NFL Draft Wrapup

Lets look back at my predictions and see how they turned out:

• Three of the first 10 picks of the second round will be traded. - 2 of the top 10 were traded and 3 of the top 15. Close but not quite.
• Terrance Cody will be taken in those first 10 picks, as will Jimmy Clausen - Blew this one fairly badly. Clausen slipped to 48th and Mt. Cody all the way to 57th. However, I do think both of these players found one of the very few teams that they can immediately contribute to.
• Sergio Kindle is falling for a reason and that freefall will continue. Rumor is it is a medical condition. I look for him in the 45-55 range now. - Wrong again, he went 43. What a fall from grace for a player that had been talked about as a top 10 prospect as early as 2 weeks before the draft. Although I guess the fall of Everson Griffen was more spectacular.
• All of the top tier corner backs were taken off the board in the first round. The second round will not see more than 1 corner (Chris Cook?) Almost nailed this one. Chris Cook went 34 to the Vikings and Javier Arenas went 50 to the chiefs. The corollary of this prediction was a glut of CBs taken in the third, which also happened.
• Taylor Mays will continue to slide. Hes an amazing athlete but an average football player All the way to the 49ers at 49. Even his head coach in college passed on him 3 times!
• Jacksonville will have the chance to draft a solid player (like Sean Lee) that makes a lot of sense, but will instead bewilder everyone and go for Donald Butler, for no particular reason. Jacksonville traded their pick, prediction null.
• The Undead from the Raiders will draft Bruce Campbell and consider it the steal of the draft. Oh how I nailed this one. Expect I thought it would be in the second round, not the fourth!!! I honestly think teams shied away from Campbell BECAUSE the Raiders were so interested. If the Raiders like him, he must be terrible.

As far as the saints draft goes, I was extremely pleased.

1 (32) - Patrick Robinson CB - A surprise pick by the Saints, but it was good value and with Jerry Hughes being picked just before them I think he qualifies as B(Defensive)PA. There are 2 positions in the NFL that you can never have enough talent at, those are LT and CB.

2 (64) - Charlie Brown LT - Speaking of stockpiling talent at a key position, Charlie Brown slips to the Saints. I could not be more pleased with this pick. Brown is a known finesse pass blocker that likes to get outside on screens and is very mobile. He is an absolute perfect fit for the Saints and is a steal. It also spells the end of Jammal Brown, which was necessary. Overpaying for 29 year old players is not how to build a franchise, trading them away to desperate teams for solid draft picks though isn't too bad.

3 (95) - Jimmy Graham TE - My favourite pick of the draft, bar none. An absolute physical specimen, Graham has all the tools to be the most dominate TE in the NFL. Super high praise that he probably won't live up to, but I'm going to enjoy watching him try. Read this piece for a little perspective: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-grahamtoughness040810 . I could very well be in the market for a Graham 80 Jersey next time I'm feeling particularly rich.

4 (123) - Al Woods DT - A very pedestrian college career that I'd like to attribute to terrible coaches and a lazy system. Al Woods now has Bill Johnson and Greg Williams to show him hows its done and he may very well blossom under their tutelage. At the very least, those two know what they're doing and wouldn't take him (little less trade up) unless they saw a future for him.

5 (158) - Matt Tennant C - The Saints desperately needed interior offensive line help, they have pro-bowlers in all three positions but no depth, Tennant is that depth for the next season or two and then he is the replacement for Goodwin. An interior line of Nicks - Tennant - Evans projects as one of the best in the NFL. With Stitch on the right side at a very affordable long term contract and Charlie Brown and Bushrod fighting for playing time on the left, the offensive line looks all pro.

7 (239) - Sean Canfield QB - Sean Payton has been itching for QB to develop and he finally feels rich enough to spend a pick on one. Good for him, he deserves it. Plus, players that the Saints might have targetted here (Gaellete, Colemon) signed with the SB champions anyways as UDFA.

Overall, this draft was clearly that of a rich team looking to get richer. They stuck to their BPA philosophy, drafted potential and probably got 4 long term starters out of it. This is how drafting is suppose to be done.