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A Long Way From Lambeau
Welcome To The Beginning
by Mark Lyne-Austen
7/5/2008
The hard work has just started for some of the recently selected draft picks. After years of training and dedication, some players have been marked out as stars and will be starting for their new NFL team. Players like Jake Long, Glenn Dorsey, or Vernon Gholston come into teams where their high value likely makes them strong favorites to start in the NFL and earn their big paydays, fame, and adulation.
For most of this year’s draft the hard graft starts here. Very few will be starters. Not all will make it onto rosters. Some will be out of the game before their first season ever begins. The further down the draft a player was taken, naturally the less chance they will have of making the team as firstly they were not especially valued through use of a higher pick, and secondly as their pay and therefore cap impact declines rapidly towards the rookie minimum.
While it will not be a huge surprise to discover this season’s Mr Irrelevant, David Vobora, fail to land a long-term NFL career and instead join the long list of Irrelevants who were cut before taking the field, even those higher up the draft list may struggle to beat out veteran opposition.
 As early as the 2nd round, players may not find themselves favoured. Quarterback is always the most high profile training camp battle and there will be some genuine fights for position this time round as high draft picks come into squads with incumbents yet to be officially drummed out of town. One to look out for is Chad Henne vs John Beck in Miami where the incumbent Beck has the fact that he was not chosen by Bill Parcells weighing against him.
Much has rightly been made of the potential that Colt Brennan may have in the NFL. The former Hawaii star lasted until the 6th round following a decline in his draft stock from the end of last season. Despite that decline, his drafting by Washington gives Brennan a legitimate training camp battle to enter against a rejuvenated Todd Collins and yet to convince starter Jason Campbell. It would be a long shot for Brennan to knock off both rivals but it is one to keep an eye on.
The more interesting of the high profile camp battles will be at Green Bay. Following the departure of Brett Favre, the Packers get to watch young studs fight for the right to be his successor. Incumbent Aaron Rodgers looked to have done nothing wrong in his limited playing time during last season, impressing particularly at Dallas after Favre was hurt. Despite that, two new names are on the Packers horizon following the draft.
Brian Brohm of Louisville is the first of the names in the hat. Having passed for over 4,000 college yards last year and having formerly been tipped as a potential first overall selection had he come out a season earlier, Brohm now has to oust another young QB from his job just to get a shot at an NFL career. There are only 32 starting QB slots in the NFL and for Brohm to take the one at Green Bay, he will have to prove that he has more than the now more experienced Rodgers can provide.
There may though be room for two. The salary cap supposedly made the days of Joe Montana and Steve Young being on the same roster a thing of the past but recently, teams have managed to hold on to a couple of high profile passers for a season or two. Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn both currently co-exist in Cleveland despite the speculation that Anderson would leave for greener pastures. It has not always worked out quite so well though with the Drew Brees vs Philip Rivers the most significant post-draft battle following Rivers selection in 2004.
Green Bay has recent history for allowing an expensive new guy to hold the clipboard in Rodgers himself though the circumstances of his waiting for Favre to retire are very different to the challenge that he himself now faces, primarily from Brohm. Even if the two could co-exist, the Packers have added a third dimension in Matt Flynn of LSU. Flynn may only be a 7th rounder but he is also the reigning BCS National Championship MVP. Just like former Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith, Flynn’s accolade has merely earned him the right to compete against others who are more heavily favoured to get a job on an NFL roster.
 Even first round picks are not immune to the need to prove themselves before they hit the roster. Chris Johnson of East Carolina for instance may have been selected 24th but he enters a team that nominally already has a first and a second round draft pick ensconced at running back as well as a rushing quarterback in Vince Young. While both LenDale White and Chris Henry have baggage with them injury and drug use respectively Johnson will now need to unseat one of the veterans to garner extended playing time.
Chris Johnson improved his stock during the NFL Combine with an unfeasibly fast 40 time. 4.24 puts him just outside world class sprinter standard. As the potential lightning to a LenDale White thunder, Johnson could be a tremendous threat if his recorded time translates onto the NFL. Running a 4.24 (if recorded accurately) would make him one of the fastest athletes in pretty much any nation other than the US or Jamaica but in the NFL it just means that he has a pretty good chance to overtake Chris Henry for the second spot on the Tennessee Titans depth chart at RB.
To an extent, Johnson is cover for the Titans should either of their two risky RBs fall by the wayside. Other players have made their way to the NFL just to fulfil the role of guarantee against another player. Dustin Keller for instance has achieved a dream of a first round draft selection in part because the New York Jets were looking for a guarantee against Chris Baker, their contract rebel tight end to go alongside veteran former Packer, Bubba Franks.
For all the many years these players will have worked to find themselves in a position to be drafted by an NFL team, they are now just at the start of their attempt to force their way into a line-up. Through training camp and into the regular season, some draftees will make it but most will have already reached their career highlight.
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