To pass some of the last 24 hours before the Super Bowl I ran a thorough revision. Let me know what you think.
| Round 1 | |||||
| 1 | St Louis | Ndamukong Suh | DT | Nebraksa | The Rams lost 2 QBs to injury last season. You don't take a Franchise QB if you can't protect him. They have their LT of the future in place though, so they take the best player in the draft and wait for Jason Smith to develop |
| 2 | Detroit | Gerald McCoy | DT | Oklahoma | If the Lions weren't interested in Oher in the second half of the 1st round last year, they are going to keep rolling with their current tackles. Likely to Matt Stafford's detriment. |
| 3 | Tampa Bay |
Eric Berry | S | Tennessee | The Bucs abandoned their switch away from the Tampa-2, making Berry's experience under Monte Kiffin a plus on an already great prospect. |
| 4 | Washington | Russell Okung |
OT | Ok State | A broken franchise QB is like not having one, but more expensive. |
| 5 | Kansas City | Rolando McClain |
ILB | Alabama |
The Chiefs OL may have turned the corner late in the year allowing just 8 sacks in their last 6 games after giving up 37 in their first 10. This lets them address a hole on the D and worry about the OL later. |
| 6 | Seattle | Jimmy Clausen |
QB | Notre Dame | Matt Hasselbeck is nearing the end of the line and Senneca Wallace isn't stepping into his shoes. |
| 7 | Cleveland | Joe Haden | CB | Florida | Such horrid pass D is rare with a competent pass rush. The Browns need serious coverage help. |
| 8 | Oakland | Bruce Campbell | OT | Maryland |
Too much sense for a Raiders pick? |
| 9 | Buffalo | Sam Bradford |
QB | Oklahoma |
Ryan Fitzpatrick is not a starting QB and Trent Edwards lost his job to him. |
| 10 | Jacksonville | Derrick Morgan | DE | Georgia Tech | Pass rush lacking Jags try that whole top 10 DE thing over again. |
| 11 | Denver | Dez Bryant | WR | Ok. St. | Assuming Marshall is gone, but since Eddie Royal's issues against the press might make him a better fit in the slot, the pick's not totally impossible even if Marshall is still in Denver in April. |
| 12 | Miami | Dan Williams |
NT |
Tennessee |
The Dolphins add a NT to shore up a D that had issues stopping short yardage. |
| 13 | San Fran | C.J. Spiller | RB | Clemson | Niners get a massive boost in the return game (a major asset to a defense center team that'll be playing the field position game) and add a compliment to Frank Gore. |
| 14 | Seattle | Anthony Davis |
OT | Rutgers | Seahawks rebuild the line after getting a Franchise QB. |
| 15 | NY Giants | Brian Price | DT | UCLA | Perfect fit to shoot gaps in a 4-3 |
| 16 | Tennessee | Carlos Dunlap |
DE | Florida | Kyle Vanden Bosch's indefatigable motor netted just 3 sacks last year and the Titans pass defense suffered greatly as a result. |
| 17 | San Fran | Bryan Bulaga |
OT | Iowa | Bulaga was finally back to his dominating form of 2008 in the Orange Bowl and will be well rewarded for it. He'll be more than competent at RT and able to slide to LT in a pinch. |
| 18 | Pittsburgh | Earl Thomas |
S |
Texas | A bit early for a guy that couldn't get under 370 for the start of pre-draft workouts, so the Steelers get a excellent complement to Polamalu |
| 19 | Atlanta | Jerry Hughes | DE | TCU | Falcons pass D needs more pressure from the front 4 to improve. Hughes at DE should be a big help. |
| 20 | Houston | Taylor Mays | S | USC | Bernard Pollard gave the Texans some passable safety play, but there's a reason he was cut and the John Busing/Brian Russell combo at the other safety spot is horrendous. |
| 21 | Cincinnati | Damian Williams |
WR |
USC | The Bengals have the QB and the OL to be a great passing O, but the targets are lacking. |
| 22 | New England | Sergio Kindle | OLB | Texas | The Pats are desperately in need of a pass rush. |
| 23 | Green Bay | Brandon Graham |
OLB | Michigan | While OT is a major need, the Pack could use a edge rusher since Kampman didn't take to the 3-4 as well as hoped, is coming off a season ending injury and will hit free agency. Graham looked phenomenal in the Senior Bowl. |
| 24 | Philadelphia | Everson Griffen |
DE | USC | Eagles love to bring the heat, a top rusher to put opposite Trent Cole would certainly do it. |
| 25 | Baltimore | Jermaine Gresham |
TE | Oklahoma |
Todd Heap has morphed into an athletic tackle and "The Franchise Player" isn't an answer at all. |
| 26 | Arizona | Brandon Spikes |
ILB | Florida | Carlos Dansby may walk away which would be a hole that needs to be filled. A high flying pass attack needs a strong pass D to prevent teams from keeping pace or closing deficits. |
| 27 | Dallas | Mike Iupati | G | Idaho | The 'Boys need OL help badly. Iupati might not be a pro LT, but the only other 1st round OT option remaining, Charles Brown, is far too light for Dallas' taste. |
| 28 | San Diego | Jonathan Dwyer | RB | Georgia Tech | LDT basically told the Chargers to shove it, so they'll need a bigger back to complement the dangerous, but severely undersized Sproles. |
| 29 | NY Jets | Jared Odrick |
DE | Penn State |
Odrick fills one of the Jets Ds few gaps |
| 30 | Minnesota | Kyle Wilson |
CB | Boise State |
Riser from the senior bowl fills one of the Vikings big needs |
| 31 | New Orleans | Sean Weatherspoon |
OLB | Missouri | Both Saints OLBs are over 30, Weatherspoon should add some more attacking speed to that D. |
| 32 | Indianapolis | Charles Brown | OT | USC | The Colts have given up just 10 sacks, but that's a near miracle given the flaws Charlie Johnson and Ryan Diem have in pass protection. Brown will let them move CJ or Diem inside, making avoiding the rush easier on Peyton and improving the terrible run blocking. |
| Round 2 | |||||
| 33 | St Louis | Jason Pierre-Paul | DE | So. Florida | The Rams DL will look like Spagnolo's Giants with Long, Suh, Carriker and Pierre-Paul |
| 34 | Detroit | Jon Asamoah |
OG | Illinois | The Lions add some OL to protect their big investment and keep their offense moving. |
| 35 | Tampa Bay | Arthur Jones | DT | Syracuse | After missing out on Suh/McCoy the Bucs get a quality DT in the 2nd |
| 36 | Kansas City | Terrence Cody | NT | Alabama | Cody will make some 3-4 very happy on 1st and 2nd down each Sunday, and very frustrated the vast majority of the time. |
| 37 | Washington | Colt McCoy |
QB | Texas | The new Redskins regime adds their QB of the future |
| 38 | Cleveland | Ricky Sapp |
OLB | Clemson |
The pass rush wasn't bad, but has plenty of room from improvement. |
| 39 | Oakland | Vladimir Ducasse | OL | Massachusetts | A great prospect, but clearly a project. |
| 40 | Seattle | Greg Hardy |
DE | Mississippi | Seahawks snag a very talented DE who will be a massive boost to a sub-par pass rush if he's healthy and motivated. |
| 41 | Buffalo | Trent Williams |
OT | Oklahoma | Another piece for the Bills young developing OL |
| 42 | Tampa Bay | Navarro Bowman | OLB | Penn State |
Even if Ruud stays the Bucs could use some more LB talent. |
| 43 | Miami | Willie Young |
OLB | NC State |
Young edge rusher since Porter and Taylor are getting on in years. |
| 44 | New England | Ryan Mathews |
RB | Fresno State |
The Pats upgrade from the RB hodgepodge of recent history. |
| 45 | Denver | Maurkice Pouncey | C/G | Florida | Denver's running game was generally strong, but repeatedly failed in short yardage. Shoring up the middle should fix that. |
| 46 | NY Giants | Morgan Burnett | S | Georgia Tech | The Giants don't have much back there at safety. |
| 47 | New England | Tyson Alualu | DT | Cal | The Pats add another piece to the ailing front 7 |
| 48 | Carolina | Golden Tate |
WR | Notre Dame | The Panthers passing O needs a target across from Steve Smith |
| 49 | San Francisco | Chad Jones |
S | LSU |
LB sized SS to bring the pain in the secondary |
| 50 | Kansas City | Mike Johnson |
G | Alabama | Chiefs shore up the OL. |
| 51 | Houston | Brandon LaFell |
WR | LSU |
A great compliment to Andre Johnson, so the Texans can keep lighting it up on O. |
| 52 | Pittsburgh | Jake Fox |
OT | Miami | While much of the Steelers sacks come from Big Ben's style, there's more they could do to protect him. |
| 53 | New England | Eric Norwood |
LB | South Carolina |
Versatile pass rushing LB to add to the Pats aging front 7 |
| 54 | Cincinnati | Rob Gronkowski |
TE | Arizona | With a top TE and WR added to the O the Bengals should get their passing game back off the ground. |
| 55 | Philadelphia | Brandon Ghee |
CB | Wake Forest | An explosive O without a strong pass D plays shootouts every week. |
| 56 | Green Bay | Ciron Black | OT | LSU | The Packers can't put off tackle help much longer. |
| 57 | Baltimore | Devin McCourty |
CB | Rutgers | The CB spots are the weakest point of a very good Ravens D. |
| 58 | NY Jets | Donovan Warren |
CB | Michigan |
Revis is great, but the CBs opposite him can be exploited by the Pierre Garçons and Austin Collies of the world. |
| 59 | Arizona | Jason Worlids |
DE/OLB | Virginia Tech |
An explosive offense needs to be complimented with a pass rush on D to prevent weekly shootouts. |
| 60 | Dallas | Arrelious Benn |
WR | Illinois |
Roy Williams still isn't working out. If he doesn't turn it around Benn can be the big target out wide. |
| 61 | Minnesota | George Selvie |
DE | So. Florida |
Vikings add an edge rusher to insure the heat stays on, even in Ray Edwards departs. |
| 62 | San Diego | Corey Wootten |
DE | Norwestern | The Chargers reinforce a DL that struggled against the run without Jamal Williams |
| 63 | New Orleans | D'Anthony Smith |
DT | Lousiana Tech | Run D was the teams weakest phase. |
| 64 | Indianapolis | Daryl Washington | MLB | TCU | Gary Brackett will turn 30 and hit free agency this offseason. The Colts will need an athletic cover MLB to replace him sooner rather than later. |
| Round 3 | |||||
| 65 | St. Louis | T.J. Ward | S | Oregon | With the DL beasting, some DB help to collect up all the hurried passes. |
| 66 | Detroit | Jahvid Best |
RB | Cal |
Fantastic value on a compliment to Kevin Smith. |
| 67 | Tampa Bay | Brandon Lang |
DE | Troy |
The Bucs are also in need of another pass rusher, and pickup a rush DE. |
| 68 | Kansas City | Demaryious Thomas |
WR | Georgia Tech |
KC picks up a target for Cassel to compliment Bowe. |
| 69 | Washington | Forfeit | X | X | Pick used in '09 Supplement Draft |
| 70 | Oakland | Lamarr Houston |
DT | Texas |
strengthens up the middle and adds some push against the pass. |
| 71 | Philadelphia | Nate Allen |
S | Buffalo |
With a new edge rusher, CB and S the Eagles pass D should take a massive leap forward |
| 72 | Cleveland |
Anthony Dixon |
RB | Miss St. |
Browns add a big pounder of a back to go with the speedy Jerome Harrison. |
| 73 | Buffalo | Torrell Troup | NT | Cent. Florida |
A NT to drop down in the middle of the Bills new 3-4 |
| 74 | Miami | Micah Johnson |
ILB | Kentucky |
Two new LBs and a NT give the Dolphins an even better compliment to their pounding ground camp. |
| 75 | Jacksonville | Tim Tebow | QB | Florida | By the 3rd round, football and finance interests are close enough to justify the pick. |
| 76 | Chicago | Kyle Calloway |
OT | Iowa |
The downgrade in WRs and OL really derailed Cutler, with no picks in the first 2 rounds the Bears can only address one of those problems at a time. |
| 77 | NY Giants | Matt Tennant | C | Boston College |
A team with the Giants stable of RBs, a credible passing threat and a generally good OL shouldn't rank in the 20s in power running and running between the tackles. |
| 78 | Tennessee | Perrish Cox | CB | Alabama | Fills two major needs, CB help and a competent returner. |
| 79 | Carolina | Mike Neal | DT | Purdue | An athletic DT for the Panthers Ron Meeks Tampa-2 |
| 80 | San Francisco | John Jerry | OG | Mississippi | The Niners OL gets a major boost with Bulaga and Jerry incoming |
| 81 | Denver | Patrick Robinson |
CB |
Florida State |
The Champ is on his last legs |
| 82 | Texans | Toby Gerhart |
RB | Stanford | Texans pick up a bigger back to compliment the shifty Slaton |
| 83 | Pittsburgh |
Cam Thomas |
NT | North Carolina |
Hampton might be on the way out, so a senior bowl riser enters for Pitt. |
| 84 | Atlanta | Syd'quan Thompson | CB | Cal | Lost a very good CB last year and suffered for it. |
| 85 | Cincinnati | Darrell Stuckey | S | Kansas | Roy Williams is still in the league? Really? |
| 86 | Oakland | Sean Lee |
MLB | Penn State |
Lee gives the Raiders a great 3 LB lineup. |
| 87 | Green Bay | Akwasi Owusu-Ansah | CB | Indiana (PA) | Big CB for the Pack's physical style |
| 88 | Philadelphia | A.J. Edds | OLB | Iowa |
Edds was a poor mans' Chad Greenway in college, that's enough for a top 90 pick. |
| 89 | Cleveland | Tony Pike | QB | Cincinnati | Quinn deserves a shot with some real weapons, but plan B should be in mind (and no a 15th shot for Anderson is not a plan B) |
| 90 | Baltimore | Mardy Gilyard |
WR | Cincinnati | Derrick Mason can't go on forever, and they don't really have a great #2 WR option either. |
| 91 | Arizona | Jerome Murphy |
CB | So. Florida |
talented DBs are great to have when your O is forcing opponents to go pass heavy |
| 92 | Dallas | Sam Young | OT | Notre Dame | With a stud G and a RT prospect Romo might not be running for his life all season. |
| 93 | Minnesota | Dan LeFevour | QB | Cent Michigan | Who is the QB in 2 years? A 42 year old Favre? Tavaris? The Rosenchoppa? |
| 94 | San Diego | Jared Veldheer | OT | Hillsdale | That high flying O comes to a crashing halt without great protection |
| 95 | New Orleans | Zane Beadles | OT/G | Utah | (see previous pick's comments) |
| 96 | Indianapolis | Javier Arenas |
CB | Alabama | Can contribute in the nickel/dime, but his real value would be upgrading the Colts terrible return game |
There are 82 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.