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The first round of the NFL Draft is this Thursday, April 25th, at 8 PM ET. Because of this, starting today I am going to post a NFL Draft sleeper piece every morning until the draft. There is very little chance that any of these guys are selected in the first round on Thursday, they will probably be picked somewhere in rounds 2-7, that take place Friday and Saturday. In this edition I am going to profile Robert Alford of Southeastern Louisiana, Vance McDonald of Rice, and Devin Taylor of South Carolina.

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Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are masters of the “Screen Pass”

Over the past decade, the NFL has transformed from a ground and pound league, to an ultra heavy passing league.  In 2002, four QB’s threw for over 4,000 yards.  Last year ten did.  And of those ten, three threw for over 5,000 yards (Eli Manning had 4,933).  We also saw Drew Brees break Dan Marino’s record for passing yards in a season, with 5,476.

When you see those gaudy passing statistics, you would figure that the QB’s are taking seven step drops and just letting it fly, 50 yds down the field.  While there are some teams that do have QB’s that are able do that, the short passing game is where they rack up the yards.  With the evolution of the slant route (Jets fans LOVE this pass pattern), it has essentially taken over as a run for some teams.  If you have a wide receiver who can get off the line quickly and cleanly, then cut to the middle of the field, it’s an instant six to ten yard gain if he holds on.  But while that pass play can lead to big gains, there’s nothing like the screen pass. Read the rest of this entry »