NFL Draft Day 1 thoughts...

Well, it was an eventful and interesting day for the NFL draft. The first few picks started off pretty much as predicted as Miami took Jake Long, St. Louis took Chris Long, Atlanta took Chris Ryan (aka Matty Ice), Oakland took Darren McFadden, Kansas City took Glenn Dorsey, and the N.Y. Jets took Vernon Gholston. However, after those first six picks, there were eight trades in the first round as teams traded up and back in the draft order to get their men. The Saints traded up with the Patriots to get Sedrick Ellis, but the Patriots sacrificed their ability to draft Ellis' teammate Keith Rivers, the best linebacker in the class, as the Bengals drafted Ellis right before the Patriots. The Patriots drafted Jerod Mayo from Tennessee instead which was a huge stretch in my opinion even though they needed linebackers. It seems like they could have traded back again and still got Mayo.

Perhaps, nothing was more perplexing about the first round then the fact that no wide-receivers were taken even though Devin Thomas was predicted by many to be drafted 11th by the Buffalo Bills. While the first round was eventful, the second round was equally strange when wide-receivers finally did get picked. Malcolm Kelly from Oklahoma and Limas Sweed from Texas , who were two of the top three rated wide-receivers by many experts, were the 8th and 9th drafted wide-receivers respectively. Also, Mario Manningham, Early Doucet, and Andre Caldwell are all still undrafted although many thought they would go in the second round.

Some additional thoughts about the first day:

1) What were my Titans thinking? Devin Thomas is sitting there, and you don't take him? Don't get me wrong I LOVE Chris Johnson's 4.24 forty speed especially since I think LenDale White has no work ethic and is fat, but wide-receiver is a huge need. The Titans have not signed anyone who is a number one receiver. Justin McCareins and Justin Gage are not the answer. Alge Crumpler is a great signing, but having another wide-receiver to compliment Roydell Williams and Crumpler would have been nice for Young. Hey, if Earl is still around when the Titans pick in the third round, I would be shocked/disappointed if they pass him up because he could be a good possession receiver for Young to dump the ball off to.

Chris Johnson's speed (25-45 seconds into this video. What a second gear!!!):


2) The new time limit limiting teams from 15 min to 10 min in the first round is possibly one of the best decisions ever made. The teams don't need that long. Don't make the fans wait. Thanks Commissioner Goddell.

3) Congrats to Chris Williams!!! Make us proud up there in Chicago protecting Sexy Rexy. Check out vucommodores for great interviews and videos of Williams' big day

4) I think Earl will be drafted some time in the 3rd round, but i would be surprised to see Goff go there with only four linebackers drafted so far. However, SI.com has him as the 11th best available player, so hopefully Goff will be drafted in the third, and the Commodores will make history with three players drafted in the first three round for the first time in school history. If Goff slips into the fourth or even fifth round, he will be a huge steal.

5) What was Steve Young talking about saying there won't be any franchise quarterbacks in next year's draft so the Falcons definitely should take Matty Ice? First, I am not convinced that Matt Ryan will be a franchise quarterback. Second, the name Tim Tebow ring a bell?? Sure Tebow is a junior next year, but everyone knows he is coming out and will be the first quarterback taken not to mention he just won a Heisman, so I would think that he will probably be just as good of a NFL quarterback as Matt Ryan, who's main weakness is his arm strength.

6) Kansas City, Baltimore, Carolina, Dallas, and Pittsburgh all had great first days.


Worst first day: It is hard to go with someone other than the Titans because although they addressed a need at DE with Jason Jones, he is no Antwan Odom, who the Titans lost to free agency. Also, passing up a wide receiver when you had your pick of all of them to get a running back who many had being drafted in the beginning to middle of the second round hurts. The Titans have two good backs in Chris Henry and LenDale White. They had more pressing needs then to stretch on a guy like Johnson. Overall though it is hard to find a team that you look at and say "what were they doing". Detroit didn't have an incredible first day either, and many thought they should take a running back; however, they already have Tatum Bell and Kevin Jones, so it seems like giving those two more running room by improving the offensive line makes sense. Overall, everyone seems to have had a pretty solid first two rounds as addressing needs seemed to be the theme for most teams on day one. With that said, some teams had better days then others.

Best first day: I am going to have to say it is a tie between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers don't have many needs, so they basically had two luxury picks. They used them as such taking the best player available at both picks. In the first round, they picked Reshard Mendenhall, who many thought was the best back in the draft after McFadden. In the second round, they drafted Limas Sweed, who was rated the best receiver in the draft by some. Isn't it funny the difference one spot makes. Pittsburgh was one spot ahead of the Titans in both rounds, and as a Titans fan, I would take their two guys over the two the Titans drafted any day especially if the Titans were going to pick a running back in the first round.

The Chiefs also had an outstanding day with Glenn Dorsey, who was Mel Kiper's number one rated prospect in the draft, falling into their laps, and then they moved up in the first round by trading with Detroit to get Branden Albert, who many had going at the number five pick to them. Albert was also considered the second best offensive lineman in the draft after Jake Long.


The Titans may not have had the best first day, but for any fan out there who is disappointed with their team's first day moves, the good news is that the real draft begins on day two. There are still five more rounds, and there are always first round busts and late round steals as great players like Tom Brady have been drafted late as ESPN loves to remind us.



(Photo courtesy of SI.com)