Draft Evaluations?

Grading the drafts the day after or ever a week after is a pointless task. No one really knows the true impact until we've seen a few years on the field. Right now, every team has to like their drafts. They must have chosen those players for a reason. Right now, I think that the Rams, Giants, Eagles, Colts, Bears, Panthers, Bills and Texans all had terrific drafts. I liked all those drafts. I really liked the drafts of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I'll focus on those drafts. It's interesting to note that all but the Buccaneers made the playoffs last year. It looks like the strong got stronger.

Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have rarely protected quarterback Ben Roethlisberger very well. It's a good thing that he's excellent at making plays on the move. Teaming Stanford guard David DeCastro and Ohio St tackle Mike Adams with all-pro center Maurkice Pouncey may finally give Roethlisberger the protection he needs. Nose tackle Casey Hampton has had an excellent career. Unfortunately, he's nearing the end. Washington defensive tackle Alameda Ta'Amu will learn from Hampton and ease the transition. Ta'Amu is huge and active. Linebacker Sean Spence and Florida running back Chris Rainey help the Steelers' depth and special teams. Even in the Super Bowl years, the Steelers offensive line was a little weak. This draft changes that. It's amazing that they were able to haul in DeCastro and Adams.

Green Bay Packers
It's hard for me to believe that the Packers had the worst defense in the league. They have far too many playmakers for that to happen. No matter, it happened and they had to fix it. I think that they did. Their first three picks in the draft impress the most. USC defensive end Nick Perry could be scary. Pairing him with Clay Matthews will be a nightmare. Michigan St defensive tackle Jerel Worthy will tag-team nicely with BJ Raji. Vanderbilt cornerback Casey Hayward will learn from one of the best in Charles Woodson. All three will keep the Packers from hanging out at the bottom of the defensive statistics again. Fifth round linebacker Terrell Manning will help as well.

New England Patriots
Much of the same things said about the Packers defense can be said about the Patriots defensive performance last year. All offense. No defense. Absolutely none. The Patriots took the same approach to changing that in the draft. All defense. Six of their seven selections were on the defensive side of the ball. First round selections of Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones and Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower were fantastic. Maybe illegal. Illinois safety Tavon Wilson and Arkansas defensive end Jake Baquette should play nice roles. Seventh round cornerback Alfonzo Denard could be a real steal. Like the Packers again, I don't see the Patriots at the bottom of the league's defensive statistics this year.

Cincinnati Bengals
Team owner Mike Brown must have been locked out of the Bengals draft room. I've always felt that he needs to be kept out of all personnel decision. He just doesn't know football like his father. This team has been a frequent, early picker in the NFL Draft. Poor drafting is what keeps them there. The Bengals, on paper on right now, may have had the best draft of all. If this draft, and last year's, is any indication, playoff appearances and late round selections will be the norm in Cincinnati. Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler, Penn St defensive tackle Devon Still, Rutgers receiver Muhamed Sanu, defensive tackle Brandon Thompson and Georgia tight end Orson Charles may all start next year. Adding six rookie starters to a playoff team is incredible. Six might be a stretch but the talent is there. They added one of all time favorite Cal players in receiver Marvin Jones in the fifth round. His smooth route running and hands might put him ahead of Sanu. Simply a great draft. The Bengals may have added significantly to their draft haul after they were done. They signed one of the most puzzling undrafted free agents in Arizona St linebacker Vontaze Burfict. There is little that Burfict can't do on the defensive side of the ball. Simply, he's a beast. He may also have to be heavily medicated to remain on the field. The NFL might frown on that. I remember a Minnesota Vikings-Washington Redskins game about six years ago. The late, great Redskins safety Sean Taylor came completely unhinged and essentially handed a close game to the Vikings. Successive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties changed that game. Eventually, Taylor got his life and football together and was starting to live up to his enormous potential. Unfortunately, his life was taken way too early. Burfict slaughtered his draft chances with his often out of control stunts on the field and baffling actions off the field since the end of his college career. If he can get his act together he can be a top-10 caliber player signed as a lowly undrafted free agent. It's little risk for the Bengals but it could pay off huge.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I found the 2011 Buccaneers to be one of the greatest mysteries of the past NFL season. They were way too talented to play so poorly. Coach Raheem Morris completely lost control of the team. It resulted in a nightmare season. Former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano seems to be the right person to get the team back on track. A talented team was bolstered by a nice free agency and a super draft. Alabama safety Mark Barron was quietly considered one of the elite players of the entire draft. Instead of battling with the Cleveland Browns for a shot at Alabama running back Trent Richards the Buccaneers grabbed a defensive difference maker in Barron and waited for the second round to grab a running back. Boise St's Doug Martin has drawn some comparisons to Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears. I actually see a little more of Baltimore Raven's Ray Rice in Martin. That would make Schiano happy as he coached Rice in college. He knows the potential impact of  incredibly versatile backs like Rice and Martin. Linebackers Lavonte David and Najee Goode could both see a lot of playing time as rookies. Mason Foster was very impressive as a rookie last year. Those three linebackers could combine for an excellent and very young group. The kind of group that changes an entire defense. The Buccaneers may do this year what I expected them to do last year. The NFC South already has two very strong teams in the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. They may soon have two more in Tampa Bay and the Carolina Panthers.

Those are the five drafts that stood out the most to me. One other draft stood out to me for an entirely different reason.

Seattle Seahawks
There's always been something a little shady about Seattle coach Pete Carroll. It's probably all about his time at USC. Despite producing awesome offensive linemen like Ron Yary and Matt Kalil, that place just smells wrong. The sleazy USC coach was filled nicely by Carroll and currently taken to a whole other level by Lane Kiffin. Maybe it's all due to this uncomfortable feeling about Carroll but the Seahawks draft just seemed a little off. Like the coaches and scouts in the Pacific Northwest just see a different kind of football. West Virginia defensive end Bruce Irvin was the first real surprise of the first round. Mike Mayock said that Irvin was the most natural pass rusher in the draft. Irvin strikes me as an amazing college pass rusher. There aren't many 245 lb defensive ends in the NFL. Those that are close to that weight are challenging the 6' height barrier. At 6'3", Irvin has a completely different frame. The Seahawks obviously see something in him and they would know far better than me whether Irvin can either bulk up or maintain his college level of play at his current weight. I love the selection of Utah St linebacker Bobby Wagner in the second round. Then the Seahawks again went a little squirrelly in the third round even though I really like the player that they selected. I was shocked when Pete Carroll, after signing free agent quarterback Tarvaris Jackson last summer, called out the Vikings for not giving Jackson a chance. It really wasn't Carroll's place to comment on how the Vikings handled their players. I've never heard of a coach make such a direct criticism like that. Especially when it looked as if Carroll was doing the very same thing to Charlie Whitehurst that he claimed the Vikings did to Jackson. He handed the starting job to Jackson last year and to show his confidence in his quarterback proceded to sign free agent Matt Flynn this spring. To further show confidence in his quarterback duo, Carroll used his third round pick on Wisconson quarterback Russell Wilson. Despite being short by almost any quarterback standards, Wilson is an excellent football player. He simply wins games. I have no idea how Carroll can spend a third on quarterback when he already has Jackson and Flynn. It's as if he's just adding quarterbacks simply for the sake of adding quarterbacks. I like Utah St running back Robert Turbin but the Seahawks already have a similar hard runner in Marshawn Lynch. There's nothing wrong with a little more of the same especially if it wears down a defense. I just expected something a little different. Florida defensive tackle Jaye Howard is a terrific player and I can see him making an early impact. I actually like the players that Seattle drafted. I just find them a bit of an odd fit. This draft could turn out to be one of the best drafts of all time. You can never really tell so soon after the selections are made. Maybe my feelings of this being an odd draft come solely from my uncomfortable feelings about Pete Carroll. I just don't trust that guy.

There it is. The Flea Flicker Evaluations of a few of the drafts. There's others that I like. These are the just the ones that stood out the most for a variety of reasons. Some of the strong teams didn't have to do much to grab my attention. They just did whatever was necessary to maintain a high level of play. One comment that I have to make in terms of draft evaluations, that I don't think a lot of critics/media talking heads get, is "value". They throw that word out a lot. "This was a 'value' pick." "There was a lot of 'value' in drafting a player here." "Value" in regards to pretty much anything, but in this case the draft, is really in the eye of the beholder. The "value" of any player can only be made by the team making the selection. If a team likes a player and they don't see that player making it to their next selection, they have to take him where they are. Sure, they can trade back and maybe add a few picks but there is never any guarantee in that. Teams draft players based on how they alone "value" a player. It doesn't matter the "value" that anyone else may put on that player. It's easy to sit back and lay judgement on something when your livelihood doesn't depend on it's success. Just sayin'.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be the presentation of my all too in-depth evaluation of the best draft of all. That of the Minnesota Vikings. Championship!

Draft Thoughts

I'll throw out more complete thoughts on the drafts that I liked as well as one that I found a little funky in a later Flicker, likely tomorrow. You'd expect teams that draft early would select terrific players and as a result bring home a terrific draft. It rarely works that way and that is why some teams always draft early. The strong teams draft late and always seem to draft well. They remain strong. At a quick glance, I really liked what the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants in this draft. I always hope that the Packers revert to the thinking that prompted them to draft Justin Harrell in the first round. Unfortunately, they don't seem too interested in making me happy.

First of all, I'm still not a fan of the three day prime time draft. With my work and me being in the Pacific time zone, it's difficult/impossible to get home in time to catch the proceedings live. The East coast is screwed too often with sports on TV to adjust things. So, it's only fair that the West coast suffers in this case. Roger Goodell and the NFL seem to think that every single football fan loves this setup. I don't see it changing anytime soon.

That ridiculous droid razr commercial should never have made it on the air. It was horrible once but after the one thousandth appearance I was screaming. My goodness, that was some piece of advertising. Who makes these things?

Maybe all the trades at the top of the first round hacked things up but the NFL Network's coverage was about three steps behind. There were occasions when there was a gridlock of picks made while they were playing around on the stage. I just think that it was a mistake to have the graphic at the bottom of the screen saying that the picks were in well before they were ready to announce them. In past years the coverage handled the interviews and camera time without a noticeable impact on the draft coverage. I wouldn't mind a return to that.

I loved seeing the former NFL players announcing their former team's picks in the second round. It was great to those players again. It was even better to see that so many are in such fantastic shape. Even players whose playing days were about fifty years ago, like Gary Collins and Roger Wherli, looked terrific. It was especially cool to see former Cal players Wesley Walker and Ken Harvey. From the 50-yard line, I saw Walker catch a touchdown pass from Joe Roth in 1975. That was a beautiful day in Berkeley and it was beautiful to see Walker again.

I was a little surprised by what seemed to be a lot of players selected from Nevada. It's likely a coincidence more so than a connection but I can't help but wonder if Colin Kaepernick brought more attention to the school. He got a lot of attention last year and as a result so did the school.

I was puzzled and amused when little Presbyterian College was on Cal's football schedule last year. I'd never heard of the Prebyterian College Blue Hose. Thankfully, Cal walked away with a win. I walked away amazed by a cornerback named Justin Bethel. I'm glad that the NFL noticed him too. The Arizona Cardinals selected an impressive football player when they took Bethel in the sixth round.

I love listening to Mike Mayock and Charles Davis talk about the draft and football. I'd love to hang out with them. Those two alone made it easy to put ESPN to sleep a few years ago. I enjoy the analysis of Michael Lombardi and Charley Casserly as well. Their actual experience in NFL front offices brings automatic respect. Casserly, in particular, is entertaining even if it's in an often goofy way. Rich Eisen is excellent as host. He can be a bit goofy as well. His rapport with players, past and present, as well as NFL decision makers is easily his best asset. It doesn't take much to maintain my interest in the draft but the NFL Network does a great job. Far better than ESPN ever did. Brian Billick, however, is a boob.

The anticipation for the draft is so great that it's often hard to see it end. Now, it's time to put it all together. Between now and September the teams are made. It's so wonderful to have OTAs and Mini-camps again. The lockout crapped on everything last year. I'm so glad that mess is in the past. Never again.

Draft Day Trades

Several factors play into a team trading picks in an NFL Draft. They might trade up for a player that they decide that they can not live without. That's likely the most common. Or, a team likes a player but figures that they can get him a little later. They drop back and gather a pick or more and still get the player that they like. Nearly all draft day trades deal with either side of those two scenarios. I have always found it interesting to pick through the trades and find the reason why. Most are obvious like the Dallas Cowboys jumping up to #6 for Morris Claiborne on the first day of this draft. The Washington Redskins falling to the demands of the St. Louis Rams for a shot at Robert Griffin III was pretty obvious as well. The Cleveland Browns giving up three picks to the Minnesota Vikings to simply move up one spot is surprising at first glance. Obviously, the Browns desperately wanted Trent Richardson. To the Browns it was worth those three picks to insure that no other team leaps over them to get to Minnesota's spot in the draft. They were so desperate to insure the selection of Richardson that they didn't even wait for the draft to start. The clock can bring out knee jerk reactions from some teams. The Browns made the trade with the Vikings about an hour before it all started. In turn, the picks that Minnesota received from Cleveland provided the means to make a trade to move back into the end of the first round. The Vikings, much to my giddiness, were very interested in Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith. I'd been worried that Smith wouldn't make it to the Vikings #3 pick in the second round. The Vikings had the same worry. They had to move back into the first round to get their player. They found a landing spot with Baltimore at #29. It cost a fourth round pick but they had that pick covered with the earlier trade with Cleveland. Was the trade necessary? It's interesting to note that the Denver Broncos traded their pick at #31 as soon as the Vikings brought Harrison Smith to Minnesota. With the recent retirement of safety Brian Dawkins the Broncos might have been looking to fill that void. A connection? We'll likely never know for sure but it's fun to speculate.

Round 1

Mike Mayock said that there would be no trades in the top-10 of the 2012 NFL Draft. I think that he was joking. There were six in the first seven selections. The Washington Redskins jump started the trading weeks ago when they gave the St Louis Rams a ton to move up to #2 to select Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. The Minnesota Vikings started the draft day trading about an hour early. The Vikings moved from three to four in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. In return the Vikings received the Browns' picks in the 4th, 5th and 7th. The Vikings still got their top choice in USC tackle Matt Kalil. Rumors had been floating for days, especially in that last day, that the Vikings preferred LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne. My hunch is that the Vikings floated those rumors to get Cleveland and Tampa Bay bidding against each other. Each supposedly wanted Alabama running back Trent Richardson. It's all fun and games in the NFL Draft. It was a nice move by Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, in his first draft with the final say, to gain picks while still getting the player that he wanted all along. Just before the first round was about to end the Vikings were again on the clock. Spielman took advantage of the extra 4th rounder gained earlier in the day and traded a 2nd and a 4th for the Baltimore Ravens 1st round pick. With the 29th selection of the first round, the Vikings selected Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith. My hope was that the Vikings could select Smith with their pick in round 2. Clearly they didn't think that he'd still be available. Ironically, the team that I most feared would take Smith was in fact the Ravens.

So, the Minnesota Vikings cleared the first round with their new starting left tackle and new starting safety.
Welcome to Minnesota Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith.

Maybe Wake Forest receiver Chris Givens in the third today.

The trade that surprised me the most was the Dallas Cowboys trading with the St Louis Rams to jump from #14 to #6. The trade didn't surprise me so much as the player that they selected did. I assumed that they would be targeting Alabama S Mark Barron. Instead Morris Claiborne was the selection. He's a terrific player and a terrific selection. I just expected him to be gone before then.

Perhaps an even greater surprise was to see the New England Patriots trade up rather than down. They selected nice defenders in Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones and Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower. The Patriots defense got much better on the first day of the draft.

There's no way that Stanford guard David DeCastro should have been available for the Pittsburgh Steelers at #24. Lining him up next to center Maurkice Pouncey will keep quarterback Ben Roethlisberger safe from any rush up the middle. I expected DeCastro to be selected in the top third of the draft.

Oh, Andrew Luck went first overall to the Indianapolis Colts but everyone knew that.

Draft Day 2012

Today is the day that everyone has been looking forward to. Well, probably not everyone but a lot have been looking forward to it. Months of speculation and all those mock drafts will be a thing of the past. Until next year's draft, of course. Years of two-a-days, coaches and games has brought a fairly small number of people to the ultimate level of football competition. Over the next few days dreams come true.

The draft has always held great appeal to me. Championship teams are created through the draft. No matter how much money and attention is paid to free agency, it's the draft that is the true building blocks of football teams. The Minnesota Vikings have yet to build that championship team but they will. Maybe, hopefully, the players drafted over the next three days will be some of those building blocks. That is the major part of the appeal of the draft to me. I also love to see the kids realize the next step of their dreams. This is their opportunity. They have to understand that it's only an opportunity. Those that understand that best are usually the one's that excel in the NFL. The one's that take the opportunity for granted often fail. No matter how talented they are. An opportunity for a successful NFL career is only being handed to them. It's never given. They must see it that way. Few care about the round in which a player was drafted once the games start counting.

Best of luck to all the drafted and undrafted football players as they take their first steps in the NFL.

With the third pick of the 2012 NFL Draft the Minnesota Vikings select USC offensive tackle.
LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne would be cool too. Or trade down a couple of spots, collect a pick or two and still select Kalil or Claiborne.

Final Flea Flicker Mock Draft

Mike Mayock releases his mock draft today. So do I. Here's to franchise defining choices for all 32 teams. Especially the Minnesota Vikings.

1. Colts  Andrew Luck  QB  Stanford
2. Redskins  Robert Griffin III  QB  Baylor
3. VIKINGS  MATT KALIL  T  USC
4. Browns  Trent Richardson  RB  Alabama
5. Buccaneers  Morris Claiborne  CB  LSU
6. Rams  Justin Blackmon  WR  Oklahoma St
7. Jaguars  Stephon Gilmore  CB  South Carolina
8. Dolphins  Ryan Tannehill  QB  Texas A&M
9. Panthers  Michael Floyd  WR  Notre Dame
10. Bills  Riley Reiff T  Iowa
11. Chiefs  Luke Kuechly  LB  Boston College
12. Seahawks  Dontari Poe  Memphis
13. Cardinals  David DeCastro  G  Stanford
14. Cowboys  Mark Barron  S  Alabama
15. Eagles  Fletcher Cox  DT  Mississippi St
16. Jets  Michael Brockers  DT  LSU
17. Bengals  Melvin Ingram  DE/LB  South Carolina
18. Chargers  Jonathan Martin  T  Stanford
19. Bears  Quentin Coples  DE  North Carolina
20. Titans  Whitney Mercilus  DE  Illinois
21. Bengals  Dre Kirkpatrick  CB  Alabama
22. Browns  Courtney Upshaw  LB  Alabama
23. Lions  Michael Adams  T  Ohio St
24. Steelers  Cordy Glenn  T  Georgia
25. Broncos  Jerel Worthy  DT  Michigan St
26. Texans  Kendall Wright  WR  Baylor
27. Patriots  Shea McClellan  LB  Boise St
28. Packers  Doug Martin  RB  Boise St
29. Ravens  Dont'a Hightower  LB  Alabama
30. 49ers  Stephen Hill  WR  Georgia Tech
31. Patriots  Nick Perry  DE  USC
32. Giants  Devin Still  DT  Penn St
33. Rams  Brandon Thompson  DT  Clemson
34. Colts  Cody Fleener  TE  Stanford
35. VIKINGS  HARRISON SMITH  S  NOTRE DAME

The Bengals and Patriots are potentially strong teams that could really help themselves today. Two first round picks certainly help. The Bengals were one of the surprises last season. If they pull two starters out of the first round the Steelers and Ravens will no longer be alone at the top of the AFC North. For fairly valid reasons many doubt that the Patriots will keep both of their first round picks. The team trades picks so frequently. There are some serious defensive playmakers that should be available at the Patriots selections. McClellan, in particular, seems like a Belichick kind of football player. Smart and extremely versatile. McClellan and Perry or Clemson's Andre Branch could do wonders for a defense seriously lacking last year.

Draft Day Terms

From play calls to terminology, the language of football must sound ridiculous to many people. The draft brings out some of the most ridiculous. Here's a few of them to help you this week.

Dancing Bear-offensive lineman who moves his feet well

Knee Bender-showing good flexibility, particularly in the case of offensive linemen

Stock Rising-a player gaining in popularity among scouts and GMs in advance of the draft

Stock Falling-a highly regarded player is dropping down the draft boards

Hands Like Feet-terrible hands

Satellite Player-he plays well in space

Road Grader-a lineman who excels at run blocking

Throwing In a Phone Booth-able to use a compact throwing motion within a confined area

Tweener-a player that doesn't quite fit into one position

Jitterbug Runner-a running back with shifty moves

Bubble-the tushy, butt, derriere

There's so many more. Every year new terms pop up and they are usually fun but fairly ridiculous.