Thursday, May 10, 2007

Draft Recap

After the dust has settled a little its time to recap some of the draft.
My first question is where was the commissioner's private room for Aaron Rodgers a couple of years ago? Second I was hoping to see Patrick Willis go to a team that runs a 4-3 defense instead of a 3-4 defense. No offense to San Fransisco I just he transitions to a 4-3 linebacker better than a 3-4. He's the kind of athlete that will be great no matter what system he's in he just would have the chance to make more plays that way. Just remember when Baltimore tried the 3-4 for a couple of years Ray Lewis was still a great player but he complained that he had to fight to get free to make tackles. The Ravens switched back to the 4-3 and he flourished again.
Also excited for the Rebels other draftee Trumaine McBride. Lets hope by the end of training camp they have his name right. Rory Johnson who you can't say should have stayed in school because its looking more and more like that wasn't an option didn't get drafted but signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers. Andrew "Hacksaw" Wicker signed with the New York Jets and Lawrence Lilly signed with the Cleveland Browns.

I also think that if Oakland was planning to trade Randy Moss all along they should have drafted Calvin Johnson. Calvin is the type of receiver that comes along every ten years. Russell could be a bust just as easy as he could be a quarterback that just stays in the league. The only way you pass on a receiver like Johnson is if you know you have a pro bowler like Randy Moss. The guys I was way off on. Levi Brown. I was high on him but everything I'd seen said not to expect him to go higher than 8th and possibly all the way down to 20th. Goes to show how bad the Cardinals need help on the offensive line. Like everyone else I had Alan Branch in the first round but I was expecting him to fall. Just not to the second round. I had a feeling that the Chargers would reach on a wide receiver I just had the wrong one. I went with the receiver that ran the fastest time at the combine which usually gets someone to reach. Instead the Chargers made an even bigger reach by taking Craig Davis in the first. I also did not see Justin Harrell getting drafted in the teens after the injury history he had.
On to the Giants. Thorpe Award winning cornerback Aaron Ross was one of those safe picks that I can't complain about. I'm not super excited and ordering a jersey or anything like when we drafted Eli but I'm not "throwing the remote" either. Solid player taken where he was graded at a position of need. Good value which is the key to evaluating the draft. Other than Jay Alford in the third round the Giants did a great job of maximizing value in this draft. They could have gotten Alford two or three rounds later based on his rankings. Steve Smith. Guy put of huge numbers at The pick I really loved as he may turn out to be the player in this draft is USC wide receiver USC and knows how to run good routes. Should be a solid #2 receiver for years in the Amani Toomer mold. I see him and Eli having a nice relationship for a decade. Kevin Boss has the ability to turn out to be a special tightend. Had great combine numbers. Not as polished of a blocker as I would have like because with Shockey already on the team that is what he'll primarily be called in to do. Adam Koets sounded like as good of a tackle as you'd get in the sixth. Michael Johnson was a steal in the seventh. Not as high on Ahmad Bradshaw because of character issues but hard to complain about seventh round choices. Was hoping we'd get a full back though.

My one complaint was taking Alford in the third when if they really like him they could have gotten him a round or two later. Trade down even and get an extra fourth. I really would have like the team to take an offensive lineman in the third or fourth round in case the Deihl experiment doesn't work and they need a rookie that can play immediately.

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