Draft Magazines

[PATSNUTme]

I usually get The Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, and ESPN's draft magazines. Has anyone seen these out yet? It might be a week or two early but they were out the last week of Feb or first week of March last year.

 

[captain stone]

It wouldn't seem to make sense for the draft mags to go to print until the combine is completed, at the very earliest. It is during the combine, or at their college's pro day, that prospects' up-to-date measureables are recorded. Besides, when I buy the previews, I prefer that any information contained therein be as timely as physically possible. If I were a publisher, I wouldn't hit the newsstands until the last week of March.

 

[PATSNUTme]

These are pre-combine primers. Actually the combine is very overrated as to getting the info on prospects.

I do get the Pro Football Weekly draft guide (book form) which is published after the combine and comes out the first week of April.

 

[captain stone]

But the prospects who attend the combine are weighed and measured there. Can't get more up-to-date than that. Do prospects get weighed/measured at their college's pro day, too?

 

[LloydBraun]

The Pro Football Weekly draft guide was already out around this time last year (late Feb.). The ESPN and The Sporting News guides were early to mid-March.

These mags are by far my most favourite magazines of the year.

Vote "YES" on Vernon Gholston.

 

[LloydBraun]

The Pro Football Weekly draft guide is on the newsstands now. From my initial look it appears to be ok.

The writers seem to really dislike Merriweather... I thought he had an okay rookie year, save a lot of drops, considering a BB scheme is tough for rookies to pick up.

 

[BradyToMoss]

The Pro Football Weekly draft guide is on the newsstands now. From my initial look it appears to be ok.

The writers seem to really dislike Merriweather... I thought he had an okay rookie year, save a lot of drops, considering a BB scheme is tough for rookies to pick up.

I agree, I read the same thing on PFWeekly, I thought they were unfairly critical of Meriweather, it made me wonder if they watched the last 5-6 Patriots games as Meriweather made more and more plays and saw more and more action. Obviously their analysis of Brandon was only what they saw thru the 1st 3/4 of the season. It was bush league analysis, I was surprised.

 

[BelichickFan]

I finally got the PFW one and Lindy's. Lindy's prospect reports are done by NFL Draft Scout which is a very reputable site so I was happy to get both.

I actually like getting some stuff written before the combine - although the combine is huge it's nice to read stuff from just game film and not workouts.

 

[BelichickFan]

Woo hoo, it's on . . . the Sporting News magazine is out and is as f*cked up as ever I love this one because it's so contrarian. I should have brought it with me but it's as weird as ever. Mike Jenkins the only #1 pick among CB, Gholston a second rounder, about 6 WR rated as #1 picks. Clady, C. Williams, J. Long as the top three OT IN THAT ORDER.

Their ratings are based on their value ratings, not where they think they'll go. Good, contrarian stuff - as always from them.

 

[captain stone]

I finally got the PFW one and Lindy's. Lindy's prospect reports are done by NFL Draft Scout which is a very reputable site so I was happy to get both.

I actually like getting some stuff written before the combine - although the combine is huge it's nice to read stuff from just game film and not workouts.

Lindy's is my favorite Pre-Season mag. Amoung other things, it includes a one-sentence write-up not only on everyone on the TC roster, but also on everyone drafted that April.

Has Lindy's always published a Draft mag? If it has, has NFLDraftScout always provided the player bios/rankings?

I agree that game film should always be the most important tool used to evaluate players, but I prefer that draft mags include up-to-date height/weight info gathered from the Combine.

 

[captain stone]

Woo hoo, it's on . . . the Sporting News magazine is out and is as f*cked up as ever I love this one because it's so contrarian. I should have brought it with me but it's as weird as ever. Mike Jenkins the only #1 pick among CB, Gholston a second rounder, about 6 WR rated as #1 picks. Clady, C. Williams, J. Long as the top three OT IN THAT ORDER.

Their ratings are based on their value ratings, not where they think they'll go. Good, contrarian stuff - as always from them.

Is Russ Lande of GM Jr. doing the scouting for The Sporting News again? We need to somehow keep track of his reports vs. the others; his opinions are so much different that if a player succeeds or fails, it would seem to be easier to determine who was correct.

 

[BelichickFan]

Has Lindy's always published a Draft mag? If it has, has NFLDraftScout always provided the player bios/rankings?

I think NFL Draft Scout did theirs last year, not sure before that.

Is Russ Lande of GM Jr. doing the scouting for The Sporting News again? We need to somehow keep track of his reports vs. the others; his opinions are so much different that if a player succeeds or fails, it would seem to be easier to determine who was correct.

I was looking through it to see but didn't see his name. They attribute the writeups/ratings to Scouts Inc., not sure if Lande is involved this year.

GM Jr. is only $10 + shipping this year but it's on PDF and I kind of like a hard copy to read on the sofa instead of being stuck next to my computer.

I tried ordering this one :

http://www.draftheadquarters.com/in...raft-Preview/action/itemdetail/item_id/105987

this year. Hope it's good, I'll let you guys know. Supposed to be mailed April 1.

 

[captain stone]

I was looking through it to see but didn't see his name. They attribute the writeups/ratings to Scouts Inc., not sure if Lande is involved this year...

Scouts Inc., as in ESPN's Scouts Inc.? Strange if true.

 

[BelichickFan]

Scouts Inc., as in ESPN's Scouts Inc.? Strange if true.

Yeah, I think I got that wrong. It must be the TSN War Room, I need to check that at home.

This is the TSN one :

https://www.streetandsmiths.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.covers&catid=7&year=2008#

Looks like they've merged with S&S for this publication at least.

 

[captain stone]

The USA Today Sports Weekly Draft Preview has hit the newsstands. It's wider than the regular weekly issue, and (for the first time?) is contained in a sealed plastic wrap.

The cost is $4.95. My question, though, is: should I consider this preview the definitive (if not final) say from NFLDraftScout, or should I wait for the regular Draft Preview edition of Sports Weekly in a couple of weeks? On its website, http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/top64.php?draftyear=2008,
their final grades/rankings are coming April 14-24.

A couple of other NFLDraftScout notes:
Their website is no longer showing their top 750 for free; only their top 64 and the top 5 players at each position.
CBS Sportsline is showing their top 100, however.
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/draft
Not sure yet if Fox Sports will show NFLDraftScout's rankings like it did last year.

 

[PATSNUTme]

It does not look as if ESPN will have a darft magazine this year. I have Pro Football Weekly both the magazine and "big book". Also got the Sporting News which I always like as BF mentioned.

I also love the way they "stack the board". I wish others would use the same format. So, that looks like all the hard copy stuff I'll get this year.

Natuarally check out the on line stuff, but love the hard copy as I have a 'library" of these going back to 1996.

 

[Handel]

Sporting News is by far the worst of all. I am staying away from it in the newspaper stores.

 

[captain stone]

It does not look as if ESPN will have a darft magazine this year. I have Pro Football Weekly both the magazine and "big book". Also got the Sporting News which I always like as BF mentioned.

I also love the way they "stack the board". I wish others would use the same format. So, that looks like all the hard copy stuff I'll get this year.

Natuarally check out the on line stuff, but love the hard copy as I have a 'library" of these going back to 1996.

Are you sure that ESPN did not publish a draft isue? Maybe I'm thinking of its 10-year Anniversary issue.

I also like having a couple of hard copies in hand. I'll be waiting for the last issues of PFW and Sports Weekly before the draft, and the Sporting News, too. I'm still deciding whether to buy TSN's Draft Preview mag, though.

Just before the draft, I'll print copies of the Top-100 lists from NFL Draft Countdown, Draft Insider, SI/Scout.com, and ESPN (with the one-month fee).

They'll all provide good reading material for my trip to Ireland on Sunday the 27th. At least I'll be able to watch the first two rounds on Saturday.

 

[sebman2112]

Sporting News is by far the worst of all. I am staying away from it in the newspaper stores.

I took a look at that while I was at the pharmacy yesterday. Their 3 round "expert" mock was a complete joke. Just to give an example, they had Vernon Gholston getting selected at the top of the second round!

 

[sebman2112]

Are you sure that ESPN did not publish a draft isue? Maybe I'm thinking of its 10-year Anniversary issue.

I also like having a couple of hard copies in hand. I'll be waiting for the last issues of PFW and Sports Weekly before the draft, and the Sporting News, too. I'm still deciding whether to buy TSN's Draft Preview mag, though.

Just before the draft, I'll print copies of the Top-100 lists from NFL Draft Countdown, Draft Insider, SI/Scout.com, and ESPN (with the one-month fee).

They'll all provide good reading material for my trip to Ireland on Sunday the 27th. At least I'll be able to watch the first two rounds on Saturday.

The last issue of ESPN was their "Baseball Preview 2008", and the issue prior to that was their 10th anniversary issue. They've had some little pieces about draft prospects throughout their recent mags, but I don't think any of their recent issues have actually been draft previews.

I would rather read their profiles, NFLDraftScout's, and some other profiles/scouting reports over the internet, though.