Jadey

Just taking a quick look at how the first round I was really surprised to see there wasn't a little more movement. Being a Dolphin fan I was hoping they would move down acquire more picks since they have so many holes, but I'm also surprised Cleveland and Chicago didn't also move down.

I was really surprised to see the Vikes take Williamson ahead of Williams at 7. I think Williamson is a bit more of an unknown even with Willaims sitting out a year. He does have the big play potential they lack without Moss now though. And then with Williams getting passed by the Vikes to end up in Detroit was a surprise. With Rogers and Roy Williams already there I though the Lions would try to attend to a number of other needs. This makes me thing they may be wondering about Rogers durability. What a nice set of young wideout though!

And then the reall shocker! Rodgers dropping all the way to 24?!!? There was a possibility he was going #1 right up to the start of the draft (thought I wonder how real a possibility it really was, Smith was San Fran's guys from day 1).

And how about the Rams taking Barron? If he fulfills his potential they have some nice peices on the O-Line with he and Pace.


anything else that anyone found unexpected or unusual?

Cross-Over

Good thoughts, I definitely agree with the Williamson unknown factor. Especially since wide recievers can be hit and miss in the early rounds. I read an interesting article on production from first round wideouts this past year, and some interesting points were made. For example, one point was made how a nonstarter and nonfirst round draft choice of the Ravens, Clarence Moore, had more receiving touchdowns than several first round wideouts combined. Look at Anquan Boldin just a couple years ago, there is no way he should have went in the second round.

The Vikinigs have Burleson and Robinson at the starting positions, and signed former first rounder Travis Taylor to be the third wideout. A lot was made about how Mike Willaims was a possesion reciever, and how Williamson is more of a Randy Moss type, who will stretch out the field. Foremost, Robinson is a great down the field guy. He is tall and can leap, and scored 8 TD's in only seven games started last year. Burleson had 68 grabs at 14.8 per clip, and scored 9 TD's. The guy is only 23 too, I assume he will only get better. Unless they expect Taylor to do shit for them (which he pretty much has done in Baltimore, but in a horrible pass offense), why even take another wideout? I suppose their argument is that they resigned Wiggins at the tight end, and Mike Williams is rumored to be more of a natural tight end in the NFL. I would have taken Williams or went defense though, despite their offseason improvements in that area.

tspikes51

Hooray for Cincy's first round pick. I think that having a good DE opposite Justin Smith will definitely boost our rush defense, especially against fast, outside runners, some of which are in our division (Deuce for example). Our second pick was okay. However, I couldn't disagree more with our third pick. I bet anyone familiar at all with the NFL could name at least 2 Cincy wideouts. As long as Warrick stays healthy, we have him and CJ for all of our 2-WR sets, then have more talent in Houshmanzadeh and Kelley Washington. I was hoping we could fill our only truly open hole at TE. Maybe 4th round or free agency.

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Locke

I just want to know what the Bears were smoking.

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djtestudo

Baltimore got three steals: Mark Clayton at 22, Dan Cody at 53, and trading up to get Adam Terry at 64.

Ozzie Newsome does it again.

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Cross-Over

You are definitely right, the trio of Jonson, Warrick, and Houshmandzadeh is pretty dangerous, especially with an improving Palmer throwing them the ball. I know Houshmandzadeh especially put a hurting on the Raven's secondary in Baltimore late in the season, which put us behing the ball in the playoff push.


I don't know much about Terry, but his size is impressive. They were saying he is a good pass blocker, and we do need that from our line. Clayton's highlights were absolutely amazing. Regardless of what team picked him, I was pleasantly shocked when I saw the clip after he was chosen. Even though he never made any, I don't want to hear another Raven fan (not saying you did, just in general) make an excuse for Boller. He is still young, he doesn't have any receivers, their offense is too run oriented... It is time for him to produce, Even without Clayton, with Mason as a proven star, Heap as one of the top TE’s in the league, and Moore as a legitimate Red Zone converter, he needs to start making plays downfield.

Nimbletoe

Pretty unbelieveable that Denver took Clarette in the third round, even if it was the last pick in said round. It's a definite gamble, but it should at least be interesting to see how things turn out.

After a bit of consideration, I think picking Mike Williams was a great move by Millen for the Lions. Even if we improved on our defense this year, I don't think we were in contention for a super bowl run. However, if things fall well with some defensive players next year, watch out. Kevin Jones continues to be underrated, and with the Williams brothers at wide outs, even Joey can't mess this one up. And if he does, well, Garcia isn't exactly a shabby backup. Cody was a nice pick up in the second round, but hopefully he'll be able to find his niche in our defense. His size is a bit of a concern.

I'm sad for Edwards having to go to Cleveland. I really liked the guy =( I think Marlin Jackson will do well in Indy, and i'm glad he got to go to a decent team.

Haha, the Jets crack me up. A kicker in the second round? Please. Now they have a stud kicker to get the piles of punts off for them. Hooray!

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Strange Famous

The Jets used their first pick to get a kicker.

Brilliant.

That was sarcastic, btw.

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bellzboy

Observations of a Bears fan:

A) The Bears had needs other than RB. (Cough, Mike Williams, Cough)
B) Mike Williams dropped to 10?!!?
C) He went in the division!
D) Roy Williams, Mike Williams, Charles Rogers... FUCK! Thats one HELL of a nice young set of receivers.

lunchbox

Minnesota did a great job of fucking up their whole day 1. Green Bay has done a brilliant job of screwing up their whole draft thus far, and Chicago is doing similar things.

All this means is: the Lions are given a shot in the incredibly weak NFC North.

I can't say I agreed right away with the Mike Williams pick, but if Charles Rogers can't come back then we have a 1-2 punch. Cody was a good pick, he never should have fallen to there. Stanley Wilson is a helpful pick for the lions and the QB out of UConn could be nice if Joey falls through and they work on him a bit.

I'd like to see the Lions take a chance on Antaaj Hawthorne if he's still around by the time they pick again. He could have a tremendous upside if they fix his off field problems.

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maximusveritas

The Cardinals are having a great draft.
Antrelle Rolle and Eric Green at CB, JJ Arrington at RB, Darryl Blackstock at LB and Elton Brown at G.
They've filled their most pressing needs and picked up the best players left on the board at the time. All of them could potentially start right away.
Maybe the Cards are due for a Suns-like turnaround.

bond007

Unless Warrick takes a significant pay cut, he's gonna become yet another victim of the salary cap. Come June 2nd, I'd be surprised if he's still a Bengal.

bond007

If not for two missed FGs in the final two minutes against the Steelers... the Jets would've AT LEAST made it to the AFC Championship Game!

lunchbox

two address the both of you...They also got their man they needed with the pick after that. So in retrospect its one of the best strategies in this draft--thus far.

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Spartak

I liked SF's draft, would have been better to take Rogers though, his signability would have been superb. Two linemen can shore up that offensive line, and if Frank Gore can stay healthy he will put up some numbers (more so than Kevan Barlow anyway).

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heccubusiv

great picks for the Steelers, solid Tight end that ben can use. What was Denver thinking with Maurice, 3rd round. He is not worth the 3rd round. He is only gona bring trouble and was the same player that bitched about players from San Jose State hitting him too hard. Good luck with him

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Jadedfox

Indeed.

--jaded

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Spartak

I found it funny nobody took a punt on Jason White.

Is this the first time a Heisman winner went undrafted ? (Assuming he declared for the draft in the first place).

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bond007

Charlie Ward also went undrafted... but that was because he was off playing point guard in the NBA.

bond007

apparently... Dallas was going to take Clarett early in Round 4. since Slo 'Mo was already gone, they wound up with Marion Barber (RB from Minnesota) instead.

lunchbox

How tragic, they got a better back at a lower spot. Maurice Clarett is a back who's made an entire career out of what the media has said/drooled over about him. If we remember back when he played the game he had to sit out series in every game I watched him in because of "Stingers." The fact of the matter is: he was a freshman and not tough enough to play college football. Now he's a rookie in the NFL after sitting out for two years...I wonder how he's going to do...

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Nimbletoe

Kind of frustrating that Ernest Shazor left before his senior year to go undrafted. I'm suprised no one picked him up in a late round though, pretty crazy.

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lunchbox

he got signed as an undrafted free agent by Arizona.

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Mojo_PeiPei

As a Viqueens fan, I have my reservations about Williamson, but I'm not that dissapointed by it. I think the issue is everyone was looking for a Randy Moss replacement right away, even if we would've taken Williams that wasn't going to happen right away.

I also like Eramus James at 17, I do believe that's our 3rd DB in 3 years (Williams and Udeze are monsters) so you guys out there best be fearful of our front line. I like that pick a lot because we already have a top notch offense, the only thing that we've been lacking in the last few years is a solid/consistent defense, so this coupled with our off season acquisitions we might be able to make some noise in the NFC.

archer2371

Dallas got what they needed. Demarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, and Chris Canty. Defense is beefin up. With the new 3-4 system, these guys should flourish. Still wish they would have picked up Derrick Johnson, but that's more sentimental for me anyways. Watch out now, Dallas could destroy people next year. (note the qualifier could).

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spectre

Granted, that's all true, but I'm guessing that the thinking was that the Bears have two speed/cutback running backs in Jones and Peterson (remember, A-train wants out) and Turner wants a power running game. Jones played well last year, but he did get hurt, which isn't uncommon at that position. I think they would have gone with Williams without question if they hadn't picked up Muhsin. He's an immediate improvement at the number one spot, and allows all of the other receivers to battle for the number two spot (I'm guessing that will be Berrian or Gage).

I agree with D, but there are two questions: 1, will all three be healthy at the same time? (if so, that's frightening) and 2, will Harrington finally prove that he isn't a bust?

My biggest concerns are about whether Grossman will get hurt again, and if so, will the backups be able to step in and not hurt the team.

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Doctor_Max

For Carolina, I am very pleased with the Lefors choice. Sure, Jake may still be young, but QBs do tend to take a few years to develop. And Lefors seems like another Jake. Great leadership, many doubters, ultimately gets the job done. I just hope he sticks around to get playing time, instead of being grabbed by another team.

Cross-Over

He is a easy player to root for, I was bummed when they couldn't hold off FSU this past year. Some QB's pan out, I hope he is one of them.

DDDDave

Ah, yes. Springtime. The time of year when hope springs eternal. We'll see in September.


Overall, I am happy with the Bucs picks.

Cadillac Williams in the first round. We definitely need a stud running back. Mike Pittman is a tough guy and good out of the backfield but a terrible runner. Mike Alstott is a fullback not an everydown runner. We still have Charley Garner but I heard he was just thinking he would live off his Social Security check in the retirement home.
Everyone though Mike Williams would be the pick. He is from Tampa and he and Mike Clayton would be awesome bookend recievers for years to come. Gruden said earlier though "If we don't have a running game, I won't be here next year". Probably true.

We took Barrett Ruud, ILB from Nebraska in the second round. Hard to argue with picking a smart, fast, hungry, LB from Nebraska. Need to get the old Buc D swagger back.

Hey, we drafted Alex Smith too...... Our guy is a TE out of Stanford. Should be great depth behind Anthony Becht and good special teamer too.

Couple of big, ugly OLinemen next for some added depth and filled in the rest with needs.

I wish that a good kicker would have been around for us to pick. Over the last two years the Bucs have scored the fewest points by kicking in the NFL. Freakin' terrible. I don't want to remember how many games we lost by the kicking game. Improvement there alone would win us 4 more game.

Mini-camps start today.




P.S. I still miss hockey. Tampa Bay Lightning 2003-2004 Stanley Cup Champiuons.

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blakngold4

good call on the bears spectre. ron turner can't coach for beans, but he's a solid coordinator. they'll ride benson for six years, and he'll wind up old 'n busted like eddie george by age 30.

nice to see my dawgs get scattered around. pittsburgh fulfilled their legal requirement to add a georgia player every year (kendrell bell left, but they've got hines ward, verron haynes, and possibly JT Wall still around), cincy took uga players with their top 2 picks (to go with another from last year) and i think reggie brown's a good fit in philly. not sure about greene in seattle, but he could make a name for himself as a backup, then move somewhere via trade or FA in a few years.

aswo

Well the raiders took two incredibly fast CB's who didnt produce in college, makes me wonder why they didnt grab corey webster from LSU, other obervations, i think ronnie brown is gonna be a bust i can never remeber a backup being a top 10 selection and i think that is for a reason, ohh and joey harrington better start producing cause if healthy holy crap those are some incredible recievers

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