Every professional sport is different when it comes to rebuilding and improving. The NBA is done through free agency, the MLB is through prospects and trades, and the NFL is done through the draft. That explains why there is so much NFL draft coverage, analysts, and mock drafts. It also explains why Commissioner Goodell decided to span the draft over 3 days including 2 nights in prime time and still experienced record ratings. And everyone has an opinion on who every team should take or should have taken. Including me. And here my thoughts on the first round of the draft.
1. St. Louis Rams - Sam Bradford - While Sam might not have been the most talented player in this year's draft, St. Louis had to take him. After passing on Jay Cutler in '06, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, and Chad Henne in '08, and Mark Sanchez last year, the Rams were not about to let another potential franchise signal caller get past them again. They did the right thing. Bradford is a Midwestern guy with that can be the face of their franchise.
2. Detroit Lions - Ndamukong Suh - Jim Schwartz is still salivating 2 days later. Suh is exactly the kind of inside presence Schwartz loves on his defensive line. Last year Detroit got a franchise guy on offense in Matt Stafford to go with Calvin Johnson, and now they have a franchise guy on defense in Suh.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Gerald McCoy - This was by far the easiest choice any team had in the entire draft. St. Louis had to at least choose between Bradford, Suh, and McCoy. Detroit had to pick which DT they wanted more between Suh and McCoy. Tampa only had to sit back and let Detroit make their decision for them. Of the two, I would have to believe they had McCoy rated higher, but I'm quite sure they wouldn't have blinked if Detroit left Suh for them.
4. Washington Redskins - Trent Williams - Williams is the 3rd Oklahoma guy taken in the top four picks. This is the first time 3 of the top 4 are from the same school in the modern draft. What makes this even more weird is that Oklahoma finished 8-5. Even weirder than that is when Commissioner Goodell announced this pick he referred to Williams as "Silverback". I'm sure if Ben Roethlisberger had called Williams "Silverback" he would've been suspended the remaining 10 games for racism. Anyways, with Chris Samuels retiring Washington needed protection for McNabb. Good pick.
5. Kansas City Chiefs - Eric Berry - Beast. Playmaker. Leader. Not only was Berry the best player available, he filled a need. He will be an immediate starter, Defensive Rookie of the Year, and perennial Pro-Bowler. Great job Scott Pioli. Now only if you could go back and not select Tyson Jackson third overall...
6. Seattle Seahawks - Russell Okung - I will be the first to admit that Pete Carroll totally shocked me this weekend. The only team that shocked me more was the Oakland Raiders, but we'll get to them in a bit. I fully believed Petey would screw the pooch. I mean, with Reggie Bush 2.0 (CJ Spiller) sitting there I just knew he would take him. Instead he did the right thing and took a serious need since Walter Jones is retiring in the next few days.
7. Cleveland Browns - Joe Haden - Right before this pick ESPN's Michael Smith told us from Cleveland's draft headquarters that the pick was coming down to Joe Haden and Kyle Wilson which promptly cause me to blurt out "Why?!". My reasoning was simple, Joe Haden played for Florida in the SEC and Kyle Wilson played for Boise St. and their 2 worthy opponents a year. Thankfully, Smith relayed to us that Browns President Mike Holmgren was using the same reasoning. The universe is back to normal. In other news, Joe Haden looks exactly like Stripe from the movie Gremlins.
8. Oakland Raiders - Rolando McClain - McClain comes from Alabama and was the most talented player on a National Championship defense coached by Nick Saban. Sorry Terrance Cody, you're just fat, not talented. The Raiders had also been shopping current middle linebacker Kirk Morrison for some time now so this pick makes a lot of sense. Whoa. The Raiders first round pick made a lot of sense? Take a little time and let that sink in...
9. Buffalo Bills - CJ Spiller - Finally a pick I hate!!! This is exciting. The Bills are attempting a switch to the 3-4 this year so you'd think an anchor in the middle of that line would be nice. Wrong. Instead they took a RB, when they already Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson, who has only carried the ball more than 150 times once in his college career. Oh, and he grew up in Florida and went to college in South Carolina. How is he going to adapt to the freezing conditions late in the season when he's carrying the ball more than he's ever carried it before?
10. Jacksonville Jaguars - Tyson Alualu - My first reaction to this pick was...*crickets*...10th overall? Alualu is a nice prospect that can play anywhere on the defensive line, but 10th was way to high to take him. I know, the Jags didn't have a 2nd round pick, and Alualu wouldn't have been there when they picked in the 3rd, but couldn't they have traded down? There's more to the draft than just getting the guys you want. It's called value. Obviously Jacksonville had no idea.
11. San Francisco 49ers - Anthony Davis - A lot of people had the 49ers taking Jimmy Clausen with one of their first round picks. No way. I can honestly say I never bought into that ridiculousness. Do you really think Mike Singletary would put up with that prima donna? I think the answer is obvious. This was a Mike Singletary kind of pick. Grind it out, smash mouth football. They wanted a right tackle and they got it.
12. San Diego Chargers - Ryan Mathews - I like the pick. I had the Chargers taking the RB from Fresno St. in my mock draft. However, I had them staying put in the first round at #28 and taking Mathews. San Diego needed a RB, but panicked and traded up to get him. There goes that crazy idea about value again. Their saving grace was the fact that they gave up their #40 pick to trade up. That pick came from Seattle in the trade they gave up 3rd string QB Charlie Whitehurst. In other words, they traded Charlie Whitehurst to Seattle who traded their 2 round pick to Miami who traded Ryan Mathews to San Diego. That's the Petey I know!
13. Philadelphia Eagles - Brandon Graham - When Philly traded up no one, including myself, was the least bit surprised. What did surprise some people was drafting Brandon Graham rather than Earl Thomas. Not that he was a bad choice. Graham is a talented pass rusher off the edge that a few teams wanted in the middle of the first round.
14. Seattle Seahawks - Earl Thomas - Thomas falling to Seattle's second first round pick is a bit of a mini steal. And Petey surprised me again! Safety was definitely a position of need for the Seahawks and Petey fought the urge to go with his former Trojan player Taylor Mays in this spot. And it was the right choice. Thomas was only a RS sophomore last year so he still is young and will develop, but he's already a fantastic safety.
15. New York Giants - Jason Pierre-Paul - The Giants needed defensive help bad. They were really hoping McClain would fall to them here to replace Antonio Pierce, but they weren't counting on Al Davis actually listening to anyone with a clue this year. So they went with their back-up plan and took a defensive end. Derrick Morgan should've been the pick here. He's the more complete and polished DE. Instead they went with Pierre-Paul who only played one year of D1 football after JUCO. He's raw and a project without any sustained success at a high, competitive level. I think Pierre-Paul got the sympathy vote for being Haitian. Tom Coughlin's on the hot seat and it just got hotter.
16. Tennessee Titans - Derrick Morgan - And thanks to Giants, Derrick Morgan falls right into the Titans laps who needed a replacement for the departed Kyle Vanden Bosch. Morgan will be able to help right away for a defense that took a big step back last year after former D-Coordinator Jim Schwartz took the head coaching job in Detroit. Not to mention, Morgan looks great in a bowtie.
17. San Francisco 49ers - Mike Iupati - Another Mike Singletary pick. It still blows my mind that people thought he would take a chance on Clausen. This O-Line is going to be disgusting in a couple of years. They already have Joe Staley at LT, who has started all 32 games in his career and signed a big extension before the beginning of last year, Anthony Davis, who they took six picks earlier, at RT, and now Iupati who was by far the best G prospect in the draft. Frank Gore can hardly contain himself.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers - Maurkice Pouncey - No shocker here. The Steelers needed to shore up the interior of their line and Maurkice is just the man to do it. Maurkice has an identical twin brother still at Florida, who also plays on the O-Line, named Michael. Two things about the Pouncey twins: 1. Did anyone else see them kiss on the mouth after Maurkice got drafted? 2. If I was Maurkice I would be pissed that I got the name Maurkice while my twin got Michael.
19. Atlanta Falcons - Sean Weatherspoon - Weatherspoon is a guy that rose pretty quick on a lot of boards after his performance at the Senior Bowl. He's going to make a nice OLB in the NFL, but I still think Atlanta could've used some D-Line help.
20. Houston Texans - Kareem Jackson - The Texans needed some secondary help thanks to the free agent departure of their #1 cornerback Dunta Robinson and they got it. Most thought Boise's Kyle Wilson was a better pick than Jackson, but once again I'm a big fan of guys that played at a high level in the SEC, and that excelled under defensive guru Nick Saban. Jackson will be able to contribute right away.
21. Cincinnati Bengals - Jermaine Gresham - After TJ Hoshmandzadeh fled to the great northwest last year via free agency, the Bengals had trouble stretching the field. Well they're not letting that happen again. After signing Antonio Bryant and Matt Jones, the Bengals went after Gresham, the former Oklahoma TE standout coming off of a season ending knee injury. Gresham is an athletic freak for his size and will make an immediate impact on the offense.
22. Denver Broncos - Demaryius Thomas - Denver had two picks in the first round, and most prognosticators saw them taking a WR to replace Mrs. Brandon Marshall. While Dez Bryant is considered the more talented between he and Thomas, his character concerns scared off most teams, including the Broncos. Thomas has the potential to be a very good WR in the league, but he has the least amount of talent among he, Marshall, and Bryant.
23. Green Bay Packers - Bryan Bulaga - The weeks leading up to the draft the word was the Packers were looking into moving up to take one of the top offensive tackles in the draft. Well Green Bay realized it wasn't going to happen and they decided it was best to sit back and take whatever came to them. Well, guess what? What came to them was one of the draft's top offensive tackles.
24. Dallas Cowboys - Dez Bryant - We all knew it was a matter of time before Jerry Jones made a splash in the offseason. Oh wait. That happened last week. Well it was still a matter of time before Jones made a splash this offseason regarding the Cowboys' roster. Two weeks after cutting his starting LT and FS Jerry Jones takes a WR in the first round! Granted, Dez Bryant is a freak. And they really did need another WR. This is actually a really good pick. And now Bryant can hang out with Deion Sanders whenever the hell he wants and not worry about checking in.
25. Denver Broncos - Tim Tebow - *sigh* Where do I begin? Oh Josh McDaniels. Look, I completely understand wanting a team made up of high character guys, but not at the expense of talent. Timmy T may have been one of the best college players to ever play the game, but, simply put, his game does not translate to the NFL. And even if it did you just traded for Brady Quinn! Essentially since McDaniels took over last year as head coach he's run off his Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler, who's a little Diabetic prick anyway, and his Pro Bowl WR Brandon Marshall, who really gave him no choice, and you replaced them with Brady Quinn/Timmy T and Demaryius Thomas. This is not a formula for success. On another note, listening to Jon Gruden talk about Timmy T makes me sick. Before the draft began he showed him way more extra attention in his SportsCenter segments than any other QB, and he called him the best left handed QB since Steve Young. Uhhhh....do Michael Vick, Boomer Esiason, and Mark Brunell not ring a bell? Vick and Brunell both led their team to the Conference Championship and Brunell did it twice. Boomer Esiason won an MVP and led the Bengals to the Super Bowl. Timmy T will never come close to accomplishing those things as a QB in the NFL. Never.
26. Arizona Cardinals - Dan Williams - Talk about a steal at #26. Williams was a guy I had Buffalo taking at #9 in my mock draft. He's a prototypical NT in a 3-4 defense and they are a rarity in the NFL. However, now the Cardinals have two with he and Allan Branch. Then put Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell at the ends and that's a nasty D-Line.
27. New England Patriots - Devin McCourty - Another draft. Another CB taken by New England. McCourty is exactly the kind of player Belichick loves. He's tough, fast, can play special teams, and of course excels in coverage.
28. Miami Dolphins - Jared Odrick - Miami was left without a 2nd round pick after acquiring Brandon Marshall. Because of that they wanted to trade down and try to get one and they did just that. Even after that they had an opportunity to draft a couple of guys many thought could replace Jason Taylor after he signed with the Jets. A couple of those guys were Sergio Kindle, who we found out may need microfracture surgery, and Jerry Hughes who I believe they should've taken. Instead they went with Odrick who will move to end to make way for Randy Starks to move to tackle. I don't really love the pick, but it's hard to go against the Tuna.
29. New York Jets - Kyle Wilson - Has anyone had a better offseason than the Jets? First they sign LT and Jason Taylor and trade for Antonio Cromartie and his illegitimate kids. Then Rex Ryan gets lap band surgery. And then they get one of the top 3 CBs in the draft, and perhaps the best "cover" corner, to fall to them at #29. If Rex Ryan had his way he would stick Darrelle Revis and Kyle Wilson on islands and send the other 9 defenders at the QB every time. I think Ryan spent more of their allotted time wondering how many KFC Double Downs would fill him up rather than who they were going to take.
30. Detroit Lions - Jahvid Best - The Lions needed another RB to take away a lot of the load from Kevin Smith. Not because he couldn't handle it, but because he's just not that good. Best should be a nice improvement especially when he can get into the open field on the turf of Ford Field. I was a little skeptical of the Lions trading up 4 pick to take him, but the word is the Rams were really high on Best with the first pick of the second round.
31. Indianapolis Colts - Jerry Hughes - This is a great pick for the Colts. Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney are both 29 and 30 respectively. Hughes will get to learn under the two best pass rushers in the league right now, and in return will spell them without the talent level dropping off too much. The Colts pass rush is scary good.
32. New Orleans Saints - Patrick Robinson - Since they haven't resigned Darren Sharper is appears as if Robinson will replace Malcolm Jenkins at CB and Jenkins will replace Sharper at FS. The Saints still didn't address their biggest need though which was at OLB due to Scott Fujita's departure. This pick was a bit of a head scratcher. I had the Saints taking Daryl Washington and still think that was the direction they should've gone. This draft was particularly deep at CB.
Winners/Losers
Winners
1. Oakland Raiders - While a few teams may have a little better of a draft, I feel like the Raiders took a big, big step for their franchise. McClain was a really solid pick that will anchor that defense for years. They got combine warrior OT Bruce Campbell in the 4th round. Many people feel like he's far away from seriously contributing on he field, but Tom Cable is a former O-Line coach who is going to love working with the monster. However, the most important move Oakland made this weekend was trading for Jason Campbell from Washington for only a 4th round pick in next year's draft. After the trade they then inked Campbell to a one year extension leaving him signed for the next 2 seasons. This tells me that the coaching staff and front office have finally decided to give up on Jamarcus Russell who will go down as one of, if not the biggest, busts in draft history.
2. Seattle Seahawks - Petey looked good in his first draft in over a decade. Okung fell to a couple of picks to Seattle and Earl Thomas fell to them at #14. Then with their 2nd round pick they drafted WR Golden Tate from Notre Dame who I think is going to have a very nice pro career. Petey then traded for a couple of discounted, veteran RBs in Leon Washington and former Trojan LenDale White to help out their anemic rushing attack.
3. San Francisco 49ers - In just a season and a half Mike Singletary has put his stamp all over the boys from the bay. The selections of Davis and Iupati in the first round are going to help Frank Gore improve on his 1,120 yards, 10 TDs, and 4.9 yards a carry from last year. They then got S Taylor Mays from USC who will quickly remind older 49er fans of Ronnie Lott with his head hunting abilities. Finally in the sixth round they drafted RB Anthony Dixon out of Mississippi St. who had 4,000 yards rushing and 42 TDs in his career including 1,391 and 12 TDs as a senior against stout SEC competition with inferior talent surrounding him.
4. Carolina Panthers - For a team without a first round pick, they sure accumulated a lot of talent. Having Jimmy Clausen fall to them was huge. But that wasn't all they did that I liked. In the third round they picked up WR Brandon Lafell out of LSU. Lafell more than his fair share of issues with drops and character concerns, but the talent to make up for it. Finally, in the fourth round the took OLB and sack machine Eric Norwood from South Carolina. Norwood was a 3 time first team All-SEC performer and first team All-American his senior year while accumulating 29 sacks in his career. And you know how I feel about his SEC pedigree.
Losers
1. Jacksonville Jaguars - Although they got a guy they love in Tyson Alualu, he had no business going as high as #10. To make matters worse, their next pick wasn't until the 3rd round when they reached on another DL in D'Anthony Smith from Louisiana Tech. The one saving grace for GM Gene Smith was the acquisition of MLB Kirk Morrison from Oakland for their 5th round pick. Morrison will start at MLB which will allow Daryl Smith to slide to his ideal OLB spot.
2. Buffalo Bills - A team with as many needs as the Bills can not afford the luxuries of taking wants in the first round. They spent a first round pick on Marshawn Lynch back in '07 and Fred Jackson has emerged giving them a nice 1-2 punch at RB. I could possibly understand the pick had they had any intention of dealing Lynch. However, they don't. And arguably their biggest need was at QB where they passed up on not one, but two opportunities to take Jimmy Clausen. Bills fans can look at the bright side though, they'll be right back up in the top 10 of next year's draft and they can try again for a QB.
3. Denver Broncos - The last time I ranted about their shortcomings took enough out of me for one night. Please see #'s 22 and 25 above.
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