Fantasy Sports Outlook

Carolina fans happy with Jonathan Stewart

I think the Carolina Panthers can be a great fit for Jonathan Stewart. There’s going to be enough carries to share with DeAngelo Williams that Stewart will get his chance to show what he can do.

Reads from the Charlotte Observer, Carolina picks Stewart, Otah

Panthers director of college scouting Don Gregory compared Stewart to Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis.

“He bounces off tackles and he’s put together,” Gregory said of Stewart. “He’s a pounder who has speed.”

Profile page for Stewart at Charlotte.com

Here’s a poll they have up, Jonathan Stewart a solid 1st-round pick for Panthers? Right now the fans seem to be happy with the selection. With 1,640 votes in, it’s a rousing yes (1,329 votes) that Stewart was a good pick.

Miami Dolphins sign Jake Long

Great pick for the Dolphins. Now that they are off the clock we can spend the next four days trying to figure out what the St. Louis Rams will do.

Here’s the full Sun-Sentinel.com story.

The Dolphins can officially be taken off the clock after agreeing to terms with Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long, who will become the first pick in the 2008 draft.

The organization has called a 1:45 p.m. press conference to announce the signing of Long, the draft’s top offensive lineman, who gave up to two sacks and committed two penalties throughout his entire collegiate career.

The NFL Network is reporting that the Dolphins and Long’s agent Tom Condon have reached a five-year deal that will pay Long as much as $57.5 million, with $30 million of the contract guaranteed.

He’ll likely serve as one of the Dolphins starting tackles. Vernon Carey played left tackle last season and it’s likely both he and Long will be tried at that spot to see who is the best fit. The loser of that battle will likely play right tackle.

New Era Scouting’s April Draft Guide

New Era Scouting has put the finishing touches on their 2008 NFL Draft Guide. I’ve already downloaded my copy and inside the 87 page guide you’ll find among other things, a seven round mock, Top 250 player list, team needs listing, position previews with rankings, and a peek into the 2009 draft. Looks like a very good draft day companion.

This is from Matt Miller, President and Director of Scouting for New Era Scouting.

Our draft guide is finally formatted and ready to be downloaded. You can access the guide here.

Please feel free to share this link with anyone you think may be interested in reading it. We have put a lot of man hours into compiling the guide, and sincerely appreciate everyone who reads it or the website. This is truly an exciting time of the year for us, and all of you.

On Saturday and Sunday, make New Era Scouting your draft-day headquarters!

On Saturday, the site will feature instant analysis from Matt Miller and Luke Paul Chandler, a blog by Dan Kadar, a chat hosted by Eric Loomis and updated team needs from Dave Gardner. The staff will also be updating the best players available as the picks happen.

Sunday will feature more coverage with a special “Inside Information” from Miller as well as other interactive features. Chandler will close out the draft by breaking down the top remaining players.

We are also hosting a mock draft contest this year, with the winner taking a $25 cash prize. Information can be found here.

Thank you again for another year of support.

Matt Miller
President/Director of
Scouting
New Era Scouting

NFL Mock Draft, Round One

Signed up for the Predict The Draft challenge over at NFL.com. I’m going to try and add some comments on why I think it may flow this way, suffice it to say I don’t consider myself an expert in any sense of the word when it comes to this. But I do think I’m going to hit on some of these. Luckily I have until the morning of the draft to continue to tinker with this mock.

Over at the contest site they have a aggregated community picks list that is updated every 24 hours. You can see my picks against the community picks on the NFL Draft Links page. Can see I’m not in line with a lot of the picks, but not far off on some.

Predict The Pick

This is my first round mock draft.