Eight is Enough. As bad as that ’70s TV show was, it can’t be any worse than having to wait any longer for the start of the 2011 NFL Draft. And eight just happens to be the number of days until the draft begins.

So what does crazy 8 make us think of, besides Tommy Bradford’s afro?

• How about the only punter to ever be drafted in the first round? Ray Guy, a famous 8, shockingly was the 23rd overall pick of the Raiders in the 1973 draft. A punter?! Now that’s rolling the dice in the name of field position.

• While we’re on the topic of the Raiders, last year’s eighth overall pick belonged to Oakland, who took Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain. The guy hasn’t even turned 22 yet, and has already shown potential.

• The MVP of Super Bowl VIII was the eighth overall pick in the 1968 NFL Draft. Larry Csonka ran for just over 8,000 yards in this career.

• The eighth wide receiver taken in 2010 was Jordan Shipley, out of the University of Texas. Despite being that far down, he caught more balls (52) than any of the guys ahead of him.

• The Lone Star State is home to the greatest 8, three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman. The tall, blonde kid from UCLA was the first overall pick in the 1989 draft, and worked out for NFL.com’s Gil Brandt in his last year with the Cowboys organization. … Aikman was presented on the NFL’s list of top 100 greatest players by Drew Brees, who we passed over in our list of 9s yesterday. Mea culpa! Vote for today’s top 100 right here.

So who is this year’s Aikman? Will the first pick overall be a quarterback? Or could it be a Ray Guy-esque stunner, like LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson going No. 1?

We’ll see you in eight days.

– Elliot Harrison

Posted in: Draft  |