Steve Muench

  (2:14 PM)

I apologize for the late arrival and I'll hang around until 3:15.

Brad (Gadsden,Alabama)

Steve, Other than Andre Smith and Terrance Cody who else will be drafted from Alabama?

Steve Muench

  (2:16 PM)

OC Antione Caldwell and DS Rashad Johnson. I also think that QB John Parker Wilson will get drafted in the later rounds.

John, Atlanta

Hey Steve, can you please explain how under any circumstance Malcolm Jenkins is a better DB than Eric Berry?

Steve Muench

  (2:18 PM)

I'm not sure about the under any circumstances part of it but I think Berry is the better prosepct and that's no knock on Jenkins who is also an excellent prospect.

Kevin (ATL)

Where would you rank Eric Berry as far as prospects right now even though he has at least one more year in college?

Steve Muench

  (2:19 PM)

I think he goes early in the first. he reminds me of Indy DS Bob Sanders. He's a big hitter for his size who fills hard when he reads run and he is a playmaker in coverage.

Chet (LA)

Will Donald Brown forego his senior year and enter the NFL draft? Do you see him as a feature back in the NFL?

Steve Muench

  (2:20 PM)

I think he should return for another year and I'm not sure he can be a feature back in the NFL though I am leaning towards a no on that one.

Nick (FL)

Peter King said that he has heard from several NFL guys who think highly of Tim Tebow and would draft him in the first round (as a QB) if he were available. Mel Kiper says Tebow will only be an H-back or tight end. What is the real deal on Tebow?

Steve Muench

  (2:23 PM)

Yeah I heard Kiper and McShay talking about this the other day too. Personally, I think he can play quarterback in the NFL but I can't justify taking him in the first round because he has to improve his mechanics and he's going to need some time to learn a pro style offense. I also think that he could turn into a great tight end if a team decides to move him but again he will need time to adjust to a new position. Either way he's a developmental prospect with a great deal of upside so I see him going in the second round.

J.B. (Dunmore, PA)

Do you think Kevin Kelly has the potential to be as solid an NFL kicker as Robbie Gould has become?

Steve Muench

  (2:25 PM)

Yes

Nick (FL)

Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap is only a sophomore, yet he stands 6'7" and weighs 280-290 lbs, and he can flat out run (he also co-led the SEC in sacks). Will he be a top 10 draft pick?

Steve Muench

  (2:27 PM)

He's a lot of fun to watch and yes I think he could be a top ten pick. He has the closing speed to get to the quarterback off the edge, he's big enough to slide inside to rush the passer and he's very athletic for a player his size.

Chet (LA)

Steve, do you think his performance in the BCS championship will affect Sam Bradfords decision to enter the draft? What if he wins the Heisman and the NC, does that mean he'll enter the draft? Your thoughts on Bradford.

Steve Muench

  (2:28 PM)

I think all of those issues will factor into his decison. if he doesn't win the Heisman and/or Oklahoma loses to Florida, he may feel like he still has something to prove. That said, he could still leave because he projects as a top-five pick.

Ryan: (Baltimore,MD)

Can you rank your top 5 Qb's for the draft.

Steve Muench

  (2:30 PM)

Bradford, Stafford, Nate Davis, Graham Harrell and Mark Sanchez. I think Harrell has the physcial tools to overocme the stigma of being a "system" quarterback. I would have ranked McCoy third but he says he's returning for another year.

Cosmo (Anytown, USA)

The track record for college QB's switching to a different pro position is not that good, right? Matt Jones and Randle-El, who else? And they seem to be better athletes than Tebow.

Steve Muench

  (2:32 PM)

Both of those players have done well though and Tebow projects as a Dallas clark type tight end not a receiver so he doesn't have to be quite as athletic as those guys.

Josh (Canton, MI)

If you were running the Lions, would you rather draft Andre Smith and Tebow with your first round picks or Matt Stafford and Loadholt?

Steve Muench

  (2:33 PM)

Well I take Andre Smith and then see how it unfolds from there because I think that Smith is a franhcise left tackle while Loadholt may be a better fit on the right side or even guard.

Chet (LA)

Wasn't Hines Ward a QB at Georgia?

Steve Muench

  (2:35 PM)

He played a number of different positions but yes quarterback was one of them.

Josh Winkleman (Titusville, PA)

why should Oklahoma be aloud to go to the BCS when texas beat them on nuetral turf

Steve Muench

  (2:36 PM)

The answer is the Big 12's tiebreaker in the event three teams finish with the same records but that's not very satisfying is it? I think you can make the argument that Oklahoma is the better team but in my opinion Texas deserved to go.

Mike (FL)

Will a non-skill position be taken #1 in this years draft?

Steve Muench

  (2:37 PM)

OT Andre Smith is certainly a possibility, esepcially considering how well Miami OT Jake Long has played this year.

Cosmo (Anytown, USA)

I'll give you that TE's do not have to be as athletic as WR's. But never having seen Tebow block, run a route, or catch a pass - he'd have to be considered a late round TE? From what I remember, Dallas Clark was a great college TE that displayed the skills needed to be a pro - comparing Tebow to Clark is stretching a bit, don't you think?

Steve Muench

  (2:40 PM)

I said he Tebow projects as a Dallas Carlk type tight end. I didn't say the team that drafts him will get a Dallas Clark caliber player. They will get a player capable of developing into a similar playmaker. Both have adequate size, the speed to stretch the filed and the atheltic ability to sustain blocks in space. Now he may never realize that potential but it's still there.

Mike (FL)

There are plenty of players that have played QB in Highschool that are excelling as Returners and Recievers, I don't see Tebow at TE, we haven't really seen him catch and he wouldn't want to stay in and block every play. If the Dolphins keep going with the Wildcat, it would be interesting putting him in the backfield at FB.

Steve Muench

  (2:42 PM)

Excellent point about the Wildcat offense. He is built for that kind of an attack. As fas as tight end goes, we have not seen him catch the ball but people had the same questions about Matt Jones. And I'm not sure that Tebow won't want to block. That's just speculation on your part.

Otto (CA)

Last year you were predicting success for Eddie Royal before most people heard of him. Do you got any good WRs for the 49ers system this year?

Steve Muench

  (2:44 PM)

Thanks for the props Otto. Royal was a great receiver trapped in Va tech's run-heaby offense. Here's a few names otuside the big ones Florida's Louis Murphy, UNC's Brandon Tate and Texas Quan Cosby.

Adam Brooklyn

Wake up fools! Did anyone watch the SEC championship game? Tebow is a legit Qb prospect he can make all the throws and his progressions are excellent. he is just a little unorthodox

Steve Muench

  (2:47 PM)

There's no question he can make all the NFL throws but his accuracy is a bit inconsistent. He can make what should-be routine catches more diificult for the receiver like when he made TE Aaron Hernandez make that leaping catch in the red zine during the SEC Championship game. In addition, Florida's misdirection ground game and spread sets simplify his reads. Whether or not he can make the same kind of reads in a pro style offense remains to be seen.

Hennessey (zanesville, oh)

who will be the best NFL RB out of the draft

Steve Muench

  (2:48 PM)

If he declares for the draft, I like Knowshon Moreno. Plenty of NFL backs have speed and power like Moreno but his detemination and energy is what sets him apart for me. He gives everything he's got on every snap and he rarely goes down with the first hit.

Mike (FL)

A two-time heisman is not going to swallow his pride and block... no matter how much of a team player he is. He puts games on his shoulders and that mentality is not going to change.

Steve Muench

  (2:50 PM)

You have the right to your opinion and that may be the case but onlt Tebow knows for certain. let me ask you this. if an NFL team drafts him and then says it's going to move him to tight end does Tebow refuse?

Matt (Vermillion)

Lesean McCoy is going to be the best pro running back. He can do it all.

Steve Muench

  (2:51 PM)

He's up there but I like Moreno a little more.

Mike (FL)

When will Miami and FSU retain control of the ACC? When will the be able to come back to the glory days and have shots at the National Championship? Is a playoff system their only hope?

Steve Muench

  (2:54 PM)

We've talked about this before and I think that both of these schools aren't far off though I think Miami is in better position than Florida State. I want the playoff but I don't think these schools need it either and Alabama is an excellent example. Not many people thought they would make the run they did but they quickly moved up the rankings and I think name-recogniition helped. If either of these teams make a similar run next year, I see the same thing happening for them.

Ryan (Baltimore,MD)

Do you have any concerns with Moreno's break away speed?

Steve Muench

  (2:55 PM)

No. Emmitt Smith never had breakway speed but he's the all-time leading rusher.

Dustin (Alabama)

It seems like the SEC is always killing itself with the SEC championship game. Do you think it's fair for the BCS to count the championship when every conference doesn't have one? The NCAA should make some Independants join confrences that need to get to 12 teams or drop the 12 teams for a championship rule.

Steve Muench

  (2:58 PM)

No I don't think it's fair especially since the later in the seaosn you lose the worse it is for your team. I couldn't agree with you more about making all or none of the conferences play championship games.

Ted (NY)

I guess Netwon, Allen, Stepnoski, Williams and Tuinei didn't have anything to do with it then.

Steve Muench

  (3:00 PM)

OK. Just so I understand this clearly, I give Emitt Smith props and you take it as a shot at his offensive line. Interesting. Smith ran behind one of the best offensive lines in the game but they didn't carry him down the field. He is one of the greatest runners in the history of the league.

Alan (Cincinnati, OH)

What Mike Leach did with this years Texas Tech team was great. But do you believe they can challenge Texas and Oklahoma for years to come? If Crabtree leaves, I believe they go back to being an 8-9 win team next year.

Steve Muench

  (3:02 PM)

Unfortunately. I agree. Leach is a great caoch who is always going to be competitive but it's tougher to recruit at TExas Tech than it is at Texas and Oklahoma. It just is and that's tough to overcome every year.

Bill (Arkansas)

You can't have it both ways with conference games. Without a conference game, Florida would have no shot to make it to the National Championship game. I think when it can benefit your team (Florida this year), you want it. When you can lose the shot at the NC (Alabama), you don't want it.

Steve Muench

  (3:05 PM)

This is my point. I don't want it both ways. I want all conferences to play a championship game or none of them to play a championship game. I mean if FLorida has a chance to get in because of the SEC championship game give USC a chance to redeem is loss to Oregon State and Penn State a chance to beat Ohio State again.

Nate (Madison)

What about Shonn Greene? Numbers don't lie. Granted, we'll have to see how his speed is really tested out, but in the games this year it seemed like he had no problem pulling away on long runs. He doesn't seem any slower then say, Beanie Wells or others.

Steve Muench

  (3:06 PM)

He's a hard-nosed runner with above-average vision and decent speed. I like him a lot but I think he should stay in school for one more year.

Mike (Tallahasse, FL)

That's USCs and PSUs problem. They are not forced to stay in that conference.

Steve Muench

  (3:09 PM)

That's certianly one way to look at it and I'm assuming your a Florida fan. I see it differently. I think its college football's porblem. I want to see the best teams play for the national championship and the best way to do that is to even the playing ground as much as possible. That means establishing a uniform conference schedules and ideally a playoff format.

Larry Pearson (Cinci)

Texas DESERVES to go no more Texas Tech deserves to go. The reason that OU is going is because all of the polls, both Human and Computer, agreed that the Sooners are the superior team. The Sooners are the team that DESERVES to go because they proved themselves to be the better team and all the ESPN propaganda machine, despite all their efforts, can not change it.

Steve Muench

  (3:11 PM)

Wow Larry I'm not sure you'll accept my response for what it is considering the propaganda comment and all but Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral site and lost to Texas TEch on the road. Oklahoma beat Texas tech at home.

Chris (Washington, D.C.)

Do you see Pat White in the Joshua Cribbs, Antwaan Randle-El and Brad Smith mold (the three guys he passed on the QB rushing list this season to become #1) in the NFL? He's got the speed and elusiveness, in my opinion.

Steve Muench

  (3:12 PM)

I think those are sound comparisons.

Josh (Pittsburgh)

The problem with the current system is that it is too dependant on a school's initial ranking. Texas and OU, for example, benefit from always being ranked highly to start the year. A team like Texas Tech, on the other hand, has far less margin for error.

Steve Muench

  (3:13 PM)

Good point

Robert (Miami, FL)

Do you believe that Texas would have a shot at beating Florida? I think Florida is better than OU and Texas so Texas should just be happy to get that Fiesta Bowl win.

Steve Muench

  (3:14 PM)

I'm sure they are elated to not have a chance to win a national championship.

Joe (San Diego)

How long will it take for Bradford to get used to playing in an NFL system? I worry about that and also how he has all day to pass back there -- Stafford plays under center and doesn't have the time like Bradford.

Steve Muench

  (3:16 PM)

Stafford hasn't gotten the time Bradford has gotten that's true but Bradford will make a smooth transition to the NFL in my opinion. He plays in a balanced attack, he reads defenses as well as any other quarterback in the counry if not better and he gets the ball out of his hands quickly.

Steve Muench

  (3:16 PM)

That's all for this week. Let's do it again next Friday.