Jonathan Stewart #2 RB in NFL Draft says SI

Sports Illustrated recently released their NFL Draft prospect rankings by position, and ranked Oregon's Jonathan Stewart #2 among running backs. They think he'll go behind Arkansas' Darren McFadden, which is most people's clear #1 (but not me). This was not a poll, like the one Zach mentioned last week, so it can be taken with as much weight as you give SI's NFL Draft crew. Stewart's coming off a career year, which you can read about here.

So, it's one of those picture countdowns, and the little caption they have next to his picture says,

He's a strong interior runner with surprising speed and the ability to make defenders miss.

Anyone who's seen him play knows that's true, but kind of an understatement. Jonathan Stewart is one of the more talented backs in this draft class, and it's nice to know he's getting some recognition for that, even if it's behind McFadden who only had the numbers he did because he WAS Arkansas' offense. But I digress.

The real reason for this whole post isn't so much to praise Stewart, or SI for that matter, but rather to give Michigan and all their fans even more shit this year. I like giving Michigan as much shit as possible, so when the opportunity arises...

First off, the picture SI has for Stewart, the one above (which you can click for large version to send your Michigan fan friends), is of him dominating 2 D-linemen, including Terrence Taylor, a junior D-tackle who was contemplating the NFL Draft himself (what a joke). Nice tackle TT, but you don't get credit if it's your own guy. The second thing is that, if you take a look at the list of backs on SI, you'll see that Michigan's precious Mike Hart is ranked at #8, 6 spots behind Stewart. The caption by his picture calls him "a solid third-round choice" that "will fit in as a third-down back." Basically, he's on the bench. Michigan's poster boy is an NFL washout, and Stewart is a first rounder. That makes me smile. Thanks SI.