NFL Draft - April 23rd & 24th

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Excellent, well researched, and intelligent posts, Omni. I would expect nothing less from the 8th place finisher in our fantasy league. Scouting which of these guys you’re grabbing in the fantasy draft this fall? You’re already sitting damn pretty in that league for next year, you bastard! I’d love to have your team.

Anywho, your posts are tainted by their focus on the Bears. It’s a shame you have to waste such obvious talent and passion rooting for a mediocre team, but to each their own.

Here’s some of my thoughts:

  1. Contrary to most people, I think this is a strong draft class all the way down. Granted there are no clear “franchise” guys like E. Manning, R. Gallery, C. Palmer, or A. Johnson, but I think the talent level is still high, and the draft is deep. I think this years draft will be a doozy, with a lot of teams improving through the draft.

  2. What is up with running backs in the NFL? E. James, S. Alexander, T. Henry, A. Thomas, and W. Green were all available, some too highly priced, yet nobody has taken them. Add to that three talented rookies in Brown, Benson, and Williams, and it appears there’s a glut of potential 1,300 yard guys in the NFL. Which decreases the value of the big three rookies. Hell, it took 24 picks to take the first running back last year, I’m surprised there is all this hype about this years class when there is so much talent available.

  3. Braylon Edwards v. Mike Williams - Even though he’s a Michigan guy, Braylon all the way. Mike Williams is great, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t have the elite speed, or the experience, to be a T.O. or a Randy Moss. Heck, I like M. Clayton better than Williams. Braylon is a lot like R. Moss, he’s fast, big, and, unfortunately, a bit of a head case. That’s why he tends to disappear against mediocre teams, but comes up big in huge games, like this years Rose Bowl. Braylon would be a great pickup for any team, if he gets his head straight, which he did this year. It’s Randy Moss v. Keyshaun Johnson.

  4. Underrated guys: Mark Clayton, WR. The second best wide receiver in the draft, who may fall even to the second round. He’s a poor man’s Marvin Harrison. He’s on the small side, but he’s fast, runs great routes, and is smart. He’s a big time, productive player who only needs to strengthen up a bit, and he’ll be an immediate impact player. Plus he saves people from car accidents, so he’s a good guy too.

Demarcus Ware. Again, another great player who gets knocked for being too small. He’s quick, relentless, and smart. He needs just a bit of work on coverage, if he’s used in a 3-4 defense, but he too will make an immediate impact. Think Dwight Freeney.

  1. Overrated guys: Troy Williamson, WR. He’s a guy who has flown up the draft board recently, and I just don’t see it. He’s fast. That’s it. He’s fast. Which can help, but I’m not impressed with his ability to catch the ball, or his heart to go over the middle. I don’t think he’s not ready for the NFL. It’s just a personal opinion, but this guy will not make it in the NFL.

Mike Williams, WR. See above.

Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith - I haven’t seen enough of either one for this opinion to be really sound, but neither of these guys impresses me all that much, and certainly not enough to be drafted in the top 5.

  1. Just shut up about… Tommy Chang. I’m sick of all the draftniks going on about this flash in the pan Ty Detmer clone.
  2. The Packers - The most pressing needs for the Pack are at safety and guards. They also need another linebacker, another pass rushing DE, and maybe an heir to Favre. I’d love to see Ware, Spears, or Pollack fall. I’d also love a couple million dollars. I’d like to see them getting Dan Buenning in the third or fourth round.

Just some rambling thoughts to get you through till Sunday.

22

What gets me is Mel Kiper’s big board has Mike Williams moving up past Braylon Edwards. Hey, as a Viking fan, I’ll be thrilled to see BE drop to #7. But that would only happen in my dream world.

I don’t see RBs flying off the board too early this year, since the FA market was barely touched. And I see Rolle coming off the board earlier than most mocks I’ve seen. WRs and QBs will dominate the top 10. Edwards and Williams will be taken by the time my beloved Vikes pick at 7, and the vikings will pick up a running back even though they don’t need one. If Braylon is picked up at one or two, or even three, look for the Vikings to weigh their options of trading up. If they don’t, and those WRs are gone, look for the Vikes to trade down with a loss of value.

The biggest steal of the draft just might be the now admitted steroid user Luis Castillo, who will probably drop to Sunday after his confession. Whoever picks him up will never regret it, the kid has a motor. And I believe him.

23

I understand the “best player available” theory of drafting, but, in the Vikings case, I don’t think that would be the best pick. I think the 'queens should end up with either M. Williams, or Rolle or A. Jones. Any of those guys will be a much better pick than Benson, Brown, or Cadillac.

24

Regarding running backs, I totally agree with the logic that all these free agents mitigate the value of the Rooks, but it works the other way too. And considering that none of these FAs have been strongly linked to any one team, the draft is probably going to see action on RB. If a team like the Cardinals think Henry and the Bills want too much, taking Brown on the cheap is a hell of a deal. Sure getting Henry and M. Williams would be a nice start, but is it worth giving up draft picks and about 20% of your cap?

I think Ronnie Brown, with his size/speed and multiple skills put him at or above every free agent except Alexander. Yes, I know Edge and Henry are good, but Edge is aging and injury prone and Henry hasn’t shown enough consistency. Getting Brown at $0.60 on the dollar is a good value bet.

Caddilac and Benson will be solid, but probably shouldn’t be taken above a proven vet. They aren’t the can’t miss prospects I think Brown is.

Hamlet, I forget where the info for that league is. Honestly I’ve practically forgotten my team and draft slot. Damn that Vodka.

Michigan WRs are the football equivalent of Duke Point Gaurds. No thanks.

25

I’m convinced speed is over-rated. Moss is the only guy who really uses his speed to be a game-changer in the league now. I’d even argue that his height and leaping ability are the bigger factor.

If you’re the Rams or Colts, I can see putting a premium on speed. However, if you’re any of the top 4 teams, you don’t have a QB capable of taking advantage, and offensive system built to exploit, or a coach inclined to stretch the field enough to have an impact. Taking Williams, a guy with monster soft hands, a guy who always got open in the middle and knows how to get open in the endzone, will jave the stronger impact on teh offense as a whole.

Even the no-doubt quality veterans in the Edwards mold (think Chaz and Andre Johnson, Plaxico, Fitzgerald) aren’t really guys who have turned their teams around. As nice as they are for the highlight reel and fantasy numbers, they don’t help offenses control games.

I’d compare Williams to guys like Chambers, Muhammed, Toomer, Boldin and Rod Smith, all of which I think were more indespensible to the offenses than a homerun hitter. I can tell you right now that Braylon Edwards will not be effective over the middle.

Gimme Williams or Clayton over Edwards every time. I could be wrong and he might be the next Moss…but odds are he’s not.

26

Thomas & Green both had one decent season and have been pretty mediocre otherwise, to put it nicely. Henry is pretty good but he puts the ball on the ground a lot, which scares some people, and I got the impression that Buffalo may be asking quite a bit for someone they have no intention of playing. Last I heard the Bucs were still talking though. The other two are real expensive.
I’m not quite that sold on Brown. He looks like he will be real good, but I didn’t think he’s had that much actual production. Is there a reason Williams got more playing time? And even though Brown should be better, there could be worse choices than Benson.

Personally, if Gruden gives up anything to move up and take one of those QB’s I’m gonna be super-pissed. Even if they do get one of the veteran RB’s they have way too many other needs, and I wasn’t that impressed by either of those 2 guys.

27

Edge and Shaun, I think, have proven themselves worth a first round draft pick. Edge is only 26, and it appears he’s completely recovered from the injury. And he put up 2,000+ yards last year. Shaun could be even better. Although they would definitely be a salary cap concern, I’d have no problem getting one of them over an unproven rookie. Benson isn’t fast enough, has a lot of miles, and could just be an overblown TJ Duckett. Brown might be a stud, but how come he couldn’t beat out Cadillac? Give me a proven stud over these three anyday. Even Travis Henry, who is only going to get 1.25 million this year, is a better option, to me at least.

Brown, as I said, is too risky for me. While there is a lot to like about the guy, and he may very well be a stud in the league, I’d much rather a proven commodity.

Here is the site and here are the draft results. J. Jones, J. Witten, and M. Clayton are a nice start to next year. Sure, not as good as S. Jackson and ummmmmmm… well, maybe not.

They’re due.

I’m guessing he’ll wait and see. Cleveland is the big question mark for them.

28

I’m not sure about all that. Pick a position and chances are the best game-changers over the last few years have had at the minimum great speed, if not uber-elite speed. Ray Lewis, Torry Holt, Freeney, Ed Reed, Vick, Moss, Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Derrick Brooks, Jason Taylor… there aren’t that many players who you can say are, or have been the best in the league at their position who aren’t really fast. The trendy thing lately is to downplay guys’ combine numbers, which is fine, but you give me a good football player with insane speed, and I promise you he’ll make a difference on the field.

All that said, I like Mike Williams way more than Edwards, although I don’t think Edwards is going to be a bust or anything. It’s just that Williams is 230 friggin’ pounds, and I’m not sure I believe that Edwards is really that much quicker than him to begin with. Really, if I was any team in the top 10 I’d be looking to trade down if I wanted to draft a skill position, because I don’t think #1 is much better than #'s 2, 3 or 4 at any of them.

At running back, I think I might, just might prefer to have Cadillac over the others. I recognize that Brown’s bigger, faster, and better in the passing game, but I love Williams as a runner. Brown doesn’t have anywhere near the shake that Cadillac has, and they’re probably a wash in terms of moving the pile.

Oh yeah, and I’d take Derrick Johnson #1 overall, no matter what team I was.

29

I think he was talking specifically about the WR position. If he was, I’d tend to agree. Hands and vertical are really all the matters. It seems like every team has a blazing fast WR or two, but they rarely are one of the two starters. Santana Moss is a prime example of a speedy WR who would be much better losing some speed to improve his hands. Or grow a few inches.

I’ve been poking around looking at potential Giants selections at #43 overall. The second round can yield some high impact players. Last time Big Blue had no first rounder, our first pick was also #43 overall. We used it to pick up Michael Strahan, which turned out pretty good.

Our glaring holes were MLB, OL, and WR, but thanks to free agency, our glaring holes are now HB2, DL depth, and CB. I have no idea who we’d take as a RB, but I don’t really think it matters. For whatever reason, I just feel like any old 3rd or 4th round RB would do fine in the NFL.

The two prospects I’ve heard tossed around are both centers. David Haas is the one most fans seem to be slobbering all over, but an equal number feel he won’t be on the board at 43, so the second choice, and the more intriguing one, IMO, is Chris Spence. (Spencer?) He was the C/IL at Ole Miss, and actually started at center for Eli in 4 games. He’s in the mold of Chris Snee, and seems to have great upside. This wouldn’t bode well for O’Hara, who I don’t dislike, but I prefer my Giants to be career Giants.

Having the young core of the OL be Snee/Spence/Diehl for years to come is an enticing prospect for the future. And having Petitgout/McKenzie on the corners in the immediate future would give us an almost respectable line, which seems to be unheard of in the recent past of the Giants. Toss in Seubert (get well soon) and Whittle and there is even a tiny bit of depth.

Despite the OL not being anywhere near the position of need, I wouldn’t mind even a tiny bit if we used our first pick on a center. I wouldn’t even mind using the second one as well on the OL. Screw everything else; I want a good (and deep) OL for the first time since our last Superbowl run. Of course, if Tiki goes down, Coach Coughlin’s pet poject from BC (Mike Cloud) is a frightening prospect to step in and take over…we’d be fucked.

One thing I don’t understand is all the Giants fans kvetching over who will be the heir apparent to Strahan, when it is so clearly Osi Umenyiora. He was an animal last year once all the vets went down and he got the chance to start. Am I the only one to think this?

30

The db’s have been getting a lot of play around here. GB needs them, plus lb’s & de’s & dl’s. And a QB. Odell Thurman and Marlin Jackson have been mentioned, know nothing about either. I just read that Thurman is an undersized db…which reminds me of another undersized db they had whose initials were Terrel Buckley. Oh no.

TB needs a QB again? What happened to Simms? I thought he was going to be so good?

Is Charlie Frye, QB form Akron worth a high pick?

31

I’m a big fan of Jolley’s, but I’m disappointed by yesterday’s trade on two levels. First, I wanted Collins to have Jolley to throw to; Tra Thomas is quick, but I think Jolley’s hands are a little better. Second, I really would have rather seen the Jets noticeably improve at the TE position. While Jolley is an improvement, it’s not a big one, like Heath Miller would have been.

Ignoring my side allegiance to the Raiders for the moment, I’ll find out whether I’m happy with this trade on Saturday around 4:00pm. If Miller is still on the board at 26, I’ll be pissed. Even moreso (from the Jets perspective) if the Raiders pick him up. Assuming he’s not still on board, which I presume is what the Jets were thinking when making this trade, then it’s not a bad trade after all.

I’d really like to see the Billies trade Henry to the Phins for McMichael, ideally getting back some change. Maybe a 4th rounder? It’d be well worth it.

32

As Ellis Dee noted I was speaking narrowly to include only WRs. When you talk about pretty much any defensive position, speed kills. I do tend to downplay speed from a RB a little too, but not to the degree that I do for WR. Hell, Jerry Rice didn’t have uber-speed. He was fast enough, but the hands and cuts were his biggest assets.

Another Bears tidbit. If they take a WR at #4 or trade back and don’t get an elite RB in the first round, expect them to take a long look at JJ Arrington with their second rounder.

33

I’m sure you’d love this, but let me tell you, it’ll never happen. Miami has way to many viable options at RB to give up a guy of McMichael’s skill level at such a hard position to fill. The only chance Saban makes this type of move is if he plans to script an office that wholly disregards the TE position. Seeing what he’s done in the past, I doubt it. Also consider that if Miami trades a TE to the Bills, they end up with a TE situation even worse than that of the Bills now. If anything Miami would be wanting some change for this one.

34

Grrrr…

office = offense
Also, to comment on this story.

Lets see, the Jets get Doug Jolley, a second rounder and two sixth rounders.

The Raiders get the 26th pick, and a seventh rounder.

This seems like a fairly even trade. I think the Raiders gave up a little too much, but considering that they have a ton of picks this year they can afford to. They now have the 26th, 37th, 69th and 78th picks overall in the top 100.

Wonder who they Raiders will be eyeing at #25. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them package those 26th and 37th picks to move up into the mid-teens for a guy they really love. the really need WR help, and depending on where Clayton is slated to go he could be their guy. That’d actually be a pretty good fit, though they probably need more help on the defensive side. Wouldn;t be shocked to see them take Frye at 37 either, though most people probably have him charted lower. It’ll be interesting to see where Campbell goes. If he gets taken before 25, it might cause teams to reach for the next best guy earlier thna usual. If Campbell actually slips to the Skins, it could indicate that most teams aren’t interested in QB. Frye could even fall to the 3rd round, though probably not that 69th pick.

35

Thanks for the link; I’m a lazy bastard.

There’s no way they take a WR, with the tandem they have already. They dumped Asomugha for Moss, and in effect packaged Buchanon & Jolley for a first rounder in a three-way deal with the Texans and Jets. (It’s like they’re playing Madden 2005 over there.)

Even if they still had Asomugha and Buchanon, they’d still need serious help on D. Without them, their D is about as bad as the Giants’ pass protection was last year. (Didn’t the Raiders finish dead last in pretty much every defensive category last year?) However, if Miller is on the board at 26, it would be tough to pass him up. KC can do some damage with a TE.

Damn, I wouldn’t have the stomach to be a GM in the NFL.

36

I really need to learn to preview

“eyeing at #26”
Anyways, lets tie up a loose end that I overlooked arly this week, the other Raider deal warrants comment.

The breakdown.

Raiders get: second and thrid rounders (47th and 73rd/78th overall, CBS and ESPN don’t seem clear on which of Houston’s 3rds the Raiders got.)

Texans get: Buchanon

Interesting deal. Wonder what the story on Buchanon is, he’s got an awful lot of skill and potential, bonus for return skills, for him to be given up for so little. Granted, in this years deep-as-all-hell draft, 2 picks on the first day are pretty valuable. He obviously has crapped the bed in Oakland, and shown a propensity for being a bit of a head case, but if he turns it around in Houston, they got a steal!

The biggest plus to the deal for Houston is that he’s locked up for 2 more years at about $750k per…cheap for a first round CB. Hell, thats cheap for a return specialist.

As we’ve seen, the Raiders are doing their best to make the most of picks this year, using one of these picks in this trade to move back into the first round.

They could walk away from the table on Sunday with the additions of Moss, another top rated WR or CB, a solid project QB, and some late round defensive depth. If they wait a year on QB, you could toss in a solid LB. Would anyone be shocked to see the Raiders roll the dice on Luis Castillo with that 3rd rounder?

37

I’d be shocked that he was still available in the third.

38

You might be right, all depends how that steriod thing resonates, coming just as Tags is due up in Congress.
Anyways, here’s a really interesting article about the top picks.

Got me to thinking about some of my assumptions. Most of his rankings are about the same as mine, though I think he too easily forgives the issues that Pac-man and Edwards have. Dropping balls is dropping balls, don’t care why. And you can’t convince me a Thug is a smart top 5 pick.

However, the stuff about Rolle, Brown and the Williamses is dead on. God I hope the Bears don’t end up with Benson.

39

T-minus 23 hrs 30 min until San Fran is officially on the clock.

Another trade with draft day implications.

Miami gets: KC’s 2nd rounder, #46 overall and 5th rounder.

Kansas City gets: Rights to Patrick Surtain and Miami’s 5th rounder.

Looks to be a pretty square trade. Miami wasn’t going to bring him back this year due to salary cap issues. He’s too good to go for less than a 2nd rounder. the only real impact here is that Miami gets an additional 2nd rounder which is sorely needed. Partially because they need to fill alot of holes and can get a contributor there, or possibly even more important, it’s an additional bargaining chip to balance a possible trade back situation. Maybe a team like Minnesota gives up the two high first rounders for that #2 overall if they are able to get a mid-second rounder back to balance it a little. Though, reports have Minnesota’s desire to trade up pretty slim.

Wonder if there’s any chance that the Bears can trade back to somewhere around #10 and take M. Williams, I just don’t see tham getting him at #4, instead they’ll pick a running back not names Ronnie Brown. Shit.

40

It occured to me today that I am deeply screwed up, because I am hoping my Iggles will take Matt Jones at either #31 or #35. It makes some sense: he’s big enough to be a TE in a pass-first offense, but also fast enough to be a WR; and those are both positions Philly has need at, either this year or next.

So why am I screwed up? Because the real reason is because he’ll be fun to play with in Madden.