A quick look back at this year's NFL Draft and all of it's surprises.
ESPN and the NFL Draft
I'm a
draftnik, I will admit it. At least in
the 1st round of the NFL Draft I am and then I start to drift, but I do think ESPN has
done a spectacular job of making the NFL draft a primetime event. I like Boomer (Chris Berman) as he is no
doubt the same guy off camera that you see on camera. He's the kind of guy who would be perfectly
comfortable at your local tavern talking sports and giving you the inside
skinny on who's a good guy and more importantly, who's not. That is of course if you can somehow convince
a guy with a degree from Brown and a multimillionaire several times over to
entertain you and the boys because, of course, you're just so much fun.
His co-hosts
Jon "Chucky" Gruden and Mel Kiper make it an interesting
triumvirate. Gruden has the same laid
back appeal as Berman but with a bit more fire burning under the collar and for
Kiper, the draft is Christmas, Easter, Passover and New Years all rolled up
into one fabulously staged NFL meat market. He is the self-proclaimed draft guru and you know he feels a little pang
of resentment every time a team picks a player other than the one he
projected. Kiper might as well be flying
an F-16 into enemy territory with all the intensity he summons when talking
about the newest 20-something millionaire whose name has just been called by NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell, waiting to greet him at the podium.
And speaking
of greeting, I am always struck by the picture of a middle aged Jewish white
guy hugging it out and bromancing big-time with each and every hulking behemoth
who takes the stage. I mean, isn't he
the guy who ultimately metes out the penalties and fines which cost players
hundreds of thousands of dollars? Oh
well, for one day at least, the snake and the mongoose coexist in perfect
harmony. I have to say, I like it.
The Big Three
The draft
started without any major surprises as the Indianapolis Colts got their man in Andrew Luck
and RG3 was just waiting to get plucked by the team that had mortgaged the
franchise to move up four spots because whatever Washington Redskins owner Danny Snider
wants, Danny gets. It's an all-in move
by the Redskins as they are staking their future on Griffin's ability to
replicate what he did in college to what he will hopefully do on an NFL
gridiron.
While everyone is lauding this
as a can't miss move, it's not exactly ancient history that Mike Ditka
mortgaged New Orleans future by trading with, ironically the Redskins, in the
1999 draft to get Texas running back Ricky Williams into a Saints uniform. He gave up his entire allotment of draft
picks that year as well as a first and a third the following year to get the
dreadlocked Ricky Williams to take his Rasta act down to the bayou. While Williams wasn't a complete bust, his
off-field romance with all things ganja sealed his fate as quickly as Ricky
sealed the edges of his E-Z Wider rolling papers. Skins fans can only hope that the only grass
RG3 will be rolling is in the endzone and not the sticky bud from a leafy
plant.
While the
first two picks went as planned the Browns moved up one spot in a trade with
Minnesota to secure the rights to draft the Alabama Crimson Tide running back Trent
Richardson. I have seen several posters
from various websites wonder why the Browns would give away their first,
fourth, fifth and seventh round picks to a team directly in front of them that
had no intention of drafting a running back to begin with. For the many of you who know the answer, I
apologize for this primer in Draft Strategy 101 but there have been enough fans
bemoaning Browns management for me to come to their defense. The Browns were not afraid of Minnesota
drafting Richardson but they were terrified the Vikings would trade their pick
to a team who would draft Richardson
as the third overall leaving the Browns holding their...4th overall
pick of course!
Things that make you hmmm......
The first head scratching moment of the draft
came when the Seahawks drafted an undersized defensive end out of West Virginia
with a troubled past in Bruce Irvin with the 15th overall
selection. Irvin was projected as a
third round talent who would be undersized as an outside linebacker in the NFL
let alone a defensive end. The Seahawks
could most assuredly have traded down, received additional draft picks and
still would have been reaching when they selected him in the 2nd
round. As if this gaffe wasn't egregious
enough, they selected Wisconsin's quarterback Russell Wilson in the 3rd
round after signing free agent Matt Flynn in the offseason to be their starting
signal caller. Things that make you go
hmmm, indeed.
The Evil
genius Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots was the envy of everyone's draft board
when he saw a talented defensive end freefalling to within shouting distance of
his 27th overall pick. Not
willing to risk Chandler Jones getting scooped before him, the Patriots head
coach traded with the Bengals at 21 to get the pass rushing menace from
Syracuse. But the wily Billy B wasn't
done wheeling and dealing. He again
traded up with the Denver Broncos at the 25th overall pick to land the
versatile Alabama product Dont'a Hightower at inside linebacker who can also
play the edge.
The first round was
universally lauded and accolades abounded for the Patriots scouting department. But then came the 2nd round and the
thing that made us go hmmm. Belichick
tapped Illinois cornerback Tavon Wilson as the object of his affection with the
48th overall pick. Tavon,
who? Most board watchers didn't even
have Wilson in their top 300. Some believed
he would have been a free agent signing after the draft but most thought he
might get some love in the 6th or 7th rounds. But the second round, say what? I just want to know what the pictures of Bill
Belichick look like inside Wilson's camera. Tavon Wilson, certainly a draft pick that makes you go hmmmm.......