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Is Justin Blackmon a second-round pick? Of course not, but that is the latest chatter in the draft world following a report from Nolan Nawrocki at Pro Football Weekly. Nawrocki says that some teams he knows of have Blackmon ranked as a second-round pick.
Here's what Nawrocki said about his on-field skills that pushed him down the board in the eyes of some GMs:
They do not believe he has the speed after watching every stitch of tape on him in the last two years. He's not especially physical, and a he's not a blazer.
Blackmon's off-field resume gets even more attention from Nawrocki, a guy who's hangups about player behavior is somewhere between Southern Sheriff and Four Pillars. After OSU's bowl win, Blackmon skipped the team flight back to Stillwater and joined Dez Bryant in Las Vegas instead.
Sorry, I have my doubts about Blackmon's value on the field, but the Vegas thing is a red herring. Nawrocki famously indicted Cam Newton for his character issues last year.
The second-talk is surprising, though I'm not surprised some teams would see a wide disparity in receivers. Different teams value players differently. A team running a West Coast Offense is likely to have Blackmon ranked higher than a team employing a downfield attack.
Nawrocki also gets at a brewing debate as to whether or not Blackmon or Michael Floyd is the top receiver in the draft, a far more interesting question for the Rams.