In case you missed the Top 100 Players of 2012 Wednesday night, here are numbers 71 to 80 as voted by the NFL players.  Do you agree with their picks?

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It’s been a while since we posted a “5 Questions With” interview on the blog, but fear no more!  Here’s a new conversation, this one with Bryant McKinnie of the Baltimore Ravens.  Among the questions I did NOT ask during his visit to 1NFL, were why he thought Don and Betty Draper’s marriage didn’t last, which Beatle is his favorite, or — because we chatted before it happened — how Bryant reacted to the news that Terrell Suggs is out for the season.  But click below, and you will hear his answers to THESE 5 questions:

As spring turns to summer, and then training camps open later in July, two NFC quarterbacks will be under the microscope: the Philadelphia Eagles’ Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan.

Vick remains the most intriguing player in the NFL.  It’s hard to believe he will be 32 years old in June.  When Vick entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2001, he was immediately celebrated as an athletic innovator who was going to revolutionize the game, surpass accepted and time-worn philosophies, and compel a re-thinking of the perceived limits of the NFL quarterback position.

It never quite happened in Atlanta, and it hasn’t really worked out that way in Philadelphia.  There always will be breathtaking moments.  Vick is a transcendent athlete, capable of extraordinary throws and runs at any given moment.  Yet he always leaves you wanting more.  The reason, in simplest terms: Vick is not, to this day, an accomplished passer.  He remains a week-to-week player with little stability or continuity to his game.  He’s always dangerous, at times dazzling, but seldom consistent.

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I am always fascinated by the immediate need to evaluate, dissect and ultimately judge the quality of each team’s pick in the NFL Draft literally seconds after that selection is made. The reaction to the picks has become almost as momentous as the excitement, the enthusiasm, and the emotional debates in the weeks leading up to the draft.

Judging from many of the Twitter responses I received, a large number of fans base their opinion of a player solely on where he is drafted. Rueben Randle, the wide receiver from LSU, was a prime example.  I liked Randle on film.  I saw similarities to the Giants’ Hakeem Nicks.  As the second round advanced, and Randle remained on the board, many tweeted to essentially say I had misevaluated Randle. My response, and one to keep in mind over these next few months: no one is right or wrong about a player based on where he is drafted. He has not played a single down in the NFL. By the way, I since learned that the Giants, if RB David Wilson was not on the board at pick 32 in the first round, would have selected Randle in that spot.  Their GM, Jerry Reese, one of the best in the business, also made the Randle/Nicks comparison in his press conference.

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