How the 2010 NFL Draft will transform the Big Ten - Part II

[sarcasm] Well, crap. I was looking forward to an undefeated season thanks to all of the early departures. I guess I will have to 'curb my enthusiasm' for the '10 football season..... [/sarcasm]

Thanks for the update umhero. Nice work.

It would have been really nice if Evan Royster decided to declare. Judging by this information though, Wisconsin and OSU are the only B10 teams we should have a really tough time with in 2010. The top of the conference should be better next year, but beneath OSU and Wiscy and possibly Iowa, there is a serious drop in talent. Hopefully this bodes well for a Michigan team that could really use 5-6 "gimme" games on the schedule.

Does the NFL have different rules than the NBA regarding underclassmen declaring for the draft? If a player declares but doesn't sign with an agent, can he remove his name? Or if he declares, does that effectively end his eligibility?

Nice work.

OSU is at that stage where they just reload talent, so guys coming back just means the 4 and 5* kids behind them have another year to grow. Similarly, PSU still has quite a bit of talent on defense, though I think the loss of Clark will affect them more than the return of Royster. Clay coming back is a bit surprising, but maybe the scouts didn't like his speed or he didn't like the teams that might by vying for a RB.

Irrespective of these departures, though, I think UM will have an easier time against some of the "middling" programs than the past two years. MSU might well lose 8+ players due to suspensions and/or legal matters, plus Illinois is going to be a shell of the team that ran roughshod over UM without Juice and Co. Purdue will be breaking in another QB, and I'm not sure the backup is anywhere close to Elliott in terms of experience in the system (I don't know their depth chart, but I thought I read somewhere that the depth was pretty lean).

Now, if the season plays out next year similarly to this year - wins against the bad teams, losses to the PSU/OSU/Wiscy/Iowa set, but victories over the three other middling teams instead of losses, and suddenly you have 8 wins and a bowl game. And if you get a bit greedy and figure Iowa will swing back a bit from the great season they had this year, you could potentially see a 4 game swing in the record, which puts this team right on track.

Sure, losing Graham and Warren will hurt, but even with them the defense was comically bad at times. Figuring some improvement by players under the same defensive system for 2 consecutive years in what feels like forever, the overall defensive play should offset somewhat the loss of these stars, at least to the extent that the defense shouldn't get any worse. Combined with a better offense (as Tate & co. continue to mature), and I am willing to say 8-5, 9-4, even 10-3 are not out of the discussion.

Great work. Clay and Royster are head scatchers, RB shelf life/tire tread is well documented, as a top 3rnd RB I say you need to go to the NFL.