NFL Draft Recap: It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

There are many days in the sports year that I love and look forward to, but none are as near and dear to my heart as the NFL Draft Weekend. I have watched the draft since I was a little boy and can say that I haven’t missed a pick since I was about ten years old. I even flew out from Texas two years ago to attend the draft in New York city and had an absolute dream vacation. I met Big Dawg from Cleveland’s infamous Dawg Pound and numerous other draft enthusiasts from around the US that I still keep in touch with today. Needless to say the last day and a half I have sat in front of my television with my lap top tracking the picks, trades, teams, and feel good stories. So with out further ado I will give you my top five winners and losers from the 2008 NFL Draft, the top five best and worst picks, the best stories of the draft, and finally my best available players left over from the draft.

My Winners (in no particular order)

I want to start off by saying that this draft was one of the first in a long time where there too many teams that I felt shot themselves in the foot and that there were a lot of teams that really improved their teams and made solid picks through out. I think that seven or eight teams stood out from the pack, but in contrast of that there were only three or four teams that I didn’t like their drafts at all. So with that said lets begin.

Miami Dolphins:

The Dolphins started the Bill Parcells’ era by getting a ton of “Bill Parcells guys”, big, strong, tough, and nasty guys, and they started from the very beginning of the draft with the first overall pick of Jake Long.  Philip Merling the DE from Clemson was a guy that I thought was going to be off the board about ten picks earlier so Miami getting him in the second was a great value pick and is a great “need” pick as they want to transition to the 3-4 and get younger. Merling is a guy that can fit in at numerous spots on that defense and is just an all around great player. Then drafting Chad Henne at the end of the second round is another pick that is a big strong player that fits the “Parcells Mold” and effectively ends the John Beck/Cam Cameron era in Miami. Most people won’t think that this draft class was a winner because there aren’t a ton of names on the list, but I promise you Parcells is sitting in his office giving high fives because he assembled a draft full of talented players that fit his Bill, pardon the pun.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are the sexy pick of all the experts this year as they put together one of the better first days in recent memory. The took Glenn Dorsey and Branden Albert with their two first round picks and I will put it out there and say that both will be staples on their o-line and d-line for years to come. Then with their second round pick they drafted a top three corner with Brandon Flowers who can and should step in and contribute right away in Kansas City’s anemic secondary. They followed up their great Saturday with an equally impressive Sunday where the drafted a big-time big-play threat in Jamaal Charles from Texas and a top tight end in Brad Cottam. The rest of their picks on day two were all good value and filled needs through out the team. Herm Edwards did a lot to strengthen his team by selecting great players and also by not selecting a quarterback and giving Brodie Croyle, his current young starting QB, that vote of confidence that he is the guy.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens started off their draft by trading back with Jacksonville so they could gain a few extra picks to help John Harbaugh assort players that fit what he wanted. After the Ravens traded back they traded back up and took their quarterback of the future in Joe Flacco from Delaware. Now before you start asking why someone would take a player from Delaware in the first round you need to know that he transferred there from Pitt so he has D-I talent. Flacco might still have been available when the Ravens were scheduled to pick after their original trade, but I don’t fault them for going after the guy that they really wanted. With the remainder of their picks they were very smart with the picks and drafted for value and lucky for them those value picks happened to fill needs. They drafted Ray Rice in the second round and provides Willis McGahee with a quality back up after they let their back ups from last year test the free agent market. They drafted another running back in the seventh round in Allen Patrick who I think over time is going to be a great player. This year he had to split carries with two other backs at Oklahoma, but still had over a thousand yards and scored his fair share of touchdowns. They got their University of Miami linebacker of the future in Tavares Gooden in the third and got a great player in safety Tom Zbikowski from Notre Dame. I really liked their draft and Ozzie Newsome did it again this year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs are a team that I think put together one of the best drafts this year and I am the only expert talking about them. This kind of makes me happy because I can claim them as my first sleeper draft class. Tampa Bay in my opinion got great value and filled needs with every pick. They quietly drafted corner Aqib Talib from Kansas in the first which fits needs and he just fits that defensive scheme to a T. With their second pick they got a big play receiver, Dexter Jackson, to take pressure off Joey Galloway and provide speed that slow poke Michael Clayton doesn’t have. In the third they took Jeremy Zuttah from Rutgers who had tremendous value at that pick and will help solidify that o-line up the middle. They got even better value when they drafted Dre Moore the defensive tackle from Maryland in the fourth when he had no business being on the board twenty to twenty five picks earlier. They took Josh Johnson a QB from San Diego in the fifth which is the only pick I question because Tampa already has five other QB’s on the roster. Then in the sixth they drafted Geno Hayes from Florida State who will benefit immensely from learning under the best linebacker to come out of Florida State in Derrick Brooks. Geno Hayes in three or four year will step in and replace Brooks in the Tampa cover two defense and in the meantime will provide a much needed youthful energy boost along the way. The Bucs drafted a running back in the seventh to provide more depth at a position that always seems to be injury depleted for them. All in all a great draft that I felt needed to be brought to everyone’s attention.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers started the draft off with two amazing value picks with Rashard Mendenhall from Illinois and Limas Sweed for Texas. Mendenhall was a consensus top fifteen pick that slipped to twenty three and Sweed is a big tall receiver that could have been picked at the end of the first round and no one would have complained. Oh by the way Sweed wasn’t taken until the end of the second round so hooray for Pittsburgh and getting two great players with great value. Steelers fans have to love the Sweed pick because he gives them the big tall receiver that their franchise QB has been begging for. Bruce Davis from UCLA is a hard nosed, pass rush end that is going to fit into the Steelers’ 3-4 defense perfectly and I honestly think he is the rookie that will contribute the most as a rookie from this draft class. Davis is another player that like Talib in Tampa that fits his teams defensive strategy to a T. Tony Hills from Texas was their fourth round pick and is a devastating run blocker that could develop nicely and be a stud on  that line.  With their fifth round pick the Steelers selected QB Dennis Dixon from Oregon  and  I absolutely loved this pick because he I think that they will use him in a Kordell Stewart “Slash” role. Dixon is a threat to take it to the house when ever the ball is in his hand and Pittsburgh can use him in all of their gadget plays and eventually can develop into a solid back up to Big Ben. Great draft by the Steelers top to bottom I thought they understood what the draft was all about.

Now on to the losers and as I said before there were only a few that really blew me away as losers, but I found a few more that were just below the middle of the pack.

My Losers (again in no particular order)

Tennessee Titans

I have rated the Titans in my losers category for two years in a row and both times I put them down here for the exact same reasons. Where is the help for Vince Young. Drafting another overrated, speedy running back with an early pick and not a wide receiver that can help you just makes absolutely no sense to me. Chris Henry from Arizona last year and Chris Johnson from East Carolina this year are the aforementioned players that will only be change of pace backs behind LenDale White. They drafted a player in the third round that the head scouts for the NFL offices didn’t even have on their lists of potential players. As I noted before I follow the draft religiously and can usually tell you something about a guy that is drafted, but when I heard this pick I was dumbfounded and couldn’t muster two words about the kid. The Titans are going to have to ride their defense once again and hope that they can hold off the Houston Texans for the third spot in the division.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Trading up eighteen spots to draft Derrick Harvey a DE from Florida was heavily criticized by everyone and I think that Jacksonville really dropped the ball here. They traded away half of their draft to get Harvey and then over drafted again in the second round with Quentin Groves from Auburn. After the two reaches they didn’t pick again until the fifth round where they finally made some good picks with Thomas Williams from USC and Trae Williams from USF. Those two players will help the depth on a defense that lost a lot of players this offseason. Chauncey Washington in the seventh round is a guy that I think has a lot of upside in the Jaguars hard nosed running offense. The Jaguars first two picks were so bad that they completely over shadowed their good drafting on day two. I was very frustrated with the Jaguars draft because I thought they could really improve their team through the draft and go even further in the playoffs next year.

St. Louis Rams

This is another team that I really liked a couple of picks, but I just flat out didn’t understand the rest of their selections. Starting off on Saturday the Rams made a great pick with Chris Long in the first round and I was excited to see where they went from there. With the departure of Isaac Bruce to the 49ers and the aging of Torry Holt I knew that the Rams would go receiver in the second round, but I didn’t see Donnie Avery from Houston being that receiver because no other receiver had been taken. Avery wasn’t a bad value pick because he should have gone second round, but he shouldn’t have been the first receiver taken in the draft this year. The only other pick that I really liked for the Rams was Justin King, the corner from Penn State, in the fourth round. I thought that King was going to be off the board mid way through the third round and he lasted until the fourth. However their picks of John Greco, Keenan Burton, and Roy Schuening made no sense at the time as more highly rated players at the same positions were available with those picks. All things considered it was just a confusing draft for the Rams.

Green Bay Packers

The Aaron Rodgers era has begun in Green Bay and in order to give him the best tools around him the Packers selected two other QB’s. I would have totally been ok with the Packers drafting one QB, but two? That to me just isn’t right. I honestly think that Green Bay did the exact opposite of Kansas City and did more damage to their young starting QB by selecting another QB in the second round. What kind of confidence is that young man supposed to have. He already has a ton of pressure of having to replace Brett Favre, but now he is going to have to beat out two other very talented young QB’s. I didn’t like the Jordy Nelson pick in the second round as there were more highly touted receivers still available. The Packers to me really botched the draft and they had better hope that one of these QB’s can step up soon because of this draft there are now a few QB’s feeling the pressure in Green Bay.

Indianapolis Colts

Indy drafted three centers. I don’t know how else to say it but throw it out there like that. The Colts drafted not one, not two, but three centers. These guys could possibly move around to either guard position, but they project best as centers. I just got done bashing the Packers for drafting two QB’s so obviously I am going to bash the Colts for drafting three centers. The only pick that I enjoyed seeing the Colts make was Mike Hart the running back from Michigan. Hart is a very small back who at best will be a third down back and a special teams player. When I was watching Hart’s highlight footage I became confused because I felt like I was watching Jake Long’s highlights again. The majority of Hart’s yards came from following Jake Long and this worries me because what is going to happen when he doesn’t have that all-pro lineman blocking in front of him.

Ok so there are my draft weekend winners and losers and I hope that I helped you gain a bit of insight from the draft. Now I want to tackle my favorite and least favorite individual picks.

Best Picks

1. Matt Ryan QB Boston College to the Atlanta Falcons

This pick made sense for the Falcons and the surrounding community. The Atlanta Falcons need to close the Michael Vick chapter and have clearly done that by drafting Matt Ryan. Ryan is one of the highest character players in this draft and with improve the image of the Falcons who have been represented recently by players like Deion Sanders and Michael Vick.

2. Limas Sweed WR Texas to Pittsburgh Steelers

This trade just made sense because the top two receivers for the Steelers are six foot and five eleven respectively . They haven’t had a big red zone threat since Plaxico Burress left for the Giants. Sweed will be that guy for Big Ben and I know that Ben is very pleased with the Steelers right now.

3. Craig Steltz S LSU to Chicago Bears

Steltz is a player that was a first team All-American last year and won numerous awards for being the nation’s best safety as well as a captain on the defense that led LSU to the National Championship. Steltz will start out as a contributor on special teams for the Bears, but give him time and he will be a great safety along side Mike Brown.

4. Tom Zbikowski S Notre Dame to Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens drafted Zbikowski and I honestly clapped when I heard it. Tom is going to be a great player in this league and playing on that great defense is only going to make that transition to the NFL that much easier in my opinion. I am not saying that he is going to be a starter right now, but he will contribute as a punt returner and a big time special teams player as he learns the nuances of the NFL. Zbikowski and Steltz are both going to benefit from the defenses that they were drafted into.

5. John David Booty QB USC to Minnesota Vikings

The other authors on this site are going to call this a homer pick, but I honestly think that John David Booty is a better NFL quarterback right now than Tavaris Jackson. The Vikings asked Jackson to do one thing and that was to manage the game and don’t make mistakes to lose the game. Booty is a much better game manager and decision make than Jackson. Yes Jackson is a better athlete, but Booty the better quarterback right now. T Jack, as he is called in Minnesota, has a cannon for an arm and very quick feet, but Booty executes better play-actions, has better accuracy, and will flat out not lose games like T Jack will.

My Least Favorite Picks

1. Derrick Harvey DE Florida to Jacksonville Jaguars

Harvey is going to be a very good player in this league and definitely deserves being picked in the first round, but he doesn’t deserve being a top ten pick. This was unanimously the biggest reach of the draft and just didn’t make sense for Jacksonville to trade down that low for him.

2. Kevin O’Connell QB San Diego St. to New England Patriots

O’Connell was the fourth quarterback taken in this draft and I definitely think that he would have been there a round or two later if the Patriots really coveted him that much. He was taken before other players like Mario Manningham, Justin King, Craig Steltz, and Xavier Adibi who I think filled much bigger needs and would’ve provided depth at positions they are thin at.
3. William Hayes DE Winston Salem St. to Tennessee Titans

Who? William Hayes? Who is that? I can honestly tell you I don’t have a clue and congrats to Mel Kiper Jr. for having him in his top fifty DE’s. Hayes could have been taken at least a round or two later and the Titans could have taken another receiver to give Vince some tools to work with.

4.  Brian Brohm QB Louisville/Matt Flynn QB LSU to Green Bay Packers

This is an either or for me. The Packers needed another quarterback to provide some competition for Aaron Rodgers, but drafting both makes absolutely no sense to me. I would have thought that Brohm was a great pick or that Flynn was a great pick if they would have been the only quarterback taken by the Packers. Rodgers confidence had have taken a hit today after the Packers showed that they weren’t too confident in his abilities.

5. Donnie Avery WR Houston to St. Louis Rams

Avery is going to be a good number two receiver in the NFL with some potential to maybe be a number one, but he isn’t going to be better than about six of the receivers that were drafted after him. Devin Thomas from Michigan State, DeSean Jackson from Cal, Limas Sweed from Texas, and Malcolm Kelly from Oklahoma are all receivers that I would have taken ahead of Avery to name a few.

The best stories of the draft were the drafting Army’s safety Caleb Campbell by the Detroit Lions. Campbell is a player that can bulk up and play linebacker or stay as is and play safety in the NFL. He will work hard either way and contribute on special teams in his first year. The feel good part of this is now he doesn’t have to be shipped off to Iraq to fight in the war over seas. Campbell will be working in the off season as an Army recruiter and his story will only be good for the league. Another story to watch is Tommy Blake from TCU he was a consensus top ten pick before the season started, but cracked under the pressure from the different agents calling him and the people wanting something from him. He took a personal leave of absence from the team and after months off rededicated himself to football. Blake didn’t get drafted, but will definitely sign on as an undrafted free agent. As a former student at TCU I loved watching Blake terrorize the quarterback and it is a shame to see this happening to such a great talent. From all the Sports Guys, Tommy we are rooting for you and wish you the best of luck.

So the draft has finally ended and there are a ton of former college football players scrambling to sign on with a NFL team. I figured that I could help out the GM’s around the league and provide my top ten players still available after the draft.

1. Darrell Robertson DE Georgia Tech

Robertson was productive in college and has the skills and frame to play in the NFL and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him contribute late in season with the team that he signs on with.

2. Ali Highsmith LB LSU

Highsmith was just as big of a factor on the Tiger’s defense last year as Glenn Dorsey and Craig Steltz, but due to his lack of athleticism and a few injury concerns he fell from a mid round pick to not being drafted at all. I see him making a roster in a 3-4 scheme and playing some linebacker, but most playing on special teams.

3. Drew Radovich G USC

Radovich is a great pass protector and is just a house on the offensive line. He is a smart player on the offensive line. Where he lacks the tenacity to be an elite or great run blocker he uses his head to make the smart blocks and read the defense better than most.

4. Erin Henderson LB Maryland

Henderson is another player that has the physical ability and the skills to be a contributor in the NFL, but his inability to stay healthy for a full season definitely was a cause for concern to most NFL teams. He is has a knack for the ball and is a solid tackler.

5. Dantrell Savage RB Oklahoma State

Savage is a bit undersized, but he still put up huge stats behind a shaky offensive line in one of the toughest conferences in college football. Savage could be this year’s Selvin Young and be picked up for depth purposes and eventually be an effective injury replacement. Savage plays faster than his forty time and has the elusiveness to play in the NFL.

Well there you go that is my take on the greatest weekend of the year. Overall it was a draft that had a lot of players that will contribute to many teams and a lot of teams had good drafts, not great drafts, but still good drafts. I loved every second of watching the draft and writing this post so I hope you learn a bit from my insights and can gain a better feel and understanding of the draft. Through out the year I will give updates on how my winners and losers draft classes did and what my top picks/undrafted players are doing.

Clay Jackson

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