Purdue-centric NFL Draft Notes

To close the loop on the NFL Draft and assorted Boilermakers (because we know some of you only come to BS for all your news), here's a quick recap on Boilermaker movement over the past few days.

Kawaan Short, to no one's surprise, was drafted. He went to the Carolina Panthers in the second round with the 44th overall pick. Short will have a chance to further shore up a Carolina defense that was actually in the top half of the league in total, pass and rush defense. Along with having Cam Newton there, not a bad place to be for KK.

Josh Johnson signed a free agent deal with the San Diego Chargers and will now begin the uphill climb to make the team as an undrafted rookie.

Akeem Shavers and BS favorite Robert "Marve-lous" Marve both signed on with the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Bucs QB situation featured Josh Freeman as the starter, the legendary Dan Orlovsky as his backup, as well as Mike Glennon (NC State) and Adam Weber (formerly of Minnesota) on the roster. Beating out entrenched guys is never easy, but Marve's drive and leadership abilities might make it possible for him to crack the practice squad or third string position.

Danny Hope could not be reached for comment. 

Good luck to all. Now let's not talk about the draft until next April.

Feeling Drafty? Re-light Your Boiler

Go home, NFL, you're drunk.

As you may know if you know us, we sort of loathe the NFL Draft.

Well, actually, that's not right. What we loathe is the nonsense surrounding it. Like weeks upon weeks of "mock drafts," endless hours devoted to it on TV and radio, and things like, you know... f-cking glass cases with the hats for each team in them. Just stop it, NFL. You're becoming as trite and forced and unwatchable as the Emmys.

But we'll put aside our dislike for the fanfare around the NFL draft to talk about a few prospects from Purdue, since we were asked by a couple people so... fine. We're here to serve.

Josh Johnson - CB

We've made no secret of the fact that we're big fans of Josh Johnson. He's someone we really enjoyed watching and felt very comfortable with knowing he was out there. In fact, I dare say we felt he was a little more "reliable" than the guy on the other side who gets all the accolades.

Johnson's write-up at NFL.com has him as a 67.2 grade, which puts him in the "Draftable Player" bucket, just below the threshold for "Eventual Starter."

I read this to mean he's a guy who should be drafted and regardless will find playing time in the NFL, with the potential of becoming a regular starter with some hard work. I don't think there's any doubt Josh will work hard and we look forward to seeing him playing on Sundays. He's an easy guy to root for (for us, anyway).

If you like the sometimes-arbitrary measures studied at the combine, Josh was a "top performer" in the 60-yard shuttle, finishing fourth among CBs. He was also sixth among CBs in the bench press. We'll choose to now selectively enjoy those measures and say that for these reasons, a team looking for a fundamentally-sound leader who can be quick and is strong should give Josh Johnson a good look.

Kawaan Short - DT

Short is another guy we've enjoyed watching and seeing develop over his time at Purdue. Is he an NFL prospect because of Danny Hope's staff.... or in spite of them?

Short showed freakish, next-level skills a number of times during his years in black and gold and was a two-time team captain. If you're wondering why there are no combine numbers listed for Short on his NFL draft page, I assume it's because he didn't attend. However, Short is graded as an 80.6, which is  a "quality player who will contribute to the team early on and is expected to develop into a starter. A reliable player who brings value to the position."

Skimming the analysis, you see what you would expect to see regarding his size, quickness and development. The concerns, though, seem to center on the worry that Short might let himself get fat and, if he does, he'll be out doing whatever it is JaMarcus Russell does these days. So work hard, Kawaan. Make us proud.

Akeem Shavers - RB

Prince Akeem has no NFL.com prospect page, which probably doesn't bode real well for him. However, he's hoping to play at the next level and did have a pro day that was generally reported to be a positive experience for him.

From GBI:

Shavers ran in the low 4.4s - perhaps as fast as 4.39 - in the 40-yard dash. It was his only opportunity in front of scouts from multiple teams, after not being invited to the Combine, making his performance all the more critical.

Right now, Shavers will be hoping for a call to be a post-draft free agent invite to a team's training camp. We loved seeing Akeem run and are pulling for him to get a chance to prove himself against the big boys.
The draft resumes today.

Winning Winning: Boilers Finish '11 over .500

Today's bowl game seemed to be more important in the broader sense for the program than just what happened on the field.  As we've said for  a long time and as readers reiterated via Twitter and here, a .500 team from the B1G should beat a MAC team. Period.  And while the game leaves us with a slightly-sweet taste in our mouths to savor until Spring football, it had some putrid flavors as well.

I worried about Purdue's DBs and DEs struggling against WMU's pass-happy offense...they did; to the tune of allowing WMU's Carder to pass for 439 yards and three TDs.  I was concerned about stupid penalties and generally-stupid play killing my Boilers...it did.  But, I was wrong about the outcome; thankfully.  Purdue had a double-digit lead at the half and kept the Broncos down for most of the half by a similar margin, but after a few great plays followed by bone-headed situational awareness, Purdue put WMU in a position to win in the closing half.

First, in the third quarter, as Purdue held a commanding lead of 34-18, Gerald Gooden intercepted a WMU pass and headed up the sideline while palming the ball with his left hand like a mini basketball.  Instead of putting WMU away, Gooden's lack of situational awareness gave the ball back and WMU scored minutes later making the game 34-25.

In the fourth quarter, it was de ja vu all over again as Ryan Russell picked up a fumble and ran about 30 yards before losing a fumble at around midfield.  The result was WMU scored a few minutes later and made the game a 37-32 game; Purdue held onto that five point for the victory.

The Scale: Minny

And so the pendulum swings back the other way...Here's to the wild swinging stopping this week at PSU.

"The Scale" is an easily-digested, overly-simplified post-game synopsis from Boiled Sports