Yep, Mack is the highest drafted center since Jeff Faine was drafted by Cleveland in 2003. Is he anywhere near good enough a prospect to justify that?
I don’t want to lose him. Boldin is great, but a lot of his greatness has come as him being part of a 1-2 package with Fitz. Boldin will probably always miss a game or two every season.
I’m not sold on him as a #1 guy earning #1 money. The Cards can go back to the Super Bowl without him. We probably couldn’t without Fitzgerald.
Kiper seemed to like him.
Mack will be a 10-year stalwart at center, assuming injuries (something that can happen to any player) don’t get him. The only knock on him is that he plays center, frequently a lower-drafted position. But very smart and hardworking guy.
Supposedly he can play all over the line, which puts him slightly ahead of the other guys. Still, it seems like they could have gotten a really good Center at #36.
Pats trade back, Ravens take Oher. Finally.
Good move by the Ravens, depending on what they gave up. Move up for a guy you like who is falling. Excellent for them, and for Joe Flacco.
I just want you guys to know: good luck. We’re all counting on you.
This thread isn’t nearly as much fun without one of our teams completely blowing up the process and making fools of themselves. I want Dopers leaping off their balconies.
Jerry is a good fit in ATL. They lost a lot on defense in FA and need to reload.
And stop calling me Shirley.
It’s not like “catches” is some kind of zero-sum game. He’ll get the catches that Reggie Brown and Greg Lewis don’t get. I feel like something very strange is going on here… so the Eagles only need a certain kind of receiver now? The problem isn’t that their guys just aren’t good enough? It’s a football game. The Eagles needed weapons, and Maclin’s a pretty good bet to be one.
And anyway, wait, they don’t?
If it helps, here’s some of Cable’s press conference on Heyward-Bey:
http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/2009/04/25/wow-back-on-line/
My prediction is that when Cable gets fired in a year, we’ll all see Al Davis talking about how he wanted to take Crabtree but Cable really wanted DHB.
Tell me about Vontae Davis, Omni. Is he gonna bust like Vernon?
Davis comes off the board to the Dolphins. I think he’ll be great with an NFL locker room to motivate him. Him having Ron Zook as a coach never helped. Parcells being in the building will certainly contribute to keeping him in line.
He caught 101 balls as a rookie, with no Fitty around. I’d say his stats are hurt as much as they’re helped.
The injuries are admittedly more of a concern.
Pats and Browns are in competition for trade downs.
Hopefully it means Pioli thinks the 2nd round talent in the draft isn’t a big step down from the first round talent… which would validate the Browns’ strategy.
Isn’t Pioli in KC now? 
Nah. Vernon’s not really a bust. Certainly hasn’t lived up to the hype but he’s a A+ blocker and starter in an offense without a QB. Why he couldn’t learn to run routes right is strange, maybe he’s just not smart enough to understand Martz’s system and vocabulary. He still might break out under Singletary.
Anyways, Vontae is one of those guys who relied on speed and talent and not so much on smarts. He let himself get out of position and got fooled on some pump fakes and rope-a-dope routes. All this can be corrected with good coaching. Whether or not a NFL coach can teach fundamentals is yet to be determined, a lot of pro coaches seem to think every NFL player is a finished product. I don’t think the Parcells Dolphins will have that problem.
He might get burned a few times, but he’ll probably make just as many highlight reel plays. Think Charles Woodson in Oakland.
Clay Matthews is my Mr. Overreated. Love that the Packer wasted picks to move up to get him. Good luck with that, nothing like drafting a backup in the first round.
ETA: Kenny Britt has slid to the end of the round. Now it’s time for the Bears to start thinking about trading up. The Colts, Giants, Titans and Cardinals could all be looking to draft a WR and Britt and Nicks are the only guys left. Yikes.
Woops, that’s right. Is Bellichick running the show in NE now in the draft?
Just as in every other sport, a good team has complementary weapons (or for that matter, just like a soldier or an army wants complementary weapons). Unless you’re going to do a run-and-shoot offense getting a fourth small, fast WR when you already have 3 is not as much an improvement as getting a different kind of weapon.
Donald Brown over Beanie. Hmm. I was hoping for Brown with our mid-2nd rounder.
Why did the Colts feel the need to go RB?
Edit: Giants up. Please no “there’s been a trade…”
They lost Rhodes and Addai will miss another several games next year, I’d imagine.
Pats end up with a second (41 overall) and two thirds for their first.