September 29, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Tavon Austin (1) on the sidelines in the second half against the Baylor Bears at Milan Puskar Stadium. West Virginia defeated Baylor 70-63. Mandatory Credit: Rob Christy-USA TODAY Sports

The annual NFL Draft is an opportunity for NFL franchises to address their positional needs that were not addressed adequately in free agency. There are numerous franchises that will be looking to address wide receiver depth in the first round of the NFL Draft. That list of teams does not include the San Francisco 49ers. Tavon Austin, our electric Mountaineer alumnus, is reportedlyvisiting the 49ers this week to work out for the scouts and coaching staff. As a result, many analysts have speculated that Austin may be a potential draft target of the 49ers who hold the 31st pick and 14 total draft picks. All though Austin is getting a chance to work out for the 49ers there is no reason to believe he will suit up in red and gold next season. Here are just a few reasons:

1. The 49ers just traded for Anquan Boldin. Now that they have acquired Boldin from the Baltimore Ravens for a washing machine and a 6th round pick (enough to make Ravens fans puke) to play alongside Michael Crabtree, they 49ers have little need for another high end receiver. Yes their current back-ups Manningham and Williams are banged up, but both will return early in the season and they will be just fine with A.J. Jenkins (last year’s 1st round pick) as the third receiver.
2. Austin is likely going to be drafted in the top half of the 1st round. The 49ers would need to sacrifice quite a few draft choices to get ahead of receiver starved teams like the Rams and Vikings to obtain Tavon Austin. Having 14 selections will certainly give the 49ers plenty of trade ammunition, but I don’t know if that will be enough to move up high enough to beat out the Vikings (who have two 1st round picks).
3. The secondary is the top priority in the draft. The old adage is that defense wins championships and it was apparent last month that the 49ers secondary was not good enough to win one. Having lost out on Ed Reed (Texans) and letting Dashon Goldson go (Buccaneers), the safety position is a major need for the 49ers. San Francisco also needs to add playmakers at cornerback to shore up the play of the struggling Carlos Rogers and Chris Culliver. Drafting Austin when you could land a big time defensive back like Dee Miliner, Xavier Rhodes, or Kenny Vacaro would certainly be unwise for the 49ers.

Don’t get me wrong, Tavon Austin will be a major boost to any NFL franchise that drafts him next month. It just seems like the 49ers need a lot of pieces on the defensive side of the football and would have to sacrifice a lot to add Austin to a pretty solid receiving corps.

December 1, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver Stedman Bailey (3) on the field before playing the Kansas Jayhawks at Milan Puskar Stadium. The West Virginia Mountaineers won 59-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Wednesday’s performance at the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility went a long way to pumping up the draft prospects of West Virginia’s top three recruits. While many were expecting quarterback Geno Smith and receiver Tavon Austin were expected to blow their pro days out of the water, not as many expected to be wowed by WVU’s Stedman Bailey.

Bailey, who reeled in 210 receptions for 3,128 yards and 41 touchdowns in his Morgantown career, showed off for NFL scouts this week. He ran his routes really well and showed off the tremendous hands that he exemplified all season long.

What should have been obvious on film is only now being recognized by scouts. Bailey has NFL caliber hands, decent speed, and an incredible knack for finding the ball in traffic. His talents were more than deserving of his Biletnikoff award nomination, a fact that many NFL scouts have seemed to overlook until they saw him work out in person.

As NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said of Bailey:

“What I see is an instinctive, smart receiver that catches the ball; he’s a natural hands catcher,” and “I’d be surprised if he gets out of the third round,” Mayock on Bailey.

Later on NFL Network’s Path to the Draft, Mayock speculated that their cold be some NFL teams that might make a move to secure Bailey’s services in the late second round, depending on how much of a run on receivers there is in the April draft.

Both Bailey and Austin are scheduled to work out with the Carolina Panthers this coming week, the first of many private workouts for the Mountaineer wide-outs. For more West Virginia Pro Day coverage, see the WVU Sports Buzz video in the tweet below:

 

Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and more. Video & analysis of yesterday’s Pro Day workouts at West Virginia: bit.ly/Yw8Lxq

— Jed Drenning (@TheSignalCaller) March 15, 2013

Jan 30, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; General view of Nike vapor gloves of the Oakland Raiders at the Super Bowl XLVII Experience at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When you hear draft speculation this far ahead of the NFL draft, it is usually just posturing.

The latest hot rumor concerning the NFL draft is that the Oakland Raiders are interested in drafting West Virginia alumnus Geno Smith with the third pick overall.

If the late Al Davis (RIP) been in charge of the Raiders, I’m sure that he would be overly interested in Smith. Davis, especially in his twilight, had a propensity to taking huge draft gambles on prospects that run freakishly fast 40 yard dashes. Geno Smith’s 4.59 seconds 40 yard dash time would certainly have got the old man salivating.

But the Raiders are under new management, a group that brought in Carson Palmer and Terrelle Pryor in recent seasons at the quarterback position. Palmer played fairly well last season for the Raiders, throwing for 4,018 yards and 22 touchdowns while the Raiders seem fixated on getting Pryor more playing time this season in read-option packages.

So why then would the Raiders have a need for Geno Smith? The only rationale reason for drafting Smith is if the Raiders decide to part ways with Palmer. That could be a possibility should Palmer not agree to restructure his contract, due to pay him $13 million this season. Given the way team typically front load deals with guaranteed money to alleviate salary cap concerns, it seems highly likely that Palmer would agree to restructure his deal.

With all that said, it seems as though the Raiders real motivation is to drum up trade partners to move back in the first round of the draft. By making the rest of the league think they really want Geno Smith, they might be able to entice the Bills or Cardinals into dumping a second or third round pick to move up a couple spots to nab the former Mountaineers signal caller.

Until the Raiders move Palmer or Pryor, there is no need to purchase a black and silver Smith jersey from your favorite “legally frowned upon” site.

Okay, it’s not that Chucky of Child’s Play fame, but rather the former NFL head coach and ESPN broadcaster John Gruden.

As reported by CBSSports.com, Gruden will be sitting down with the top NFL quarterback prospects of the 2013 NFL Draft. In what has become an annual ESPN event, Gruden will work with star quarterbacks both on the field and in the film room.

Quarterbacks invited to this year’s Gruden QB Camp include: Geno Smith (West Virginia), Matt Barkley (USC), Tyler Bray (Tennessee), Mike Glennon (NC State), Zac Dysert (Miami-OH), Landry Jones (Oklahoma), EJ Manuel (Florida State), Ryan Nassib (Syracuse), and Tyler Wilson (Arkansas).

Apparently Geno has already been hard at work in the film room with Chucky, showing Gruden his “draw” play:

Hahaha RT @espnmondaynight: Geno Smith’s “draw play” of Coach Gruden at QB Camp filming –> twitter.com/ESPNMondayNigh…

— Sam Ponder (@samsteeleponder) February 27, 2013

Film of Smith working out for Gruden has also made its way into the twitterverse:

First in the series of Gruden QB Camp tapings at #USF‘s practice facility. Geno Smith up today.tout.com/m/97t8tz?ref=t…

— USF Football (@USFFootball) February 27, 2013

Gruden’s QB Camp series presented by Corona Extra is back for a fourth year this spring, beginning Thursday, April 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2) and continuing throughout the month with segments on SportsCenter and NFL studio shows across multiple ESPN networks. – See more at: http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2013/02/front-center-john-gruden-on-return-of-fourth-grudens-qb-camp/#sthash.iykXlyya.dpuf

November 3, 2012; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith (12) looks to pass against the TCU Horned Frogs during the fourth quarter at Milan Puskar Field. The TCU Horned Frogs won 39-38 in two overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Sports Illustrated today released their first iteration of the 2013 NFL Draft Big Board.

The list, composed of the top 40 NFL prospects entering the 2013 NFL draft in April, featured two prominant Mountaineers alumni. Both quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver/all-purpose talent Tavon Austin are listed amongst the best prospects in the country.

The Big Board is heavy on defensive talent, especially at the top of the list. 24 of the 40 prospects are on the defensive side of the football and 6 of the top 10 are defensive players.

Geno Smith ranks as the #15 overall prospect on the Sports Illustrated list. Geno is the top available quarterback and the only quarterback to appear on the Big Board. Other quarterbacks such as Mike Glennon of North Carolina State, Ryan Nassib of Syracuse, and Tyler Wilson of Arkansas have been on the rise lately, but are still unable to unseat Geno Smith as the top quarterback prospect.

That is not surprising given that Geno has been a consistent top flight quarterback for the past three seasons and set WVU records for career passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions, and attempts.

Smith is likely to be drafted higher than 15th. He has been linked in draft rumors to the Kansas City Chiefs at #1, Jacksonville Jaguars at #2, Arizona Cardinals at #7, and New York Jets at #9.

Some analysts will say that Smith is likely to slide to the bottom of the first round, citing his performance in the Pinstripe Bowl as an example of his inconsistency. While Geno might not have had a great outing in New York, he has been a consistent force for the Mountaineers the past three seasons and has one of the biggest arms in this draft class.

It will be hard for Geno to fall out of the top 10 of the draft and almost completely impossible that he would slide out of the first round. Expect the Cardinals to be the landing spot for Smith. They need a quarterback more than any other team in the league.

(more…)

Noel Devine, RB

Brandon Hogan, CB

Chris Neild, DT

Jock Sanders, WR

Robert Sands, S

JT Thomas, LB

We wish all of these guys the best of luck, and hope all of them get drafted in the NFL.

Noel Devine & Jock Sanders (Photo: Life.com)

According to our friends over at MKRob Sports, the Kansas City Chiefs are currently interested in Noel Devine.

The Kansas City Chiefs are at the Senior Bowl in Mobile just like the other 31 teams in the NFL checking out the top seniors in college football this season and what I found interesting is that they were seen talking to West Virginia running back Noel Devine.

Devine, was one of the most sought after high school running backs in the class of 2007 but has not lived up to expectations at the college level.

At 5’7″ 160 pounds, Devine is the smallest running back in the NFL Draft but is extremely quick and has great vision. The intriguing thing about the Chiefs talking to him is the fact that they drafted a similar player last year in the second round by the name of Dexter McCluster.

And, while we’re at it, they’re also talking to WR Jock Sanders.

The Chiefs were also seen talking to Devine’s teammate, Jock Sanders, who’s probably the smallest wide receiver in the draft standing 5’7″ 180 pounds. Sanders is a similar player and it seems that Chiefs may be looking to fill a return role with Sanders.

While the Broncos fan in me would completely die if one or both of these guys would go to a rival team in the AFC West, the Mountaineer in me would (obviously) be ecstatic if both of these guys went in the draft, and even more on the same team.

Hopefully, both Devine and Sanders will kick some major ass in today’s Senior Bowl (along with Chris Neild). At this writing, it is on NOW on the NFL Network (another network I don’t get because Comcast’s packages are expensive.)

Robert Sands (photo: CNN-SI)

It’s official, according to the Charleston Daily Mail:

West Virginia safety Robert Sands has decided to skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft, according to separate sources close to the situation.

Officials at WVU had not yet been informed by Sands of his decision and could not comment.

Sands, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound native of Miami, said before the Champs Sports Bowl he would enter the draft if he was projected to be a first- or second-round pick and would return to school if the NFL said he would be taken in the third round or later.

First-team all-Big East after his sophomore and junior seasons, Sands totaled 143 tackles, six interceptions, three sacks and 10.5 tackles for a loss in his career. He was named first-team All-America by The Sporting News last month.

So, apparently, if everything seems to be on the up-and-up, he could go in the 1st or 2nd round of the draft. Personally, I’d love to see my Denver Broncos take him in the 2nd round (they have the 4th & 14th picks in that round)… they desperately need help on defense. Of course, it didn’t help the Broncos D when Mike Nolan got unceremoniously booted out of Denver because Josh McDaniels had no idea what he was doing. Oh well. New regime in town, time to get to work. Mr. Elway, PICK THIS GUY!