Thoughts on the Draft

I'm typing this as I watch. Not gonna do several posts, just one long one with a bunch of random thoughts.

4:05 - Interesting the fervor of the boos for the Stafford pick, and ESPN shows a couple of Stafford supporters cheering. I wonder if it was because of the size of his contract or something like that? Or maybe it just wasn't a NY guy and so the city boos him?

It'd be funny if Stafford just went up to the mic and said "Eff you guys, I've got $42 mil, so you can suck it!"

4:15 - Good selection by the Rams. They tried the smoke-screens, and good for the other teams that were (reportedly ... HUGE caveat of course) thinking about trading into the spot, calling the Rams bluff. Jason Smith is a good kid, too. You look at his reaction, and he's not just smugly happy knowing he's a big prospect about to sign a huge deal. He just looks thrilled to have been picked.

4:27 - Wow, the Tyson Jackson hype panned out. Good for him I guess, but hella reach for the Chiefs. And let's not forget the Chiefs haven't had the greatest luck with first round DL-men, and not like they don't have practice. Jackson is the fourth in the last eight years.

4:34 - The first real surprise of the draft. Not sure any mock I saw had Curry going to Seattle, and I don't think Kiper had EVER talked about Seattle taking the kid, so I think Boomer saying "Not really surprising" about the pick is funny. But this is a great pick. Clearly not the biggest need spot for them, clearly BPA. Starts the Seahawks out really well.

4:37 - LOL... I'm flipping between NFLN and ESPN. Mort comes on ESPN so I switch over to NFLN, where Deion is about to start interviewing Curry. Lesser of two evils? Mort wins that contest...

4:42 - I know it's totally false excitement cause it doesn't impact me and it's not game action, but these moments in the draft when the crowd blows up with the trade announcement, and then the speculation of who it's for, and then Sanchez jumping out of his chair cheering... These are the moments that make the draft a lot of fun and fairly exciting to watch.

And man, did the Browns get a haul for that pick.

4:53 - Meh, color me unimpressed. Andre Smith has so much potential, but I think he's the kinda guy who really needs discipline to reach his potential. Is Cinci gonna provide that? Doubtful.

4:57 - Raiders didn't waste any time getting that pick in, did they? I love it. Never count the Raiders out to do the dumbest possible thing.

I think what concerns me most (and makes me happiest the Ravens didn't take him) about Heyward-Bey (DHB) is the look on his face when he was taken. Pretty much the exact opposite of Smith and Curry's reaction. His family blows up, and he just sits there with this look on his face like "Yeah that's right, I am the m*$%&#$@ing man."

McShay on ESPN just says "This has bust written all over it." Yeah, no joke here. Mayock looks virtually in shock that DHB gets taken before Crabtree, and it saying it's quite possible the Jags trade the pick to someone who wants him. Kudos to Crabtree...looks calm on camera (though he looked literally shocked when the pick was announced) and still smiling.

I actually half wonder if he was relieved the Raiders didn't take him...

5:06 - You know, I can't help but think the Jags are just gun-shy about drafting WRs. It's understandable, between R Jay Soward, Reggie Williams and Matt Jones. And Monroe really is a good pick at #8 overall. But Michael Crabtree, almost unquestionably the second best prospect in this draft, is starting to represent simply ridiculous value.

5:12 - BJ Raji appears to be the guy, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope that the Ravens do exactly the opposite of what they did with the Jags last year and go from 26 to 9 to get Crabtree for their 1st, 3rd and a 2nd next year. Raji is a decent pick for them.

5:15 - LOL...Erin Andrews says when the Raiders made the pick, someone at the Crabtree table went "Phew!"

At this point, is it even possible that the Niners take anyone other than Crabtree, or trade the pick to someone who will?

5:24 - No.

5:28 - Maybin concerns me a bit. I feel like he's got boom or bust written all over him. And that it's more likely he busts.

5:34 - The Moreno pick to Denver is a bit surprising, but I'm not too surprised by it. I mean, they had such RB issues last year. Maybe this finally locks the position down for a while.

Right after that goes Orakpo to the Skins. Pretty solid value there...they have to be thrilled he fell to them I think. Very good blend of need and value.

5:42 - Great pick for the Saints. Another blend of need and value. Jenkins can just play football, regardless of his speed, and the Saints need help everywhere in that backfield.

5:47 - Cushing to the Texans. To me, that seemed kinda obvious, and really just to me it's a boring pick.

5:53 - Larry English off the board. Man, what a freakin' reach. Ridiculous. English just screams to me of a guy that one team likes, and so another looks again and likes him, and someone else and someone else and it all just piles on and suddenly the guy's taken a round higher than he prolly should be because a dozen teams want him.

That said, Patrick correctly has said that AJ Smith is a wizard talent evaluator, so I have to trust this pick.

6:03 - I know they only got a 6th round pick for the move down, but the Browns haven't even picked yet and they are just crushing this draft. Three players and two extra picks, and they don't have to pay top five money to a guy who isn't talented enough to go top ten last year (yeah, all of them).

Freeman sucks. Kyle Boller v2.0.

I have to think the NFL Network probably isn't thrilled with its decision to put Gruden in front of the camera. He sounds pretty clueless out there. They were just making fun of him on set for finally getting one call right.

6:08 - Ayers was such an obvious pick. It was either him or Brown, after taking Moreno with their #12.

6:15 - Third trade in the round for the Browns. What a great draft they're having. Maclin is a little surprising for the Eagles, but we knew they wanted a receiver. I'm a bit surprised they didn't take a RB. But Maclin is pretty good value here.

6:22 - Solid pick for Det. Pettigrew will both help protect as well as provide a good safety outlet for their new $42MM QB.

6:27 - So after all the movement, they take a guy who just looks like he's gonna be a very solid player.

6:29 - Harvin to the Vikes makes sense, but I hate rewarding a guy that clearly has discipline issues, smoking pot close enough to the combine to test positive at it. Plus, the Vikes have a terrible track record at helping troubled players, so this might be the worst spot for Harvin to have gone.

6:35 - Balt goes up and gets Oher. I was chatting with Patrick and saying he's a lock if he falls to 26, and they went up and got him. I love that pick. Terrific value, and fills a semi-need too at RT. Great pick IMO.

6:41 - Jerry to the Falcons is pretty good value. Tons of great value in this range.

6:46 - Davis is a big talent with tons of questions, but I trust Parcells to have filled his staff with guys that will keep troubled players in line the same way he would. This could be a great pick.

6:54 - Oh what a shock, NE trades down some more. GB goes up and gets Matthews, who I guess a lot of people are high on, but I'm really not at all. None of the USC LBs are overly impressive to me, at least without getting into a great spot. GB's D is horrible, I don't see him as a huge difference maker for them.

7:01 - Donald Brown to the Colts? They don't like Addai all of a sudden? I think this is the first pick that really shocks me. I don't think it's a bad pick, I think Brown is a beast. But I didn't expect that at all.

7:04 - An unsexy pick for the Bills, but not too bad.

7:09 - Hakeem Nicks to the Gints. No surprise there at all. Great pick.

7:18 - Britt to the Titans is as unsurprising as Nicks to the Gints.

7:28 - Beanie Wells falls to the Cards, another obvious selection.

7:31 - And we close the first round with Evander Hood, a very solid pickup for them. Not surprising they're picking in the trenches.

There's really a lot of value right now that's still around. Maualuga, Butler, Laurinitus, Unger, etc. A fun first round, but for me, the draft has only just begun...