Sunday, April 27, 2008

2008 NFL Draft - Day 1 Thoughts

My first post in almost 3 months….sorry for the long hiatus, but enjoy my thoughts on day 1 below…

- Thank you Raiders for not thinking you’re ‘set’ @ RB w/ the poo poo platter of Vargas, L. Jordan, & Michael Bush. McFadden could be special.

- Atlanta…you want to roll the dice on the #3 pick rather than take a potential defensive anchor like Dorsey or Ellis, or even a rusher like Gohlsten? QB picks in the top 15 are much bigger gambles than other positions. And look how late Henne & Brohm fell? Much lower $$$ risk to sign the 56th pick than the 3rd. A team with many immediate needs should take an immediate impact player there, especially for the $$$ shelled out, not a project to groom. Then they trade up to grab Baker in the first round, when most everyone thought he was a second rounder. I saw about every one of his games at SC; I don’t think he’s a 1st rounder or a potential LT in the league. Not a special athlete, just a solid player.

- Tennessee reached for Chris Johnson with the 24th pick, when Devin Thomas was on the board, amazingly, and they are DESPERATE for a potential top notch #1 WR to help Vince Young in his development. And Johnson, while possessing ridiculous speed (sub 4.3 40), must not have good vision, because his yds/carry was not impressive in college, and he didn’t stand out Senior bowl week. He’s a second rounder at best in my view.

- The Chiefs rocked the draft with 3 of the top 35 picks, include the #5 overall. In Dorsey, OG Branden Albert, & hard hitting CB Brandon Flowers from Va Tech, they might have just drafted three 2008 starters. Flowers could likely play free safety in the league for 10 years if his speed isn’t adequate enough for CB.

- Washington went pass catch happy today. They stole the aforementioned Devin Thomas early in the 2nd round, and then added the nation’s best TE in 2007 in Fred Davis, a very solid value out of USC at #48 overall. Finally, they went with another big WR, albeit not near as fast as Thomas, with Malcolm Kelly (6’4” 217) of Oklahoma. It’s good that they got value with every pick, but don’t they need help in other areas too?

- Pittsburg absolutely stole Rashard Mendenhall with the 23rd pick…he should easily go down as a top 10 pick of this draft in a couple years time. Is he better than Willie Parker? Probably, in a year or two. Limas Sweed is a nice value halfway through the 2nd round at WR, a very large and productive player from Texas before a wrist injury cut short his 2007 season.

- Last year Ted Ginn went #9 overall. This year his virtual twin DeSean Jackson went 49th. Amazing how radically draft value perception changes in just 1 year. By the way, I like Philly’s move to take him mid 2nd round. Now put 12-15 lbs on him.

- Cedric Benson…say hello to Matt Forte from Tulane. He’s gonna take your starting RB job this fall. 6’2”, 222, very well-rounded and very productive, and excelled Senior Bowl week against tougher competition.

- More and more teams seem to be stockpiling RBs…5 went in the 1st round, 2 in the 2nd, and most of these teams already had quality starters.

- The draft could have been an advertisement for the USC Trojan football program as four 1st rounders and three 2nd rounders were taken, the most in the first two rounds from the same school for over 40 years.

- Theory on why no WR’s went in the 1st round: Their flighty, often selfish personalities, and the fact that so few steadily contribute in year 1 (and no outright surefire future stars this year). Combine poor production and poor attitudes, and it’s no wonder GM’s will spend their $$$ and take their risks elsewhere early in the draft.

- There’s still 5 more rounds to be drafted Sunday and I’m already fiending for the season to begin.