FanHouse Kory Lichtensteiger

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 10 of 10 (read Chapter 9 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

At 6:35 in the morning, gray mist encircles the stone barracks of West Point. First-year cadets stand in the hallways counting down the minutes until formation, Cadet Caleb Campbell tucks in the corner of his bed, the green cover tight and without wrinkles. He adjusts his hat and steps outside of Eisenhower Barracks room E313. It's 6:39 in the morning. Look quickly across the timeless cadet procession standing in the courtyard, past the parade ground bleachers that say Beat Navy, and it could be any year, any time, but only one place: West Point at morning.

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 9 of 10 (read Chapter 8 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

The corner of Craig Stevens' left eye is twitching. He can't stop it. We're sitting across the table from one another and again and again the eye twitches, a metronome of ocular discomfort.

"Can you see it?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say.

He nods, flexes his arms on the table, "I can't get it to stop. I was really worried about it, but then my girlfriend told me that sometimes your eye can start twitching when you get really stressed."

"Has your eye ever done this? Before a big game or anything like that?" I ask.

"No," Stevens says, "I think it's going to stop as soon as I finish the combine."

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 8 of 10 (read chapter 7 here) installments that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

It's a little more than two weeks until the NFL Combine and Kurt Hester remains furious with our forty starts.

"Y'all are starting like a bunch of p*****s," he says, "They're f**king horrible."

So horrible, in fact, that for our morning workout Hester has been forced to dig into his massive collection of workout supplies, stored in large plastic blue bins. Desperation has driven Hester to pull out Velcro belts that he can fasten to our waists. In Hester's terminology these are called pop belts.

"They don't even make these anymore," says Hester as he distributes the pop belts to us. "I had to break them out of the bottom of the bins because y'all just weren't listening to me about getting good first steps."

In "Rough Draft," lawyer-turned-writer-turned-football-player Clay Travis (right) recounts his experience training for the 2008 NFL draft alongside some future pros. The following is Part 5 of 10 installments (read Part 4 here) that FanHouse will roll out every weekday leading up to the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25.

The next day's workout begins quietly, Big Mike's absence has left a giant void, literally and figuratively. Kurt Hester senses the change in atmosphere brought on by Michael Oher's departure, and steps up his chatter accordingly. As we're running forty's, Hester encourages us. "This training is all about gaining an inch," he says, "I wish I could gain an inch. It would help my porn career." Greeted with laughter in between sets, Hester continues, "If I could keep gaining inches like you guys are gaining inches, I'd roll out to the bar in athletic shorts, hike my leg up, and say, 'What's up ladies?' "

Denver Broncos 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (12): Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
Round 2 (42): Eddie Royal, WR, Virginia Tech
Round 4 (108): Kory Lichtensteiger, C, Bowling Green
Round 4 (119): Jack Williams, CB, Kent
Round 5 (139): Ryan Torain, RB, Arizona State
Round 5(148): Carlton Powell, DT, Virginia Tech
Round 6 (183): Spencer Larsen, LB, Arizona
Round 7 (220): Joshua Barrett, S, Arizona State
Round 7 (227): Peyton Hills, FB, Arkansas

The Good: Clady was a no-brainer when he slipped to them at 12. He'll be a starter from day one and, given the Broncos system, may be the most productive left tackle among the many selected in the first round. Clady, Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall should spend a lot of time together as the foundations of the Bronco offense. I also think the two Arizona State players, if they're healthy, could be big contributors. Injuries dropped their stock but both Torain and Barrett will get plenty of chances to help this team if they can go.

The Bad: I don't get the Royal choice at all. If you wanted to help Cutler and Marshall in the passing game, why pass on Limas Sweed? Or, if you wanted speed and return ability, why pass on DeSean Jackson? The rest of the draft doesn't do much for me either. Lichtensteiger has the last name of a mauler but the short arms and lack of athleticism of a career backup. Williams has great speed but, at 5'9", will struggle to cover in more than a nickel role.