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National Football League
Draft King Analysis

December 9, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com

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For once there's a piece of legislation we can all support: HR 390, the College Football Playoffs Act. It passed a subcommittee vote yesterday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where it will now go before the full committee. If the bill passes as it is now (and President Obama supported a college playoff system during his success presidential run in 2008) it would "ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff".

The BCS-backers are going to need more than third-rate propoganda and preposterous arguments on Twitter to stop this movement. It may not come this year, or next, and it might not come via Congress, but there is too much to be gained (particularly money) and too much demand for change for the status quo to remain long-term.

Golden Tate
Golden Tate scored 17 TDs for Notre Dame in 2009. (Icon SMI)

One positive about the BCS is that it allows for a Texas/Alabama game, something that would have been nearly impossible in the pre-BCS era. Of course, the downside is that Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State all have the chance to finish the regular season with perfect records and none of them have a chance to win the BCS Title. But such is life in big-time college football.

In the next few weeks there will be growing speculation about blue-chip college football prospects with remaining eligibility and whether they'll leave school early for the NFL. But there's no doubting on Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen and WR Golden Tate, both of whom are leaving South Bend and casting their lot in the NFL. Clausen appears as of now to be the #2 overall QB prospect (behind Sam Bradford) or perhaps #2a and #2b with Washington QB Jake Locker (who is undecided as of this writing on going pro early). Whatever the case, there will be plenty of evaluation of the top quarterback prospects between now and late April.

Tate is a player I've known about for a long time, going back to his high school days in Nashville at Pope John Paul II high school (a rather new school which opened in 2002). I lived in Tampa during Tate's high school tenure, but I heard plenty about him, particularly since his school and my alma mater have played every season since JP2 debuted. Tate isn't overly tall as a WR prospect (and he was originally a RB recruit), but at 5'11" 195 he has the potential to make an impact in the NFL. His estimated 4.45 speed won't hurt, and there is some speculation that he might crack round one of the draft, though I anticipate him going in either round two or three. Tate has great hands and should be able to help improve whatever team ends up with him.

As long as I'm writing about players who I'm pulling for on the next level, it will be interesting to see where Mississippi State RB Anthony Dixon ends up going in the draft. Dixon was a workhorse at M-State, playing well despite not having an especially skilled offensive line blocking for him for most of his time in Starkville. He faced top-level competition in the SEC, and it will be interesting to see how Dixon fares in the National Football League.


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