Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, Mike Wallace and Carl Nicks headline an intriguing free agent class that can shift the balance of power this offseason.
The Eagles seemingly came out of nowhere to sign Nnamdi Asomugha as they eye a trip to the Super Bowl.
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What I liked:
-- The New York Giants getting my 21st overall player, Jerrel Jernigan, in the middle of the 3rd round. He's a fantastic playmaker that will (finally) allow the Giants to move on from some recent draft misses (Moss, Barden) and a great value...if he can stay healthy, which is open to debate.
-- Staying in NYC, the Jets got god bang for their buck with Kenrick Ellis at the end of the 3rd round with their only Friday pick. He's most definitely a Rex Ryan kind of guy, and his upside vastly outranks his draft position. There is a fair chance of him completely flopping, but where New York got him, he's worth the shot.
-- Cincinnati stayed put and got the QB they were willing to trade up and get in Andy Dalton. Then they added the speed they wanted at LB with Dontay Moch in the 3rd. They very quietly nailed the second day last year, too.
-- Green Bay taking Hawaii RB Alex Green at #96. I had him going to the Packers at #64, so that's obviously strong value. I'm not a huge Randall Cobb fan, but he's a nice luxury fit for the "rich get richer" Super Bowl champs. If they can add two offensive linemen tomorrow, they're huge winners in this draft.
-- Tennessee had a very good Friday, adding two immediate defensive starters in Akeem Ayers and Jurell Casey. Both are better playmakers than they are all-around talents, but they needed the sizzle more than they needed the steak, to borrow from my old consigliere Paul McGrady. Paulie should be very happy with what his beloved Steelers did as well, taking a nasty RT in Marcus Gilbert and an underrated CB that loves to tackle in Curtis Brown.
-- Indianapolis maneuvered to add their other new bookend tackle in Ben Ijalana in the 2nd, then beefed up the DL with Drake Nevis, a great value where they took him. Bill Polian really needed a strong draft, and he's off to a very good and sound start.
-- Arizona did well...maybe. I like the 2nd round gamble on Ryan Williams, the best big-play RB in this draft but a fairly significant injury risk. I really like the 3rd round selection of Rob Housler, a legit field-stretching tight end and the top TE on my draft board. Nice to see them getting Marc Bulger some weapons, wink wink.
-- Carolina added beef, picking Terrell McClain at #65 (as I predicted) and Sione Fua with the last pick on Friday. I'm not a huge fan of either player, but they immediately functional rotation players with some upside.
-- I think Kansas City scored strong value with Rodney Hudson, the best center in the draft, and Justin Houston, a first round talent that fell (among other reasons) because he got busted smoking pot. They're both immediate starters that will help them defend their AFC West title. I'm not an Allen Bailey fan, however.
What I didn't like:
--Every New England pick except Ras-I Dowling. I love keeping the #33 pick and taking Dowling, a better corner than Prince Amukamara in my opinion. But the rest of the night left me wondering if someone spiked their water cooler with LSD. I actually like Stevan Ridley in their offense...but as a fifth rounder, where they most likely could have waited for him. He's better than the RB they drafted before him, Shane Vereen. And Ryan Mallett, wow. The one thing I'll say for Belichick here: he had good success with a strong-armed, vapid, meathead QB with iffy decision-making skills in Vinny Testaverde, and if anyone can make Mallett work, it's The Hoodie.
-- Cleveland and their apparent attempt to only take players with issues. I applauded the Phil Taylor selection, but adding Jabaal Sheard (injured and arrested for a plethora of disorderly conduct charges) and Greg Little (injured and suspended for 2010 for unapologetically collecting from an agent) is stretching the acceptance level of a town already reeling about the Ohio State scandals. Mike Holmgren has gone all in on pocket 5s.
-- My Lions got a couple of players that I think will fit well, but I would have taken Jernigan over Titus Young for the complementary receiver they needed. And while I like Mikel Leshoure, the #1A running back is a luxury pick when Justin Houston, Dontay Moch, and Mason Foster are on the board and the starting outside linebackers are, uh, hmm...
Overheard during the day:
-- The Washington Redskins are "quite comfortable" having Rex Grossman as the starting quarterback in 2011. That is straight from an on-air omnipresent major network (guess which one) who would know.
-- Tampa will dump Aqib Talib as soon as they can, which is a function of the Tanard Jackson arrest issues that have now left their secondary very thin. It sounds like they would like to give Talib one last chance, but getting burned by Jackson leaves them little chance if they want to credibly preach character and discipline, which are huge tenets for Raheem Morris.
-- Cleveland had another taker for #6 overall, but Atlanta outbid it "by adding the fourth round picks". It was not New England, either.
-- It's not overheard, but I was wearing my Lions hat out and about Friday morning when I ran into a guy wearing a Suh jersey. It's a jersey that would look like a tent on Suh himself but this hombre filled it out. This guy decides not to shake hands, not to say anything, but rather just point at my hat and then proceed to give me a chest bump that still hurts. Even though I give the Lions about a C+ for the draft so far, it's pretty damn awesome that people are fired up about this team.
The Usurped Veterans list:
All of these starters with some market value had their jobs forcibly removed thanks to the first two days of the draft. Some of these are no surprise; others have agents that are stupefied.
Donovan McNabb
Reggie Bush
Amobi Okoye
Chad Ochocinco
Corey Williams
Aaron Smith, maybe
Jared Gaither
TJ Houshmandzadeh
Marion Barber, maybe
Jimmy Clausen, if anyone cares
The available player talent pool just got deeper. This leads me to a conversation I had with a former GM while in line to get the greasiest piece of pizza you can imagine. Note to New Yorkers: you shouldn't be able to wring out your slice of pizza and fill your gas tank with the oily runoff. But I digress, back to the conversation...
I asked him before the 2nd round started about the remaining QBs. His response was very sage: Is the QB you are drafting here going to help you more over the next three years than any QB you can get off the street? He brought up Vince Young, Matt Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Drew Stanton (honest, he brought him up), Alex Smith, Matt Leinart, Tarvaris Jackson, and Billy Volek (remember him?). What he left unsaid was Kevin Kolb, Carson Palmer, or Kyle Orton, all of whom are expected to relocate ASAP.
He believed Dalton was indeed better over the three-year span, but not Mallett or Kaepernick. I thought it was an interesting way of looking at it, breaking it into a 3-year window of production. He retorted that if the QB you take doesn't make you better in three years, you'll be looking for a new job and not a new QB. That's the harsh reality of the coaching and management life in the NFL.
