Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tapping Into the NFL Draft
Everyone loves a good draft. Cool, refreshing ... uh, oh, that kind of draft. Yeah, those are good, too. So in honor of the other draft, the one that makes everything go down better (like your team's questionable picks), here are some things that struck me about this year's NFL draft.
(This will not be a nuts and bolts breakdown of every player and every team as if anyone actually knew what the hell to make of each and every pick and how their careers will go. The beer theme was a clue.)
Premium Import
The Jets got a quality pour, but the result of their deal with the Browns, Mark Sanchez, is every bit as lucky. Not since Ben Roethlisberger has a first-round QB entered a better situation. Good line, good RB, experienced receivers, near playoff team last year before Brett Favre went Alzheimer's and forgot which color jersey to throw to. And an at least serviceable guy in Kellen Clemens that can steer the ship if he's not ready to start right away, but no one that can hold him out of the lineup long-term the way Aaron Rogers was.
Throw on the fact that he's dealt with the big city media in Los Angeles and has great intangibles, and the weakness of only starting 16 college games starts to look increasingly insignificant.
Leaning Domestic
For the more affordable night out. The Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and Kansas City Chiefs (and probably the Rams and Seahawks) didn't want to pay top-dollar for their top-five picks, so they would have rather traded down. They would have rather just gone for a six-pack of something reasonable to fix their many needs. But only the Browns were able to get someone to trade up, and so the Lions drafted a franchise quarterback into a system and franchise designed for him to fail, and the Chiefs reached for DE Tyson Jackson about 10 picks before he was projected to go. At least the Seahawks and Rams got players that are regarded as top-three talents as close to can't-miss as can be found at their positions in LB Aaron Curry and OT Jason Smith.
As bad teams are stuck with top picks that they don't want and can't give away, the need for a rookie/draftee pay scale has become so obvious it's unbelievable. Rookies that have proven nothing shouldn't be able to handcuff bad teams financially at the expense of upward mobility and veteran salaries.
Pabst on Tap
It's not that a case of Darius Heyward-Bey won't get the job done. But the seventh pick is still priced at a premium. With such uniquely crafted microbrews as Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin still on the board for the same price, this order will make any bartender look at you funny ... and possibly cut you off. Wide receivers with inconsistent hands and unpolished route-running abilities generally don't go in the top 10. Unless you're the Raiders.
Of course, the Raiders definitely should have been cut off a round later when they ordered a Michael Mitchell. What's a Michael Mitchell? How 'bout a safety from Ohio Not State, one that didn't produce all that much in the MAAC. By no means do I consider Scouts, Inc. rankings gospel, but he was slapped with a 20. To put it in perspective: A) that's the minimum; he wasn't really even graded; and B) the Raiders' sixth-round pick, Stryker Sulak (presumably drafted for his cool name), graded out at a 37. Denver, with the very next pick, took a safety out of Texas Tech in Darcel McBath, who was a 69. Meanwhile, most had Mitchell as a seventh-rounder or free agent.
Again, not vouching for these rankings. But come on, the prognosticators can't be that much worse than the Raiders at evaluating talent, can they?
Half-Off Happy Hour Special
The 49ers take advantage of the discount on a smooth, refined, robust Michael Crabtree. And they certainly owe the Raiders a round. Of Patron. (Then again, they could slip them Jose Silver instead and they'd probably be none the wiser...)
Not Enough Head
Plenty of taste in the quality of the Bengals' draft. But for a franchise long on head cases and police blotters, the talent comes with a warning: it may turn out to be flat.
Don't get me wrong. Cincinnati may have gotten as much talent as anyone in this draft. The get a potential franchise tackle in Andre Smith. And Rey Maualuga in the second round? I understand a lack of hip fluidity and over-aggressive instincts pushing him out of the top 20. But at 38? A steal. DE Michael Johnson and TE Chase Coffman are regarded as good values in the third round.
But even disregarding the agent issues that landed Smith a Sugar Bowl suspension, his weight and corresponding work ethic/commitment concerns had a few teams shying away. Maualuga has a couple bar-fights and an anger-management session on the resume. On any other team, I would even say they are minor risks worth the gamble. Ending up on the Bengals, however, seems to serve as a multiplier for off-field problems. This team already had enough red flags that it was considering making it a primary team color.
Oh, and sixth-round pick Bernard Scott comes in having been kicked off a high school and a college team (both for fights; at Central Arkansas, he punched a coach), and he got probation after giving false info on a traffic stop. So he's already considered a seasoned veteran in that locker room.
All Foam
At least the Bengals will be entertaining. There was no substance in the draft for the Dallas Cowboys or Chicago Bears. Hope Roy Williams and Jay Cutler are worth it. And they may be. But with the keg kicked for the first and second round, the draft isn't helping the party get started this year without some of their many lower-round picks surpassing expectations.
Blonde Ale
Can we please bring back Kevin Greene to play with A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews in Green Bay to have the All-Blond-Mullet linebacking corps? Matthews, almost by consensus the safest pick of the stellar trio of USC linebackers, should help solidify that unit with his Hall of Fame pedigree and apparent lack of a true weakness.
Steel Reserve
It just doesn't make sense; it leads to a night of bad choices and a morning of pain and regret. The Broncos had 10 picks, five in the first two rounds. They are proud owners of an awful front-seven (it's been said their entire line wouldn't start on any other team). And they pick one guy to help. Hmmmm...
Knowshon Moreno at No. 12 set the tone for the mistakes the way that first 40 oz. of 8.1 percent fuel will lay the base for a bad night. Forget that he could have been there still at pick 18 in a league where the marquee running back is losing value and importance to two-back systems and injury risks. Denver has made many journeymen into 1,000-yard backs in recent years, and new coach Josh McDaniels comes from New England, a team that has won Super Bowls without an elite back playing a key role.
Granted, McDaniels had a guy named Tom Brady in New England and Denver couldn't find any backs to get the job done last year. But then again, McDaniels chased away his Pro Bowl QB (or had him cry his way off the team, whichever you prefer) and again, good backs are always available a lot later in the draft.
Six picks later, the Broncos drafted Robert Ayers, a DE out of Tennessee, and if they had simply gone after defense from there, taking the best RB could have been understandable. But only three of the remaining eight picks were defensive, and all of them in the secondary. Since Ayers projects as a linebacker in a 3-4, they got zero defensive linemen.
Plenty of potency in this draft, but when Denver is watching the defensive struggles continue next year, a killer hangover will certainly set in.
Somehow the Raiders are only the second most beer-goggled team in the division.
Woah, sorry. After typing that sentence, maybe I'm the one feeling a little buzzed...