Upon Further Review

Some Good....

Love what the Saints did in giving up next year's first rounder to move back in to the first round to get Mark Ingram. Mark Ingram may not be an elite athlete, but has the potential to be a top tier running back in the league, I believe. Good compliment to Reggie Bush and adds to the dynamic attack the Saints already have in place. That first rounder is likely in the 20s next year, good move. Add to that, the Saints had Cameron Jordan fall into their laps at 24. A superior athlete and pass rusher, but the thing I like about him is that he is an intelligent young man. I saw an interview of him pre-draft and came away very impressed.

Say what you will about drafting for need, the Lions in selecting Nick Fairley formed a downright nasty defensive line. As a Bears fan coming off a season where Jay Cutler was sacked 56 times (!?!?), I fear for his life with Fairley and reigning All-Pro Suh coming up the middle. Add Kyle Vanden Bosch flanking one side, it doesn't even matter who plays the other end spot - potentially the best defensive line in football. They'll be fun to watch.

Picks 2-5: No one reached, everyone drafted needs and they all got elite level, impact players. Matched value and best on the board with need, can't argue with that. I can't say the same about what may have followed after that...

Some Bad...

Teams drafting quarterbacks, with the exception of Jacksonville, reached on all accounts. If you watched Jon Gruden's QB Camp specials (which are phenomenal), you'll understand why I didn't like Cam Newton at #1. When Gruden talked to him about some of calls he has to make at the quarterback position and adjustments he needs to make at the line, he looked dumbfounded. It was scary. Jake Locker was a reach at #8, a case of the Titans falling in love with a quarterback. Christian Ponder was a baffling pick at #12, in short, the Vikings panicked. Of the four guys drafted in the top 12, no more than 2 will pan out. The only one I would have any confidence in would be Blaine Gabbert. I'm just giving the benefit of the doubt that 1 of the other 3 might.

The Atlanta Falcons gave up the farm to draft Julio Jones at #6. The idea, of course, is that they are one piece away from a Super Bowl; and they better be, because they gave up a ton of picks to get Jones. Don't get me wrong, Julio Jones has the potential to be a #1 wide receiver, in fact, I would say its probable that he will be one, however, they gave up a lot of picks/value/potential starters to get him. On the bright side, Falcons vs. Saints games should be fun to watch next year.... if we have a season.

I'm glad I live in the Midwest and I'm not generally going to have to watch NFC West games, because the NFC West Offenses were terrible last year. You have three teams that need a quarterback (exception being the Rams, who addressed this last year) and none that drafted one. And the team that has a quarterback could probably afford to give theirs some help. Not to say these teams drafted poorly (other than the Seahawks), but I just don't want to watch them because of the atrocity that will unfold when Alex Smith, Marc Bulger, and over-the-hill Matt Hasselback come trodding on to the field. Day 2 offers some intriguing quarterbacks, so we'll see what happens. I think Andy Dalton is good in the right system, I think Ryan Mallet is good in the right environment, and I think Colin Kaepernick is good if playing for the Iowa Barnstormers.