Georgia DB Paul Oliver to enter Supp. Draft

[devilfan02]

Georgia senior cornerback Paul Oliver has has been declared academically ineligible for the 2007 season and plans to petition the NFL for entry into the supplemental draft this summer.
Oliver started 15 games last season and was fifth on the team with 57 tackles and had three interceptions. His stock rose after shutting down Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson in the season finale last season. Johnson had only two catches for 13 yards in the Bulldogs' 15-12 victory.

With Oliver out, the Bulldogs are expected to start sophmore Bryan Evans and either senior Thomas Flowers or sophomores Asher Allen or Prince Miller at cornerback. A Georgia coach said Thursday that safety Rashad Jones also could move to cornerback to replace Oliver. The Bulldogs, who won their last three games to finish 9-4 last season, already faced the arduous task of replacing starting ends Quinton Moses and Charles Johnson, safety Tra Battle and linebacker Tony Taylor.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2873910

Oliver would most likely have been the #1 DB in next years draft. I'm not sure how the supplemental draft works or if he'll even be eligible but it's worth talking about. He would definitely be an upgrade to our secondary. Sorry if this has already been posted

 

[Ryanwb]

Probably the best supplemental player to come out in a few years. If the Texans burned a 2nd round pick on Tony Hollings, this guy is a 1st round pick to them

 

[devilfan02]

Probably the best supplemental player to come out in a few years.

I agree, the kid's legit. I'm surprised he didn't come out this year. I'd love to see him in a Cards uniform

 

[BullheadCardFan]

What would we have to give up to get him ... ??

Draft pick based on what round we select him in .. ?? and what round would be the right round for us .. ??

 

[Twist18]

He was a potential top 10 pick in the 2008 draft, as rated by some. I would take him in the second.

 

[joeshmo]

I would throw a 2nd rounder at the wall and see if it sticks. Not sure how many teams would give a 1st for a supp draft pick with maybe character issues by getting kicked out of school(no matter the reason). That only leaves 5 teams in front of us that could outbid us by giving up one of their 2nd rounders.

Not sure if the team would be willing to do it, as thats just another draft pick they wont have in 2 drafts in a row, its just more cap space they will have to try and create. Will be interesting though.

 

[JeffGollin]

He was a potential top 10 pick in the 2008 draft, as rated by some. I would take him in the second.

If he's projected to be a Top 10 pick in 2008, we wouldn't get him for less than our 1st round pick.

Question boils down to: Factoring in (a) projected position need, (b) projected player ranking in 2008, (c) our projected finish in 2007 and (d) the value of getting him a year earlier if that's possible - Is he good enough (and "safe" enough) to warrant a 1st round pick?

Last (and possibly the only) time we used the supplemental was when we drafted Timm Rosenbach. It could be argued that, had he stayed healthy, the decision to draft him was a sound one and our QB situation would have remained stable for possibly a dozen years.

That said, there'd have been no greater injury risk in drafting a player "normally" than it would be drafting someone else in the supplemental (Look what happened re Garrison Hearst, Wads and Swanny).

 

[Aikdog]

Oliver doesn't have any character issues

It was simply a matter of him not making the grades to be elgible to play Fall semester. In fact he could stay in school and become elgible for the bowl game, but obivously that would be pretty stupid.

Anyway Oliver is a pretty good shutdown corner. I can't see too many CB's being ranked above him at the start of next year. He was a 5 star prospect coming out of high school and took a little time to develop into a starter. Actually 2006 was his first year starting, but the again Georgia has had both CB's before him in the league. It's a huge loss for a young Georgia defense but a huge gain for whichever team grabs him in the supplemental draft. I would say a team with CB issues might grab him in the top portion of the draft (x<6 wins) but he will be gone by the second tier.

 

[Shogun]

The Patriots will probably burn one of their first rounders on him.

 

[CardShark]

If he truly is that good, then I would take him with our first, especially if we have a winning season, which would make it a low 1st rounder.

 

[nurnay]

Is the draft order in the supplemental draft the same as this year's draft? If so, we have a high 2nd and I say we use it on him. 1st round is a bit of a risk.

 

[Heucrazy]

And where is the cap room to sign him going to come from?

 

[joeshmo]

And where is the cap room to sign him going to come from?

If we got him with a 2nd round supp pick. Cutting Ralph Brown should do the trick.

But that means that cutting Ralph Brown and his 750K cant be used to make cap space for other things that we may need. But the team hasnt ruled out re-doing some fo the current deals as of yet so we dont know if we have to make cuts anyways.

 

[joeshmo]

If he's projected to be a Top 10 pick in 2008, we wouldn't get him for less than our 1st round pick.

Key word there is projected. Which means IF he had a good senior season. He only has 1 year of starting experiance and made his name in the last game of the season against Calvin Johnson. There is very much risks involved in a 1 year starter who was to lazy or dumb to keep his grades up.

Rumor is that he completely flopped the remainder of the semester after seeing the hype that Calvin Johnson got during the draft process, lowered his grades so much that he wouldnt have the grades to play his senior year which would allow him under the supp draft rules to enter the Supp draft. He wants to ride the coat tails of the Calvin Johnson hype after being the only CB to shut him down last year. He had to take that route because Calvin Johnson wasnt getting nearly the hype that he was getting before the entering of the draft deadline, so he never thought of it. Like I said it is just a rumor. But it could be a pretty nifty move if he can ride the coat tails of the CJ hype.

 

[Harry]

I missed this thread and posted elsewhere, sorry. I'm certain he doesn't get a first round pick, and even the second round is a long shot. The third round is a better fit for him. He's a bit of a tweener and I'm not sure his speed holds up at corner. He has the look of free safety based on his style of play. There are tons of questions about his performance, though I would agree he played his best in big games. He can blitz and had decent hands, though he really never got agressive in coverage until late last season. He has the power to hit and gets in on quite a few tackles for a defensive back. I'd consider taking him with the third depending on how well he runs when he works out.