Rob Staton at Seahawks Draft Blog was the first I noticed. Most of you probably follow him (and should be) and have seen his protests of the raging criticism and groupthink that have dogged Mallett for months. Yet in all that time he hasn't actually pegged Mallett as a good candidate for the Seahawks, which should tell you something about his objectivity. The fact that Staton looks for positives on the guy says less about his opinion of Mallett and more about his desire to balance out the hype machine.
Well, this week Staton took the plunge, mocking Mallett to Seattle at #25. It got interesting when he was joined by Rob Rang of CBS Sports, Don Banks of SportsIllustrated.com, NFL.com writer Steve Wyche, and even NFP's Wes Bunting, who helped contribute to the negative publicity on the Arkansas QB. All are currently projecting Ryan Mallett at #25.
The convergence is probably coincidence. Nobody quoted any sources or illuminating new scraps of information on why Mallett might be destined for Qwest Field. Sometimes hunches just come together...although it's not uncommon for such "collective hunches" to be noticed, expanded upon, and turned into a hype wave of its own. That's how Mallett's stock started to drop in the first place.
Here's what they said:
