Kiper believes we'll draft the next Steve Smith: Cooks

[Kevin Greene]

isn't Cooks ranked in the late 2nd/early 3rd round?  Kiper is a denius.  He must be channeling the ghost of Al Davis.

 

No, he's not.

[Mr. Scot]

If you think watching Mel kipper keeps me interested in who my favorite team should or should not draft...dude.

Has any NFL team wee paid Kiper to scout for them? Kiper is obsessed with his job, but you are asking that I be grateful to him or give him credit for the televising of a draft and scouting that would surely go on with or without his insight and mouth...give me a break.

ESPN is there because of the sport, not the other way around...and they didn't even bring revenue to the sport until they started televising games. I hate it when people try to shovel bs down my throat and tell me it's brownie mix...don't fall for it..please...just...stop

 

Whatever attitude you want to have about Mel Kiper is your right.  I don't honestly care.  He's definitely not my favorite draft analyst (best ever was Joel Buchsbaum, but he died back in the 80s).  So no, I'd not say you should watch because of him.

 

But back when I started watching the Draft, Kiper was the only guy doing what he was doing on TV.  So yes, that makes him a legitimate pioneer in draft analysis and coverage. 

 

Whether you choose to have any feelings about that is entirely up to you.

[TheNewStandard]

In all due fairness, I do hear what you are saying...not to discredit you or the job he does.

Do I think he should be in the HoF, definitely not for being a pioneer. He's a product of the televisation (new word that I won't get credit in Webster's for coming up with just now,) and popularity of the players who actually play the game.

If he did it without pay or decided not to spend half of that paycheck on his hair, I'd give him more credence.

[Mr. Scot]

In all due fairness, I do hear what you are saying...not to discredit you or the job he does.

Do I think he should be in the HoF, definitely not for being a pioneer. He's a product of the televisation (new word that I won't get credit in Webster's for coming up with just now,) and popularity of the players who actually play the game.

If he did it without pay or decided not to spend half of that paycheck on his hair, I'd give him more credence.

 

I actually said above that I think a Hall of Fame induction would be a bit much.  I could see him being part of a display in the Hall of Fame that talks about the history of draft analysis.  That'd be fair.

 

Heck, they may already have something like that.  My only visit to the Hall of Fame was in 1995 (when the Panthers played the Jags).

[LinvilleGorge]

My biggest beef with Kiper, McShay, and the other "draft experts" is how they speak in certainties.  So and so is a perennial Pro Bowler, and if you draft so and so you have your entrenched starter at *insert position* for the next decade, etc.

 

I highly doubt actual scouts and front office personnel speak in those terms.  I think they understand that everyone in the draft is a prospect.  Some prospects are better than others and every draft will have busts and steals.  They just have to put in their work to try to make sure they avoid the busts and try to find the steals.

[TheNewStandard]

I'm pretty sure one of the criteria of the NFL is that you have to have once been employed as an NFL employee.

Otherwise, things could get out of hand.

There should be a subsection for the "Super Fans,"...and maybe Mel would satisfy that criteria.

Imagine,..mini-busts for the Panther-Gnome, The Redskin's Indian... "Whooooom-whoooom, the diesel's coming." The 'aints crossdresser, the raider's road warriors. That would be...awesome!

[Mr. Scot]

My biggest beef with Kiper, McShay, and the other "draft experts" is how they speak in certainties.  So and so is a perennial Pro Bowler, and if you draft so and so you have your entrenched starter at *insert position* for the next decade, etc.

 

I highly doubt actual scouts and front office personnel speak in those terms.  I think they understand that everyone in the draft is a prospect.  Some prospects are better than others and every draft will have busts and steals.  They just have to put in their work to try to make sure they avoid the busts and try to find the steals.

 

To be fair, isn't that most of (what passes for) sports journalism these days?

 

Actual reasoned analysis takes a back seat to big bombastic predictions from nimrods like Jim Rome.

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

I'm pretty sure one of the criteria of the NFL is that you have to have once been employed as an NFL employee.

Otherwise, things could get out of hand.

There should be a subsection for the "Super Fans,"...and maybe Mel would satisfy that criteria.

Imagine,..mini-busts for the Panther-Gnome, The Redskin's Indian... "Whooooom-whoooom, the diesel's coming." The 'aints crossdresser, the raider's road warriors. That would be...awesome!

 

I don't think Alice or Big A or Big Ass or whatever he's calling himself these days should be featured in any exhibit.

 

 

[TheNewStandard]

Kiper has a great gig, no doubt. I just wish I had a say about who's hype I had to endure during one of my favorite non-sporting "sport" events. The bad thing, is that even if I attended the draft, I'd still have to endure Mel's mouth as he is mic'd over the loudspeakers.

Maybe I'm hating, but he just thrashes the teams and their picks more times than not, for guys they will be paying...right in front of everyone's faces. It's beyond infuriating and against everything that the draft really celebrates, which is the admission of young men into the NFL.

I will never credit Mel kiper for me being able to scout players or for being able to watch the draft on live television. He's simply a product of the process, no a pioneer. How many scouts get no credit at a tiny percentage of his salary? How they must feel about Mel and the doubtless millions of people who put him on a pedestal...I really have to find their opinions of him in print to put this in true perspective.

[LinvilleGorge]

To be fair, isn't that most of (what passes for) sports journalism these days?

 

Actual reasoned analysis takes a back seat to big bombastic predictions from nimrods like Jim Rome.

 

It's absolutely the case.  Not just sports journalism, but journalism/"news" in general.

[Mr. Scot]

Kiper has a great gig, no doubt. I just wish I had a say about who's hype I had to endure during one of my favorite non-sporting "sport" events. The bad thing, is that even if I attended the draft, I'd still have to endure Mel's mouth as he is mic'd over the loudspeakers.

Maybe I'm hating, but he just thrashes the teams and their picks more times than not, for guys they will be paying...right in front of everyone's faces. It's beyond infuriating and against everything that the draft really celebrates, which is the admission of young men into the NFL.

I will never credit Mel kiper for me being able to scout players or for being able to watch the draft on live television. He's simply a product of the process, no a pioneer. How many scouts get no credit at a tiny percentage of his salary? How they must feel about Mel and the doubtless millions of people who put him on a pedestal...I really have to find their opinions of him in print to put this in true perspective.

 

Joel Buchsbaum actually did have offers from NFL teams to join their scouting staff, but he turned them down.  And he was a little too private a person to be a TV personality (didn't exactly have a face for TV either).

 

ESPN did some of its best draft analysis in recent years when they had Floyd Reese working for them.  These days it's bill Polian, who I'm not as big a fan of, but I think it's great that they have guys who used to actually do the job talking about it.

[Mr. Scot]

It's absolutely the case.  Not just sports journalism, but journalism/"news" in general.

 

Sad but true.

[TheNewStandard]

Polian...the guy who ran the the Panthers into the dirt drafting players like Kerry Collins and Rae Carruth, or the Polian that gets all the credit for no-brainers Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James?

Oh my gosh...smh

[Mr. Scot]

Polian...the guy who ran the the Panthers into the dirt drafting players like Kerry Collins and Rae Carruth, or the Polian that gets all the credit for no-brainers Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James?

Oh my gosh...smh

 

Polian built his rep with the Bills and the drafting of Peyton Manning (whom he failed to properly build around).  There was also early success in Carolina, but it didn't take long to break down.

 

To me, he'll always be the guy who picked Kerry Collins over Steve McNair and Tshimanga Biakabutuka over Eddie George.