Looks like the Giants at least stayed true to picking big guys. Kenny Phillips is a 6’2" safety, and Terrell Thomas is a 6’ cornerback. From what I’ve read on Thomas, he sounds a lot like Gibril Wilson (Thomas has played both cornerback and safety) with the sacrificing the body stuff.
He’s had surgeries on both shoulders and a knee – ouch – but the Giants have had some success drafting the injury-prone. Brandon Jacobs was (and remains) injury-prone, but is good value when he’s on the field. Justin Tuck fell in the draft due to injury concerns, and he’s been a stud. IIRC, Corey Webster was also a dropped-due-to-injuries guy, and while he’s been mostly disappointing, he did come on strong in the playoff run last year.
Scouts Inc. lists the top remaining players like this:
Dan Connor, ILB Penn State
Jamaal Charles RB, Texas
Marcus Harrison, DT, Arkansas
Justin King, DB, Penn State
Mario Manningham WR, Michigan
Charles Godfrey DB, Iowa
Pat Sims DT, Auburn
Anthony Collins OT, Kansas
Cliff Avril DE, Purdue
Reggie Smith DB, Oklahoma
To me, one was Jacksonville giving up their first, two thirds and a fourth to move up and grab Derrick Harvey. They could have waited a while for that.
But the one I personally think was stupid was selecting Joe Flacco with the 18th pick.
Quarterbacks are always a huge gamble. I always have a tough time killing a team for rolling the dice on a guy they like. QBs are so rare and so important that they are almost never a WTF move to me.
The Jags taking Harvey at that pick by itself isn’t really a WTF pick since it’s a slight reach for Harvey but only by maybe a half dozen picks. However, the number of picks they gave up to take makes it’s baffling. The trade is a WTF move but the pick itself isn’t. Had Baltimore stayed put and drafted him I don’t think people would be saying WTF.
The Panthers drafting Jonathan Stewart, who’s coming off foot surgery, at the 13th pick is a pretty big head scratcher. That’s too early to take a guy who just came out from under the knife, doubly so when you still have DeAngelo Williams at the position and holes at OL. They maybe took him 10 picks too soon, they probably could have traded back and got him later.
The biggest WTF move was the Titans drafting Chris Williams in the first round at the 24th pick. Not only is this a reach by at least a full 20 picks but the Titans are a team with some pretty serious needs at other positions. It’s triply confusing because the Titans have invested high draft picks in LenDale White and Chris Henry in the last 2 drafts. They are basically to RBs what the Lions are drafting WRs. Totally strange.
I don’t get the Titans either. I’m very meh about it.
For the record, now that the first day is done, I’m also meh on the Lions draft. Nothing spectacular, and I don’t think there was anything wrong. It’s like they wanted players that had a specific trait instead of being the best or most explosive player on the board. Well, drafts are made in the second day. Let’s see how it goes.
Baloney. Cade McNown. Akili Smith. Jim Druckenmiller. While there are certainly picks that I would think qualify for your analysis (Ryan Leaf wasn’t a horrible pick with the information available), there are certainly picks that make you say What The Fuck are they thinking? Taking a developmental project like Flacco is one such moment. He’s a fantastic pick in the 4th round, an Ok pick in the third. But in the first, he deserves a big WTF.
If Baltimore had stayed and taken Harvey, certainly people would have said it was a reach. But, given the price the Jags paid, it’s even more so.
As the commentators I heard said, the Panther’s doctor is the guy who did the surgery, so he may have had information that would alleviate the concerns. If you take away the injury concern, he’s well worth the 13th pick.
Chris JOHNSON. Chris Williams was the highly overrated OT that the Bears picked. But you’re right, that pick did have me scratching my head.
Is Dan Connor the hammer type ILB? The Browns need one of those badly. Phil is willing to trade up for talent that falls, so I wonder if he might try to package this year’s 4th and 6th and next year’s 2nd or something to move up to get him.
About Flacco… the great thing about drafting a project in the first round is that he both becomes your future hopes, yet takes time to figure out whether he’ll fulfill them or not. I’m hoping that he’s a huge bust, but it takes the Ravens 3 years before they acknowledge it and start looking for a new QB. I’m hoping this is precisely Kyle Boller Part 2.
I thought the Lions draft was so so. I actually liked them getting to move up 10 in the third and getting an extra 5th to move down only two spots. It makes great sense… if they didn’t want Albert. If you think Albert is the next Steve Hutchinson, however, it was a dumb move.
But, after that move, I thought they were horrible value picks. Gutsy Cheerios was a lot lower on my (and most I’ve seen) draft boards and Dizon wasn’t even close to a value pick there. They reached, and reached a lot. Which is fine if the Lions have a history where the guys they like turn out really well, but they don’t.
I think the Lions, and the Bears’, drafts are a good contrast to the Packers draft so far. I think both the Lions and the Bears drafted for need, not value. Gosder and Dizon, and Williams and Forte, were, even if you think they were the best at their position, were needs based. The Packers, however, picked for perceived value, getting Brohm and Lee, two guys who were good value in the late 2nd round. Oddly enough, TT wanted to trade up in the second round to grab Brohm, but lucked out when he fell. That’s excellent value to me. I’m still trying to get my brain around the Jordy Nelson pick though…
True dat. And now the Lions and the Packers have an extra second day pick. Let’s see how they do.
So I’m a bit confused after the events of Day One. My Bills picked for need, selected the players that I would have picked both times, and didn’t make me swear once. I’m not used to this!
I must say, however, that my favorite part of this year’s draft is the idea that I’ll get to see Vernon Gholston blow by Jake Long and obliterate Chad Henne twice a year now, instead of just once. I just feel sorry for poor Teddy Ginn.
My big hope for the Browns now is that they don’t go RB. There’s probably going to be some value there so it may be tempting.
The reason is that Jerome Harrison would most likely be cut. I can’t figure out what the guy did. He hasn’t gotten into trouble with the law or done anything wrong publically. But the guy can’t get playing time for some reason, despite pretty much every time he does touches the ball he does something good. There are speculations that he may be a camp cut and it’s utterly mind boggling to me. I don’t know if he banged the Walrus-in-chief’s family or took a dump in his cereal or what.
If it gives perspective on how mind boggling it seems, if I had to choose to cut one of them, I’d probably cut Jamal Lewis before Harrison. Of course the other option is cutting Jason Wright - who is pretty good at everything and great at nothing - but he seems to be more favored by the team than Harrison and wouldn’t be cut.