Rate Your Team's Draft Picks

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon13

New Orleans Saints - B+ Sedrick Ellis should be a very good player and Tracy Porter, even though I know absolutely nothing about him, has to be better than Jason David so that a plus as well. I'm just glad to see that New Orleans is addressing the defense.

Sedrick Ellis is the best defensive lineman I have ever seen come out of USC. Mayock had him neck and neck with Glen Dorsey. You guys got a good player there.

[Brandon13]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

Sedrick Ellis is the best defensive lineman I have ever seen come out of USC. Mayock had him neck and neck with Glen Dorsey. You guys got a good player there.

Good to hear. I was half expecting the Saints to move up and draft Dorsey but from what I've read/heard they're pretty much 1a and 1b so I'm not disappointed.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brandon13

Good to hear. I was half expecting the Saints to move up and draft Dorsey but from what I've read/heard they're pretty much 1a and 1b.

Dorsey got more press. But most guys in the know had them 1a and 1b.

Ellis is the strongest player to ever come through the USC program.

From this article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls0...uce&id=3174418

Quote:

he 6-foot-1, 305-pound senior has grown so strong that the Trojans had to buy a set of 200-pound dumbbells for their weight room just to accommodate him. "Before, the heaviest we had were 160s," said Chris Carlisle, the Trojans' strength coach, who adds that Ellis can now do sets of eight reps on the incline bench with the bigger iron.

[BatsareBugs]

Chargers - C+.

Why?
Cason is a solid pick to replace Florence, and it was considered a "safe" pick given the run on offensive lineman. While it bolsters the depth at DB for us, we still need a RT and we need to address DT soon. This pick didn't wow anyone (not that a late rounder does) and we already had Oliver, so we could have gone on without drafting a CB this early.

Grades change. Who knows, Cason could bust or he could be a star. Back when Merriman and Castillo were drafted, we had a lot of naysayers. Same with the year we drafted Cromartie and McNeill. In the end though, I think it's rather foolish to grade players and drafts when they haven't even played a single snap in the NFL.

[Steelerfan2k1]

Quote: Originally Posted by shayndapain

Steelers Mendenhall A+ Besides getting arguably the 2nd best back in the draft so late, I think he's the perfect Steelers back. Homerun threat that explodes through holes like a rocket. Sweed A- I was sure Sweed and the rest of the WR's above him were going to be gone in the first round. I wouldn't have been happy with Sweed in the first round, but here in the second round he's the perfect guy to make Big Ben happy. I gave em an A- because he still needs to improve.

I agree with this. I give Mendenhall an A+, because we sat tight until the 23rd pick, with all kinds of teams trading picks, and we took the best guy available.

We would have been overpaying if we had drafted an OL after the huge run before us.

[skydog71]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nza

Not making a whole lot of sense there. Chris Johnson is a reach, but taking a WR - all of whom were in fact 2nd round picks - wouldn't be a reach? You just have to understand the Titans didn't feel there were any WR's in this draft any better than what's already on the roster. Drafting WR would have had the hype-pundits singing praises, and probably a lot of fans, but it would have been a dumb pick. Johnson brings something the offense didn't have before - lethal speed. I don't get the logic here - so they should have instead picked a WR for the sake of picking a WR? Now THAT'S bad drafting. And Johnson *was* a needed position. The Titans offense needed speed and big play ability DESPERATELY. It wasn't even funny how much they needed it. They very likely got it with Johnson. It was definitely a needed pick. It's almost irrelevant which position this comes in, it just HAD to be added. As for the 2nd round - same deal. Why draft a WR in the 2nd if you can get more or less the same level WR in the 3rd or later, let alone burn picks to trade up for one. Jones was an important pick as he is in the mold of Odom. The DL is the best part of the Titans, they need to keep it that way to win. The Titans don't need another mid range depth WR, they need a star WR. There was no star WR, so they didn't waste their time. I think you'll find that Johnson will be more than just a RB, too. You'll come around - simple fact is the Titans didn't pass on anyone a 24 that wouldn't have been a reach themselves, except for maybe Balmer and Merling. That's cool though, clearly Jamal Charles is sliding for a reason and they felt it was too risky waiting until round 2 to address the team's single most important need - offensive explosiveness.

I agree that the Titans need a change of pace back... I just don't understand the logic in drafting one in the 1st. Isn't Chris Henry supposed to be our change of pace back? Maybe the Titans are admitting he was a bust... and if so, the solution shouldn't be drafting another RB way before he's projected to go off the board. It just feels like a bust all over again. I really hope I'm wrong.

And if our goal is to improve our running game, why not invest in a WR to spread the field? We were ranked #32 in passing TD's. Teams know we can't pass the ball, so they are going to put even more people in the box to stop the run. Our entire stable of WR's are busts, with the exception of maybe Justin Gage (who we didn't even draft). There's just no way that there wasn't a single WR in this draft better than our roster of busts. We had our pick of any of them. We go out and sign people who are cut by the Raiders and Jets (Mike Williams and Justin McCairens), but can't find a single WR in the draft good enough to be on our roster? Just not buying it.

I guess we'll try the "load up on a bunch of WR's in the middle round" strategy again. Or maybe we'll just stick with what we have. I don't know. I hope Chris Johnson explodes and makes me look like a fool.

[Preo32]

Atlanta Falcons: B

Matt Ryan is a need, but when they picked him, i gave the pick a C-, since i thought Dorsey and then Flacco in 2nd round woulda been amazing. But once Flacco was picked 18th, I knew the Falcons wouldn'y have been able to get him, so I moved the pick grade up to a B

Sam Baker is also a need, but trading up to get him IMO was dumb. He's good, but probably could have just traded to get the 26th pick to get him, where the Texans got Duane Johnson. So, sinec i think it was a bad trade up, I give this pick a C

Curtis Lofton was my favorite pick of the day. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year says it all. Not a big linebacker, but will be a beast. I see him making a great inpact in the Falcons D, now that Demorrio Williams left via free agency. This pick is an A.

We have 3 3rd round picks, so im hoping for the best

[sycodmn]

Raiders get an 'A'.

Run DMC isn't a 'need', but he's arguably the best prospect in the draft, and while defensive tackle IS a need, after hearing Kiffin explain it, I can see why Dorsey and Ellis weren't picked, as the Raiders just gave Tommy Kelly a truckload of money to play the 3 technique.