go better? Really, there were only two BIG surprises. It might have been disappointing that Hall, Blanton, Damarea Crockett and Paul Adams didn't get drafted, but it's not a total shock. Terry Beckner went within the range of where most thought he would go. I could have seen him as high as the fifth round, but the seventh isn't shocking. So let's talk about the big surprises.
It was stunning that Drew Lock wasn't a first rounder. We all expected it. They expected it. NFL people expected it. Missouri expected it. I think there are three big reasons it happened. Here they are in order:
*The New York Giants fell in love with Daniel Jones. Most people had Lock as the third quarterback to be taken. There were three in the first round. The fact that Jones went off the board meant Lock fell. People always say "it only takes one team." The Giants were that team and they liked Jones. They may be right or wrong in the long run, but this pick hurt Lock.
*There just weren't many teams that needed a quarterback this year. It was a weird year in that sense. The next quarterback taken after Lock was Will Grier at pick 100. There were only 11 taken total. Once the Raiders passed in round one, it seemed pretty obvious that Lock was falling to day two. The only way it wasn't going to happen is if someone just said "He's too good to be here and we don't really need an instant impact player." When Michael Porter Jr. slid in the NBA Draft, you eventually just hit a point where a team was going to say "He's got too much talent not to be gone." But the hoops draft is so different than football. You can have Porter play slightly out of position or you can move another guy. Or you can have him more as a reserve, but still a guy that plays a lot. That's not a thing in football. If you don't need a quarterback, you just don't need one and you're not going to take one. You only play one at a time so nobody says "Well, we don't need a QB, but he's good, so we'll take him and just find a role."
*As the draft process goes on, teams nitpick guys. Lock's hand size and the fact he grips the ball differently seemed to be a thing that hurt him. I think it's dumb...but I think a lot of things that come up in the draft process are dumb.
The other big surprise is Emanuel Hall. There is no explanation to me for him not getting drafted. I'd understand if he had fallen to round five or six. He got hurt a lot, he had issues with drops, there are reasons to be skeptical. But not to be drafted at all? That makes no sense. It leaves you searching for reasons. There has been talk that people question Hall's toughness and maybe that when NFL people asked around Missouri, he didn't get good reviews on that front. I asked Barry Odom that EXACT question on Thursday morning:
"I think it’s absolutely unfair. Nobody knows your body better than you know it. If Emanuel had the ability to go play at the speed and the skillset level that he needed to, then he would have been out there. There was also an opportunity that he felt, every time that he got really to full speed, there was a pain level that he felt like whatever muscle, whatever tendon, whatever ligament was about to shred. I don’t know how you say that in a medical report. He kept a lot of things to himself and kind of gritted his way through it. Look at the play he made at Purdue when he was really, really hurt. He won the game for us, the catch and run. There are some things he did just on grit alone that he will never get enough respect for."
Let me say first, yeah, Odom could be lying to me. It happens. But I have a hard time seeing the praise being that high publicly and it being totally the opposite to NFL teams. There may have been some question marks about his toughness, but I still don't see how they would have kept him from getting picked at all. At some point, with a receiver, it DOES get to the point where you say "We don't need one, but he's too good to still be here." Hall said coaches told him that on Saturday. And yet none took him. I'm not sure we'll ever really know why. But I definitely got the feeling his agent started telling people in the middle of the sixth round not to draft him, that he'd rather be a free agent. When he talked with us on Saturday, he was definitive he wasn't getting picked. I don't know how he could have been so certain if they hadn't already told people "Don't pick me."
Hall falling out of the draft is far more stunning than Lock going in the second round. I have no explanation for it. In all the years I've followed the draft, it's as baffling as anything I've seen. If he's healthy, Emanuel is going to make a team. It may not be Chicago, but if he doesn't get hurt, he'll be in the league in my opinion.
3) I want to take a second to praise Missouri's guys off the field. I've been an unabashed fan of Drew Lock and his family for years and how they handled the ups and downs of his career. I gained immense respect for Emanuel Hall this weekend. He not only invited me and two other reporters into his house for the draft, but he came down to answer questions from us when he went undrafted. There's no way he wanted to. I guarantee you 95% of kids wouldn't have done it. But he did and he deserves credit for it. I'll root for him. Whatever team he ends up with has gained a new fan. There is also this from Twitter this morning:
Missouri's got good kids on its team. I'm sure they're not all good kids. But a lot of them are. Does that translate into winning games? I don't know. But I'm impressed with the locker room Odom has put together.
4) So who makes a roster? Lock certainly will. I think Hall will. I think Paul Adams has a good shot. The fact that the Patriots brought Terez Hall in on a visit and gave him $80,000 guaranteed gives him a shot and I think he'll help on special teams. I'm not sure on Beckner, Blanton or Crockett at this point (Walter Palmore also signed with Houston and Cam Hilton has a tryout with the 49ers, but I think it's an uphill battle for those guys).
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