The National Football League’s prime time draft was a rating success and much like Wal-Mart, obliterated the competition for sports television ratings, sending NBA commish David Stern a chilling message about what people prefer to watch this time of year.Though the most football experts say the actual results of the draft won’t be known for a few years after everyone chosen can be evaluated thoroughly, that however is not the world we live in. It’s with a great of certainty the History Channel does score well for viewership or hits on-line with the under 30 crowd, unless it was something their parents had talked about.
With that idea in mind, here’s what teams could be impacted this upcoming year both positively and negatively.
Winners
It would have been hard for St. Louis to screw this up. Sam Bradford is their franchise signal caller and presumably they will have him start by sometime in October, if not sooner. OT Rodger Saffold will help adding depth and Bradford protection in the offensive line and WR Mardy Gilyard has good hands and an aggressive attitude. If seventh round pick George Selvie played like he did as sophomore and junior on the defensive line at South Florida, the Rams got a steal.
The first year for GM John Schneider and Pete Carroll in Seattle could hardly have gone better. OT Russell Okung and safety Earl Thomas were two coveted players and they landed them both. Before the draft they maneuvered to acquire Charley Whitehurst as quarterback, that is still a wait and see development, but is a better choice over aging Matt Hasselbeck. If WR Golden Tate becomes more disciplined route runner, he will catch anything near him and be home run threat. CB Walter Thurmond might be theft in the fourth round if he stays healthy. The additions of LenDale White and Leon Washington will add far greater versatility to offensive backfield with minimal damage to future drafts.
This is not a misprint, seemingly in spite of themselves the Oakland Raiders not only didn’t screw up their picks, and they might actually benefit from them. Al Davis finally took a real football player in the first round in MLB Rolando McClain. Though most had him going a bit later in the first round, he adds size and instincts in the heart of the defense behind Richard Seymour. The Raiders evidently even had a plan, trading former MLB Kirk Morrison to Jacksonville for speedy (4.28) Clemson WR Jacoby Ford. Bruce Campbell was “combine king” in Indianapolis and has potential to be special in the offensive line and they didn’t take him with first pick to boot. Not sure if Jason Campbell will ever amount to more than what he already is, but JaMarcus Russell’s football future is now up to him. Don’t be surprised it Oakland demands the former top pick takes a MONSTER pay cut and if he refuses, he’d be lucky to get a month of free meals at Applebee’s for a contract as free agent, let alone cash for the money he’s stolen.
Honorable mention – Miami, San Francisco, N.Y. Jets and Baltimore
Losers
What was Jacksonville thinking or were they? The Jaguars selected California’s Tyson Alualu with the 10th overall pick and not one accredited draft expert had him higher than 25th, meaning if Jacksonville was uncertain about what to do, they could have traded down, picked up another selection and still gotten Alualu. Larry Hart, Austen Lee and D’Anthony Smith are all potential defensive disrupters, but their impact would appear to be minimal this upcoming year.
Minnesota has defensive backfield needs and didn’t address them in the most positive way, settling for CB Chris Cook from Virginia, who ran a slowish-time at the combine. USC pass rusher Everson Griffin slipped to the fourth round, so either the Vikings got exceptional value for this player with first round ability or he is underachiever and won’t amount to much. It didn’t matter who drafted Toby Gearhart, questions on both sides were going to be raised. It just happened Minnesota choose him and the world will find out soon enough if he is a quality football player or if the numbers on speed and upright running style means limited career.
Hard to call Tennessee a loser in this spot, because their top picks are in many ways coach Jeff Fisher-type players. Nevertheless, each coming out of college has athletic limitations, without having the proverbial “upside”. Derrick Morgan is high effort player, but not gifted athlete. WR Damian Williams has trouble eluding jams off the line of scrimmage and will try and be difference-maker as punt returner. LB Rennie Curran tackles everything he sees, the issue is what he sees at 5’10. Safety Myron Rolle IS the smartest player in the draft (Rhodes Scholar at Oxford), but coaches at this level wonder about a player that wants to be a surgeon, unless he is cutting up opposing wide receivers.
Dishonorable mention – Chicago, San Diego and Cleveland
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