After months and weeks of speculation, the NFL Draft is finally over. No more mock drafts, no more rumors, and ESPN gets to put Mel Kiper back in carbonate for another year. As much as I love the draft, it’s good to know it’s over. Rosters are nearly set and the OTA’s of 2012 are upon us. OTA’s lead to Mini Camp which lead to training camp and before you know it…Week 1 will be here. So yes, the NFL season is inching closer. Since I was waist deep in the draft, let me provide you with my winners and losers of draft weekend.
Winners:
Buffalo Bills: The goal to any draft is to add depth, talent, value and athleticism. The Bills did that all across the board. Stephon Gilmore, Cordy Glenn, TJ Graham and Nigel Bradham will come in and immediately compete for starting spots. At the spots where Buffalo picked Ron Brooks, Zebrie Sanders and Tank Carder ? That’s great value and adds depth. I was a little surprised Tank Carder was still available in Round 6. Coming into the draft Buddy Nix said he wanted to add two tackles and two corners. Check and check. What I didn’t like about the Bills draft? No selection of a Quarterback. Kellen Moore and Case Keenum were available in the 7th Round and both of those QB’s ran a spread offense somewhat similar to Buffalo’s. Brock Osweiler was never a consideration because Cordy Glenn was available in Round 2. I know the Bills like Ryan Fitzpatrick but at some point this team needs to address this position in the draft. The selection of TJ Graham was also an interesting one. Especially with the likes of Joe Adams, Greg Childs, Jarius Wright, Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones all still on the board. However TJ is a 6’0 WR with blazing speed who needs to be coached up a little at this level. The comparison we got this weekend was Mike Wallace. Let’s hope so. So if I were to grade this years class I’d give it a solid B+.
TRADES TRADES TRADES…except Buffalo: With all the trading up and down teams did the Bills only moved once, and that was to grab TJ Graham. They jumped all of two spots. All the talk of them moving to grab Matt Kalil was just that. Talk. One thing I learned this weekend is that Buddy Nix covets his picks too much to ever make a big move up. I will say this though: If the Bills are in a spot to move up to grab a quarterback in the 2013 draft say an Aaron Murray (Georgia), Tyler Wilson (Arkansas) or Tyler Bray (Tennessee) they HAVE TO consider it. The first round trades made the draft oh so much fun to watch.
Southeast Football Schools: South Carolina, Georgia, NC State, Florida State and LSU. The Bills first 6 picks came from these schools. The Bills love the South. And if you look above at 3 of the top Quarterback prospects I named to potentially come out next year you will notice the same theme. 43 players were taken from the SEC alone, which marked the 6th year in a row that the conference took home the crown for most players drafted.
Players with production: Stephon Gilmore has 40 straight starts. Cordy Glenn, Zebrie Sanders, Tank Carder, TJ Graham and Nigel Bradham are all players with more then 45+ starts at there schools. The only with little starting time was Ron Brooks from LSU. He only started 3 games in 4 years and was used mostly in sub packages. Why only 3 starts? Ahead of him at LSU during his time: Patrick Peterson (Top 5 pick) Morris Claiborne (Top 10 pick) and Tyrann Mathieu (Heisman Finalist and 2013 Top 10 pick).
Bills Fans: “In Buddy We Trust” has been the moniker around these parts since the signing of Mario Williams and Mark Anderson and it should be. Folks, this is what a team with direction and a vision looks like (See I’m not always cynical). Finally after years of being stuck in the mud, the Bills front office is organized and know what they want their team to look like. The Bills are building what could be an elite defense and are keeping up with what it takes to win this league. Look at the Bills off season up to this point and it’s a body of work that I can’t remember happening around here in a long time. Buffalo managed to keep all their core free agents (minus Bell) and add the biggest free agent on the market. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and this time it may not be a train.
My Mock Draft: Gilmore to Buffalo? Check. Richardson to Cleveland? Check. Brandon Weeden to Cleveland? Check. Doug Martin to Tampa Bay? Check. And that’s pretty much it.
The State of Pennsylvania: Both The Eagles and Steelers had a great weekend. The Eagles went all defense on their first three selections and all three have the potential to start Week One. Fletcher Cox (DL), Mychal Kendricks (LB), and Vinny Curry (DL). In round three Andy Reid selected Nick Foles, QB from Arizona to develop behind Michael Vick. *cough Buffalo cough*. It always seems that the draft falls into the lap of the Steelers. And it did again. David DeCastro (G) Mike Adams (LT) and Shawn Spence (LB). DeCastro and Spence are future Pro Bowlers (if they ever have ever have one again). The player to keep an eye for Pittsburgh? Alameda Ta’Amu, 6’3 350lbs NT from Washington. Remember that name.
Cincinnati Bengals: These aren’t your older brother’s Bengals. After drafting Dre Kirkpatrick at pick 17 they traded out of the 21st slot with the Patriots and selected Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler with pick 27. They selected Penn St defensive lineman Devon Still in the second round who had a first round grade. Took Georgia tight end Orson Charles in Round 4 to pair with Jermaine Gresham and took two highly touted wide receivers in Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones. The AFC North will be a fight.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Greg Schiano’s first draft was very solid. Tampa traded out of the 5th spot to pick 7 and grabbed the best Safety in Mark Barron from Alabama. Traded back into the first at pick 31 to select the second best RB in the draft, Boise State’s Doug Martin. Pairing Doug Martin and LeGarrette Blount will really help Josh Freeman. Linebacker’s LaVonte David and West Virginia’s Najee Goode will help a suffering defense.
Brock Osweiler: When I wrote my draft QB preview and mock draft I said Brock Osweiler was the perfect QB to sit behind Fitz for 2-3 years and eventually take over. John Elway agreed and took him to learn behind Peyton Manning. What a perfect situation Osweiler ended up in.
NFL Network: At this point I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t have access to this network. Rich Eisen and Mike Mayock were on top of their game all weekend. Mayock openly admitted through out the weekend how bad his mock draft was but his analysis of all the picks and break down of film was spot on. Nobody is better then Mayock right now. Charlie Casserly, Michael Lombardi, and Brian Billick were excellent as well. I think Billick is better off on a set then doing color of games on FOX.
Losers:
Terrence McGee and Marcus Easley: With the draft day additions of Stephon Gilmore and TJ Graham I expect one or both of these guys to be released this summer. The Bills re-signed Derek Hagan in the offseason and with Donald Jones coming back from injury it’s safe to say the Bills top five WR’s this up coming season will be: Stevie Johnson, Donald Jones, Hagan, David Nelson, and TJ Graham. Unless Easley can stay healthy and does something spectacular in camp and preseason, he may be the odd man out. McGee’s re-structured his contract in the off season, but his age and recent injury history is a concern. The Bills really like what they have in Justin Rogers and now you add Gilmore and Ron Brooks to the back end of the defense, this could be the end of Terrence.
Adam Schefter and Jason LaCanfora: NFL Network and ESPN did an pretty solid job of not tipping off the picks on live TV. But these two hammer heads decided to take to twitter and announce picks that were at times 3 to 4 ahead of what you were seeing on TV. Someone in the famed “Bills Mafia” tweeted: “If you don’t like being spoiled to the picks stay off twitter” Well, here is the deal: I like to be on twitter to crack jokes and discuss the picks as they happen.I don’t go on twitter to have these two spoil every pick, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so. The NFL really needs to rope in the insiders on draft day and tell them to keep that stuff to themselves on twitter. If you hear of trades, fine…put it out on Twitter, but don’t spoil the selections.
People who continually rip on the NFL Draft: Does the draft coverage get a little tiresome? Yes. A little over the top? I guess. But the football team that you follow or cover is built on this weekend. You know why the same teams are good every year? Because they draft incredibly well. So you can go on twitter mock the coverage, you can write articles ripping apart how bad mock drafts are but you know what? Those “draft experts” work all year round studying film, meeting and talking to coaches to properly rank how they see the players. So when the Patriots take a Safety in the 2nd round who most draft analysts have as late to undrafted selection, yes I’m gonna question it. If you don’t like the draft, or think it’s obnoxious then go away for the weekend. We would be better off.
ESPN: I only watched about 5 minutes of their coverage and those 5 minutes were the worst I’ve ever spent. I know not everyone is fortunate to have DirecTV or a cable provider that provides the NFL Network, but holy cow is ESPN awful. Aside from live games, College Gameday and Pardon The Interruption, ESPN is never on in my house. How ESPN can continue to roll out Chris Berman is beyond me. Chris Berman’s act is as old as the network he works for. He was once funny. In 1992. The big wigs over in Bristol wake up and get that carnival act off the air, maybe I’ll tune into their NFL coverage. If I were running ESPN my #1 NFL studio crew would look like this: Trey Wingo host, Chris Mortenson, Eric Mangini, Marcellus Wiley, and Bill Polian. Goodbye Berman, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn, Cris Carter, Tedy Bruschi, and Herm Edwards. I’d keep Schefter at a “Update Desk” or something.
Quarterbacks in the NFL: The great Al Davis once said: “The quarterback must go down, and he must go down hard” (I got a 15 yard penalty for typing that). Why have the Giants won 2 of the last 4 Super Bowls? Because their pass rush is deadly. The league has taken notice. In the first round alone 10 of the 32 picks were defensive lineman. Ravens took one of my favorite players in the draft, Courtney Upshaw in the 2nd round. The Bills spent close to $120 + million on Mario Williams & Mark Anderson. Wanna win? Get to the quarterback.
St Louis Rams: A lot of “Boom or Bust” picks here with the Rams. They traded down to 6 from 2 but moved again from 6 to 14 to select Michael Brockers. Why? Why not stay at 6 and get the best CB (Morris Claiborne) or Safety in the draft (Mark Barron) to team up with Cortland Finnegan. I loved the second round pick of WR Brian Quick, but I felt they reached a little with RB Isaiah Pead. They should’ve grabbed another WR with that pick. In between those picked they took controversial CB Janoris Jenkins. If it wasn’t for the off the field problems, he may have the first CB of the board. However, Janoris likes to keep “Little Janoris” just as busy. 4 kids. 3 women. Another woman Janoris is addicted to? Mary Jane. Again, if he keeps Mary Jane in check and little Janoris in the house, he could be an all pro.
Washington Redskins: Just when you think they have it figured out…they go ahead and remind you just how ridiculous they are. They trade 3 first round picks (6th pick in 2012 and a first rounder in 2013 and 2014) to move up to grab Robert Griffin III. Which is great. Loved the trade. So explain to me why in the 4th round you take Kirk Cousins? If you are planning to flip Cousins for future picks wouldn’t he need first team reps? If RG3 is the future of the Redskins, why is Cousins even on your board? What value does he give you? The pick made zero sense to me. Ever since John Elway retired Mike Shanahan hasn’t been the same. Remember when he passed on being the Bills coach? Thank you, Mike.
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