ONCE AGAIN, 1ST ROUND SURPRISES ABOUND & CHIEFS SURPRISE, WHAT'S NEXT?
The first five picks were as predicted, it was that 6th pick, Cleveland's, that started a surprising run of 7 picks that no could have predicted. I told you a couple of weeks ago about Bud Light's "Best Ever First Round" promotion. Really quite simple, pick all 32 players taken in the 1st round in the correct order & walk away with $10 million. I told my buddy Kevin on the phone this evening Bud Light could make that challenge worth $100 million, there's no way somebody's going to get this right when you can enter just once. I got nine right & I feel like a friggin' genius, that's how tough this is.
Anyway, Cleveland said first thing this morning they were "open for business" on the 6th overall pick. Boy, were they, Mike Holmgren got exactly what the Browns need, a bunch of good draft picks. They traded #6 overall to Atlanta, who jumped all the way up from #27 & it was costly, let me tell you. For that pick, Cleveland received Atlanta's first pick, #27 overall, the Falcons 2nd & 4th round selections in this draft plus their 1st & 4th round selections in 2012. You got it, 5 picks for one. Obviously the Falcons really wanted Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones. He's excellent, might even be great someday, but 2 ones, a two & 2 fours? That's a lot to trade for one college player. The Falcons need a pass rusher in the worst way, offensive line help & a tight end, gonna be tough with so few picks.
The madness didn't stop at #6, nope, even before the buzz died down, the Forty-Niners made their selection, everyone in the building figured it to be Mizzou quarterback Blaine Gabbert. It was a Tiger, but it wasn't Gabbert. Third-year sophomore defensive end from Raytown Mo, Aldon Smith, was Frisco's choice. I said long ago Smith would be a top-15 pick come April but honestly I had no idea he'd go at #7.
Now Gabbert was probably reaching the bottom of his mini-fall, Tennessee was next & they needed a quarterback. The Titans chose one, but once again, it wasn't Gabbert. Washington's Jake Locker was the selection, another shocker. After Dallas chose OT Tyron Smith as expected, pick #10 would surprise us again.
Jacksonville, of all teams, traded up 6 spots with Washington & selected Gabbert before he started gathering cobwebs in the green room. Jacksonville, another one no one saw coming. Two Missouri players selected in the top-10 of the NFL Draft, a first. That's five 1st round selections in the last 3 years for Gary Pinkel's Tigers. It ain't Alabama, Nick Saban had 4 first round players tonight, but it's a step in the right direction & a good recruiting tool.
Houston up next at #11 needed defense, especially a corner & Nebraska's Prince Amukamara was there for the taking. The Texans passed, taking Wisconsin DE J.J. Watt. I like Watt but I had him graded as the 4th best DE, Houston passed on them as well.
The jaw-dropping surprises continued when the Vikings took Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, probably the 45th ranked player in the draft at #12. I've said over & over this is a quarterback-driven league, the selection of 4 somewhat under-qualified signal callers in the first 12 picks proves my point. If you don't have a QB, get one, regardless of what it costs.
All of this feeding frenzy directed at the quarterbacks left DT Nick Fairley, DE Robert Quinn & Amukamara beginning to slide. Detroit was next & tho everyone expected them to take an O-tackle or Amukamara, they took Fairley. Think about that, the Lions took the NFL's defensive rookie of the year, Ndamakong Suh, last year & they will pair him & 4-time Pro Bowl DE Kyle Vanden Bosch with Fairley. In no time the Lions could have the best defensive front in the league. This line could absolutely take over games for Detroit.
St. Louis took DE Robert Quinn to pair with Chris Long, the 3rd overall pick in 2008. If the Rams can snag an impact WR, a TE & a decent DT, they could be very competitive in the NFC West. Amukamara popped his parachute at pick #19, held by the NYG. This pick certainly frustrated Tampa Bay. They wanted him to slip one more spot so they could have a fall back position with Aqib Talib, Bucs' bad boy. I think Tampa wants to jettison this pain in the ass, but without Amukamara, it will be tough.
Now it was time for Kansas City to pull the trigger at 21 & I told Linda "trade down." Phil Taylor was still there, so were 3 really good offensive linemen, Anthony Castonzo, Gabe Carimi & Danny Watkins. The Cleveland Browns sitting in Atlanta's spot at #27 accommodated K.C. They traded their 1st round spot & a 3rd round pick(#70). I thought it was a good move with 4 guys I liked still available. They weren't available for long, Cleveland took Taylor, Indy selected Castonzo on the next pick & Philly grabbed Watkins right after Indy. Now with just Carimi left from my original group, I needed to expand my wish list somewhat, so I added Arizona OLB Brooks Reed. The Ravens, picking right in front of the Chiefs, let time expire trying to workout a trade with the Bears. Chicago was after Carimi or Reed, they wanted to be able to take their pick. K.C. wasted no time in getting their card to the podium ahead of Baltimore, maybe in 30-seconds. I was surprised when the Chiefs took Baldwin. He has a a lot of warts, but he actually has the potential to be better than Dwayne Bowe. He's faster(4.45), bigger(6' 4 1/2" 228) & his vertical leap of 42", the best at the combine for receivers, is sick. He's a redzone monster. Baldwin was saddled with poor quarterback play at Pitt & he developed a poor attitude when things didn't go well. He's in the big time now, I hope he'll make a major impact for Kansas City. He attended Aliquippa High School as did Mike Ditka & current all-pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. Both also attended Pitt.
Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin
After New Orleans traded back into the first round to grab 2009 Heisman winner, running back Mark Ingram, Chicago selected Carimi. The defending champion Packers took an offensive tackle, Derek Sherrod, to close out the action in the first round.
So now that the Chiefs have their wide receiver, where do they go next? They have three picks Friday evening, a 2nd & two 3rd's. The needs haven't changed, the order may have been shuffled, but they still need an O-tackle, center, nose tackle, outside linebacker & possibly a running back or quarterback. I'll give you some specifics tomorrow afternoon, right now, my brain is on tilt, I need some Zzzzz's.
Anyway, Cleveland said first thing this morning they were "open for business" on the 6th overall pick. Boy, were they, Mike Holmgren got exactly what the Browns need, a bunch of good draft picks. They traded #6 overall to Atlanta, who jumped all the way up from #27 & it was costly, let me tell you. For that pick, Cleveland received Atlanta's first pick, #27 overall, the Falcons 2nd & 4th round selections in this draft plus their 1st & 4th round selections in 2012. You got it, 5 picks for one. Obviously the Falcons really wanted Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones. He's excellent, might even be great someday, but 2 ones, a two & 2 fours? That's a lot to trade for one college player. The Falcons need a pass rusher in the worst way, offensive line help & a tight end, gonna be tough with so few picks.
The madness didn't stop at #6, nope, even before the buzz died down, the Forty-Niners made their selection, everyone in the building figured it to be Mizzou quarterback Blaine Gabbert. It was a Tiger, but it wasn't Gabbert. Third-year sophomore defensive end from Raytown Mo, Aldon Smith, was Frisco's choice. I said long ago Smith would be a top-15 pick come April but honestly I had no idea he'd go at #7.
Now Gabbert was probably reaching the bottom of his mini-fall, Tennessee was next & they needed a quarterback. The Titans chose one, but once again, it wasn't Gabbert. Washington's Jake Locker was the selection, another shocker. After Dallas chose OT Tyron Smith as expected, pick #10 would surprise us again.
Jacksonville, of all teams, traded up 6 spots with Washington & selected Gabbert before he started gathering cobwebs in the green room. Jacksonville, another one no one saw coming. Two Missouri players selected in the top-10 of the NFL Draft, a first. That's five 1st round selections in the last 3 years for Gary Pinkel's Tigers. It ain't Alabama, Nick Saban had 4 first round players tonight, but it's a step in the right direction & a good recruiting tool.
Houston up next at #11 needed defense, especially a corner & Nebraska's Prince Amukamara was there for the taking. The Texans passed, taking Wisconsin DE J.J. Watt. I like Watt but I had him graded as the 4th best DE, Houston passed on them as well.
The jaw-dropping surprises continued when the Vikings took Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, probably the 45th ranked player in the draft at #12. I've said over & over this is a quarterback-driven league, the selection of 4 somewhat under-qualified signal callers in the first 12 picks proves my point. If you don't have a QB, get one, regardless of what it costs.
All of this feeding frenzy directed at the quarterbacks left DT Nick Fairley, DE Robert Quinn & Amukamara beginning to slide. Detroit was next & tho everyone expected them to take an O-tackle or Amukamara, they took Fairley. Think about that, the Lions took the NFL's defensive rookie of the year, Ndamakong Suh, last year & they will pair him & 4-time Pro Bowl DE Kyle Vanden Bosch with Fairley. In no time the Lions could have the best defensive front in the league. This line could absolutely take over games for Detroit.
St. Louis took DE Robert Quinn to pair with Chris Long, the 3rd overall pick in 2008. If the Rams can snag an impact WR, a TE & a decent DT, they could be very competitive in the NFC West. Amukamara popped his parachute at pick #19, held by the NYG. This pick certainly frustrated Tampa Bay. They wanted him to slip one more spot so they could have a fall back position with Aqib Talib, Bucs' bad boy. I think Tampa wants to jettison this pain in the ass, but without Amukamara, it will be tough.
Now it was time for Kansas City to pull the trigger at 21 & I told Linda "trade down." Phil Taylor was still there, so were 3 really good offensive linemen, Anthony Castonzo, Gabe Carimi & Danny Watkins. The Cleveland Browns sitting in Atlanta's spot at #27 accommodated K.C. They traded their 1st round spot & a 3rd round pick(#70). I thought it was a good move with 4 guys I liked still available. They weren't available for long, Cleveland took Taylor, Indy selected Castonzo on the next pick & Philly grabbed Watkins right after Indy. Now with just Carimi left from my original group, I needed to expand my wish list somewhat, so I added Arizona OLB Brooks Reed. The Ravens, picking right in front of the Chiefs, let time expire trying to workout a trade with the Bears. Chicago was after Carimi or Reed, they wanted to be able to take their pick. K.C. wasted no time in getting their card to the podium ahead of Baltimore, maybe in 30-seconds. I was surprised when the Chiefs took Baldwin. He has a a lot of warts, but he actually has the potential to be better than Dwayne Bowe. He's faster(4.45), bigger(6' 4 1/2" 228) & his vertical leap of 42", the best at the combine for receivers, is sick. He's a redzone monster. Baldwin was saddled with poor quarterback play at Pitt & he developed a poor attitude when things didn't go well. He's in the big time now, I hope he'll make a major impact for Kansas City. He attended Aliquippa High School as did Mike Ditka & current all-pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. Both also attended Pitt.
Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin
After New Orleans traded back into the first round to grab 2009 Heisman winner, running back Mark Ingram, Chicago selected Carimi. The defending champion Packers took an offensive tackle, Derek Sherrod, to close out the action in the first round.
So now that the Chiefs have their wide receiver, where do they go next? They have three picks Friday evening, a 2nd & two 3rd's. The needs haven't changed, the order may have been shuffled, but they still need an O-tackle, center, nose tackle, outside linebacker & possibly a running back or quarterback. I'll give you some specifics tomorrow afternoon, right now, my brain is on tilt, I need some Zzzzz's.
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