But by the time he was finished, I was pretty well floored. Bear in mind that even while most of these kids make good impressions on you up close, it's not because they 'wow' you -- they just seem like good kids, really. So I'm really saying something when I say that Golden Tate was an actual treat. I loved him. He's very, very intelligent, and he handled the media as well as Tim Tebow, except there wasn't anything polished about it. He was natural, and charismatic -- not just smooth.

He made me (and everyone else) genuinely laugh three or four times. He was refreshingly candid and insightful. He didn't shy away from any tough questions, mixed in dabs of self-deprecation and confidence at all the right moments, and generally charmed the pants off of the group from start to finish. When it was all over, I texted an ND friend of mine: "Your boy Golden Tate is awesome. He's gonna get paid on his interviews alone."

And then two days later he ran the third-best 40 time at the Combine. Hello, first round. Bank on it.