http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/spo...g/2011/03/draft_winds_the_christian_pond.html Read it or annihilate yourselves.
Great write-up! Very shocked by this quote: "If the selection were left up to me, Ponder’s name would already be rolling off of Roger Goodell’s tongue. I doubt Miami could trade down into the mid-twenties of the first round and still expect to see him on the board. There are simply too many teams looking for quarterbacks this offseason, especially those who do not carry some of the question marks attached to other highly rated prospects at the position."
Thanks for the work you guys put into this. I'm not very knowledgeable of any college players, and increasingly I have been ignoring the media talking heads and relying on these articles and other works from universal draft to learn about these guys. Am I the only one who was reminded of Chad Pennington a little bit while watching Ponder throw in these videos? Not saying that's a bad or good thing. I think I could really like this guy if there was a scenario where we could trade down into the first, recoup our 2nd, and still end up with him.
If I could just add one thing, questions about Christian Ponder's arm strength when healthy should END after watching this throw: [video]http://youtu.be/watch?v=B-Jar435rnc[/video] Try not to bite your tongue when your jaw snaps shut.
About 60 yards on the run...no? Btw, what was the wind factor in that game? That ball looked like it could have easily sailed another 30 yards. It was a great throw nonetheless.
Don't know the wind factor as I wasn't there. Ball was about 55 yards thru the air, but what was impressive wasn't the distance. It was the fact that it was a right-handed throw while running left, a jump-pass that was all arm, and the trajectory on it was low rather than a floater that would have given the defender time to recover. And of course, it was right on the money. I do remember that throw though, we had a lot of people over the house to watch that game as it was a big one for USF's program. The Bulls won that day and I remember thinking we really got away with one on that particular throw because it just absolutely floored me. Thankfully the South Florida defense was able to stay on top of Ponder and that offense for most of the day. We had an awful lot of talent on that South Florida defense in 2009.
To all QB needy teams drafting spots 14 or better..... Please...nothing to see here. Please move on...and have a nice day. The link provided above...is unfortunately broken....
Excellent article Confucius. I was hoping that Ponder would stay under the radar, but as the draft approaches and after his Senior Bowl performance that doesn't look to be the case. Current wish list: Gabe Carimi, John Clay, Ponder, Andy Dalton, Stefan Wisniewski, Mike Pouncy, Mario Harvey, Greg Little, Mark Herzlich and Leonard Hankerson. Carimi is just a damn good player, Harvey is underrated imo and would add speed to the defense. Wisniewski and Pouncy are very solid and would fill a big need. Congrats for having a brass set on you big enough to throw Ponder into the mid 1st conversation, where he belongs. And in a perfect world maybe a 1st rd trade down is possible picking up a 2nd and taking Ponder in the first and a Center in the 2nd- or maybe even more intriguingly, Herzlich... Greg Little is physically a stud- not a speed demon but fast enough and a presence. Hankerson fits the bill speed and size wise, and Mario Harvey would be an excellent 3rd rd pick imo, although the return of AJ Edds has to be factored in. Clay remains underrated, baggage or not. Just my 2 cents.
