College Football All-Star Challenge

Did anyone watch the 9th annual State Farm College Football All-Star Challenge? It was supposedly taped at Orange Bowl Stadium on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 1:00 p.m. ET, and originally aired on ESPN Super Bowl weekend, Saturday, Feb. 3rd.

There were some very talented college football players on hand: Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem, quarterbacks Chris Leak of Florida, Troy Smith of Ohio State, Drew Stanton of Michigan State and Jared Zabransky of undefeated Boise State. Auburn running back Kenny Irons, Miami tight end Greg Olsen, Notre Dame running back Darius Walker and kickers Mason Crosby of Colorado, Justin Medlock of UCLA, John Vaughn of Auburn and Andrew Wellock of Eastern Michigan.

In the eight-year history of the event, 29 competitors have gone on to become first round selections in the NFL Draft. A few former participants that performed well in past College Football All-Star Challenges and went on to have glorious NFL careers were: Drew Brees, Daunte Culpepper, Edgerrin James, Deuce McAllister, Donovan McNabb, Santana Moss, Javon Walker, Cadillac Williams, and Vince Young.

Most people don't take the competition seriously, but anytime you can watch some of the best prospects for the 2007-nfl-draft compete against their peers in football related skills, you should take notice, trust me, the NFL Scouts were taking notice.

I remember watching Drew Brees a few years ago in this competition, he was throwing the ball with pin point accuracy through tires and hoops and he easily won this competition. Well this year Drew Stanton from Michigan State won the competition for the quarterbacks. Stanton looked fantastic throwing and running and he was clearly the most talented passer on the field. At 6' 3" 230 pounds he was much bigger, faster, stronger and more accurate than the other quarterbacks, and this should put to rest who the second best quarterback for the 2007 NFL Draft is. Brady Quinn was a no show again, Quinn has been invisible since his crushing 41-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl. Reportedly Quinn is rehabbing from minor surgery and will need to have an excellent combine to stop his slide in this draft.

Lets talk about QB Drew Stanton for just a moment. He earned team MVP honors this season for the second time in his career after accounting for 2,252 total yards and 17 TDs in 2006. He was a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist completing 61 percent of his throws (164 of 269) for 1,807 yards, 12 TDs and 10 interceptions. Stanton also rushed 110 times for 445 yards and five scores. The Farmington Hills, Mich., native started 24 consecutive games at quarterback before sitting out the season finale at Penn State (concussion).

The best receiver at the competition was not even a receiver. Tight End Greg Olsen from Miami(Fl) looked very smooth out there catching and running. At a very healthy 6 foot 5 inches tall, he looked a lot taller than anyone else. A very good athlete with butter soft hands, he was very quick in and out of all of his cuts and he never dropped a single ball. I think Olsen will be a better pro than he was a collegian. He was an under achiever in College, but the Canes were poorly coached and without a quarterback. The only thing that concerns me with Olsen is his strength. He has narrow shoulders a thin chest and small soft arms for a big man. If he stood next to Jeremy Shockey he would look like a 7th grader. Olsen looks to be about 250 pounds, he will need to put on about 15 pounds of muscle to be a complete tight end at the next level.

Everybody has been raving about kicker Mason Crosby from Colorado, I have even heard his name mentioned as a possible second round draft pick in the 2007-nfl-draft, I just don't see it, maybe Crosby just had a bad day, or maybe kicking in Miami at sea level is harder than kicking at Mile High Stadium? His 55 yard attempt wasn't even close. Crosby was merely the third best kicker at this competition. The kicker that got my attention and won was Justin Medlock. He was outstanding, effortlessly kicking everything through the middle of the uprights. He kicked his 55 yarder with 5 yards to spare as he was yawning. Medlock is going to be a great NFL kicker. The second best kicker was John Vaughn of Auburn, he looked real smooth, he bounced one of his first kicks off the left upright and then drilled every other kick right through the middle.