Part II: Juniors(2005)
These guys are in their third year in the NFL and having the best year this year….
QB- Derek Anderson, Ravens, 213th
RB- Frank Gore, 49ers 65th
WR- Braylon Edwards, Cleveland, 3rd
WR- Roddy White, Atlanta, 27th
TE- Heath Miller, Pittsburgh, 30th
OT- Jammal Brown, Saints, 13th
OG- Logan Mankins, Pats, 32nd
C- Chris Spencer, Seahawks, 26th
OG- Richie Incognito, Rams, 81st
OT- Alex Barron, Rams, 19th
DE-Trent Cole, Eagles 146th
DT-Mike Patterson, Eagles, 31st
DT-Jovan Haye, Bucs (Panthers 198th)
DE Justin Tuck, Giants, 74th
OLB DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys, 11th
MLB Lofa Tatupu, Seahawks, 45th
OLB Shawne Merriman, Chargers, 12th
CB- Kelvin Hayden, Indy, 60th
CB- Antrel Rolle, Cardinals, 8th
FS- OJ Atogwe, STL, 66th
SS- Chris Harris, CAR, (Bears 181st)
Observations:
-I’d still put Ronnie in over Gore
-This was the great PARCELLS draft
-AWESOME linebackers (and Barrett Ruud and Derrick Johnson are solid)
-Lot of talk about PGH taking a WR this year. Matt Jones was popular, I liked Mark Clayton, and Roddy White was in the mix. Heath Miller was a great pick and we took Holmes the next year.
-WR is tricky. Williamson, Williams, Jones, etc….I’m thrilled that Holmes has worked out.
-The great Auburn draft class have all had mixed results (including transfer Brandon Jacobs)
-Barber III over Brown and Gore actually (too late to take him instead of Trai Essex?)
-Kerry Rhodes(S, NYJ, 4th) has turned into a really solid player.
-Not much at the end of this draft.
thegreatawakening
December 28, 2007
Originally, I had Barber slotted in and replaced him with Gore yesterday before I posted. In hindsight I should have stuck to my initial RB because these rankings are based on this season’s performance and not the past few seasons. Again, I really liked Rhodes as well and in terms of the best player at his position out of this draft class, I’d probably pick him. However, Atogwe is having a huge year and figured he had the upper hand.(Slightly)
You are definitely right about this draft being top heavy, but I kind of like that. Often you hear about success stories(Colston), but I love when guys are selected where they should be too. This year is a great example of the teams doing their homework and getting some studs.
Wells
December 28, 2007
You know the main thing I think when I read these types of things….how ridiculous it is when you watch the NFL Draft and the experts bash teams for who they select. “This is the worst pick ever, we had so and so rated 26th and so and so just took him 12th. Absolutely horrible!!!” To me, there’s nothing worse than this. You see so many busts and so many steals that you can’t really predict anything. All the analysts should do is tell me WHY the team made their pick and the types of positives things he could do for the team. Sure, they could be critical and say they “also could have drafted this guy” but still, just tell me the reasons why the pick was made and what he can bring to the table. I’ll watch every second of the draft, and this goes to NBA as well, but I just hate it.
thav916
December 29, 2007
Another good point by Dean about this Cowboys draft. I love 3-4 DE’s and this year Marcus Spears and Chris Canty were my two favorites. I begged for the Steelers to select Canty in the 3rd. The Cowboys ended up with both of them. And also Marion Barber among others like Dean stated.
Another thing I hate…how people are talking about the Cowboys success this year. It reminds me of how Bill Simmons mentions people talking about someone being so underrated so often that he actually becomes overrated. All I’ve personally heard is that, “Most people want to give the credit to Bill Parcells and that’s ridiculous. This is Wade Phillips team and the credit goes to Phillips.” I’ve heard that sooooooo much I want to know WHO IS ACTUALLY GIVING PARCELLS THE CREDIT? To me, it seems like no one is in the first place. Parcells shouldn’t get all the credit but neither should Phillips. Wade is obviously a happy and jolly fella on the sidelines and has led his team to tons of success. But the NFL is about talent and Parcells did a wonderful job of leaving Phillips in a good position. This draft by Parcells was amazing.
thav916
December 29, 2007
The biggest glaring mistake of this draft and I think all drafts, was San Francisco selecting Alex Smith first overall. Don’t get me wrong, 20/20 hindsight, blah blah. I’m not complaining about the Browns selecting Tim Couch first just because it didn’t work out. But think back to the Alex Smith year. (And for the record, I was a fan of Smith in general). But people said, “If Leinert came out he mighta been the first player selected.” “Smith and Rodgers don’t grade out as highly as previous years top QB’s.” It seemed to be somewhat obvious that in most years Smith wouldn’t be the top QB, but just because he was the top QB, the niners selected him first. I guess if you pass on Smith and he’s the man it will burn you more than any other guy, but my point is that it seemed like they forced a QB even though he didn’t grade out well, and coulda taken a guy like Braylon, who was probably the top rated player that year. Or one of the top RB’s. Not gonna act like I think they should have taken Merriman or Ware.
thav916
December 29, 2007
Just because I’m afraid it won’t be read if I post on the 2004 Part 1 Topic, I’ll post on here.
That was an outstanding draft by the Chargers, especially factoring in Merriman. There’s NOTHING better than trading down and getting outstanding value. But when you look at the Chargers now, it’s almost UNBELIEVABLE to think that they were the worst team in football just 4 years ago. LT is obviously a huge part of it, but I think that 2004 draft they had really turned them around as a football team.
thav916
December 29, 2007