I think we get one of these guys just about every year. A guy who feels slighted because he didn’t get drafted higher and then let’s everyone know about it. This year, that guy is linebacker Carl Bradford.
He’s keeping a list. And you’re on it!
Just kidding. It’s a list of every linebacker drafted ahead of him, 12 guys in total.
“I keep track of it, man,” Bradford said. “And I use that as motivation.”
Superb.
First things first. We know why Bradford wasn’t drafted higher. It wasn’t because of production. It was because of what he lacks. Namely, size and a clearly defined position.
Bradford played a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker position in college. Well, he’s too small to be a pro defensive end and he might not even have the appropriate weight and reach to play outside linebacker.
Most scouts projected him as an inside linebacker and we have high hopes for Bradford if he does get moved inside. However, the Packers are going to try him at outside backer first.
Wherever he plays, Bradford will have to learn to play pass defense. He pretty much exclusively rushed the QB at ASU.
That brings us to our second point. We hear this stuff all the time.
Guess who else thought they should have been drafted a lot higher in recent seasons.
C.J. Wilson and Terrell Manning.
Wilson was a seventh-rounder in 2010 and boy, was he pissed off about that. Well, Wilson ended up playing four nondescript seasons in Green Bay before the Packers let him walk in free agency without so much as a “see ya around.”
Manning was a fifth-round pick in 2012 and he didn’t like that much either. Of course, he then made less than zero impact with the Packers before being cut after just one season. He’s since been cut by San Diego and Minnesota.
Hopefully Bradford reverses what appears to be a developing pattern.