Not going to grade every team (I'll leave that to the draft-niks who don't have a life), but here's a quick mention of a couple of teams I thought did great. Also, hard to grade who were the losers until 3 years down the line, unless you're Mel Kiper who likes to criticizes the teams who made his mock drafts look foolish. So here a several teams I thought did very well:
#1 Minnesota Vikings - Not bad when you get potentially the best offensive player (Adrian Peterson), and WR with 1st-Round talent in the 2nd (Sidney Rice). I also think they got a steal in the 3rd with CB Marcus McCauley from Fresno State. If you flip his junior and senior seasons, he could have been a top-10 pick. Before the year, alot of people had him rated as the top corner in the draft. WR Andrae Allison in the 5th round could also be a steal. Could be this year's Demetrious Williams.
#2 Carolina Panthers - able to trade down and still fill their #1 priority by drafting their best LB available, Jon Beason. With Dan Morgan and Chris Draft questionable, this was a position the needed to address. Also, Beason paired with Thomas Davis and Nail Diggs gives the Panthers a couple of fast, heat-seeking missiles who pack a whallop. Plus they held on to Kris Jenkins. Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don't make.
They also got great late round talent. Ryan Kalil will be their starting center for the next decade. Charles Johnson is a tremendously talented pass-rusher who could eventually replace Mike Rucker.
This leads to my favorite draft moment, involving Keyshawn Johnson. After tooting fellow USC WR Dwayne Jarrett's horn merclissly, so much that Steve Young had to intervene to prevent Keyshawn and Mel Kiper Jr. from having a BIll O'Reiley/Jeraldo Rivera type moment (If you haven't seen it, heres the link, pretty funny: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tLPuGuaZTx8) I can already picture Keyshawn pointing his finger in Mel's face and saying "Speed doesn't matter! IT DOESN"T MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!"
Anyway, after repeatedly saying Dwayne Jarrett is a huge talent who is the next Keyshawn Johnson, how funny/awkward was it when the Panthers picked him in an obvious move to eventually be Keyshawn's ultimate replacement? I love the draft and I kept waiting for Mel Kiper to get some digs in about the Panthers' looking to get younger at the WR position.
I love the draft.
#3 Indianapolis Colts - while Anthony Gonzales might have been a reach, he's the perfect slot receiver and replacement for Brandon Stokely. Tony Ugoh in the 2nd is great value at a position the Colts must be solid at. Daymeion Hughes is another corner who was one of the top players at his postion entering this year and is a proven playmaker. He'll make the loss of Jason David absolete.
*While many fans and experts alike will argue the Browns are the big winners, acquiring tackle Joe Thomas along with Brady Quinn and a potential steal in CB Eric Wright, I don't like what they did quite as much as other teams. I like the Brady Quinn pick for Clevelend, he's better than anything they could sign or draft next year, whether they have a top-5 pick or not.
If Eric Wright can stay clean off the field, the I agree he'll be a good pick. However, with the way the NFL and Roger Goodell has handled things, I think that's a big risk.
While Joe Thomas will solidify their OL for the next 10 years, I didn't like this pick for them. Just last year they gave Kevin Schaeffer $40 million to play LT. That's an awful lot of money to pay a RT. Combine that with the money thrown at Eric Steinbach and the injury plagued LeCharles Bentley, I think the money they've invested in their offensive line (plus the $18 million or so guarenteed to Joe Thomas) is a big risk to take given Thomas's durability questions as well.
Dont get it confused when you see my screen name, I am a Bengals fan so with that said where are the Browns?
They only got the best offensive lineman the 2nd best QB and a top 3 CB (discounting prior character issues) in the first 3 picks? Wright will be an awesome CB in the NFL and thanks to PACMAN Jones he wont think that he can automatically start f-ing up again just because he has a signing bonus to spend.
Did you say Sidney Rice? He is at best a #2 or RZO (red zone only) receiver without the speed to stretch the field. Speed does matter Keyshawn but the difference is that Jarret can SPEED out of his breaks better than any receiver in this draft. He isnt a 40 yard dash guy but he doesnt lose a step when he changes direction and that counts and matters Keyshawn! Jerry Rice ran a 4.6 but found the endzone more than any other receiver in history. There are a lot of guys who run fast 40 times that get caught from behind by guys with slower ones.
Last edited by BUCKEYEZZ on April 30th at 10:32 PM.
Are you a Vikes fan? Nice for them to see A.Peterson slip to them at #7 to form a R.B.C. with C.Taylor, but S.Rice was never first round talent. High to mid second is where he was slated to go, and that is where he went.
Falcons were looking for a WR, but passed on him and Jarrett twice in the 2nd round because there was a higher value at other positions.
Panthers did well, but the consensus "A" teams have been: Raiders, Browns, Falcons, and 49er's.
Teams that did very well after that would be the Panthers, Patriots, Colts, and the Cowboys (considering what should be anywhere from top 10 to top 5 pick next year, additional picks this year, and still got who they wanted in the first round by trading with Philly)
Worst teams easily are: Miami (Ginn pick sealed that fate) Eagles (Dude, if you're spending your highest pick on a QB, trade up slightly and get Quinn or take someone not slated to go late second to early third) and Seahawks (no first rounder and trade their best WR for the past several seasons for a 4th rounder).
Worst team draft was the Eagles. Not only did they give away their 1st rounder to rival Cowboys who picked the young pass rusher the Eagles needed, they follow it up by insulting their fans, and Franchise QB by taking a 5th round Qb in the top of the 2nd round. The only player they didnt reach for and only guy will might start for the Eagles within 2 years is Cj Gaddis.
The rest are bad picks.
Last edited by Texascudaguy on May 1st at 12:29 AM.
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