(Photo via SBNation.com)

Toward the end of the first round, the Rutgers WR – who was projected to be taken in the 2nd or 3rd round - received a call from someone pretending to be a member of the Cincinnati Bengals organization.

The caller told Sanu the Bengals were planning to take him with the 27th overall pick. Sanu and his family celebrated, and his agent even prematurely tweeted out the news, before learning that the Bengals had actually chosen Wisconsin OL Kevin Zeitler.  They had been pranked, and the call apparently came from a Rutgers student playing a misguided joke.

Ouch. So Sanu was forced to sit and wait.

After hearing the news, the Marvin Lewis and the Bengals reached out to console Sanu prior to the draft resuming on Friday. And when the bottom half of the third round rolled around, Cincinnati selected Sanu – for real this time – with the 83rd overall pick.

“Thank God,” when asked about his feelings about really joining the Bengals. “I got a voice mail with a 513 area code and then Coach Urban called me and I had the number in his phone and he asked me ‘Are you ready to be a Bengal for real this time?’ and I said of course, I’m ready to go.”

Sanu – who set a single-season Big East record with 115 receptions – said that he wouldn’t wish the previous 24 hours on anyone:

“I’m just glad it’s over and dreams came true this time.”

This awesome video of ESPN’s 1981 draft coverage does just that, showing us a loosely organized get together inside a hotel ballroom, struggling with technical difficulties … as opposed to the multi-million dollar Radio City Music Hall spectacle it is today.

Watch as Pete Rozelle kicks things off with the selection of George Rogers and Lawrence Taylor, while a young Dr. Z (SI’s Paul Zimmerman) provides the pre-Kiper-era draft analysis:

Watch Part 2 after the jump:

PART 3 | PART 4

[H/T Adam Schefter]

(AP Photo/Dave Martin via CBSNews.com))

After saying goodbye to Brandon Jacobs after the season, and with Ahmad Bradshaw‘s nagging foot problems, GM Jerry Reese said it was “a pretty easy pick for us” in selecting Wilson:

“He’s a terrific football player,’’ Reese said. “This guy loves to play football. He can do anything you want him to do. He’s a good piece to add to our running back stable.’’

Tampa Bay had jumped ahead of NY to snag Boise State RB Doug Martin with the 31st pick (who many had projected as going to NY), but Reese said Wilson was the number two running back on their board, behind only #3 overall pick Trent Richardson.

Wilson – who rushed for a school record 1,709 yards last season – brings tremendous speed and game-breaking ability to New York.  He is expected to contribute right away as a kick returner, and split time with Bradshaw in the backfield, where he sees himself as a “mix of Ray Rice and Arian Foster”.

DAVID WILSON 2011-12 HIGHLIGHTS AND BACKFLIP CONTEST AFTER THE JUMP

The last time the Giants used a first-round pick on a RB was on Ron Dayne in 2000. Giants fans hope Wilson will make more of an impact than Dayne did … and after winning two championships in five seasons, Reese and his staff have earned more than a little benefit of the doubt in their talent evaluation skills.

And if you have any doubt, perhaps this highlight reel of Wilson – including an impassioned pre-game speech as part of team USA – might just help convince you that he’s the real deal:

BONUS VIDEO: Wilson posted this video of himself earlier this week, executing 21 backflips, in an attempt to lay claim to “best acrobat in the NFL”. The display was in response to Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul’s similar 2009 video, in which he did 13 backflips.  So Wilson beat his new teammate based on sheer numbers, but since JPP is a much bigger/taller athlete, you have to give him extra points for difficulty:

(Photo via Reddit.com/r/nfl)

Cleveland started things off Thursday night by making a big move to trade up one slot to select RB Trent Richardson with the #3 pick, much to the delight of the Dog Pound. But when their second pick of the first round came up, and when WR Kendall Wright - who they had been targeting - was snatched out from under them by the Titans at pick #20, the Browns were left with Weeden as the best available player on their board.

GM Tom Heckert says “there wasn’t really an afterthought”, but perhaps they should have given a bit more consideration as to how it would effect their incumbent QB. Because now, the Browns are apparently considering trading McCoy, and the Cleveland offense is looking like it will be totally re-vamped for the 2012 campaign.

BONUS LINK: Browns superfan Mike Polk (of “factory of sadness” fame) posted this video welcoming Weeden to Cleveland.

As you pore over Mike Mayock‘s one and only mock draft in preparation for this weekend’s festivities, keep in mind that pretty much none of these so-called “experts” have a clue as to how this draft, nor the players selected in it, are actually going to pan out.  For all the scouting and testing and poking and prodding, the draft process is really all just a high-budget guessing game, and we won’t truly know the winners and losers for at least another three years.

Case in point … after JaMarcus Russell was selected #1 overall in the 2007 draft, virtually everyone whiffed on the kid, including Mel Kiper who declared that Russell would be the next John Elway.  Enough said.

Meanwhile, the folks up in Bristol are all having a little fun and “Kiperizing” some of the ESPN anchors, like Trey Wingo, Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser:

PHOTOS AND VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo via Twitter)

(Photo via Twitter)

According to ProFootballTalk.com, the top-rated cornerback in the upcoming NFL draft – LSU’s Morris Claiborne – reportedly scored just a FOUR on his Wonderlic.  That’s right … a four. To give you an idea of just how bad that is, wunderkind Vince Young scored a six.  So Claiborne has now officially achieved the lowest score ever recorded.

UPDATE: Since Claiborne’s score was leaked, reports have come out suggesting that he suffers from a learning disability that likely affected his score. So perhaps the Wonderlic should not be viewed as a direct indication of Claiborne’s intelligence.

(Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images via BleacherReport)

Now, as we mentioned, a low Wonderlic score shouldn’t necessarily scare teams off, and there have been plenty of less-than-bright athletes who have had successful careers in the NFL. Last year’s top CB Patrick Peterson only scored a 9, and had a tremendous rookie campaign. Wide Receivers AJ Green (10) and Hakeem Nicks (11) aren’t exactly rocket scientists either, and have turned out alright.

While a quarterback or offensive lineman who does poorly on this test should definitely be a concern, positions like CB and WR – that are mainly based on instinct and reaction – are probably less impacted by a low Wonderlic. So this probably isn’t as big of a deal as some people are going to make it out to be for Claiborne.

(Image: ESPN via Orlando Sentinal)

ESPN’s Camp Gruden, where former coach Jon Gruden puts the top collegiate QB prospects through the ringer prior to each year’s draft, has become something of an annual tradition. We all remember last year when Cam Newton couldn’t name a single play from his Auburn playbook, which may have scared some people off from the eventual offensive rookie of the year.

This year’s edition of Gruden’s QB Camp kicked off this week with Stanford’s Andrew Luck, possibly the most hyped quarterback prospect since John Elway. Watch the clip below, where Luck takes us through a routine play from his college playbook, “Spider 2/3 Y Banana”. We get to watch Luck squirm a bit when Gruden shows a clip where Luck throws a pick-six interception against USC … on that very play.

Luck takes it all in stride, probably because Stanford ended up winning the game in triple overtime. But it’s at least nice to see someone putting the future Colt to the fire a bit, rather than slobbering all over him as perfect, “can’t miss” prospect:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

On Monday, Gruden will sit down with Robert Griffin III. Set your DVRs, Redskins fans.

And when he was finished with his 48 scripted throws, Luck answered requests for one more deep pass by showing off his arm strength. Check out this perfect bomb into the wind that traveled about 75 yards in the air, and was unfortunately dropped by his receiver at the goal line:

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no such thing as a sure thing in the draft, but I’m starting to understand what all the hype surrounding Luck is all about.

(Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images via Indystar.com)

Well, this is impressive. Heisman trophy winner Robert Griffin III isn’t throwing at the NFL combine, but he showed off his athleticism today in Indy, sending teams scrambling to trade up for the Baylor QB in April’s Draft.

RGIII turned in the fastest 40-yard dash time for a quarterback since 2006, clocking in at 4.41 seconds officially, and was unoficially timed at an even more impressive 4.38 seconds (video below). It was the 8th fastest time overall at this year’s combine, and the 3rd fastest time by a QB in the history of the event, with Michael Vick setting the bar with a 4.33 in 2000, and Texas AM& QB Reggie McNeal posting a 4.40 in 2006. At 6’2″ tall and 223 lbs, Griffin furthered his freakish display by puting up a 39-inch vertical jump to go with a 120-inch broad jump.

And while Stanford’s Andrew Luck is the consensus #1 pick (and was no slouch himself today, comparing closely to Cam Newton in his measurables), needless to say, this kid’s an athlete, and should instantly make an impact in the NFL. Despite pressure to participate in throwing drills today, Griffin will show off his arm when he throws at his pro day on March 21.

VIDEO OF RGIII’S 40-YARD DASH + BONUS GIFs AFTER THE JUMP

BONUS GIFs:

Thanks to the awesomeness of technology (and the NFL Network), we get this graphic overlay of RGIII vs Luck vs Cam Newton running the 40 [thanks, SBNation]:

(via SBNation.com)

And just for fun, here’s those same three guys vs NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, running in a suit and with a 10-yard head start:

(via SBNation.com)

(Photo: JimRome.com)

We know how the first few weeks of the NFL off-season can be particularly brutal, as we adjust to having no football on Sundays to plan our lives around. Some have turned to the NBA, Linsanity and the impending charade of All-Star weekend to quench their thirst for sports, while others look toward March Madness, and still others eagerly await pitchers and catchers to report to spring training.

But there are those of us for which the NFL is really a year-round sport, and no substitute will do in its place. For us pro football geeks, we shift our attention to the upcoming draft and its annual predecessor, the NFL Combine. With the 2011-12 season behind us (and all but the Giants left with a bad taste in their mouth), hope now springs eternal for all 32 teams and their fans as they prepare to add a new class of young talent to their roster … and for some franchises, the annual hope and optimism that comes with the draft process is generally far more enjoyable than the reality that plays out during the season.

Next Wednesday, the football world will converge on Indianapolis to begin poking and prodding at this year’s prospects for the NFL Draft. Terms like upside, ‘tweener, body lean, footwork, long-strider, high motor, intangibles, football IQ, measurables and triangle numbers will become part of the sports lexicon as scouts attempt to determine which players have the best chance to become difference-makers at the next level. But far too often, these numbers from the combine – and the allure of potential over performance – overshadow a player’s actual ability on the field during his college career.

So we’ll be paying some attention to the happenings in Indy next week, and especially looking forward to the draft in April … but yeah, overall, this: