A True Draft Risk

The draft handicapping is clearly very encompassing in 2007. ESPN.com has hundreds of players rated on their DraftTracker, including Albany (Ga.) State's Antonio Atkins.

Atkins' draft status could, however, be clouded by his April 2006 death. Atkins was apparently shot and killed while breaking into a house. While different teams have different philosophies, most consider death to be a major impediment to future success in the NFL. Accordingly, ESPN.com does have Atkins's scout rating at 20, the lowest number assigned on the site. He is also the 145th-ranked player at his position out of a possible 145.

Update: Sometime this afternoon ESPN got the note the rest of the world got last April and removed Atkins from their DraftTracker. We here at SportsMusicBlog regret any damage we have done to Atkins's chances of being drafted.