411's NFL Round Up 4.29.08
Posted by Emmett Wilks on 04.29.2008
Recaping a big Draft weekend. Who won, who lost, and why no team selected a wide receiver in the first round. All this and more in NFL Round Up.
Draft weekend is a wrap. I properly picked the first six picks in the Draft this year, and 9 of the top 10 picks. But like an NCAA Basketball Tourney bracket, it all fell to hell rather quickly. Still, I am a very long way from calling myself Mel Kiper, who by the way did another great job for ESPN. While there are occasions he becomes a bit too much of a character on TV, when it comes to the nuts and bolts of the NFL Draft, he is still the man. Onto the Round Up.
QUICK NOTES
Non-Draft Notes
With Adam "Pacman" Jones now officially a Cowboy, the coach with the most pressure this year will be Dallas' Wade Phillips. He returns 13 Pro Bowl players, two first round draft picks, and now a troubled but extremely talented corner in Jones. You couldn't ask for a better team to take the field with, and the Cowboys owner Jerry Jones knows it. Good luck Wade, you're a great coach and a great guy, but there will be a TON of pressure this year.
The release of Raiders RB Dominic Rhodes after the drafting of Darren McFadden could be a blessing for a number of teams.
The selection of Brett Favre to be the cover of Madden '09 was an inspiring choice. While this may not be the biggest news story of the week, the Madden video game franchise is the most important sports video game ever, and the cover is a big deal.
The Panthers made a nice move with the addition of DT Darwin Walker. Signed to a one year deal, Walker will provide some depth on a DL that went from the best in NFL in 2003 and 2004 to an average unit the last two seasons.
Draft Notes
If Roger Goodell does nothing else in his NFL commissioner tenure, he will still receive high marks from me for shortening time between the picks from 15 minutes to 10 minutes, thus eliminating almost 3 hours from the first round. It was quick, exciting, and made for much, much better fan programming.
But far more importantly with Goodell right now is his interest in finally curtailing these ridiculous rookie contracts. My loyal reader know that I have always railed against this insane contracts that rookies have been receiving ($30 million for Jake Long guaranteed) and Goodell said on ESPN Radio that he has addressed it with NFL Players Association boss Gene Upshaw. A cap will likely be part of the new collective bargaining agreement that will be worked out in November, and it has been far too long in the making. Upshaw may provide some hindrance to a proposed cap, but the financial absurdity of the situation is just too big to ignore.
There is no way anyone expected the amount of trading that occurred during the first round on Sunday; 8 altogether, making it one of the busiest few hours in recent draft history. But maybe it wasn't too surprising. This year more than most, when it came to assessing the talent of the players outside the consensus top 6 guys (Jake and Chris Long, Dorsey, Gholston, McFadden, Ryan) there was a rather large disparity in opinion.
It was a nice change of pace to see happy Jets fans on draft day with the selection of Ohio State LB Vernon Gholston. Though Gholston has as much chance of any of the top 10 to be busts (and history shows that at least half will be), he made the day of Jets fans who have had FAR too many frustrations on draft day.
I still think the most curious fall came from Penn State LB Dan Connor. Many regarded Connor as a possible late first round but defiantly 2nd round pick. Though not a blazing fast for a LB (4.78 40), Connor certainly played faster than that at Penn State. His fall may be Carolina's blessing, as they grabbed a once perceived first round talent in the third round who could possibly be an opening day starter.
When all is said and done, Jeremy Shockey will still be a Giant in 2008
WHY NO GO?
Several players were going into draft weekend with a likely to strong probability of being traded; Miami's Jason Taylor, New York's Jeremy Shockey, Lito Sheppard and Cincy's Chad Johnson. None left their respective ball clubs. Of all the players who are likely/looking to be traded, Jeremy Shockey is the most likely to stay put. The Giants had a prime opportunity to send Shockey to New Orleans for a second-round pick, but apparently wanted more, likely a third or fourth round as well. This signals to me that as far as the Giants are concerned, Shockey is still a valuable and dangerous weapon.
As far as Taylor, trade talks have appeared to be very quite if none existent. Bill Parcells has already stated that Taylor will be a Dolphin unless he "retires," which is not likely to happen. But the Fins wouldn't be stupid. If there was a trade that was that enticing, they would have leapt on it. For now, Taylor remains on a rebuilding squad.
Sheppard has received assurances that his situation will be taken care of, meaning he will likely be traded. But now the question of when and how becomes tricky for the Eagles after Draft weekend, and his potential suitors have dwindled as teams with CB needs may have filled them in the draft.
As for Chad Johnson, I am starting to think he may not be leaving Cincy after all. Once a dead certainty, it appears that Cincinnati will play chicken with Johnson until the season and will see who blinks first. The Redskins offered a very good trade (1st round this year, third next year) and coach Marvin Lewis still won't bite. Johnson will of course provide the most drama of all these situations, but the fact that none of these guys moved was very surprising.
FAR TOO EARLY AWARDS
The thought of giving out draft grades today or any time in the next year is preposterous, so I won't. None of these men have taken the field yet, so we don't know how well, or how poorly, any team has actually selected. But we can make some assessments on how some of the draft shook out for teams.
BEST AT ADDRESSING TEAMS IMMEDIATE NEEDS
MIAMI DOLPHINS-
Bill Parcells' first draft with the Dolphins has all the makings of great new beginning. They picked up six O and D lineman, including potential Opening Day starters in Jake Long and Phillip Merling while getting a new possible future QB in Chad Henne.
Runner up- Jacksonville Jaguars
TEAM WHO REACHED TOO MUCH
WASHINGTON REDSKINS-
This team will find itself some wide receivers or go insane trying. With three second round picks, they selected three pass catchers in WR's Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, along with USC TE Fred Davis while they ignored their more pressing need at the CB spot. My gut tells me they were just hedging their bets by taking both of these guys, banking on one of them to become a major player. But the investment of both those picks on wideouts seemed wasteful.
TEAM PHILOSOPHY THAT I DON'T GET
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES-
Eagles coach Andy Reid and GM Tom Heckertt have been very good drafters over their tenures. This years' draft has met with a surprising amount of positive reviews, mostly because they were able to obtain a second 1st round selection next year. But the last two drafts for the Eagles have really been out of the ordinary. Last years' stunner of QB Kevin Kolb was very surprising, but selecting another DL in Trevor Laws was even more difficult to understand. The Eagles have selected a DL with 3 of their last 4 first picks (Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunckley in 2005 and 2006 first rounds, respectively). Apparently, there really was no player that interested the Eagles enough at the 19th pick, which is fine. But to say no player interested them until pick 47, after they traded down again is remarkable. If their selections all become starters, great, but for every future Pro Bowler selected from picks 19 to 46 in this draft, the Eagles will have some explaining to do.
WAY TOO EARLY ROOKIES OF THE YEAR
This is based not just on the quality of the player, but also the situation of the teams they were drafted into. And these picks are not to say that these guys will have the best careers, (I firmly believe Darren McFadden will be a great player). Rather, who will make an impact the quickest?
Offensive Rookie
Felix Jones RB (Dallas Cowboys)
Yes, he will share carries with Marion Barber. But he is a speedster running behind the best O-line in football. He is in a perfect situation.
Runner Up-
Rashard Mendenhall- RB (Pittsburgh Steelers)
With many of the same reasons as Jones above, but he won't have the same O-line, but may get a few more carries than Jones.
Defensive Rookie
Keith Rivers LB (Cincinnati Bengals)
Rivers is a beast, will be an opening day starter for a defense that has been lacking for several seasons.
Runner Up-
Calais Campbell DE (Arizona Cardinals)
I can hear a lot of people shaking there heads at this one. But despite Campbell's average junior season at Miami (6.5 sacks), he is still a 6-8, 290 lbs. end who has the ability to dominate. Fun note- Campbell wrote down every team who passed on him in the draft, which in turn was everyone. The chip on his shoulder will be mighty.
University of Houston's Donnie Avery was a surprising first selection at wide receiver.
DID NOT SEE THAT COMING
No one, and I mean NO ONE could have expected to see zero wide receivers taken in the first round. My final Mock Draft last week listed 5 players going in the first round. And I was in the vast majority of people thinking that way. Receiver is among the new age "core" positions of football. Those are quarterback, left tackle, defensive end, corner, and lastly receiver. They are typically ranked in that order as well. So 32 GMs and coaches deemed that of the 31 first round picks this year, not one player was good enough to fill one of the most important positions in football! In all, 32 wideouts were selected during the draft. Even more shocking was the first receiver taken, University of Houston's Donnie Avery was slated as the sixth or seventh wideout on most people's boards. Same with Virginia Tech's Eddie Royal and Coastal Carolina's Jerome Simpson, whom leaped ahead of the far more hyped players like Texas' Limas Sweed, Cal's DeSean Jackson and Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly. The last three I had going in the first round, with Sweed as high as 13 to Carolina. The reasons for this are still not fully clear. Character, I am certain played a large part in the decision for at least two players, Kelly and Michigan's Mario Manningham, who went from a first rounder 6 months ago to a third rounder Sunday. Both players ran poor times when being tested by scouts and proceeded to blame everyone around them for their shortcomings. That did not bode well for their draft stock. Teams were trying to out guess one another, gambling that one of their targets would fall so they could afford to wait, only to see ALL of their targets fall. I think all of the WR in this years draft have a great deal to prove.
Pure curiosity question hit me this week. Has there ever been a person who has gone 100% in picking the NFL draft first round. Even though it is nearly impossible with trade and such, has there ever been a person to get ever pick right? If so, let me know, because that is just really amazing.
