I still view him as the best OT in the draft.

Rexx, point out the off-the-field behavior issues, will you? Skipping out of the combine? Improper dealings with an agent? Your points are baseless. And I’m not a Smith guy, but I haven’t have actually concluded a “character” issue here.

Just for reference, I don’t even care about the Sugar Bowl thing. Just not a big deal.

However, generally, If I went to a job interview with millions of dollars on the line improperly dressed and then disappeared before it was over, I wouldn’t hire me either.

They are certainly not over-rated. Both help scouts judge how consistent players are in several drills that determine speed, agility, and strength. Game tape helps, but game tape can be misleading at times. Combine and Pro Days help round out the player profile.

And in Andre’s case, his attitude in terms of approaching both those events conveyed that he is a lazy person with attitude problems. and most people here are sort of scratching their heads at your pick because THE LAST place that can afford a lazy malcontent is Cincy.

Again, he has lots of talent, but from my school of thought, talent is secondary to character. Give me a less talented, harder-working player and my team will win more games over a team with talented, lazy, me-first douchebags.

I think Dan’s explanation was fair, and I agree there were better o-line prospects out there. But, half the fun of mock drafts is second guessing other people’s picks. :)

for the record, I think Oher would be a great pick.

From our POV, he isn’t the best player on the board still available: http://www.mockingthedraft.com/pages/top-75

You disagree, and that’s cool. Just wanted you to know that, from MTD’s POV, Smith is much further down the draft board.

how all of you could think that A. Smith has a poor work ethic based on stories you have read on espn over the past couple months regarding his combine and pro day. But that fact is that this is just not true. While in college he was a continual self motivator, team player, and passionate football player, even setting up a “club” of linemen to get together outside of team functions to work out to make certain that they could be the best that they could be. This was one of the main reasons that alabama’s offensive and defensive lines were the best in the country last year, and the main reason they went 12-0 until the sec championship game.

The truth is, Andre has a TERRIBLE agent, who is just starting out, has few clients, and doesn’t understand the system. Andre was out of football since early december, and didn’t even have contact with his agent until A WEEK before the combine, which obviously was too late. An agent is supposed to coach a player to maximize his potential draft position and dealings. Maybe you like to think that its Andre’s fault for getting this agent, and yes, I believe that is partially true, but the guy sweet-talked him, and Andre still contents that Alvin is one his good friends and will continue to stand by him. A poor agent decision that resulted in all of these ‘character issues’. How do you explain him not having ANY problems before this AT ALL??

The fact here is that Andre is an amazing player, and based on his PLAY in college, is the best player in this draft. So again, getting him at 6 is a steal. Teams know this, because they draft players based on play, and not on ESPN reports, and that’s why Andre will still go in the top 7, guaranteed.

If you want a combine player, you guys can have Mike Mamula, and I’ll take Warren Sapp. sound good?