Round 1 Thoughts

What did you think of round 1?

The things that stuck out to me were

1. Trades
2. Surprising picks

It would be interesting to see how different this draft would have been with no lockout distractions for teams to deal with. That is something that we can only speculate about and will never know.

TRADES -
Because of the lockout and not being able to include players in trades it really was not clear at the beginning if this would spark more trades, or keep them held to a minimum. We got our answer last night. The reason this jumps out to me so much is because I was not expecting to see any trades. While I am a fan of trading down to select that 2nd round guy (will explain in more detail later). There is also the benefit of gaining extra picks with trading down. The uncertainty in the league that has come from the lockout makes draft picks more valuable this year in my opinion. It is the only guaranteed way to help out your team before the new rules on free agency etc come out.

SURPRISING PICKS -
1. JAKE LOCKER - Tennessee
While I do agree that Locker is a rare talent. If he would have had one coach in college or went to an established team, he would have had an even greater chance to add a Heisman and or national championship to his resume. What is surprising to me here is that he was taken so high. Tennessee just got done with the Vince Young experiment and is headed in a new direction. They also have a new head football coach. I'm not sure this situation is going to give Locker the best chance to succeed in the NFL. He needed to fall to a team with an established QB so that he can have the time to develop. Maybe Tennessee has plans of getting a veteran QB to help develop Locker, time will tell.

2. Christian Ponder - Minnesota
WTF?? If this was your guy and you thought he was going to be gone at 13 I guess I get it... wait, this guy was projected as a second round pick. Minnesota took him at 13. I hope they see something in him that the experts did not. I'm afraid this pick was not the best choice at QB at the time

3. James Carpenter - Seattle
From my trade down comment above.... This is another first round pick that was projected by all of the experts to be a second and possibly a third round pick. I do agree that Seattle needs a lot of help with their O line but in a draft with many trades already they could not find someone that wanted to trade with them?

BEST PICKS
There are a few picks that I really like. The combination of Who it was, where they went, and the impact they can make are HUGE.

1. Patrick Peterson - Arizona
Regardless of the team that picked him, Patrick Peterson is a STUD. In my opinion he was the best pick in the draft. He has star power, athleticism, speed, and the ability to make a difference.

2. Nick Fairley - Detroit
Suh and Fairley sittin in Detroit no R-U-N-N-I-N-G. Maybe Eminem will be singing this as well. Detroit hit one out of the park with this pick. The D line is going to be amazing!

3. TIE - Von Miller - Denver, Marcell Dareus - Buffalo, A.J. Green - Cincinnati
All three of these picks were safe. I believe these players will be able to help each of their teams and are difference makers.

4. Cam Newton - Carolina
I get it, you cant pass up the potential here. The star power, the chance to excite your fan base, and the opportunity to get the next Michael Vick (hopefully without the legal troubles). I think there is a lot of risk with this pick but along with Carolina fans, I can't wait to see if Cam can bring excitement to the NFL

That's all for now