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The BCS National Championship: Part 2

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I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the BCS National Championship game in Miami, Florida this year.  As a kid with no collegiate allegiance, I jumped on the Notre Dame bandwagon in high school and have been a fan ever since.  This year I boarded the plane with the idea that at the very least I could tailgate and watch the game on TV, taking in the atmosphere.  At the last minute, we got entrance into the stadium and were able to watch the entire game.  Over the next three days, I’ll be sharing my observations from the game in a three part review: Part 1 – The Game, Part 2 – Draft Impact,  Part 3 – Atmospheric Observations.

Part 2 – Draft IMPACT

The 2013 NFL Draft takes place 110 days after the BCS Championship game.  Most years, there are many players that will be drafted that play in this game.  Below are the players that should be high draft picks from Alabama and Notre Dame, how they played, and how it impacts the Cowboys.

Alabama:

  • Dee Milliner CB (6’1” 199) should be a top 10 draft pick and the #1 cornerback.  He played well against the Irish, defending a pass that led to the game’s only interception.
  • Chance Warmack OG (6’3” 320) should be top 15 and the #1 offensive guard.  He was a road grater against the Irish, and opened the game for over 250 yards rushing.
  • Barrett Jones C/OG/OT (6’5” 302) will be drafted in the first round, he has played tackle, guard, and center at All-SEC level or better (All-American center). He should be drafted as a center and because of that, he will drop lower in the 1st round.  I argue he is the better choice between he and Warmack, but drafts tend to favor the guards here.
  • DJ Fluker OT (6’6” 335) could be a 1st round pick but I project that he gets picked up in the 2nd as there are still several tackles considered better prospects.  He had some injury concerns that may drop him lower than necessary.
  • Eddie Lacy RB (6’0” 220) should see a bump in his draft stock and be taken somewhere in the 2nd round after running for 140 yards against Irish.  He seems to be in the similar mold of Trent Richardson but not as fast; he’s more of a one-cut back than Richardson.
  • Jesse Williams DT (6’4” 320) helped his stock but should still remain as a late 1st round selection.  He’s a big mauler up front that takes up a ton of space.  Great 3-4 nose tackle or 4-3, comparable to Warren Sapp.

Notre Dame:

  • Manti T’eo ILB (6’2” 255) will still be a top 10 pick even if that means he slipped a bit due to his performance in the National Championship game.  He recorded 10 tackles but never made any game changing plays.  0 tackles for loss, 0 forced fumbles, 0 interceptions, 0 sacks.
  • Tyler Eifert TE (6’6” 251) will be drafted in the 1st round but, because of his position, he will be a late first round pick.  He’s a top tight end.
  • Zeke Motta SS (6’2” 215) hurt his cause but will still get drafted in the 4th or 5th round.

 

Cowboys Impact:

Round 1

Milliner and T’eo will be drafted before the Cowboys make their first selection so we will disregard them.  Warmack, Jones, and Eifert should all be available when the Cowboys select, none of which play a position that is a top need.  Defensive end and defensive tackle should be the higher priorities, especially with the switch to the 4-3 on defense.  However, any of these three would be great selections.  Jones and Warmack would be day one starters at their positions.  Jones is very appealing because he is a great leader and can play multiple positions along the line.  Eifert would not start, but could play considerably behind Jason Witten.  I don’t expect Eifert to be the ‘Boys selection but it would be very hard to pass on that kind of talent.

Round 2

Fluker will probably be gone by the time the Cowboys are on the clock, and I don’t expect them to address offensive tackle this early in the draft with a deep tackle class.  He would be a fine selection and would be a day one starter replacing Doug Free, but again, I don’t expect this pick.  Lacy will be a 2nd round pick and may be available for the Cowboys, however, they will not select a running back that high.  This would also be a great pick, but there are too many other needs.  Williams should be selected somewhere in the middle of the 2nd round and would fill a need in the 4-3.

Round 4

Zeke Motta should be available in the 4th round, but I don’t think I would take a flier on him until the 5th where he may or may not be available.  He has good size for a safety, but not the same talent as former Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith, drafted in the 2nd round by the Vikings last year.

There are a handful of other players that will be available from these two teams, all whom project to be 6th or 7th round selections or go undrafted.  None have any real significance to the Cowboys.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll share my observations on the atmosphere surrounding Miami during the Championship game.

The BCS National Championship: Part 1

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Image by R. Cotton

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the BCS National Championship game in Miami, Florida this year.  As a kid with no collegiate allegiance, I jumped on the Notre Dame bandwagon in high school and have been a fan ever since.  This year I boarded the plane with the idea that at the very least I could tailgate and watch the game on TV, taking in the atmosphere.  At the last minute, we got entrance into the stadium and were able to watch the entire game.  Over the next three days, I’ll be sharing my observations from the game in a three part review: Part 1 – The Game, Part 2 – Draft Impact,  Part 3 – Atmospheric Observations.

 Part 1 – The Game

From the beginning, Alabama showed their impressive mass up front.  The Tide dominated the line of scrimmage the entire game which made it look like they were awesome in every aspect of the game.  However, they were not exceptional in any area but the trenches, but as they say, “the game is decided in the trenches.”  Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack showed why they will likely be first round choices as interior linemen and DJ Fluker should be an early offensive tackle draft choice.  Those three led a group of men that gave AJ McCarron enough time to look like a #1 draft choice (trust me, he’s not near that type of caliber, maybe 3rd round in two years), and got to the second level on runs to give Eddie Lacy and TJ Yeldon room to run (as apparent by their ridiculous YPC average of 6.0).

On defense for Alabama, the hogs up front controlled the line as well.  Nose tackle Jesse Williams showed why he is so highly thought of as an NFL DT and the two defensive ends displayed strength (although not high draft prospects).  Because of these big maulers, the defense was able to play comfortably throughout the game.

Aside from the offensive and defensive lines, there were two players that stuck out as future NFL successes.  RB Eddie Lacy was very impressive at gaining yards after contact.  Very few times did Notre Dame get to him behind the line, but when they did, he brushed them off and gained positive yards.  I believe he has a very bright future in the NFL; he will be interesting to watch as he is projected to be drafted in the late 2nd or 3rd round but I could see him succeeding.  Also standing out for ‘Bama was cornerback Dee Milliner.  Despite the Irish continuing to throw at him, all he did was make plays.  The kid is a stud and he solidified his mark as the top CB in this year’s draft.

Notre Dame had some disappointing performances.  Middle linebacker Manti T’eo had 10 tackles, sure, but none of them were for a loss and very few came in key situations.  He missed a couple of one-on-one tackles on Lacy that a top 5 draft prospect has to make.  However, he was all over the field and most of his problems could easily be attributed to the fact that the Alabama linemen dominated so much that they could get to the second level defenders with little resistance.  Another Irish defender that should’ve had a good game was safety Zeke Motta.  Motta projects as a late 3rd/4th rounder right now, and had a chance to improve that status with a solid game.  Instead, he was nowhere to be found against the Tide.  I believe his stock tumbled and he will be late 5th or 6th pick unless he puts up ridiculous combine numbers (he is highly thought of as a leader on the team and that will help his cause).

The only other draft-noteworthy player for the Irish was Tyler Eifert, and he proved he is the best tight end in the draft.  He made one tremendous catch after another.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get as many looks as he should have, finishing the game with 6 catches for 61 yards and one catch that was ruled out of bounds when replay showed it probably should have been considered a catch.

All-in-all, the Alabama Crimson Tide proved to be a dominate SEC foe, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish just seemed glad to be there.  It was unfortunate that it was not a better game, but it was the National Championship game, and that’s as big as it gets.

- Rex Cotten