Charlie Casserly Calls This NFL Draft Best in 27 Years
By Josh Sanchez
Charlie Casserly has been around the NFL for a long time. He is a 16-year veteran General Manager and he has a total of 24-years as an NFL executive. During his time in the league, Casserly worked with the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans and he now holds a job with CBS Sports and the NFL Network.
Casserly is well-respected and very knowledgeable about the way a lot of football executives think during the draft process. He has also turned some heads with his recent comments.
“First of all,” he said, “I think this is the best first-round that I have seen since Dan Marino’s draft year of 1983. And the reason is this: There are more first round juniors in this draft than I have ever seen.”
He also believes that Sam Bradford of Oklahoma should be considered the top quarterback in this draft and not Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen.
Casserly then added, “I think you’ll see more trades this year and here’s why. The draft is broken up into three days this year. The first round is on Thursday night, Friday night is rounds two and three, and on Saturday rounds four through seven.
“With all that extra time in between the rounds, that will lead to more trades.”
This is a great point, because you don’t have to look too far back in history to realize time does effect trades. Just last season the New York Jets would have never drafted running back Shonn Greene had they not spent Saturday night talking over possibilities and scenarios that eventually led them to jump up and select Greene — who was a big part of the team’s postseason run.
Casserly also was spot on when he mentiones the underclassmen in this draft. It may not show with top end talent, but the number of underclassmen allows for more mature senior prospects to slip into the later rounds. Many teams will be able to find key contributors in the draft’s tail end.