Assessment of all 32 R1 Picks

Here is my assessment of all 32 picks in R1. Obviously it's way to early to truly grade this draft, but here are my initial thoughts on which picks made sense, and which ones had me scratching my head.

1. Colts - Luck - No brainer
2. Redskins - RG3 - Ditto
3. Browns - Richardson - I guess they thought Minnesota would trade down with Tampa, and Minnesota got them to blink. I think that they got a day 1 impact player. We will not like facing him on Sundays, and he will be a 1,200+ yard, 8+ TD rookie at worst (barring injury), maybe more like 1,500 yards, 10 TDs. However, I have a bias against picking RBs high, and a RB does not make a team when it has so many other holes.
4. Vikings - Kalil - Excellent, safe pick. Squeezing the Browns for an extra pick, and still getting their guy is the icing on the cake.
5. Jaguars - Blackmon - They needed a playmaker badly, and got one. I think this was a good trade up. Blackmon reminds me of TO without the bad attitude.
6. Cowboys - Claiborne - I love the move that Dallas made. Claiborne looks to me like a shutdown corner with great ball skills. This is good value when you look at how he fits into their roster.
7. Buccaneers - Barron - Good, safe pick at #7. I think Barron is likely to be a multi Pro Bowl guy. He may never quite give the #7 overall pizzazz, but he won't let them down either.
8. Dolphins - Tannehill - Franchise QBs trump all on draft day. He passes all of the tests except for having a few notable underwhelming late game performances. That can be coached. It will be interesting to look back on this pick in a few years. Yes, I am that non-committal on this pick.
9. Panthers - Kuechly - This was a bit of a surprise. Mayock was spouting about his zone coverage, which is great. However, what people seem to keep ignoring is that he makes a LOT of tackles downfield after the 1st down marker. An NFL MLB needs to stop other teams from getting the consistent 4+ yard runs, not make the tackle at the end of the constant 4+ yard runs. I don't like the pick, but he is better suited to a 4-3 than a 3-4, so they got that right.
10. Bills - Gilmore - I guess you can say that they need lots of DBs facing the Pats every year. So so pick to me.
11. Chiefs - Poe - My best guess is that, when we look back on this draft in 3 years, Poe will be one of the "WTF were they thinking?" kind of busts that we see so often at the to of R1. When you draft on potential instead of proven performance, you take a risk. My girlfriend was laughing at how profusely I was thanking Pioli when this pick was announced.
12. Eagles - Cox - I LOVE the trade up to secure Cox. He is the perfect guy for their scheme, and will produce dividends day 1 by being moved all around their front and getting into the backfield.
13. Cardinals - Floyd - Ehhh... not excited. He's a solid WR, but I see a draft that is very rich in 2nd tier WRs after Blackmon. I don't see value here at all, and think that they should have gone O-line.
14. Rams - Brockers - I'm not excited over this pick. He could easily end up not producing at a top 15 pick level. We shall see, but I think they should have shored up their O-line.
15. Seahawks - Irvin - Ummm... No.
16. Jets - Coples - Really? Let's get a 4-3 DE with a questionable work ethic, and make him a 5 technique where he'll be expected to eat blockers most of the time? The Jets are continuing their downward sprial. Mark it down. They will not get value with this pick other than occasional flashes, and Coples will end up with a 4-3 team in a few years. They will regret passing on Ingram, Upshaw and others here.
17. Bengals - Kirkpatrick - Good, reasonably safe pick. I think this was his value spot. They resisted the urge to get the better corner (Jenkins) with off the field issues.
18. Chargers - Ingram - I LOVE this pick for both value and need. I thought that they may trade up for him, but they stood pat and got a great overall player.
19. Bears - McClellin - I like McClellin a lot as a 3-4 OLB. I do not think that he is strong enough at the point of attack to be a 4-3 LDE. I love the player, hate the fit.
20. Titans - Wright - OK pick. I think he's a top notch WR, as his on-field performance shows. Time will tell if he is ever good enough to pass on the pass rushers that were still available.
21. Pats - Jones - There's no denying the potential. However, there's also no denying that he needs to grow and learn. I think that, for next year, having Jones instead of Carter or Anderson will be a downgrade to their pass rush. However, what really has me scratching my head is that I think he is a pure 4-3 DE. This, combined with their other pick, has me wondering what the heck they're thinking in Foxboro. It's funny how the talking heads all gushed over this pick. It seems like they continually ignore the Pats' string of early round busts, and think that they can do no wrong. If there's any team that is living on their 30 year old players, it's the Pats. They drafted GREAT in the Pioli era, now not so much.
22. Browns - Weeden - Well, all I can say is... welcome to the AFC North Brandon! Enjoy the taste of the varieties of turf that we have to serve up.
23. Lions - Reiff - Good value at #23
24. Steelers - DeCastro - What were we thinking passing on Glenn?? Just kidding. This pick was a no brainer. I was saying "trade-up" every pick after the Bengals at #17. My girlfriend, who is a marginal football fan, was getting into the drama of his fall to our pick with me.
25. Patriots - Hightower - Good pick (better than the Jones pick), but do they want to play a 4-3 or a 3-4?
26. Texans - Mercilus - Man... I just don't see this guy in a 3-4. He can do it, but I think Perry and Upshaw would have both been better fits if they wanted a pass rusher. We shall see.
27. Bengals - Zeitler - Not an exciting pick, but OK. I would have stayed at 21 and taken DeCastro, but I thank them for not doing that.
28. Packers - Perry - They now have a USC connection at OLB. I think he's a good fit for them, and will pay immediate dividends.
29. Vikings - Smith - Seriously? I don't see this one ever being worth the trade up. He will make some pretty tackles that people ooh and ahh about, but he doesn't seem like a guy who will be much of a factor in coverage, especially against the passing offenses that they will face. Just MHO.
30. 49ers - Jenkins - Well.... I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't see him being better than many of the WRs that they left on the board.
31. Buccaneers - Martin - I have a bias against going RB early, but Martin looks like the real deal. I wouldn't have made the trade up, but I do see 1,000+ yards as a rookie out of him.
32. Giants - Wilson - Ehh... not excited, but he will be on the field day 1. He may be a good fit for them, and give their running game a shot in the arm. We shall see.

So that's it. Interesting to see who agrees and disagrees. I'm guessing that I'll hear a lot of disagreement on Poe, but I HATE taking boom/bust prospects in R1.

 

We seem to share just about the same opinion on everyone other than Tannehill and Poe. I think you like the QB more than I do and I like Poe alot more than you.

 

Very good article. The concept of having a both 2 and 1 gap interior linemen is nothing new, and I knew that they were doing that in the 4-3 look. The twist is having the 2nd DE 2 gap. I still have the game against the Pats on my DVR. I'll have to go back and watch it again. I'm trying to place Hightower in this scheme. Jones and Bequette are easy, but to place Hightower (because of his versatility) I will have to re-look at where they are using Mayo, Spikes and Guyton.

 

What's even funnier (and better), is that a couple of days later she turned on her TV, and NFL network was on because I had watched part of R7 while waiting for her to get ready to go out. She told me that she kept it on for an hour (with me not there), and found the discussion interesting. Whoahhh!!!

Still, we've only been together for a couple of months. Too soon for a ring!

 

Good catch, Cajun. Guess he assumed Pitt in the late 70s was the Steelers and not Pitt the U. Nice summary of the Tampa Two and Cover Two history. Bud Carson doesn't normally get the attention in that conversation that he should, or that Tony Dungy does. In '74, they drafted arguably the perfect Cover Two Mike out of Kent State.

There's a great write up on the history of the Tampa Two in a book called Blood, Sweat, and Chalk. It's a great read for anyone who enjoys the history of some popular schemes and coaching trees. I mention it, because there is a part that I remember where it quotes Jack Ham (I think) saying that Bud was 'like a Mad Scientist, creating formulas and changing them all the time'. So, there must be a laboratory below LeBeau's office somewhere...

I am reeeeally excited for this season for many reasons. If our guys can stay relatively healthy...watch out!

 

It's not the best book you'll ever read, as there are some inaccuracies here and there, but there are some good anecdotes and overall it's a decent little book.

He was 195 as a freshman in 2008. He was 207 at spring weigh in as a junior. Last spring he weighed in at 220, and ultimately got up to 225 to start his senior season. Also, he made some significant increases in his output in the weight room from junior to senior year. Last spring, his strength coach Andreu Swasey set a goal for him to reach the 225 lb mark by the fall and he did.

I think it's been his goal for a long time to keep bulking up and trying to get closer to that 'prototypical ILB' form (just my opinion). I know he was suffering from an injury at the combine which really hurt his bench press numbers. Maybe that caused his speed to suffer a little as well. One thing's for sure, he's fast on the field and he's productive. He's not far from Timmons and Sylvester in terms of weight, but he is quick. I think his 'read and react' skills, intelligence, and athleticism are going to make him very useful against the PA and quick screens, and I know Coach LaBeau will have fun finding out how to best utilize him.