2008 NFL Draft Review, 4 years later.

The Game Room
21

2008 was not a banner year for the 49ers.

Pros:
In 2007 they traded their 2008 first-round pick to move up and draft our current left tackle, Pro Bowler Joe Staley. It’s sad to say that’s the best thing to come out of the 2008 draft: a 2007 pick.

6th round WR Joshua Morgan. Seemingly always ready for a breakout year, finally was leading the team in receiving where he broke his leg in the back end of a blowout win. He’ll probably re-sign, but has gathered interest as a free agent wideout in an ever-diminishing FA class.

7th round LB Larry Grant. Backup to All-Pro linebacking duo of Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman, played extremely well when Willis was out for a few games. Unfortunately he’ll probably be starting for some other team next season.

Cons:
Before the 2008 draft, the 49ers were penalized for tampering with Bears LB Lance Briggs in the form of swapping 3rd round picks with the Bears and forfeiting their 5th round pick.

1st round DE Kentwan Balmer. Bust, now on his third team and yet to record a sack.

2nd round G Chilo Rachal. Bust, lost his starting job to the guy they drafted him to replace. He’ll probably be cut soon.

Both the above busts were chosen over DeShaun Jackson, a local (Cal) phenom when the team desperately needed a wide receiver. Then-GM Scot McCloughan refused to draft smaller players, no matter what.

Also passed over: Jordy Nelson, Tracy Porter, and three pro-bowl running backs. Apart from those guys, there doesn’t appear to be some wealth of talent later in the 2008 class.

22

I loved that pick when it was made: “Cliff Avril is a great pick there. He could work out nicely for the Lions.” I had Cheerios rated much lower than the Lions did, and Kevin Smith is good when healthy. Which isn’t really Millen’s fault. This could be Millen’s best draft, which is kinda like saying “this is the best shit sandwhich”.

23

I think guys like him highlight the non-measurables part of the NFL that is so important. He had all the talent in the world, and no desire/heart/professionalism (seems to happen a lot to Butch Davis’ guys). It seems he played well for one year in college (he greatly underperformed his prior 3 years, which might have been a hint to his motivation), got his first round paycheck, and then quit caring. It’s gotta be hard to tell which guys will work hard and which guys will just kinda rely on the talent that makes them so good in college, but nothing special in the NFL. That’s why guys like Orson Charles, Quinton Coples, Dontari Poe, and Michael Floyd scare me in the the first round. I’m not sure they have the desire to do the hard work it takes to succeed in the NFL after getting the paycheck.

24

Arizona Cardinals:

  1. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (CB)

The Cards moved up in the draft to grab DRC, if memory serves me correctly, and though he went into the season at nickel, moved up into the starting defensive 11 reasonably soon. Managed to make a Pro-Bowl plus one as a reserve before being traded to the Eagles, where he is back at nickelback. The Cards got some reasonable production out of him (won at least two games with interception returns for touchdowns - started on the team that actually got the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl) but I found him maddeningly inconsistent - capable of great plays, but also capable of real brain fades. A lot of his value is going to be tied up in how Kevin Kolb does in Arizona - if they cut Kolb to get Peyton Manning, this pick really has to go down as at least somewhat of a waste. Would have been interesting to see him lined up as the #2 corner with Patrick Peterson at #1.

  1. Calais Campbell (DE)

Easily the pick of the draft. Currently been franchise tagged whilst the Cards try to sort out a longer term deal. A force at DE and on special teams and developing into a leader for the defense. Playing in Arizona, I don’t expect him to get a lot of media attention but will likely be very effective for a good while (assuming he stays healthy - thus far, he’s been pretty solid)

  1. Early Doucet (WR)

It is testament to how good Larry Fitzgerald is that his yardage numbers haven’t wavered much, despite having some really shitty QBs throwing to him over the last few years; as a result, I think there is a possibility Doucet is better than his numbers suggest but has not had real opportunity in the last couple of years due to bad QB play. He can achieve decent separation at times and struck up somewhat of a relationship with Kevin Kolb in the few games Kolb played in 2011. Nevertheless, his most memorable play in 2011 was falling over on a potential tying TD whilst chasing a (unlikely) play off berth against the Bengals. Looking at the rest of the draft, there was better value to be had too (Mario Manningham went after Doucet, Jermichael Finley went after Doucet too - and the Cardinals have not had good production from TE for a while). It’s not a total bust (in 2011, he got 5 TDs from the slot and played in every game) but they could have done better here.

  1. Kenny Iwebema (DE)

Is now out of the league. Played 31 games for the Cardinals as a rotational DE but was never going to make a big impact at the position once the defense shifted to a 3-4 with Dockett and Campbell at DE.

  1. Tim Hightower (RB).

Traded to Washington for Vonnie Holliday and a 6th round pick this year. This, at the minute, looks like a good deal of business for the Cardinals. In the Super Bowl season, despite having a very poor yards per game record, Hightower developed into a good goal-line back and punched in quite a few TDs. Not the quickest but quite tough - eventually dragged himself up above 4 yards a carry in his final season with the team. Trading him for Vonnie Holliday was a good move in my view, as the defense lacked leadership and a veteran presence in the locker room was probably needed - supposedly Holliday kept them motivated when they got off to a horrible start in 2011, helping them work out to 8-8. Also, the Cards had drafted Ryan Williams in the second to share the load with Beanie Wells. To cap it all, Hightower went down with an ACL in 2011. Even though Williams went down with an injury, the Cards run game functioned in 2011 and they got a good piece back after getting good production from a 5th round pick. Worked out well I think.

  1. Chris Harrington (DE).

Didn’t break camp with the team following being drafted. Career practice squadder. Not in the league anymore.

  1. Brandon Keith (T).

A 7th round flyer who is the starting Right Tackle. Brilliant, right? Great value? Well yes and no. Keith and Levi Brown make up the worst pair of tackles in the league by the advanced metrics, so whilst it’s great they got something out of this pick, I’d rather they had someone more talented playing at RT than a human turnstile.

25

I agree with you in principle, but how do you determine which guy has the drive, and which guy will loaf?

With that in mind, here’s my impression of the Texans draft from that year. The Texans traded the 18th pick to Baltimore, for the Ravens’s 26th (1st Rnd), 89th (3rd Rnd.) , and 173rd (6th Rnd.) picks. The Texans needed a 6th rounder to make up for the 6th rounder they sent to Denver before the draft for Chris Myers. This has worked out rather well so far. Looking at the people they passed up by dropping 8 spots, I have mixed emotions. It would be nice to have seen Jones, Mendenhall, or Johnson in a Texans uni.

OTOH, they also needed line help—hell, they needed help everywhere, and getting Duane Brown, T with the 26th pick continued to turn their O-line around from the cataclysmic joke they used to be. Their '08 line of Brown-Pitts-Myers-Brisiel-Winston is pretty close to their line of today, with Wade Smith replacing Chester Pitts. This was the first year of Mike Brisiel starting for the entire year too. I think it’s hard to evaluate O-linemen performance in a vacuum, and impossible for me to do so, but I think that the Texans made the right choice between Brown, Jeff Otah, or Sam Baker.

Their 2nd rounder was given to Atlanta in the Schaub trade, so their next pick was Antwaun Molden, CB, Eastern Kentucky, at pick 79. Molden never started, being unable to beat out Fred Bennett or Jacques Reeves, and was basically a big pile of meh. He is with the Patriots now, and picked up his first 2 NFL interceptions with them. Hindsight’s 20-20, but Early Doucet or Harry Douglas might’ve been a better pickup. Douglas may end up on the Texans in 2012, we’ll see.

The 3rd rounder from the Ravens turned into Steve Slaton. This was a nifty pick, until his neck injury. His rookie season was everything you could hope for, with 1282/9 on 4.8 YPA, and 50/377/1 receiving. Things went downhill after that, and he’s now the Dolphins’s problem.

The 4th rounder was Xavier Adibi, LB, VaTech. Decent enough, on-again, off-again starter, but really just a guy. Now on the Vikings.

The 5th rounder was Frank Okam, DT, Texas. By all accounts a decent guy, but one with perceived motor issues, and I’d read accounts of football people thinking the guy was too bright to play football. Wasn’t he going to go to medical school at some point? His college arc is funny to re-read: from 1st-team Freshman All-American, to 2nd-team All Big-12 his sophomore year, to honorable mention All Big-12 his junior year (though ESPN evidently put him on their 1st team All-American squad?!). Not the kind of downward arc you like seeing in your prospect. On Tampa since 2010. Carl Nicks would not have sucked as a pick here.

The 6th rounder was Dominique Barber, S, Minnesota. Not terrible. Played 12 games his rookie year, and 13 the next. Actually intercepted a pass and recovered some fumbles, so ahead of Molden. Another just a guy. He’s a FA this season and I don’t know whether he’ll be back. For a 6th rounder, I’ve seen worse.

Finally, their 7th rounder was Alex Brink, QB, Washington State, and I believe he is out of football. Steve Johnson was the next guy taken, FWIW.

Overall, I’ve got to like this draft. Getting a 2nd-Team All-Pro LT is winning the draft all by itself, and then you find your next 4-year every game starter at Center too? Good times. Even Slaton was pretty damned good his first year.

26

That’s the challenge for scouting departments. If you watch game film and never see a guy take a play off, that’s a good sign. If you see a physically imposing receiver occasionally break off a route, that’s a bad sign.

If you ask a guy in an interview how easy football has been for him and he says he has to work hard at it every day, that’s a good sign. If he says it’s a blast 'cause it comes so easily, that’s a bad sign

If you have your head coach play a board game or shoot hoops, you want the prospect to try to win, even though it could be his new coach.

27

I’ll spend some time going through the Bears and highlighting many of the silly things I said in that thread (and hopefully silly things you folks said) later this weekend when I have a little free time, but I have a couple quick comments.

I might offer Vernon Davis as an even better example. CJ2K was a workout warrior but he was also really productive in college and put up some outstanding tape, his big question was quality of competition which could be one of those overvalued concepts. Davis however was almost 100% Combine, he was a 1-year wonder in college and was a guy that looked great with his short off. Turned out he actually was able to translate that stuff pretty well once he had a coach who wasn’t a jackass.

I haven’t heard about the Steelers cutting Mendenhall. They are is dire cap shape still, so they could use the room, but with Mendenhall hurt I’m guessing he can’t be cut. Depends on the terms of his deal but usually guys are protected from being released and therefore not paid when injured on the field. They might negotiate a buyout, but I’m not sure how that’s help their cap. In any case, I’d LOVE to see them cut him and have the Bears make a run at him as a platoon guy with Forte. Of course Mendenhall would probably get pretty good money to be a workhorse elsewhere making it impossible, but I’d love to bring the kid home.

28

The Rams got Chris Long and a special teams monster in Chris Chamberlain in the 7th.

…

…

That’s about it.

Vorbora was a starter far longer than a Mr. Irrelevent should ever have been and is still in the league.

Donnie Avery over DeSean Jackson was a crime in hind sight, but looked much better at the time.

29

Da Raiduhs:

1.4 Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas
Most people don’t take RBs this high anymore, because production is relatively easy to find at the position for cheap. McFadden, when healthy, has proven to be a good exception, as he truly does possess game-breaking ability. However, that “when healthy” is a big asterisk, as he’s had injury problems (especially foot) in all of his NFL seasons but 2010. A good pick but unfortunately may not turn out due to bad luck.

4.100 Tyvon Branch, CB, Connecticut
Moved to safety almost immediately. He would be a Pro Bowler if he played for a better team, and the Raiders were smart to franchise him this year. A steal.

4.125 Arman Shields, WR, Richmond
Had a knee injury coming into the draft and never really recovered. Never played a game.

6.169 Trevor Scott, DE, Buffalo
A DE-OLB tweener, Scott flashed some ability early on in his career, garnering 5 and 7 sacks in his first two seasons, as a backup. Unfortunately, injuries have stalled him and his chance is probably over.

7.226 Chaz Schillens, WR, San Diego State
Like Shields, another big, fast physical receiver coming off of injury. Unlike Shields, he actually got into games, made plays, and started. The Raiders thought enough of him that when they decided to draft a receiver in the first round they spent the pick on a down-the-field threat in Darrius Heyward-Bey instead of a big possession receiver like Michael Crabtree. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed Schilens’ career and with the Raiders stacked at receiver now, he might be out of the mix.

Man, the Raiders certainly drafted a lot of fragile guys that year. Even Branch has missed time with injuries. Amazingly, all of the players (minus Shields) were starter or valuable-backup quality when healthy.

30

I really like Chris Long. When drafted, I really liked Keenan Burton and Justin King too. I think part of the problem with the Rams isn’t just poor drafting, it’s poor development too. It took Chris Long a couple years to even make an impact, even as a talented #2 pick in the draft, and Sam Bradford should be better than he was last year. Jason Smith should too. I generally think the Rams draft pretty well, but damn they suck at developing that talent.

I remember saying “Donnie Who?” when Avery was selected as the first WR taken in the draft. All he was was a speedy guy who dominated for one year … against bad competition in a weak division. DeSean Jackson was ranked near the top with Devin Thomas as possible first rounders, but he fell because … well, he’s a head case. I remember Jackson being the clear better than Avery.

31

Branch was a guy I wanted for the Packers with their third round pick and he was great value in the fourth round. Must not have been a Al Davis pick.

32

The Saints got:

Sedrick Ellis–a mediocre DT that hasn’t really produced much, but doesn’t suck

Tracy Porter–has issues, but has performed decently, including the clinching pick 6 in the Superbowl

Demario Pressley-- DT think he was on the roster last year as a special teamer.

Carl Nicks–great pick, All Pro guard.

Taylor Melhaff—who? yeah, me too. Far as I know he is no longer with the team.

Adrian Arrington–WR, hasn’t been able to crack the starting lineup unless Colston, Meachem, or Moore was injured, but seems to have some potential.

33

Ugh. This was a waste of a draft. I don’t even want to think about this.

34

Rating the Eagles drafts are god damned impossible. They have so many picks, make so many moves, it’s pretty much a waste of time trying to track them to get the full impact/return. 2008 is a really great example of this. I’ll go on to start wasting my time.

First Round:
The Eagles traded their 1st to Carolina for 2008’s 2 and 4 and 2009’s 1. Remember this. You might want to take notes, actually.

Carolina took Jeff Otah, a player a lot of Philly fans and writers wanted for the Eagles (a need position at the time), but it ended up being a much better trade for Philly. It ended up being a solidly Philly-favorable trade.

Second Round:
With their actual pick, they took WR** DeSean Jackson**. Ah DeJax. I can’t be coherent when it comes to him. He’s a fucking knucklehead and he runs crappy routes and is terribly inconsistent in all phases of the game. And there may not be anyone in the league like him or as dangerous. I’d love to see him go and hate to see him leave. Still a great value pick. Here’s what I said at the time (I looked it up but can almost quote it verbatim):

“I think DeSean Jackson is the only one I wouldn’t want as he doesn’t fit their system.”

And… “I’m not sold on him. I see him getting pushed around a lot and his speed being mitigated by press coverage on the outside, throwing the tight routes of the West coast offense off. He’s a great kick returner, though, which the Eagles desperately need, but it’s just not enough. I don’t like it, but the talkings heads seem to, so what do I know?”

Clearly nothing. Actually I was kinda right, but still spectacularly wrong somehow. He can’t beat determined, persistent press and if he doesn’t get behind the defense he’s very, very limited. But he’s as much a home run hitter as there is in the NFL.

Remember that 2 the Eagles got from Carolina? They traded it and a 5 to Minnesota for a 2 and a 4. With that 2 they chose DT ** Trevor Laws**. Can’t call him anything but a bust. Two starts in four years and despite a promising 2010 (4 sacks), he stunk in 2011 and will probably be cut.

Third Round:
Uh, DE Bryan Smith? I follow this team very closely and I’ve never heard of the guy. Wikipedia says he lasted a single year with the team. Bust!

Fourth Round:
The 4 the Eagles got from Carolina turned into G/C Mike McGlynn. If I remember right, he was actually a pretty good run blocker/mauler, but never got much run with Philly. Not a bad pick, but it didn’t help the team much.

Philly traded their 4 for RB Lorenzo Booker, a great scheme fit but never much of a player. And they took S Quintin Demps with Minnesota’s pick, who lasted two years. He was a good returner, which you’d think they got with Jackson… They also grabbed CB Jack Ikegwuonu with a compensatory pick. He was a training camp darling at least once, but never did anything.

Fifth Round:
The Eagles gave up their 5th to Minnesota as noted above.

Sixth Round:
OT Mike Gibson. No idea. And then LB Joe Mays! Hey-o! He’s actually a pretty good pick this late. He’s a very capable MLB for Denver now, after never getting a shot in Philly. Awesome. Oh, and DE Andrew Studebaker. Not even a little bit of a clue.

Seventh Round:
OT** King Dunlap**. Awesome name, humorously long legs and short torso, and a very serviceable backup tackle. Actually a pretty good pick this late. He can start against sub-elite competition and proved he’s a competent backup tackle this last season. Nobody ever thought he’d really ever do even that much.

So what do you say? Several outright busts, one superstar, and a 2009 pick. That pick was traded to Cleveland in order to move up to take Jeremy Maclin. He had a tough 2011 after his mystery illness, but he’s a solid, very promising young WR. I think a future outright #1. Overall, I’m not sure I’d rate this draft anything better than a** C**. DeSean’s a superstar, but I don’t think he’s enough to give an entire draft full of busts a better grade.

35

Woe unto you, Brownies.

  1. No first round pick, as it had been traded away in 2007 to move up and grab Brady Quinn. Yeah. On the bright side, the team’s charity beefcake calendar did brisk sales that year, and he let all those mouthy faggots in Columbus know that he wasn’t to be trifled with.

  2. Traded to the Packers for Corey Williams. Solid, if unspectacular. I don’t think the 3-4 was the best defense for him (Packers were a 4-3, right?). Browns remained lousy against the run in 08.

  3. Traded, along with Leigh Bodden, to the Lions for Shaun Rogers. Dominant player when he gave a crap. Broke his leg in 09, eventually released.

  4. Beau Bell, LB: Arena League. Martin Rucker, TE: Waived everywhere he’s been.

  5. Ahtyba Rubin, DT: Backup to Shaun Rogers, moved into the starting lineup when Rogers got hurt and has been the starter ever since. Has had over 80 tackles in each of the last two seasons, and added 5 sacks last year. Paul Hubbard, WR: Who?

  6. Alex Hall, LB: Who?

So they tried to address QB and the defensive line, their two nagging problem areas since they’ve come back to the league, and basically whiffed. That said, Rubin, along with Jabaal Sheard and Phil Taylor, make the D-line the one area I feel good about going forward.

36

Agreed. They have sucked at developing talent for a while now.

As for Avery, in the end he out played Thomas by a mile and was never the head case DeSean Jackson is, so it was not as weird of a draft call as it looks now, but I would rather have had Jackson’s play making ability even with the headaches he can cause otherwise.

37

At the time, yes, they were. They switched to the 3-4 when Dom Capers became defensive coordinator in 2009.

38

So-so year for the Buccaneers.

Talib has proven to be pretty much what everyone expected: a phenomenal athlete who can get burned in coverage and has off-field issues. On the other hand, his 4 game suspension will save us $3 million in salary this season because he would otherwise have hit a playing time escalator.

Zuttah has been a superb pick: an excellent pure left guard who can also play right guard and center. He’s even started one game as a tackle.

Dre Moore was a project space-eater inside who never really panned out. He’s on the Jags’ practice squad now.

Josh Johnson has been a capable backup and sees the field in the Bucs’ wildcat scheme. He might turn out to be a solid starter in the David Garrard mold if he can ever get a starting job somewhere; he’s a free agent this year.

Geno Hayes has been a very solid Tampa 2 outside linebacker. Excellent speed, bit undersized, great coverage instincts. Also a free agent.

Cory Boyd blew out his knee as a rookie and never sniffed the field before being cut later that year. The story has a twist, though: he’s rushed for 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons for the Toronto Argonauts and has made their All-Star game twice in a row.

39

Don’t forget his trial for allegedly shooting at a guy is scheduled to start in a couple weeks, and another woman just sued him for threatening her. Heck, maybe the Bucs can save a ton of money on him if he goes to prison. And Dexter Jackson has been a complete bust (which I called incidentally).

It will be interesting to see how this year shakes out for the Bucs.

40

Yeah, I don’t like to talk about Jackson. Supposedly we are going to be a big player in free agency this year with more cap space than anyone and a new head coach… but we had both of those things the last two seasons and we signed middling safety Sean Jones and a punter.