Silver and Black Report

This April 22-24, the NFL Draft will be held at Radio City Music Hall, in New York City and SBReport.net will be there live to cover the event. The first round will begin at 7:30 PM ET and there will be 10-minutes between each selection. The second and third rounds will be held on Friday, starting at 6:00 PM ET with 7-minutes between each pick in round 2 and 5 minutes intervals between selections in round 3.

Saturday will be the final day of the draft, starting at 10:00 AM ET. Rounds 4-7 will have 5-minute intervals between selections.

OFFENSIVE LINE ACTIVITY

It’s foreseeable that three or more offensive linemen could go within the first 10 selections. In 1997, Orlando Pace (1^st overall, St. Louis), Walter Jones (5^th overall, Seattle) and Chris Naeole (10^th overall, New Orleans) were one trio atop the draft. That happened again in 2002 when Mike Williams (4^th overall, Buffalo), Bryant McKinnie (7^th overall, Minnesota) and Levi Jones (10^th overall, Cincinnati) were chosen. In 2009, Jason Smith (2^nd overall, St. Louis), Andre Smith (6^th overall, Cincinnati) and Eugene Monroe (8^th overall, Jacksonville) were the next grouping of linemen taken within the first top 10-picks.

In 1968, ten offensive linemen were taken in the first round, most in NFL history.

WILL TEBOW GO IN THE 1^st?

Tim Tebow’s place in this draft and where he is slotted on many team’s draft boards has been quite a debate the last several months. The Heisman Trophy winner in 2007 and two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year from Florida could become just the fourth Gator chosen in the 1^st round. Steve Spurrier (San Francisco, 3^rd overall) in 1967, John Reaves (Philadelphia, 14^th overall) in 1972 and Rex Grossman (Chicago, 22^nd overall) in 2003 are the only passers ever to go in the first round in that program’s history.

HISTORIC QB INFO

In 1983, John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O’Brien and Dan Marino were all taken in the first round (most ever). In 1999 ,  the class of Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith, Daunte Culpepper and Cade McNown fell one short of matching that first round mark. If Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy and Tebow all go in the first round, they will tie for the third most quarterbacks selected in the first round of the draft since 1970.

BOOMING BOOMERS

Oklahoma teammates Sam Bradford and Gerald McCoy could become the fourth pair of teammates selected within the first two picks of the draft. The 2008 Heisman trophy winner and two-time All-Big XII first-team tackle would join DT Bubba Smith and RB Clint Jones (1967), WR Irving Fryar and T Dean Steinkuhler (1984) and DE Courtney Brown and LB LaVar Arrington (2000).

SAFETY ATOP…

Tennessee safety Eric Berry could make history. The 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year could become just the fourth safety to be chosen in the top five in the past 30-years. The last player from that position to go that high was Sean Taylor in 2004.

HEISMAN RUN

Desmon Howard and Ty Detmer (1992) and Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart (2006) have been the only pair of Heisman trophy winners to be selected in the same draft. That mark will add another pair when Bradford and Tebow get selected.