Could Kendall Wright and Stephen Hill Slip out of the First Round

Recently Profootballweekly put out a draft value chart that was complied from input from teams around the league to the value of all of the players with draftable grades in the N.F.L. draft.

There were some big interesting surprises–one of the surprises was seeing Baylor WR Kendall Wright and Georgia Tech WR Stephen Hill slip out of the first round. However, LSU WR Rueben Randle was considered a late first round talent by front office men around the league.

Throughout the College Football season–when scouts tend to be a bit more truthful we posted a few articles where we linked to various good media guys relaying the opinion that scouts thought that Kendall Wright was better than Oklahoma State Justin Blackmon. But then the combine came and Wright ran a disappointing forty yard dash and also measured in a 5’10 inches. Wright to me, has always been a late first round-early second round player on my board. During the season I was beating the drum that despite how well he’s played it is rare for a team to draft a player under 6′ in the first round let alone in the top 20. Wright’s stock seems to have finally become aligned with my viewpoint, unless these are all smoke screens and teams still do love Kendall Wright which is a definite possibility, but I don’t think many of you are buying it.

On the opposite of Wright, Stephen Hill has wowed in this off-season, which should have been expected. Wright was big and fast on film-he averaged nearly 30 yards per carry. And coming from Georgia Tech he is used to blocking. People have been all over Hill as a potential top 20 pick in the media, but according to PFW the league still views him as an early second round pick. But perhaps many of you aren’t buying it.

Here’s the truth of the matter. There have been no less than 10 Wide receivers linked to the first round all throughout the college foootball season. And even know that number approaches 10.

Blackmon, Floyd, Wright, Hill, Randle, Jeffery, Mohamed Sanu are all players I’ve seen linked to the first round since the end of the college football season.

However it is highly unlikely that 7 WR are drafted in the first round. Its probably most likely that three or four go in the first round especially with the glut of DL talent available. If Rueben Randle does indeed go in the first round-it’s likely at the very least that Stephen Hill and or Kendall Wright will be available for the Giants at the very end of round one and the Colts, Rams, and Vikings in the early part of round two.

It’s an interesting story line to watch heading into the 2012 NFL Draft.

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