Why do we even think Merkley is going to fall to 29? Sure, he's got some serious issues, but the talent pool is pretty darn thin at around 25-ish; you're on the same tier for about 20 picks after that, and everybody is interesting, but not great. Every analysis I've ever read has said that teams are of different minds about him, with some refusing to draft him at all, and some thinking it's overblown. With as many teams as there are, somebody's got to be interested. In particular, I think some of the good playoff teams have dollarsigns in their eyes when they think of him still being on the board late in the 1st.