Upon Further Review

May 1, 2008

Welcome to the latest edition of "Upon Further Review"... the draft reaction edition!

• Atlanta takes Matt Ryan thus putting a merciful end to the Michael Vick era. Goodbye Michael, good luck finding a job in the NFL.
   

• Shocker of shockers! Al Davis takes a flashy player with great name recognition in Darren McFadden. But, in his defense, the last time he drafted a non-flashy player (see Robert Gallery) it blew up in his face.
   

• The Denver Broncos have me puzzled. They draft Ryan Clady out of Boise State and that's not what has me puzzled. Before the draft they make a trade for a defensive lineman (Dwayne Robertson) who has ZERO connection to the Cleveland Browns.... what's going on in Denver these days?
   

• Kansas City really impressed me. They deftly moved through this draft with precision and have seemed to hit a homerun on just about every pick.
   

• Pittsburgh didn't move up or down and yet came away 2 impact players in Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed. The kings of the AFC North reload and look to defend their crown.
   

• Green Bay confused me...first they pick Jordy Nelson. That's right, Jordy Nelson. I'm sure he's a fine receiver but one has to wonder why he was drafted so early when so many other wide receivers were still available. Secondly, they not only draft Brian Brohm (when they supposedly had Brett Favre's replacement in Aaron Rodgers) but then they draft Matt Flynn out of LSU. I guess they figure three quarterbacks are what are needed to replace the future Hall of Famer?
   

• The New England Patriot talent base just keeps getting stronger and stronger, especially on the defensive side of the ball (see Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable).
   

• Houston had a very quietly successful draft. They seemed to hit and find great value on all their picks. I would look for their first 4 picks (Duane Brown, Antwaun Molden, Steve Slaton and Xavier Adibi) to make significant impacts, if not even start.
   

• Miami's draft looks solid, not many homeruns but not many misses either.
   

• Philadelphia puzzled me when they traded out of the first round and passed on a chance to draft a running back to help Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb out. But then they redeemed themselves with their second of their 2nd round picks, DeSean Jackson.
   

• With the drafting of QB Josh Johnson, the Buccaneers now have like 24 quarterbacks on their roster. I know Jon Gruden loves quarterbacks but this is getting a little crazy.

Finally...

• Speaking of quarterbacks, what is going on in Chicago??? Do they honestly think Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are the answer? Have they not watched game films from the last few years? It boggles my mind how this team can, year after year, ignore the quarterback position in the draft. 
  
  The silver lining... Tampa Bay has surplus of quarterbacks so I'm sure they can grab one of their castoffs. Unless of course the Buccaneers plan on keeping all their quarterbacks and lining them up on offense.