re: Leonard Fournette and the saints visiting

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No, I'm being rational. 

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The SI story alleges that Wichard and Luchs called Kiper when the agents were meeting with Stanford defensive lineman Willie Howardin 2000. As the story goes, Wichard told Kiper he was meeting with the best defensive lineman in college football. To which, Kiper responded by saying Wichard must be in the room with Howard. The tone of the article suggests that Wichard called Kiper in advance so they could ham it up about Howard and get him to sign with Wichard.

The story also implies that Kiper rates Wichard's clients more favorably in his rankings, which appear on ESPN, ESPN.com and in Kiper's books published by Mel Kiper Enterprise Inc.

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Kiper has faced scrutiny in the past about his involvement with agents. In April of 2009 when Kiper had Clausen rated as the top quarterback (ahead of Sam Bradford) and fourth overall, the Washington Post said there were whispers about the draft analyst's friendship with Wichard. 

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Gil Brandt: The Draft Guru Who’s Seen It All

Over six decades as a scout, personnel boss and analyst, the man who helped invent sophisticated player evaluation has watched the NFL’s annual talent roundup evolve from seat-of-the-pants to a year-round, made-for-TV (and internet) spectacle. One thing that hasn't changed: the qualities that make a prospect ready for the pros

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There were five characteristics that were common to every position: 1) character, 2) mental alertness, 3) quickness, agility and balance, 4) strength and explosion and 5) competitiveness and aggressiveness

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BRANDT: The same characteristics I talked about in scouting players, those five characteristics, are still en vogue today. Maybe the weights of them change, maybe we put less of an emphasis on strength and explosion for a quarterback and more on mental alertness, because the game has become so intellectual. But I think the five characteristics we started with in 1961 are still the same characteristics. And I think most of the position specifics are the same, though in-line blocking was probably more important in the past than it is now, and pass protection back then was probably less important. So you change the weighting system, and the way you change it is you look to see what leads to success and what leads to failure. 

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