Personally, I found the draft to be very interesting, although if I was in a team's front office, i might have a different view. I think this draft was short on sure-fire immediate stars but long on decent players. You read about how great all these guys are, but then you watch the film on NFL Network and listen to Mike Mayock break it down and you see huge flaws in their games. This was supposed to be a good draft for O tackles, but there were questions about all of them. The number 2 pick, Jason Smith, did not play from a three point stance at Baylor. The number 6, Andre Smith of Alabama, made a mess of the combine and post-combine process. The fourth rated tackle, Michael Oher, had a red flag over motivation. The QB's likewise came with questions. Top pick Matthew Stafford had so-so stats at Georgia and did not play in a pro-style offense. Mark Sanchez started 16 games in a brief career. The question of winners and losers will take years to answer definitively, and it is overshadowed by some pre-draft trades. The obvious place to begin is the trade between Denver and Chicago for All Pro QB Jay Cutler. The trade gave Denver an extra number one this year and next. Their fans have to hope they do better with next year's picks. They used their first pick on a RB, Knowsean Moreno. It had been a article of faith under former coach Mike Shanahan never to waste a first round pick on a RB. Despite having signed two RBs in free agency, they used the 12 th pick on a RB, when highly rated defensive players, eg Orakpo, Maybin, Jerry, Jenkins, and offensive players, eg, Harvin, Oher, were available. Many teams had Beanie Wells rated higher than Moreno. With the 18th pick, Denver took Robert Ayers, DE from Tennessee, which seems like a sound choice. So I have to give them a grade of 50%, which seems pathetic when you gave up a Pro Bowl QB. I wasn't at all impressed by Detroit. I think Stafford is a 50-50 bet at best and certainly not worth what they are giving him. They could have found a seviceable free agent QB, traded for Cutler or taken Jason Smith or a top defender. Instead they embark on another project. With the 20th pick, they went for the highest rated TE, Brandon Pettigrew, another mistake in my mind. He is big but slow, and not good value at the 20 slot, when prospects like Jerry, Vontae Davis and Oher were still on the board. Not the worst mistake in the history of the draft, as most of the top guys were gone, but they could have filled a higher impact need. Oakland raised eyebrows when they took Maryland R Darrius Heyward-Bey in the 7 slot. Most evaluators had him ranked as no higher than the third or fourth receiver, although he does have size and ran the fastest 40 at the combine. The Mark Sanchez drama will affect two teams and probably decide the fates of their coaches and FOs. Cleveland traded the fifth pick to the Jets and received the Jets first and second rounders plus some players. If Sanchez can hit the ground running, the Jets could look very smart, but it is hard to see how he will be an upgrade over Brett Favre. As for the Browns, the Brady Quinn experiment continues to cause grief for them. Sanchez looks to be far better than Quinn, but how many QBs can you have on a team, particularly when no one will give you squat for the ones you want to unload? Cleveland did pick up a solid O lineman, Alex Mack, with the 21st pick, although I question going that high for a center. Cleveland accumulated extra picks with several trades, so they may well come out of this ok. Tampa Bay made a questionable QB decision, trading up two spots to get Josh Freedman at 17. Freedman looked like a round two guy to many scouts. I don't think there was a big winner, although several teams were pleased to find guys available when their turn came. The 49ers were able to snap up the highest rated R, Michael Crabtree, at 10 after Oakland went for Darrius-Bey at 7. The Skins were high on Brain Orakpo, DE from Texas, but thought he would be gone at 13. He wasn't, not after Denver went for Moreno at 12. I thought Vikes made a good move taking the explosive Percy Harvin at 22. Just keep him off the Love Boat at Lake Minnetonka. Baltimore is a savy team, and they were rewarded for patience by grabbing Michael Oher at 23. In fact, several teams at the bottom of the draft did well, eg Atlanta, Miami, Giants, Arizona and Pittsburg, matching need with decent talent. The rich get richer.
Yeah, the Jets bailed the Browns out. They got the extra pick, plus some cheap players whom Mangini knows.
I think the Browns may have taken Curry if he was there, but after Seattle took him, I'm sure they wanted out ASAP. Mangini comes from the Bellichick school which says - get more picks!!
The Colts took a RB with hands in the first round. It would be nice to see them make the necessary adjustments and pick up a bruiser RB like Wells, but apparently that's just not in the cards for the Colts. Marvin is gone but they didn't draft a 6'1" WR until the 4th round. Why they don't draft a 6'4"+ receiver with long arms and an insane vertical is beyond me. I don't think Manning has ever had a big WR. Overall it looks like they are sticking to what's working for them. It will probably get them a 10-6 season, maybe a 11-5 if they're lucky, unless of course Brown can turn around their running game but usually you need more than just the RB to make a big change.
I overlooked the Colts in my first assessment. I thought they had a poor draft. I didn't see Donald Brown as a first round talent. They picked up several defensive players who could pan out, but I didn't see Brown at 27. Hakeem Nicks WR was available, as was Evander Hood DT and Beanie Wells RB.