For Chueeey: The Cards had a fantastic draft. Antrel Rolle is a disciplined technician at the CB spot, and should help the Cards lockdown one half of the field for years to come. The only real question is his speed since he is only a 4.5 guy, but with some safety help, and avoiding leaving Rolle on an island will allow him to jump routes and totally shutdown bigger wideouts. JJ Arrington is a perfect fit for a Dennis Green offense. With legit 4.4 speed and great hands, he destined to fill the role of Robert Smith in the late 90's. With the Cardinals featuring prodominantly 3 WRs sets, Arrington is going to be able to run wild since the opponents will not be able to stack the line, and with his speed he will get to the corner, and he has the homerun ability to take every play to the house. Blackstock has a total steal. He is a guy with 1st round ability, but "character" issues dropped his stock to the 3rd round, absolutely brilliant pick, and Elton Brown, who was the #1 OG prospect on the board with definite 2nd round tools was picked in the 4th round, maybe one of the best value picks in the whole draft. The Cards get a solid A to A+. Here's the shocker though even Len agrees with my assessment of the Cards draft. Unbelievable, I can't understand it, but I think the Cardinals are going to be an NFL power in about 2-3 years (when their new stadium is built), but I also believe that is when the apocolypse will arrive, the world will end, and Cards fan will have to live out eternity wondering what might have been with the greatest Cards team ever.
For Ryan:
The Broncos are trapped in the "drafting for need rather than value" tailspin that is very reminisent of the mid to late 90's Dallas Cowboys. In fact, I feel for my boy Ryan, as a Dallas Cowboy fan I know the feeling of thinking that you are one or two guys away from the big game, but every year feels like the team is getting just that much further away. With an aging O-Line and a very questionable receiving core, the Broncos chose Maurice Clarett, when really good values on the O-Line were still available (with the obvious example being Elton Brown, see above, isn't the Cards out drafting the Broncos a sign mentioned in the Book of Revelations?). Let' s hope their 2 first rounders next year payoff because this year's draft was a throwaway since none of the picks are going to be contributing much more than being speical teamers. Don't worry though Ryan, salary cap hell is only a couple of seasons away, so at least you can look back to 8-8 seasons with a smile. As for a draft grade, a definite D, could've been lower, but rumour has it that Clarett was going to Dallas in the 4th, so that minimizes (a bit) of the reach in the 3rd for Maurice.
For Richie:
The Bucs had a great first round nabbing the #2 RB in the entire draft. Caddy has the break away speed, vision, and toughness to compare to the great Emmitt Smith. He definitely projects to be Emmitt like based on his size/speed ratio. Let's hope Gruden doesn't fuck it up, but since he turned Charlie Garner into a superstar, I think my fantasy football team is going to feature a Cadilliac very prominantly. Personally, loved the Barrett Rudd pick in the 2nd round, since the Bucs haven't had a good MLB since Hardy Nickerson left town, and Rudd had been projected into the first on a lot of mocks, great value for the Bucs in the 2nd, and it fills a need. The next great Buc steal had to be Nicholson in the 5th. This is the guy that replaced Roy freaking Williams at Oklahoma without missing too many beats, I think the Bucs finally found a true replacement for the departed John Lynch. Solid picks throughout the draft, with a difference maker at the top, a very solid B to B+.
For me and other tortured Cowboys fans,
First I would like to say that I am only too happy that the Lions drafted Mike Williams because I am certain that the Cowboys wouldn't have taken him, and watching them pass on a great WR would bring back too many horrific nightmares of the Randy Moss debacle. Second, the Demarcus Ware pick was terrible, absolutely horrid. They were looking for a OLB who could excel in a 3-4, um, how about taking the fastest LB in the last few drafts, Derrick Johnson. Johnson was a tackling machine at UT, what the hell is Parcells smoking, I guess getting the best LB in the nation last year isn't the kind of thing Dallas is into. Instead let's draft a guy from a really small school, and hope that he can make the transition from being a DE to being a OLB, awesome, yet another failed Dallas draft project. Now, with the second pick in the round, where Roddy White was available, and the Cowboys had a desparate need for a speed receiver, they decided to grab a fat-ass DE (Marcus Spears), who runs the 40 in 5+ seconds, and has never threatened to sack a QB in college! But I am sure that he can do it in the pros (sigh, a draft full of promise, all thrown away). Now in the 2nd round, Dallas is looking for another speed OLB, and they take a player that at best can be considered a reach. Notably is that Channing Crowder still on the board, but instead they don't pick him, and in the process gives Mel Kiper an aneryseum. Now the rest of their draft were filler picks, so none of them are real steals or standouts in which case, this draft is rated a solid C (only because it helps facilitates a move to Parcells' next great mistake, installing the 3-4, but since the Cowboys haven't had a pass rush since 1995, maybe the 3-4 won't be a complete disaster, but I doubt it).
Stay tuned for more draft grades, I have to pretend to do some work right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment