Dom's Dish - Sunday, April 27, 2008
Well, since I was at a party yesterday and not parked in front of a computer (like I am this morning) I decided to recap the third round. There was a lot of action with trades and I offer some commentary on the previous two rounds of picks. Enjoy!
Nice move Miami trading down - they still have holes.
64: Detroit - nice pick with Kevin Smith, RB Central Florida - what did they do, kick GM Matt Millen out of the room? Hopefully this kid will be a work horse for them - 6'1" plus
65: Rams select John Greco, OG out of Toledo - big guy, probably play OT, but not sure he'll be able to step in to replace Orlando Pace right away. He is durable.
66: This is what Miami just traded down for - I say Dan Connor out of Penn State....and it's not - DE Kendall Langford out of Hampton. They really are bulking up that line. Jason Taylor is still there. Big kid - 6'5" 290 lbs - play the end in that 3-4. Plus they have Phillip Merling.
67: Panthers select Charles Godfrey, CB from Iowa. Another [coach] product- a lot of mid-level defensive backs taken from Iowa these last few years. Another 6-foot corner. Gotta cover those big WR's in the NFL nowadays.
68: Atlanta on the clock with one of the picks they got for Deangelo Hall. And they go ahead and select a CB with that pick - Chevis Jackson out of LSU. Tall CB - 6'0" looks almost like D Hall.
By the way with the the trade early on here, there have been like a hundred (ok maybe 12) trades. Coming awful close to my prediction of "20 if not 25-30"! And what's that? New England trades their pick to the Chargers.
69: Jacob Hester of LSU - the big Fullback goes to the Chargers. Looking for a change-of-pace back to compliment LT or an actual FB to replace Lorenzo Neal? Probably an actual FB here. Hard-nosed kid, maybe even someone to get a few carries.
70: Da Bears on the clock and they select Earl Bennett, WR out of Vandy. Wow, that's like 2 picks from Vandy now - before Jay Cutler a few years ago I don't remember anyone else from Vanderbilt.
71: The Ravens take Tavares Gooden, ILB out of Miami. Someone to line up behind and learn from Ray Lewis. Smaller guy, but their current LB's are all up for contracts next year.
72: Bills on the clock. Maybe another DB? Kidding, seems like they only take DB's in the first round these past few years. But instead they go D-Line with DE Chris Ellis out of Va Tech - 6'5" 260. A first team All ACC player - of course Chris Long being the other DE first All ACC.
73: KC selects Jamaal Charles, RB out of Texas. Nice change of pace for Larry Johnson if he comes back from his foot injury. They have another pick a few teams away, so I guess this is their flyer?
74: The Panthers take the ILB no one else would take - Dan Connor out of Penn State - aka Linebacker U. Frankly, I'm surprised he fell this far, even for being an Inside Linebacker.
75: The 49ers stack their defensive backfield by adding Reggie Smith, CB out of Oklahoma.
Another 6-foot CB!
76: The Chiefs with their fifth selection (already) in the draft, take Brad Cottam a TE from Tennessee - almosyt 6-8 and 270 lbs. They must be just drafting "from their board" not on need, though they did lose free-agent TE Kris Wilson to the Eagles this year. Everyone is making a big deal about losing Jared Allen and them not replacing him yet - though they did take two DT's last year and another this year.
77: The Bengals take another Defensive player - DT Pat Sims from Auburn. I haven't heard anything about his character, can't go wrong with taking a big guy to clog the middle - they missed out on two or three DT's in the free agency period via trades, so you knew they would go there.
78: The Pats are back on the clock and select an OLD from Michigan - Shawn Crable. They sure are shuring up that front seven with LB's this draft. By the way, Jerrod Mayo, their first round pick from Tennessee - Defensive Rookie of the year next year, sticking by that.
79: The Houston Texans select Antwaun Molden, CB out of Eastern Kentucky.
80: The Birds here on the clock. I'm thinking O-Line or CB? Justin King CB out of Penn State? Nope, Bryan Smith a DE out of McNeese State. Smaller guy, talk is he could be a Special Teams helper. Not sure what the Eagles are doing here, I guess their board is just a lot more different than anyone else. By the way, I love how ESPN lists Jevon Kearse as a "Key Loss" for the team, considering he maybe
81: Early Doucet, comes late but to the Cardinals - the WR out of LSU. With the loss of Bryant Johnson (their third WR) he is a perfect slot guy, but an in-case of Anquan Boldin bolts out of AZ or holds out.
82: The Chiefs again - DaJuan Morgan out of NC State, a Safety.
83: The Bucs make the NY fans happy with the selection of Jeremy Zuttah, OG out of Rutgers. Gruden sure is building up that O-Line. Let me just tell you, two years ago when I was playing NCAA College Football 2008, Zuttah was a great blocker.
84: The Falcons select another WR - WR Harry Douglas out of Louisville. I guess the unhappy Joe Horn won't be there anymore, plus their past 1st round picks haven't panned out. Smaller guy, slot receiver in the NFL
85: Craig Stevens, TE out of Cal goes to the Tennessee Titans. Is it just me
86: Wow, how this guy fell. Tom Zbikowski, Safety out of Notre Dame finally goes to Baltimore. I guess John Harbaugh likes Notre Dame guys just as much as Andy Reid. Baltimore has gone QB, RB (Ray Rice), ILB and Safety. Nice draft there Harbaugh.
87: Andre Fluellen, DT from Florida State goes to Detroit. I am pretty sure this is the first Seminole taken - wow - late 3rd round? Fluellen is a big
88: Bruce Davis, OLB of UCLA goes to the Steelers. They are looking for some insurance for the bad news prone James Harrison (domestic violence charge earlier this year).
89: Steve Slaton, RB out of West Virginia falls to the Houston Texans. Man, Houston has some horses now, that are young, hopefully they pan out. Chris Brown went there in the Free agency period (Titans), the aging Ahman Green is not the answer, and Darius Walker out of Notre Dame, but hopefully their new O-Line coach Alex Gibbs can get that zone blocking scheme down.
90: Da Bears again, they take a big DT out of Arkansas -Marcus Harrison. Perhaps a nice replacement for Tank Johnson and backup to Tommie Harris.
91: Green Bay on the clock and they take Jermichael Finley a TE from Texas. Smallish guy for a TE - 6'4" 240lbs. He'll be able to bulk up and possibly step in over the next year to replace Bubba Franks. Interesting draft for GB: WR, QB, CB, TE...hmm.
92: Another trade, Dallas moving out, allowing the Detroit Lions to move in. Cliff Avril a big DE out of Perdue goes to Detroit. Detroit - what's up? Really, did they put the mute button on Matt Millen? I like their draft - OT, OLB, RB, DT, DE.
93: The Colts looking to rebuild and get back to a Championship game, take an ILB from Georgia Tech Philip Wheeler. Without having their Depth Chart in front of me but knowing the 4-3 cover two, I'm guessing he'll move outside initially.
94: The Patriots. CB or LB, CB or LB? WOW! QB! Kevin O'Connell, QB out of San Diego State. They have a #2 already in Matt Cassell, but this is a nice Belichick pick for some competition. 6-5 225 lbs. Nice gig for him, throw to Randy Moss in practice.
95: The Giants select Mario Manningham, WR out of Michigan. Nice pick, watch out man, the Giants have a boatload of WR's now - the fragile Plaxico, David Tyree, Steve Smith and now Maningham? Manningham may be the eventual #1 when Plax's contract is up or he tears and ACL, whichever comes first.
We're now into the supplemental picks that can't be traded.
96: Washington takes an OG from Northern Iowa in Chad Rinehart.
97: Cincinatti seeks to replace Chris Henry (the WR) and maybe the Chad with Andre Caldwell, WR out of Florida. Another one that early on in predictions, was a first round pick. Reche's brother - ok college career,
98: Atlanta on the clock again, seeking to rebuild about 10 of 22 positions, they take Thomas DeCoud a Safety out of California. I give ATL a few years before they're in the 10-6 range again, buit nice draft - QB (Matt Ryan, Franchise QB), OT, ILB, CB, WR, S.
99: Last pick of the Third Round here, the Baltimore Ravens on the clock and take Oniel Cousins, OG from UTEP.
That's it for the pick-by-pick analysis, I'll go ahead here and recap some interesting picks as I see them over the next few rounds.
Dallas is up first in the 4th round with a pick they received from Miami for 2 players - LB Akin Ayedole and TE . Bill Parcells sure does like his players. Oh wait, another trade! Oakland moves up and takes Tyvon Branch, CB from UConn. Someone for DeAngelo Hall and Asimouga to mentor, and a nice KR.
The Rams with the next pick finally take Justin King, CB from Penn State! Nice pick, could return kicks, nice cover guy, but going to a St. Louis team that hasn't been the best recently in developing young DB talent - see Tye Hill out of Clemson.
Another trade - Jets trade out to GB. Then Cleveland trades up with the Cowboys pick. Almost half of the picks in each round has "T" next to it on ESPN's mock draft board - madness!
The Birds back up - their first of three in the fourth round and they take an OT from Pitt - the other OT, Mike McGlynn with pick 109. Played Guard and Tackle there - just what the Eagles like, OL versatility. At 6-5 318 lbs, I'm thinking he and Max Jean-Gilles will supplant Shawn Andrews and Todd Herremans next year as guards and they'll move outside to tackle. I know the Birds took a lot of heat for trading out of the first round again but at least this time they got a #1 next year when they may need a starter to play Tackle or Safety due to contract situations. I was a little miffed too, they took another OT from Pitt here, but could have had Jeff Otah. You have to figure some of their moves are related to dollars this year.
The Buffalo Bills took a corner back at pick 114 from Akron - Reggie Corner. They sure like DB's from the state of Ohio, eh? Nate Clements was from Ohio State (#21 pick in 2001), Donte Whitner from Ohio State (#8 overall pick in 2006), Ashton Yabouty from Ohio State (3rd Rd pick in 2006).
Eagles again - pick 117, they take a Safety Quintin Demps out of UTEP. We'll see if he's gonna make the team as an eventual successor to B-Dawk. Then with pick 131 they take a Corner - Jack Ikegwuonu from Wisconsin. Coming off a knee injury, I am guessing this is another fit for their board and need for depth. Possibly someone they can put on the practice squad or IR for a year to build.
--------------------------------For those new to "the dish", I once dreamed of being a sports-caster having my own column. Let me know if you don't like it, and/or want to be discontinued from the list. If you have another email address to send it to, send that to me also. For older issues of the dish, email me. domsdish@gmail.com or go to http://domsdish.blogspot.com
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