NFL Draft - The Verdict
Last updated: 2nd May 2008
Mendenhall: Speed for Steelers
By the end of the 2008 season, we'll know for sure how well all the NFL teams actually drafted. But for now, skysports.com's Stateside guru Alex Ferguson gives his verdict...
A
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh's signing of Rashard Mendenhall gives the Steelers a heck of a lot of speed in the backfield, taking the pressure off quarterback Ben Rothlisberger. Monster picks also included Texas' brilliant wide receiver Linas Sweed and Oregon's one-time Heisman hope Dennis Dixon. Remember - if Dixon wasn't injured late last year, Oregon might well have been in the National Championship game
Kansas City Chiefs
Although the Chiefs definitely improved their defence with the signing of giant Glenn Dorsey, the signing of Brandon Flowers (2nd round) and explosive running back Jamaal Charles (3rd) may have been the best.
Washington Redskins
Fred Davis was a superb tight end at USC, and probably will be in the NFL. Malcolm Kelly was one of college football's best wide receivers at Oklahoma, and Devin Thomas is highly-rated by almost every expert. Now if they could only work out how to keep a lead...
B+
Baltimore Ravens
There seems to nowhere that Baltimore didn't upgrade. Joe Flacco's got the arm to be a fantastic NFL quarterback, and Ray Rice and Allen Patrick were both stars in college. Safety Tom Zbikowski was one bright spot on Notre Dame's truly awful 2008 and Justin Harper's got great jumping abilities. This team will be very, very good this year.
Oakland Raiders
Oakland made its team better with one running back pick: Darren McFadden. Quite possibly one of the best running backs in years to come out of college, McFadden should be a star and a NFL Rookie of the Year candidate. If he behaves himself...
New York Giants
The 2008 Super Bowl Champions deepened themselves at wide receiver by drafting Mario Manningham, and Andre Woodson - one of the best QBs in college football - isn't half a bad understudy for Eli Manning to have.
Green Bay Packers
Brian Brohm won't be a bad backup to Aaron Rodgers this year - he's been one of college football's outstanding quarterbacks in the last two years. Jordy Nelson has been spoken about as a receiver with a superb future, and we also like Patrick Lee, who came out of Auburn.
B
Atlanta Falcons
Picking Matt Ryan as the top pick was a great decision by the Atlanta Falcons. He's ready to start the first game of the year. Sam Baker (2nd round) is a superb offensive tackle and Harry Douglas (3rd) is a decent wide receiver.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys really added depth at running back with the drafting of Felix Jones and Tashard Choice. While Choice may have had his best game at the start of the 2007 college football season, Jones is a bona fide star. What would anyone expect from Jerry Jones, a University of Arkansas alum?
Minnesota Vikings
Although they didn't exactly make the NFL world sit up and watch by their drafting this year, the pick of USC's John David Booty could be a sign for the future. Booty's a fantastic leader with a bigger future, in the line of Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.
B-
Miami Dolphins
Am I the only one who's not sure about Jake Long? Sure, he's a great offensive tackle, but will he hold up in the NFL? One thing's for sure though: the Dolphins decision to pick Jake Long's teammate at Michigan Chad Henne is a pretty good one. Henne looks one of the most NFL-ready quarterbacks in the draft. Don't be surprised to see him start in September.
New York Jets
Vernon Gholston was a superb defensive end during his time at Ohio State, and he'll be equally superb in the NFL. We also like the pick of Erik Ainge out of Tennessee. He's a superb leader with an accurate arm.
Arizona Cardinals
If Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is as good as his highlight reel, his genes (he's a cousin of San Diego Chargers standout Antonio Cromartie), and his pick, we are in for quite a treat. Early Doucet at wide receiver's a nice pick, too.
St Louis Rams
Sure, we've heard lots about top pick (and 2nd overall) selection Chris Long. But will he be as good as his reputation?
C
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs took a monster risk taking Kansas cornerback Aquib Talib as their top pick. Sure, KU may have had a great season in a weak Big XII, but how would they have done in a better conference? Having said that, we like the pick of receiver Dexter Jackson out of Appalachian State. The guy's got speed.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills won't have exactly made their fans cry out with joy with their picks, but James Hardy, a wide receiver from Indiana, was brilliant last year in his school's turnaround season. Bills fans will be hoping for more.
Carolina Panthers
Picking Dan Connor and Nick Hayden were steals for Carolina in the later rounds, and the signing of Jonathan Stewart as the team's new running back wasn't a bad decision. Having said that, will Stewart stay healthy?
C-
San Diego Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks
Let's face it, the Chargers, Colts, Seahawks and Pats didn't really have to upgrade a lot to be NFL favourites, did they?
San Francisco 49ers
In a word: unexciting.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints picked well both at the top and bottom of the draft. Defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis was a star at Southern California last year, and we think Michigan wide receiver Adrian Arrington has the chance to excel in the NFL... he was that good at college.
Philadelphia Eagles
Apart from picking a player that won't be playing this year due to knee injury (Jack Ikegwuonu) and a player that will certainly make his team cleverer (Andrew Studebaker played at Wheaton, one of America's cleverest schools), the Eagles were brilliant picking DeSean Jackson, one of the college football's fastest wide receivers.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The pick of Florida's defense, Derrick Harvey could well prove to be a disruptive influence on a strong Jacksonville 'D', this year. Quentin Groves could prove to be quite the star, too. Otherwise, the Jags didn't do a whole lot, though.
D+
Cleveland Browns
With the Browns so improved during the offseason with their signings, the NFL Draft was never going to be amazing for the revamped AFC North team. And true to its promise, it wasn't.
Houston Texans
After hearing that Houston had picked up Steve Slaton in the third round, my feelings were these: a) will the Houston faithful be cheering the TV highlight Slaton who ripped apart the Big East week in, week out or b) will they be booing the Slaton who dropped the ball and cost West Virginia a shot at the title? Only time will tell...
D
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals picked one player - Jason Shirley - which one US website described as having "character issues." Do the Bengals really need another player with "character issues"?
Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions
One word for the Broncos and Titans decisionmakers: Yawn. And for Detroit Lions GM Matt Millen? I'm shocked that you only picked ONE wide receiver in the draft...
D-
Chicago Bears
Bears fans were praying for a quarterback to replace Rex Grossman, who has been vilified in Chitown. They got absolutely nobody. They did, however, pick two receivers for Grossman to miss next season...
Features
Steeled for success
KC says the Bengals have nothing to lose, which is just as well as they head to in-form Pittsburgh!
Make or break
US-based Simon Veness anticipates a quartet of 'make or break' games in this week's NFL line-up
NFL - Week 11
The race to reach the play-offs is hotting up. Take a look at the best pictures from week 11 of the NFL season...
Comments
Joe Harmon says...
How much time did the author actually put into this sorry exuse of a review? There are no insightful comments to be found. Instead I see 'One word for the Broncos and Titans decisionmakers: Yawn' and 'In a word: unexciting' to describe the 49ers draft. This whole thing is a waste of time
Posted 21:07 19th July 2008
Fred Perry says...
I think that what Jeff B has just said, just about sums it all up perfectly,and with the current quality of the NFC I see no reason as to why the Bears shouldn't be able compete at the top end once again this season.
Posted 18:25 19th May 2008
Liam H says...
i think been a dolfan i agree with you but if you look at how miami beefed up there O line the problem last year was injurys not the passin or the runnin game. Altho i think taking Jake Long and Chad Henne 2 players that have played together and know each other is a good idea by the big tuna. Fair rating on miami
Posted 18:13 17th May 2008
Alexander Biberovic says...
Well as far as i know Otah was not high on our board. Gosder is athletic, very agressive and is a pure RT. He played the schemes we use in college and will slot straight in. We didnt need a 2yrs project in Otah and have no need for a guard in albert (we moved up in the 3rd round for the kansas trade). This enabled us to get smith in the 3rd. Who also played the zone blocking scheme at college and killed it. Ill admit he did not play in the best division, but he killed who was put in front of him. 2,500yrds and 30td, i dont care who he played he still killed it. And dizon is clearly a ball hawk. He played in a tough division and raked up the numbers year by year. His best 40 is 4.4 and will fit straight in with pro bowl caliber weak side Sims. He is quick, has sik instincts, and will play well in our tampa scheme. His size is irrelivant. We could list all day amazing undersized players. We have no return game wotsoever!!! and we probibly will trade roy next season so moore was weird but understandable, he had a great snr season. Good division and he turned up with good numbers. Felton is a single bak, short yrdage back. Now KJ is gone who will convert 3rd down short yard plays? Not bradly. All our picks were filling needs and they are all aggressive, athletic and have tremendose instincts. All their scout reports said that.There is no way their draft was less than a C. Some of these grades were rediculous!!!!
Posted 15:00 14th May 2008
Jeff B says...
Mr. Biberovic, Dizon was a 4th/5th round prospect, he may have put up good numbers in college but his upside is very limited, there were many FAR superior players still on the board. I think Cherilus was a reach when you consider Otah was still available (the best RT in this draft by the way) and the Lions really should have just taken Albert, they didn't get much for trading down. I don't like Kevin Smith at all, Jamaal Charles and Tashard Choice would have been much better option. Having said that I did like the Avril/Campbell picks but there were just too many reaches (Chrilus, Dizon, Fluellen, Moore, Felton, Cohen even Smith) for this draft to be considered anything other than bad. Also I'm not sure which American sites your referring to but the ones I'm looking at all grade the Lions very low and rigtly so.
Posted 22:36 13th May 2008
Mike Chambers says...
Sorry, but by giving the Bears a D- you have lost all credabilitiy. They filled there needs superbly, as has already been mentioned, by improving the O Line by picking Willaims, Rex or Kyle Orton will now get plenty of time to choose the right play, therefore not having to make quick rash decissions. They choose two WR who could quite feasibily start in Sept and Monk looks like an absoloute steal. And finally by drafting Forte theBears should be able to re-establish the running game at the heart of thier offence, something that was badly missing last season, and yet again taking pressure off the QB. Oh and the two undrafted QBs that have now been signed more than adequalty fill the roster. Rating sholud have read more like: Bears B+
Posted 17:24 13th May 2008
Alex Biberovic says...
Gosder a reach? do your homework son. Dizon plays the way we need, and we got great potential in avril, kevin smith!!! and caleb. We killed the bears last season with a rubish injury plagued team, we have improved all areas and have calvin J back fit a healthy. We needed a R and get the best one! A tampa mlb we got oe, i dont need to go on. All the american sites say we did well and got b at least. Thanks bears ur offence is still WAK. And a B for the raiders? they piked one good player, and three all coming off major ACL injuries. So a B. God who wrote this analysis? Jags got two best pass rushers so a D? Also bengals got best LB and were is the mention? And no one is complainig about the Mayo reach? just coz its the pats... Also is dan connor was that great he would have gone first day. He didnt so there must be a problem, height, arm length ect. Also dizon has most tkles in college so a reach? maybe you should actually read some articles and do you homework before typing crap!
Posted 11:27 10th May 2008
Mark Woodward says...
Obviously we won't be able to tell for another couple of years but I think its maybe a bit of a stretch to give Pittsburgh an A. I would have much preferred to have seen them take Albert to replace Faneca and maybe taken a Kevin White/ Matt Forte later in the Draft. Also I think Carolina had a great draft (Dan Connor in Round 3?) filling their need at running back and picking up great football players (not guys with great measurables who can't play). Also a little harsh on Chicago, whose bread and butter is running the football so upgrading the O-line and signing a strong back to assist/ replace Benson was a neccessity. They have other back-up QB's so why waste a pick on one? Remember Rex did get them to the Superbowl so if he has time behind Willimas (who allows the line to move players to their better positions) and has some receiver help, he'll be fine. Potentially great work from the Jags and Vikings because as the Giants proved last year, you aren't going to win anything if you can't get to the Quarterback (especially if you have a certain number 18 in your division). As a Seahawks fan I would have liked to have seen a Receiver taken as Engram seems to be holding out, we lost Hackett and Branch may not be ready for September. Would have also liked to have seen them trade for Shockey instead of drafting a TE (who apparently is a blocker rather than a receiver) to see if he could behave himself outside New York. Other than that we didnt need an awful lot (apart from a kicker maybe) and I did like the free agency line ugrade and drafting a DE to back up Kerney and Tapp, as you can never have too many, as shown by the Giants again.
Posted 14:51 7th May 2008
Paul Brymer says...
The Jags draft has the biggest boom or bust potential because they gave up so much to get Harvey. If he turns out to be the next Julius Peppers then it will look like a genius move but otherwise, it could be the latest example of a team believing it is only one player away and reaching for it in a forlorn hope. The reality in the AFC is that there are three teams fighting it out to go to the superbowl, the patriots, colts & chargers and those three organisations are so well run and so strong that they didn't need to do anything spectacular in the draft to retain their positions. Regarding the NFC, everybody seems to be in love with the Vikings at the moment but until they improve their pass defence, which adding one pass rusher doesn't do, and insert a passing offence, for which they need a quarterback, i don't get why they have such a buzz at the moment. The class in the NFC remains the Cowboys & the Packers despite both having their flaws and the one to quietly watch out for is the Panthers as they got arguably the best NFL style running back and tackle
Posted 13:45 5th May 2008
Jeff B says...
D- for the Bears? It's understandable given the fact that they didn't draft a QB and Rex was so unbelievably bad last year, but Rex can be good when he actually has time and space to pick a pass and the O-line last year didn't give him that. The pick of Williams was great as it will allow Tait to move to RT where he can still be a pro-bowl caliber player and Williams can slot straight in at left tackle. Forte will hopefully push Benson on and together they should be a good tandem. Marcus Monk was a steal in the 7th round and could have a Marques Colston type impact, him and Earl Bennet greatly improve the receiving corps. Marcus Harrison, another steal, will be great alongside Tommy Harris if he can sort out his off the field problems. They also signed two undrafted free agent QB's, one of whom, Caleb Hanie, has an NFL arm and played very well at a terrible school, watch out for him in a year or two he really should have been drafted. Overall I'd give the Bears' draft a B, they made some great value picks, filled a lot of holes and they may have 4 or 5 starters from this class for opening day, I'm not sure many other teams can say that. Also I'd like to say cangratulations to Matt Millen for ensuring the Lions don't compete again this year by having another brutal draft. Passing on Albert and Mendenhall then reaching for Cherilus. Jordan Dizon in the 2nd? Brilliance.
Posted 17:54 4th May 2008
Austin R says...
I think that the Jauguars did better then a D- because they filled their biggist need at DE.
Posted 22:44 3rd May 2008
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