Juniors poised to be first-round draft force

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2008 | by Larry Weisman

Youth, said George Bernard Shaw, is wasted on the young.

He obviously never ran a draft board for an NFL team, where tender years count for so much.

Underclassmen, those raw but theoretically ready kids, have been a considerable part of the draft since they first became eligible in 1989. No fewer than 10 have been first-round picks in every year since 2000, peaking at 15 in 2004.

Now with at least 20 juniors looking like possible No. 1s, juniors might make up more than half of the first round for the first time.

"It could be," says Scot McCloughan, general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. "When the underclassmen come out, they are usually good players. There are positives -- you're getting a younger guy a year early. But there are as...