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Well, we're finally back--I think I got the image problem kind of fixed, although I don't appear to have an actual templated page where the image resides now. I'll have to keep looking for that.
Decided to go with a 2008 card for card of the week this week, a card that I referred to in my post about breaking some of the new 2008 product, as I think it would make Dinged Corners proud.
The card is the 2008 Press Pass Fred Davis, and shows one of the best pictures I've seen on a 2008 card yet, as Davis is at least a couple feet off the ground as what appears to be an Oregon State Beaver whiffs on a tackle.
As I was looking through some of my 2007 cards a few weeks ago, I noticed that most sets have designs that fade out the background, or cut the player out completely against a white background--while they are often sharp looking cards, I miss photographs like the one above appearing on cards.
And, to top it off, Fred Davis made some headlines at this past weekend's Washington Redskins minicamp--unfortunately, not for good reasons. Turns out Davis, a second round pick in the 2008 draft, missed the final day of practice. On the positive side, it wasn't like he had been arrested or anything (like a handful of veterans were over the weekend)--he had just overslept.
Still, not a real good way to endear yourself to the coaching staff in your first weekend with the team.
As mentioned last week, I miscounted when I started doing the Countdown to the Draft series--so, like all of the retail boxes I seem to love, you're getting a bonus that really isn't much of a bonus this week.
I counted find any Mr. Irrelevant cards--a little surprising, Mr. Irrelevant 2003 is an alumnus of Gustavus Adolphus College, where my wife went to school, and you would think I might try to find a card of him since he's the only player from her school to sniff the NFL that I'm aware of.
So, with no Mr. Irrelevant cards to speak of, I went one extra step--the undrafted free agent. Despite there being probably hundreds of examples of solid pros who went undrafted, when I think undrafted free agents, for some reason I always think John Randle--of course, I had a Viking last week, and I don't want to show too much favoritism around here, so representing the undrafted free agents will be Philadelphia Eagles WR Hank Baskett.
The good news: Week 4 of the Countdown to the Draft is here.
The bad news: I miscounted, and there is still one more week before the draft--and I don't have a Week 5 in mind yet. I initially thought maybe I would do Mr. Irrelevant, but I'm not sure that I have any cards of a Mr. Irrelevant. But I'll deal with that later.
This week's pick: The Draft Stud. He was a stud in college, had a great workout, went early in the draft, and did exactly what he was supposed to do, by playing well right out of the gate, making an impact right away.
There are a lot of examples of this type of player, but I'm going with a guy from my backyard for this week, and pulling a card from the picture in the header above for card of the week: Adrian Peterson
We've had the Workout Warrior, and the Draft Bust--so this week, we turn to the positive draft results--and probably one of my favorite guys to look for in the draft.
This week is the Draft Day Steal, aka Steal of the Draft or SoD (thanks to the self proclaimed SoD from 2003, Onterrio "Don't Call Me 'The Original Whizzanator'" Smith).
There are at least two kinds of draft day steals. The first are guys who slip to a pick lower than some expected, whether due to injury, poor combine or workout results, or occasionally some late breaking news about "character issues," causing the Mel Kiper's of the world to proclaim that the team who grabbed him "Got a Steal." Sometimes these guys pan out, sometimes they show why they slipped as far as they did.
The more interesting draft day steals in my eyes are the guys who usually can't be labeled as steals the day of the draft--guys taken in the late rounds, who come in and turn heads in training camp. (Or develop into All-Pros after a couple years).
Probably the best recent example of the latter type of steal is the player who's card was selected for the week:
Last week was the week of the Workout Warrior--so this week is The Draft Bust.
There are lots of definitions for a draft bust--some would even call Workout Warriors like Mike Mamula a bust (although I don't know how a guy who had a couple of 8 sack seasons could be a complete bust).
In The Football Card Blog's world, it's definitely still a subjective definition--but here's the basic criteria:
- you have to be a high draft pick--there's no specific cut-off for how high, but you have to be high enough that you're either considered a sure thing, or there are other sure things on the board when you're picked
- obviously you have to not live up to the expectations
- freak injuries that prevent you from performing don't make you a bust. Injuries or events that should have come up in pre-draft scouting could make you a bust.
I'm sure there are more factors, but those seem like the biggies. So who's representing the Draft Busts in the Card Hall of Fame?
OK, so I didn't get the post ready before I left. Nor did I type it up while I was on vacation. For that I apologize, but I think the timing will work out for the better--Monday will make more sense than Friday for these posts anyway, once the season actually starts. Now, if I can only keep these on track...
On the positive side, I've finally started preparing for the draft (obligatory self promoting link), and it's given me an idea for the next few week's worth of CotW's, in what may become an annual tradition.
This week's card is...The Workout Warrior.
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