Day 2 of the NFL Draft Opinions

I have to start out by apologizing to the Bengals as they did the smart thing and took Andy Dalton, instead of going with the strong armed Mallett who fell all the way to #75, where he ends up being a great value for the Patriots.  Dalton was the right move for the Bengals as they have such an image issue, where they could not have taken a flyer on Mallett.  Amazingly the Bengals look to be having a solid draft as they pick up one of the best wide receivers and a decent quarterback at a good spot.

- Not sure what Harbaugh is doing picking Colin Kaepernick at #36, but he knows quarterbacks so he must see something.  I felt it was a bit early for a team that needs other positions but it is possible there was nobody else he liked at that spot.  I would have traded down and picked up another pick in the process, don't think Kaepernick would have come off the board until early round 3.  On another note, Kaepernick seems like a super kid and I hope the best for him but I am always cautious of a quarterback that ran for 4,000 yards out of the pistol offense in the WAC.

- My value picks for the second day are Akeem Ayers, who is flat out a good football player.  He wasn't great at the combine but he can play and I was surprised not to see him go in the first round.  Da'Quan Bowers dropped to #51, well the Bucs just landed a very good player.  He has a knee issue that I feel is overblown  as he led the nation in sacks last year playing through it.  At any rate even if he missed some time up to a year, this is a great talent and a huge value at this spot.  Marvin Austin went to the Giants and this is a big pick up.  As always the Giants are having a very good draft as great picks keep falling to them deep.

-  Randall Cobb just made Green Bay a very scary offense, enough said.

-  Leonard Hankerson went to the Redskins and I think that he could be a great value at this spot, not sure if he is ready to run NFL routes.  Oh yeah and I have no idea who is going to throw him the ball as they haven't got a quarterback yet.  Then again Rex Grossman has had a couple of good games in the last decade.

- Not sure the Cowboys need a running back because they have drafted them fairly high the last few years, but Demarco Murray is a very good one that nobody is talking about.  If he can stay healthy he could be a nightmare for this league as he is big, strong and fast.

That is all I have from day 2, we shall see what awaits over the weekend.

Belichick Loves his Value Picks

The Great Bill Belichick

I figured I would devote a blog to my favorite man in football after day 2 of the NFL draft, because he absolutely deserves it.  His picks are always considered either good or too complicated for thought for analysts because they don't want to go on record and doubt him, because they feel he must know something they don't.  He is a secondary coach by trade so when he takes Ras I Dowling over guys like Aaron Williams and Brandon Harris (who dropped too far by my standards), he must know something we don't especially after we saw how good Devin McCourty play last year.  Let us not forget all of the other young talent we have drafted recently at cornerback that hasn't panned out yet such as Darius Butler, Jonathan Wilhite, Terence Wheatley.   The jury is still out on 2 of them where I am pretty sure Wheatley is not even on the roster anymore.  If anything Bill Belichick loves his value picks and picking up Ryan Mallett at #75, who I definitely thought the Bengals would take at #35 as they love a good off the field train wreck, is a great move.  I think that he has very good potential and to get him in the third round, Mallett maybe the most pro ready quarterback in this draft.
I think he overshot on the two running backs, but who am I to doubt the genius of Belichick.  They are too different type of backs and from what I have seen of Ridley he will be used in more of the role of Green-Ellis where Vereen is in the mold of Woodhead.  It seems the backfield is getting a bit full, so it will be interesting to see how this will work out for the coming season.

Bengals Will Probably Go With Ryan Mallett

Ryan Mallett will look to prove doubters wrong

I am assuming that the Bengals must have somebody with a clue in their war room and they will have to pick up a quarterback fairly early as they pick 35th, which will be 3rd tonight.  I am going to say that they will go with Ryan Mallett as he is fairly their type of guy.  A lot of off the field issues with a lot of talent, not sure if he is mature enough to be an NFL quarterback but I would not be surprised to see him in Cincy next year.  They should be smart and go with somebody like Andy Dalton, who is a hard working kid that could help change the image but I wouldn't hold my breath.  The funny thing is that I like Ryan Mallett and think he will succeed but if that was the case as I would just say that the Bengals got lucky by being stupid.  Good luck Cincy fans.

Can Bulger do what Kurt Warner did

Marc Bulger in his glory days

It seems that Arizona  has been a focus for me following the first round of the 2011 draft, but I am intrigued by the decision to not draft a quarterback as most of the experts had Gabbert going there.  Larry Fitzgerald has been pretty adamant about not going the rookie quarterback route and stated that he was pleased they didn't go that route.  This has led me to believe that they would most likely make a run for Kevin Kolb or Donovan McNabb, but I had heard a rumor a few months back and then again today on my favorite radio show "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd, about Marc Bulger possibly being the guy.  He has followed a very similar path as Kurt Warner as he started out on fire, then hit a lull where everybody has pretty much written him off, and then in Kurt Warner's case finished off a hall of fame career with a few trips to the playoffs and a Super Bowl appearance, all the while turning around an organization that has had very little success.  Although, I would rather somebody like Kolb to go with Fitzgerald and a young team and watch them grow.  Bulger would be interesting and I do think he could succeed and I don't believe that he is washed up.  In the right situation he could become dare I say "Super".

Arizona gets It

I like the way Arizona is thinking, there are 2 good quarterbacks that are ready to go and most likely on the market.  If you are a team that is good enough to win your division pretty much right now, it is insane to go and get a rookie quarterback when most of your team are veterans.  The Cardinals went and got Patrick Peterson who I think is not as great as everybody has made him out to be, but the experts love him and have stated that he could be the number one overall talent in this draft.  They do not go and pick up a rookie when Kevin Kolb and Donovan McNabb will most likely be out there.  A team like Cincinnati who should have picked up a quarterback didn't as I don't think McNabb would want to go there, maybe they could still get Kolb.  Minnesota has a good veteran team, with a great running back and a solid defense that just needs a little bit of help in the secondary, and they go out and waste their 12th pick on a risky Christian Ponder.  I am fairly certain they could have traded down and still got Ponder if they really wanted him.
One quarterback move I am still unsure about is the Jaguars taking Gabbert.  I love Gabbert and think that he is the safest quarterback in this draft, but when you have a lot of money tied up in your starting quarterback, not sure what the move is trying to get across.  Garrard has not been what they expected since signing that big contract, but it is still a lot of money to tie up in one position.  So to recap, I like what the Cardinals are doing, don't like what Minnesota did, not sure what Carolina is doing and as usual the worst organization in football makes a bad move not taking a quarterback, although I do like AJ Green, just not sure who will be throwing it to him.

2011 First Round Draft Opinions

Well the first round of the 2011 draft is over and as always there are a few surprises.  Here are my snapshot opinions of the first round.

- The Titans are reaching with Jake Locker at 8 even though I had heard rumors that they were looking at him with that pick.  Jake Locker is a shorter and smarter version of Cam Newton and what I mean by that is that he looks to run first, has not shown that he is a pocket passer.  At least Cam Newton won ball games wherever he went, it took a full coaching staff change for Locker to produce his first winning year.  Never mind the fact that the Titans were given the gift of Blaine Gabbert falling this far, who is by far the safest pick at quarterback in this draft.  For some reason certain teams still feel the need to gamble and prove that they know better than everybody else.

- I think the Falcons trading up to pick Julio Jones showed balls and I love the pick.  Jones is going to produce early for this franchise and even more important is that he loves to run block, which is essential if you are going to Atlanta, who at times still play offense like it is 1982.

- A.J. Green is a fine pick at #4 as I think he is a polished receiver with a good head on his shoulders.  That being said I am not sure what the Bengals are thinking picking him in this spot considering they don't have a quarterback.  If they think changing their wide receiver corps is going to make Carson Palmer see the light and stay in Cincy, well I would like to have to whatever they are smoking.  Palmer wants to leave because he can't stand the organization and no draft picks are going to change his mind.  He has been there and knows what goes on there and if I am the Bengals I am trading up with NE and taking Andy Dalton ASAP.

- Giants are given a gift with Prince Amukamara falling all the way to #19.  End of story.

- Detroit is going to win at least 8 games this year.  Nick Fairley is a huge value pick and any comparison to Warren Sapp is going to be magnified as they now both dropped in their respective drafts for off the field issues.  Fairley is known to be lazy but head coach Jim Schwartz has had Albert Haynesworth and will know how to deal with him if there are issues.  Ndamukong Suh will also be there to whip in to shape, just in case.  Good luck blocking these guys NFC North.  Just a side note, notice who Green Bay picked with the 32nd pick, an offensive tackle.  Ted Thompson gets it.

-  Surprised to see Da'quan Bowers still on the board as well as Brandon Harris.  Jimmy Smith was a huge value pick at 27 for the Ravens.

-  My last point will be on the quarterbacks going so quickly it almost made me feel like a fantasy football draft when everybody starts picking a certain position earlier than expected so there will be a run on a position, which is exactly what happened with 4 quarterbacks going in the first 12 picks.  This makes it all the more surprising that Andy Dalton is still up there.  The funniest part is that besides Gabbert, I am not sure any of them deserve a first round grade including Newton, but at least he can sell some seats.

Mel Kiper was Missing Bigger Point

New England is fine with this guy

Recently Mel Kiper wrote an article for ESPN about drafting a quarterback to replace incumbent starters.  It starts out talking about how the Packers made the right move as they selected Aaron Rodgers with the 24th pick of the 2005 draft as an heir apparent to Brett Favre.  He then goes on to put the issue in a current day voice and then rates the urgency level.  The point of this blog isn't to go toe to toe with his ratings but merely to point out the fact that it was a much smarter and easier move for the Packers because it was such great value and Brett Favre is a bit of a head case.  I have been a Brett Favre backer, but we need to call a spade a spade and he has not been that reliable for the past forever seasons.  For those of you who remember this draft, Aaron Rodgers was originally the quarterback who was supposed to go first overall, not Alex Smith, who eventually did to the San Fransisco 49ers.   I don't think it was a big stretch to take a quarterback who was originally valued as the number one pick and you have a 35 year old quarterback who can't make up his mind on whether he is going to play on a day to day basis.  In my eyes that was a slam dunk pick no matter how you cut it and it seemed to work out for them.
You can not put this same test to quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as they are very happy where they are and have at least 3 or 4 more good if not great years, maybe more in Brady's case.  If you want to draft a quarterback later on that is fine, especially if he is a good value at that spot.  Right now, these teams need to take advantage of what they have and find the best players available as both of these teams are Super Bowl favorites year in and year out.  So I apologize to Mr. Kiper, who did state that these teams shouldn't do it early, but I will go a step further and state that the idea shouldn't even enter their mind.
In case you wanted to read the article here is the link:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/insider/columns/story?columnist=kiper_jr_mel&id=6362093

Newton to go #1, Really?

Listen, I get it.  He is a big, athletic, charming and even good looking.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I am talking about Cam Newton.  There is a potential for tremendous upside, but aren't there enough character questions about this guy to not make him the number one overall pick.  Now, I am not stating that he is terrible and should not be drafted, but there are enough question marks that should drop him down in the draft to a lower first round pick.
I find it funny that every major analyst has him behind Blaine Gabbert for quarterbacks and somewhere in the teens as overall talent, yet he will most likely be the number one pick come draft night.  Good luck Carolina, as you are taking a chance considering you already wasted a second round pick(Jimmy Clausen) last year on a quarterback, who will probably be sent packing if Newton is picked.  Why not go and pick up an almost sure defensive guy, which there are a few out there, and get a veteran quarterback and have Clausen back up for the time being.  Another major problem was watching Julius Peppers go bye-bye last year and the Panthers need something to fill that void as well.  In my eyes, this is Marty Hurney, the Carolina GM making the decision and not the sensible coach Ron Rivera.  The NFL has become all about business and this is about putting fans in the seats, which to me seems the only reason to draft Newton first overall.  He could be great, but there are too many question marks to make him number one.

Please Don't Give in Elway

Mr. John Elway

Now that John Elway is considered management for the Denver Broncos, a team that he made competitive for the whole time he was there, he is in the middle of a dilemma right off the bat.  The public is clamoring to keep Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback as he was able to rattle off a couple of good starts at the end of the season as well as a very nice run for a touchdown.  Full disclosure, I am a fan of Tebow and truly wish him the best of luck as he is the epitome of what a football player should be.  He only cares about winning, works as hard as he can and he cares about his teammates.  That being said, I still have not seen anything from him that shows me is an NFL quarterback.  Now I am not saying that Kyle Orton is Elway reincarnated but I would still take my chances with him until it has been proven without a doubt that Tebow is better.  Orton still makes the better throws and decisions and right now you are better off bringing Tebow off the bench for certain packages, that I am still not sure he is capable of running outside of the 2 yard line.  In my opinion Mr. Elway, you are better off going with your gut, as you have mentioned that you think Orton is still the better option, then caving to fan pressure.  You are as close to a living God as there is in Denver, it will be hard to stay mad at you so don't worry about it.  Go with the gut, much like you did in your playing days!