Sam Mellinger

None

I don’t know much about much. Maybe you’ve noticed that.

Sometimes I find the cottage cheese in the cabinet, not the fridge. Last week, I went to Target to get toothpaste and had to go back after I got home and realized I bought $50 worth of stuff but no toothpaste.

Yesterday, I was a little late to meet some friends to watch The National and Arcade Fire* because I couldn’t find my keys. Turns out they were in the trash.

* Terrific concert, by the way.

Anyway, all of this is a way of saying that I am well aware that there are smarter people out there and especially when those smart people dedicate their lives to something I probably shouldn’t disagree with them about it, but, well, this one I can’t help.

Daniel Thomas just completed a bad-A two-year career at Kansas State, where he rushed for 2,850 yards and 30 touchdowns. His first year, he carried the ball 23 or more times in six of K-State’s 12 games. Last year, he went 28 carries against UCLA, 34 against Iowa State, 29 against Oklahoma State* and 36 against North Texas.

* With five catches, too.

These were mostly hard carries, too, between the tackles and against defenses that knew he was coming. It is hard to imagine too many running backs got hit as often as Thomas, and he never missed a game.

And now, apparently because he has a nagging injury five months before the NFL season is scheduled to begin, he is dropping in the draft, from the second round to the third or fourth.

A player who unquestionably proved a remarkable durability in the games that mattered is now being penalized for durability questions when there are no games going on.

This is the part of the NFL draft that will never make sense to me. We all understand that the NFL is a different brand of football than even major college ball, they require slightly different talents, different strengths, and sometimes that can be critical in projecting how a guy will translate to the pro game.

But shouldn’t two years of every-game performance in pads and helmets count much more than a few weeks in shorts and t-shirts?

I’d argue more about this, but I’ve got some errands to run.

If I could just find my keys…

Comments

1. 

   Clinton Thomas

   2 years, 1 month ago

   You’re overlooking the fact that players become less durable with overuse. Earl Campbell was durable for a few years. Then all the carries caught up to him. The same thing happened to James Wilder, Eddie George, Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, etc.

   You see Thomas’s heavy workload as a mark of durability. Some NFL scouts see it as overuse that could lead him to break down quicker in the NFL.

2. 

   Greg A

   2 years, 1 month ago

   Bad for him financially up-front. Good for him potentially because he’ll most likely end up with a well-run franchise who knows how to find hidden gems in the draft and understand talent at a position that requires depth. And most likely because he’ll be with a quality franchise, he’ll be able to sign more contracts later because he won’t be flushed out in 2 yrs.

3. 

   Steve Cathers

   2 years, 1 month ago

   DT will be giving Mile High Salutes soon.

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