Merril Hoge said something Friday that most people would consider crazy. "Most people" being nearly everyone with at least a faint interest in college football, NFL football or the NFL Draft:
Merril Hoge would take Michael Sam over Jadeveon Clowney (sort of)
Merril Hoge says that craziest things!
"I would take @MikeSamFootball over @clownejd." - @merrilhoge pic.twitter.com/mYCjyWiWjE
— ESPN First Take (@ESPN_FirstTake) March 21, 2014 ESPN then clarified that Hoge’s statement was meant to be taken as he would “take Sam in the fifth over Clowney in first,“ which is a confusing statement probably meant to mean that Sam is a better value in the fifth round than Clowney is in the first round.
In one sense, Hoge isn’t off base. Michael Sam was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last season, beating out Jadeveon Clowney and others. Sam is an excellent football player and a fine prospective NFL talent. There is probably a good reason that Clowney has been discussed as a potential No. 1 overall pick since his freshman year and Sam has been projected to Day 3 of the draft, however. There is wide gulf between the two players in terms of pure athletic ability.
Not that pure athletic ability means everything when it comes to evaluating potential NFL talent. The argument has been made in the past by others -- or maybe mostly just Nolan Nawrocki -- that Clowney has a mild problem with inconsistent effort. How much stock should be put into vague character assessments will vary by person. Unless you can point to specific examples, the answer should probably be “not a lot.”
Here are some other controversial things Hoge has said!
Brian Brohm is better than Aaron Rodgers
Oh boy.
Brohm lasted one season in Green Bay before being signed away from the practice squad by the Buffalo Bills in 2009. He threw 52 total passes in his NFL career, completing 27 of them for 252 yards, zero touchdowns and five interceptions. Rodgers could have been Jimmy Clausen and proven Hoge wrong. He has been significantly better than that. Brohm is now playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL. He has yet to start a professional football game since making two forced starts for the Bills in two seasons.
Joe Flacco is the NFL’s best quarterback
Admittedly, Flacco was riding high right after the 2013 Super Bowl. But like, still. Debate surrounding Flacco at the time centered on whether he was "elite," much less the best quarterback on the planet. Rounding out Hoge's top five in February 2013 were Rodgers, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Ryan.
Verdict pending, but there has been every indication so far that Manziel is pretty darn good at what he does. And that Hoge likes to say stuff just because.
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