In football time, that’s a shade longer than a New York minute. I remember doing an ESPN.com chat back in November where about a third of the questions were draft-related. Poor Raiders and Lions fans – it’s such a long wait, isn’t it?

I was buried in by snow today, so I worked from home and made a couple calls to people around the league I haven’t talked to in a while. I asked two personnel guys about the draft. No doubt they were rolling their eyes on the other end of the receiver at my “catching up” questions, but they were more than helpful.

We talked about myriad things, but here were some of the highlights:

Brady Quinn could be this year’s Matt Leinart. There is a growing sense that Quinn, given the way the top of the draft is laid out, could slide to the bottom of the top 10 picks like Leinart did a year ago. JaMarcus Russell is this year’s Vince Young (though for a different reason: a golden arm) and almost certainly will be a top-fiver, likely even the first pick to the Raiders. And it’s not that Quinn has done anything to damage his stock that much, though the more scouts look at tape the more little flaws they find. (Although I did mention to one of the personnel men about Quinn’s massive entourage down in Miami, parading all over the place, and he said, “Yeah, I heard.”) Possible landing spot? Minnesota at seven looks interesting. The combine will have a say on where he ends up, too.

The player who might have helped himself the most at the Senior Bowl was Tony Hunt. The Penn State running back came in weighing 239 pounds and looked like a determined runner and able receiver. Yes, he won MVP honors for the same Saturday, but most of the scouts – including the two gentlemen I talked to – both left by then. They were more impressed with Hunt’s work in practice during the week. Both said Hunt, in a weak RB class, might have moved himself up to the draft’s third-best back and a spot in the early second round as a powerful short-yardage runner.

The most underrated position, depth- and talent-wise, is safety. One of the personnel guys says there are “five or six” starter-caliber safeties in this draft, and the other man said most of the top guys will be ready to contribute in some form – either on special teams or defense. Both seemed impressed when asked about LaRon Landry, believed to be most teams’ top safety, and Reggie Nelson. The one director even thought Nelson could be a nickel corner for some teams. Landry, he said, should start from Day One considering that whatever team takes him should have a big need at that spot.

Small-school talent is rising. Both men said they thought the group of talent from I-AA and lower-division schools could be among the best they have seen across the board, even if there is no Eric Swann in the draft. Asked for a few names to keep tabs on, the one director threw out Lane WR Jacoby Jones, who could be this year’s Vincent Jackson (a first-day D-II pick); and James Madison’s Justin Rascati, a West Coast-style QB who had a down senior season but could stick as a late-round pick.

Teams running the 3-4 will be happy. Both men said they thought the draft could provide a nice bounty of defensive players who played in a 4-3 system in college but translate better to the 3-4 in the pros.