Who Ya Got?



Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert...Who ya got?

Go ahead, say it. Everyone else is, so why can't you? "Cam Newton will be the #1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft." There, now was that so hard? Actually, for me, it was, because I don't believe it.
Almost everybody is saying Newton's going first, yadayadayada, but don't listen to them. In fact, don't listen to me, because these predictions mean absolutely nothing.

Carolina, the team who did the worst last year, doesn't have to pick Cam Newton, Jake Locker, or Blaine Gabbert (the top 3 candidates, respectively). The panthers could pick one of the lowest prospects like Austin Arnaud of Iowa State (sorry Austin, I know you're pretty good, it's just, you're a Cyclone).

So don't think I or any of those "smart" people who "know" everything about sports, know who's going to be picked first. Because we don't know, the only difference between them and I is they get paid to tell you things that mean nothing.

So now that I've told you not to believe anything I say, let me tell you who I think will go #1. Jake Locker, HA! Fat chance. The Quarterback who passed the draft and probably a high pick last year, didn't have such a hot year this last season. There's no way he's going first.

Well, you already know that I don't think Cam Newton's going first. Carolina wants a scorer, and Cam is a scorer, but half of his scoring comes by running people over. That's just not the way teams do it today, they just want someone to drop back and throw the ball.

To me, Newton is a carbon copy of Tim Tebow, except Tebow is white. If Cam Newton is going to be an NFL quarterback, then he's going to have to learn how to throw the ball every down. It's that simple.

So obviously that leaves just one person, Blaine Gabbert. This guy's got it all, or at least most of it. The quarterback led the Missouri Tigers to some big wins the last couple of years. Though he did lose to my Iowa Hawkeyes in December at the Insight Bowl Thank you, by the way, Mr. Gabbert, for throwing that incoherent pass late in the game that allowed us to win!). But that was then, and this is now. He's got the chemistry, agility, accuracy, and most important, he's smart. That's not to say other quarterbacks aren't smart, he's just got a brain that works really well. That's why I think he'll go #1.

As for the other two, well, I could care less when they go. All that seems to matter today is who goes first.

So if there's anything you learned after reading this, I hope it's that you should never believe  what people say about the draft. So go ahead, make your prediction. But when Thursday comes the only thing that will matter is who Carolina thinks is best, that and that alone.