Russ Lande's Mock Draft

CBS Sportsline.com's NFL draft analyst Russ Lande is getting a lot of attention for his QB position ratings, mostly because he rates Texas' Vince Young as the 6th best QB in this year's draft, behind the likes of Northwestern's Brent Basanez and Georgia's D.J. Shockley. The best take on this rating was supplied by Wesdaddy24, who left a comment on Deadspin.com's story about it to the effect that he was expecting to see Uncle Rico ranked on Lande's chart. I don't know about that, although I've heard that Uncle Rico was really something back in '82.

Anyway, Russ Lande has a mock draft that has the Browns drafting Oklahoma Guard Davin Joseph with the 12th pick. Absolutely nobody else has Joseph going that high in the draft. Most of the mock drafts that I've seen have Joseph as a late second round pick, although his stock is rising and Tampa Bay reportedly may have an interest in selecting him with their first round pick (#23). Joseph is a good prospect, but he spent his senior year playing out-of-position, due to the significant losses that Oklahoma experienced along the offensive line after the 2004 season. Based on what I've read, most people don't see him playing Tackle in the NFL, and if the Browns use that pick on an offensive lineman, I'd like to see them take a Tackle.

Lande was a college scout for the Browns during the Davis regime, and also spent some time with the Rams. His GM Jr. draft book is published annually, and I guess he's as respected as any of the other talking heads when it comes to the draft. Nevertheless, it would surprise me if the Browns spent their first pick on Joseph.

On the other hand, I also have discovered that Lande's got some credibility when it comes to QBs--he had Tim Couch rated as only the 6th best quarterback in the 1999 draft based on his grading system and around the 50th best player overall. In hindsight, that was a pretty good call. So, while Lande's assessment of Vince Young's talent seems absurd, maybe teams that are thinking about Young ought to give Uncle Rico another look. Hey, you don't want to make the same mistake that Coach made back in '82.