Ben Patrick and Clark Harris

[pittstang5]

Just wondering why this guy dropped like a rock. I know he's from a small school, but alot of scouting reports had him slated to go in the third or fourth round. On Sunday, I kept waiting for the Pack to take him, actually screaming everytime they were up, "Take Patrick...JUST TAKE PATRICK!"

Anyone know why he dropped?

However, I'm pleased with the Clark Harris pick. From following Pitt and the other teams in the Big East, this guy showed alot his sophmore year, did pretty well his junior year, but trailed off this year. Well, if you watched any Rutger game this year, you'd know why....they ran the ball constantly and their QB was not very good. Plus, their defense was tough, which kept them in most games as well.

I know Harris may not make the team, but he's also a long snapper. Not to take anything away from Rob Davis, who I think is great, but he's getting older, but wouldn't it be nice to save a roster space by having a player that can long snap and be a TE. - Just a thought.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I think Patrick dropped primarily because he's shorter than what teams look for in a TE at 6'3". I think he was the shortest of the TE draft candidates. TE is a position where teams are looking for height--as they become a bigger target for teams.

[gureski]

I think Patrick dropped because he's not as good as people were making him out to be. If you had a chance to read the summary and my thoughts of the Kiper bio on Patrick you'd know that I said over a week ago that Patrick lacked any overwhelming qualities or statistics and I didn't understand the hype about the guy. I think he was a complete byproduct of media hype and the specific reason was that he fit the mold or template of the Division I-AA sleeper player that every media source is getting obsessed with finding. Of the players in Division I-AA, Patrick stood out so he was mentioned as a sleeper candidate by default, not because he had such grand skills. Patrick was the answer to the overhyped question of WHO is a possible Division I-AA sleeper candidate? That's all it was.

Based on my research, the kid we got from Rutgers is better then Patrick.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Kind of funny. Olsen ran in the low 4.5s. Patrick ran 4.74, but he's short. The other top rated TEs all ran between 4.78-4.89. Harris ran 4.80. There was exactly one field stretching TE in this draft. Not sure what Eric Johnson runs anymore. I wished Thompson had gone after him--although I'm not sure if he would have been the field stretching TE we are looking for. Not sure there are that many of those guys out there. Daniel Graham certainly wasn't that guy.