Tony Pike Second Round?

[RebelYell]

Why is that not a good sign? Plenty of underclassmen ask for reviews from the draft panel as to where they think they'll go. Bradford (injury) and Clausen (new coaching staff) probably didn't have much reason to ask, because they wouldn't have much to gain by staying. Locker, on the other hand, could be 2011's top prospect after another year in Steve Sarkisian's offense. But if he's already viewed as a top prospect, then maybe the risk in staying is too great and it helps him decide to come out.

I guess I'm confused as to why seeking as much information as possible in the decision making process is viewed as a bad thing in Locker's case.

It's only a bad thing if you've been predicting Locker will be the #1 QB in the draft. If you have Bradford, Clausen and Locker (all Juniors) and 2 commit without requesting the information and the third requests it while people are calling for him to return to college, how do you think the true rankings are actually unfolding at NFL offices?

Locker shot up the charts from oblivion after the USC win and Chris Mortensen declared him the best in the draft. Since then he's played extremely average football. My guess is he's going back for his senior season. Maybe he will be the #1 QB next year. I'm even doubtful of that.

[mtah6245]

The likelihood of trading out of the top three in this year's draft is slim to none, and slim is booking his vacation right now. Fans would be wise to abandon the "trade down" strategy when talking about such a high pick.

I agree with you Nick I don't know why fans are even thinking of the possiblity of any team wanting to trade up into one of the top three picks. The rams pick should be Suh or the best QB available in the 2010 draft which I think is Clausen or Locker. Trading down will not become an option for the Rams front office on draft day because I do not believe they will be able to find a partner to trade with.

[Nick]

It's only a bad thing if you've been predicting Locker will be the #1 QB in the draft. If you have Bradford, Clausen and Locker (all Juniors) and 2 commit without requesting the information and the third requests it while people are calling for him to return to college, how do you think the true rankings are actually unfolding at NFL offices?

We'll have to agree to disagree then, because I simply don't see much reason to believe that his request for a projection is some indication of where his stock actually is (or isn't).

Again, I simply see it as him seeking information to help him make a decision. If he's projected as a junior to be among the top five or ten picks, then he has little to gain by returning to school for another year and may elect to come out now. If he's projected later in the first round, then maybe another year helps him gain ground.

And again, I think there are pretty clear reasons as to why Bradford (injury) and Clausen (new coach) didn't need a projection to make their decision. Because of those circumstances, I don't see much reason to use their lack of projection against Locker.