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ESPN's NFL Experts Demand Your Respect

One of the great mysteries of my life is why I continue to return to ESPN in search of quality sports information when they consistently leave me feeling frustrated and unsatisfied. I'm just like the women in those Lifetime movies.

A lot of you probably already know where this is going.

So I flipped on the world wide leader last night to take in this NFL mock draft show with the hopes that I might get some quality knowledge as to how this whole thing Saturday is going to play out. The show consisted of the networks' NFL "experts" like Sean Salisbury, Michael Smith and a couple of other guys whose names couldn't survive a Thursday night out on the town, going through the first round of the draft and predicting who they thought each team would pick.

After a while it became apparent that something was wrong.

It took nearly an hour and-a-half, two breaks, and 24 picks before the draft expert speaking after Mel Kiper (may have been Todd McShay, but don't hold me to that) finally said what everyone with any basic knowledge of the rookie class of '07 was thinking: "I think you guys may have forgotten about Amobi Okoye."

Indeed they had.

The defensive tackle out of Louisville who is being projected in nearly every mock draft as a top ten pick, and who has been forecast at lowest to be selected with the 15th pick, was still on the board.

After a commercial break the panel admitted that they had completely forgotten about Okoye, and he was selected by the New York Jets with the 25th pick.

When you think about it's not really all that big of a deal because nothing says "this is a completely legitimate NFL mock draft show featuring extremely knowledgeable professionals" like totally whiffing on one of the biggest names about to enter the League.

This is even more reprehensible when you take into consideration how much Amobi has been in the news over the past four weeks or so because of his age, and more recently, his experiments with marijuana as a 16-year-old. I don't think it's a stretch to say that outside of Russell, Quinn, Johnson and Peterson, Okoye is the hardest player in the draft to forget about.

Of course the real loser in all of this is the poor guy who has been feeling left out of the sports conversations at work, so he took notes as he watched ESPN for an hour and-a-half only to realize that his torch bearers had somehow blanked on a top ten pick, making the entire show irrelevant.

Keep your head up Stephen A.

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Okoye
I think that every so called "expert" on the four letter was making the same mistake: they were basing their selections based off of what they precieved as that team's greatest "NEED". The problem with that approach is that "needs" change from year to year and even from game to game. Those issues are addressed through the free agent market. The draft is about adding talent that will help you team for years into the future. That's why Calvin Johnson should be the number one pick even though the Raiders don't have anyone to throw the ball to him, and Amobi Okoye should be drafted in the top ten. But then if it doesn't work out that way, it just means that Amobi will get the chance to play for a better team by going later rather than sooner.

by C4RDSF4N on Apr 27, 2007 1:42 PM EDT   0 recs

Amobi
NO way he lasts until the bottom of the first.  Everything I've seen has him going sixth to the Redskins.  Or maybe a position or two later.  What a screw up on the part of these ESPN guys.

by theoldman on Apr 27, 2007 2:53 PM EDT   0 recs

Okoye on the cover of ESPN the magazine.
Ummm... yeah.

Cover guy of the Apr. 23, 2007 ESPN the magazine.

No wonder they forgot him.

Do you remember who they had the Redskins picking in the show?

Did they have any DT's going ahead of him?
[Probably Alan Branch for one].

by emags on Apr 27, 2007 5:11 PM EDT   0 recs

They had the Redskins taking Gaines Adams
Branch also went ridiculously lower than he will in actuality.

by Mike Rutherford on Apr 27, 2007 7:47 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

boo espn
It's painfully to watch what was: "The end all be all of sports." Manage to keep that moniker despite continued idiocy and pathetic coverage. I imagine watching ESPN now, a huge hulking archaic giant held together by inertia and familiarity, is what it's like watching Rome or other large corporations crumble. Only this is so much more visual and easy to see due to its nature.  The worst part is, well that's its getting worse after all. Instead getting new material or trying to extend there network; they are forcing more of the old and same again and again. This is further compounded by this being the slow season in sports

by Blocky on Apr 27, 2007 5:18 PM EDT   0 recs

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