Oakland Raiders Blog

Though Mayock will be remembered by some Raiders fans as the guy who seemed lost when the Raiders took Safety Mike Mtchell from the University of Ohio in the 2009 Draft, as many should know him as a very solid, articulate judge of NFL talent.

Said one NFL scout (courtesy PFT) of Mayock “The best guy in the amateur scouting/draftnik business in Mike Mayock. Mike does more film work then any of those other guys put together. He is the only one who has access to the NFL dub center where all the college tapes go before they get distributed to the teams. He watches hours and hours of tape. You might not always agree with his evaluations but he works hard at it and you have to respect that.” 

And Mel can miss badly, as in Kiper’s now infamous “I’ll see you at his Hall of Fame induction” quote about USC WR Mike Williams at the 2005 draft. Uhh, yeah Mel, if there was a HOF for fat wide receivers who drop lots of passes.  Kiper famously sparred (verbally.. damnit to hell) with Colts GM Bill Polian on air after berating his picks. Bottom line on Kiper, he is good for the game of football like Charles Barkley was good for NBA basketball, and neither should be your role model.

Mcshay, the poster child for why ESPN should look up “meritocracy” before hiring another NFL draft guru, scores the rare double-dip of stupid and arrogant, and ANYONE who has watched the manicured “fighting” conjured up by ESPN between Kiper and Mcshay, knows they are dumber for it.

Mcshay’s talent was summed up as such by a PFT post quoting a working NFL scout… “Most people at my level feel McShay is a joke. People in the league respect Kiper. He is not a true scout but he does work at it. A lot of his info he gets from connections in the league, and over the years he has made quite a few. When he was younger he used to burn some bridges. He doesn’t do that any more. McShay does not have any good connections. Higher-ups in the league think he is an arrogant asshole. A know-it-all. And he really knows nothing. Whatever he says about a quarterback, take it to the bank, it will be the opposite. McShay is a pretty face who comes across like he knows what he is talking about. He does have good presence, but knows nothing.“

The average armchair NFL fan loses 10 football IQ points (side note: see our 2010 Oakland Raiders Football IQ | Raiders Football Smarts 2010 Raiders football intelligence grades here) every time Mcshay rates another college QB prospect. Much like the “wish it were true” rumor that beer kills off unneeded brain cells, watching the fake ESPN drama between Kiper and Mcshay does indeed kill… your apetite for the NFL offseason.