Introduction
With the 2023 NFL Draft tonight, for some reason CJ Stroud’s name is being dragged through the mud, by either claims that are proven incorrect or just outright odd things. This is reminiscent of what happened to Bo Ridley Callahan in the movie Draft Day. In the words of Dick Moore, Wisconsin, and Bo Callahan’s college coach, “You kidding me with this? You trying to tear this kid down our what?”
All the Misinformation
Ironically enough this all started with the spread of false information by another first-round QB prospect who himself tumbled down the board on draft day way back in 2007. Brady Quinn was at the time projected as a top-10 pick and he fell to the Cleveland Browns at 22. Having gone through that experience first hand it seems odd Quinn would head up a spear campaign of an incoming rookie QB by spreading misinformation but that’s how this all started.
Fast forward to 48:45 for the rhetoric. It’s since been proven false – CJ Stroud never committed to attending the Manning Passing Academy and rather than apologizing Quinn simply said he was “told that by someone”.
Quinn then doubles down on this madness. Rather than simply apologizing for attempting to tear CJ Stroud down by spreading misinformation he tries to play the victim and insulates he’s been being slandered by a lot of people that didn’t listen to the podcast. It’s above, I did listen to it, and he’s been properly dragged for it. Maybe deep down Brady Quinn wants CJ Stroud to fall like he did or something? I don’t know – but this is blasphemous shameful behavior from an analyst.
And this smear campaign started by Quinn was just the beginning. Have you ever heard of the S2 Cognition Test before yesterday? Because I sure hadn’t. It’s not some well-known test like Wonderlic. Now all of a sudden it’s this huge test that analyzes a player’s ability to read a defense and learn a playbook and this happened:
The numbers from this test have also since been refuted by several sources.
Draft Day Comparisons
All this craziness makes me feel like I’m watching the movie Draft Day occur in real life. In the film (a must-watch for any NFL and/or NFL Draft fan by the way) Bo Callahan, the sure-fire first overall pick golden-armed QB and Heisman winner from the University of Wisconsin starts to be broken down by silliness as the Cleveland Browns scout him as their potential pick at first overall. It’s equally as silly as what is going on with Stroud right now. Supposedly none of Callahan’s teammates at Wisconsin attended his 21st birthday party. Then, teams send their potential prospects their full playbook and tape a $100 bill to the back cover of it. Most guys when confronted about it fess up that they didn’t read the whole thing. Bo Callahan instead had the balls to stand and stick up for the lie. Silliness.
Conclusion
The logical part of me wanted to try and figure out why this is happening. Why are people trying to tear this kid down with this silliness right before the biggest night of his life? I’ve decided it’s got to be coming from a team picking later in the draft that wants CJ Stroud to fall to them. They’re having all this misinformation spread in hopes that it’ll see him falling to them.
Also, I hope NFL GMs are smarter than to fall for this trap. CJ Stroud is far and away the best QB prospect in this class. He’s a technician from the pocket and his deadly accuracy will light up NFL defenses for years. Let’s forget this foolishness and focus on what matters.
Thanks for reading! This one is likely pretty controversial! Any questions/positive feedback/negative feedback/whatever I can be found on Twitter @DynastyPatrolHQ. #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding #AlwaysBeScouting #DynastyFootball #NFL #NFLTrades #NFLDraft #NFLInjuries #PlantYourFlag
