Day 1 of NFL Draft

Day 1 of the NFL Draft was an interesting one. There were surprises, fallbacks, gambles, arguments, overanalyzing, speculation, with a lot to look forward to on the second day of the draft.

The first surprise was the fact that tailback Reggie Bush was not taken first by the Houston Texans. He slipped to the New Orleans Saints at #2 after the Texans took NC State defensive end Mario Williams with the top overall pick. Allright, so it wasn't a surprise to me, but it was indeed a surprise to most around the country. Many rolled their eyes at the pick and think Houston made a bonehead decision by not taking Bush. I said from the moment it was known that Houston would have the first overall pick, that they should trade down and draft someone for their offensive line or someone on defense. Up until last night, though, all I kept hearing was Bush, Bush, and Bush. Don't get me wrong, talent wise, Reggie Bush was #1 in this draft. There's no doubt about that. But, a team shouldn't be drafting based on talent. They should draft according to their needs. Houston has talented skill players on offense, in quarterback David Carr, tailback Dominick Davis, and wideout Andre Johnson. Bush may have aided them some, especially on special teams, but why go for a guy at a position where you've already got a proven player? If the San Diego Chargers had the top pick, should they have drafted Reggie Bush, already having LaDanian Tomlinson? No. San Diego's primary need was in the secondary, so they either draft a corner or safety at #1 or they trade down, gain some additional draft picks and take a man in the secondary with their first overall pick, wherever that may come. Adding depth at a particular position is great, but only if you're loaded at every position and that's a rarity. What are Houston's biggest holes? The offensive line and the defense. David Carr has been sacked over 200 times in his four years as an NFL quarterback. That's an average of over 50 times per season, which is an average of over three times a game (and this includes him missing some starts). I don't care how talented an offense is at the skill positions, it all starts up front and on defense. Who've won the past few Super Bowls? Pittsburgh, New England (three times), Tampa Bay, Baltimore. What do all these teams have in common? They were all solid up front on offense and all had one of the top defensive teams in the NFL. New England didn't win their third consecutive Super Bowl last year and why? They were ranked 26th in defense. If Carr can't get protection to make the most of his talents, to utilize the skills of Johnson on the outside, and to break open holes for Davis in the running game, then Houston won't be able to get anything done, unless they make clones of Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Lynn Swann, and Michael Vick. Even if they had the clones, they still wouldn't be the best team in football because of their lousy defense. Houston was ranked at or near the bottom in every defensive statistical category last year. What I would've done would have been to trade down a couple spots and drafted offensive lineman D'Brickashaw Ferguson of Virginia. He was the best lineman in the draft (went 4th overall to the Jets), would've helped that horrendous line tremendously and Houston could've picked up an additional pick or two. Unfortunately, they didn't do that. They did the second best thing (for them), though, in taking Mario Williams. Many want to say that Houston missed out on a golden opportunity to take Bush at #1. But, who was going to help the team more overall? A guy who'd split time at a position they're already solid at or pick up a guy who can get after the quarterback like Williams can and help fill a huge hole for the team? Bush may be the more talented of the two, but Williams made more sense than Bush for the Texans. If New Orleans had the top pick, they would've probably made the same decision and taken Williams and why? They already have Deuce McCallister in the backfield, with Drew Brees at quarterback, and the likes of Joe Horn and Donte Stallworth at receiver. They're very talented on offense. What they need is help on the defensive side of the ball. But, since Williams was taken #1, the Saints picked Bush to add depth to the backfield and give some added stability with the injury-prone McCallister. Houston had a solid first day of the draft where they made it a point to address their weak spots on the team.

The pick that really surprised me was when Tennessee took quarterback Vince Young with the #3 overall pick. Why? Because the guy has a lot to work on, Tennessee is uncertain if Steve McNair will be back in uniform next year, and because their offensive coordinator is ex-USC offensive coordinator, in Norm Chow. It's unlikely that McNair will be in a Titans uniform this next season. So, the quarterback that Tennessee drafted today may very well start sometime early this upcoming season. Matt Leinart started four years at USC, played under Norm Chow for three of them (two titles to show for it), and scored a very solid 35 on the intelligence test. Vince Young doesn't have as much experience, as many reps, and only scored a 16 on the intelligence test (a 6 on his first attempt). Who is more ready for the NFL and for a starting role right away? Leinart, without question. Young may be the more exciting of the two, but he will not be ready for a while to be a starter in the NFL. It was not a smart pick by the Titans, in my opinion. They did get a steal in the second round, however, in drafting USC tailback LenDale White. With he and Chris Brown in the backfield, Tennessee will have two bruising north-south runners that'll be tough to contend with for 60 minutes.

One team that came away with a couple steals was the Carolina Panthers. They drafted Memphis tailback DeAngelo Williams late in the first round. Many had him rated as the #2 tailback, behind only Reggie Bush. Carolina has not been consistent in the running game and this helps them provide talent and youth to a position that was aging and slowing quickly for them. They also nabbed Fresno State cornerback Richard Marshall with their second round pick.

There wasn't much booing going on from the fans for the New York Jets' picks, because there wasn't anything to boo about. The Jets were awful in quarterback protection a year ago, so they wasted no time and drafted the before-mentioned Ferguson of Virginia, the best lineman available. They also drafted the best center available, in Nick Mangold of Ohio State. Then, they helped add some depth and competition at quarterback with the always questionable (health wise) Chad Pennington, in drafting Kellen Clemens of Oregon. Who are the best all-around quarterbacks in the draft? In my opinion, they're Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt and Kellen Clemens of Oregon.

Denver had a very interesting day, but they added a lot, especially on offense. They traded up to draft Jay Cutler, so I don't know what the status of Jake Plummer is there. He had such an exceptional season a year ago, I didn't truly understand this pick, but it definitely gives them a quarterback of the future if they don't plan on keeping Plummer for too long. They then traded for Javon Walker, receiver out of Green Bay. He's coming back from a knee injury, but is said to be recovering nicely and will give them a multitude of options to throw to in the ageless Rod Smith, Ashlie Lelie, and Javon Walker.

Arizona got Matt Leinart at #10 in the draft and even though Leinart lacks arm strength, he'll fit in very nicely with the Cardinals' offensive gameplan. Arizona is already set at receiver with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. They picked up standout running back Edgerrin James in the off-season and now have a quarterback of the future in Matt Leinart. He'll be a very nice fit for this ball club.

It's hard to say there are any losers on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, but Buffalo had the oddest day. They had two first round picks, at #8 and #26 and took safety Donte Whitner of Ohio State and then defensive tackle John McCargo of NC State. Whitner was slated to go later in the first round and McCargo was predicted by some to go in the 3rd or 4th round.

As for the Atlanta Falcons, I think they had a very solid opening day of the draft. They addressed team needs in taking the tall and athletic cornerback Jimmy Williams out of Virginia Tech in the second round and then taking the quickest tailback in the draft with their 3rd round pick, Jerius Norwood of Mississippi State. DeAngelo Hall has developed very nicely on one side, but Jason Webster has been anything but consistent on the other side for the Falcons. Jimmy Williams gives them an extra spark, extra speed, and extra size in the secondary. It'll also help that Hall mentored Williams while at Virginia Tech. With the additions of safeties Lawyer Milloy and Chris Crocker in the off-season, Atlanta's secondary should be vastly improved from a season ago. Jerius Norwood ran a 4.33 40 at the combine and for such a speedster, is very much a north-south runner, the kind of guy that'd fit in perfectly with the Falcons' rushing scheme. Warrick Dunn had a great season last year, but he's not getting any younger (or bigger) and his numbers started to fade as the year progressed. It'll be nice to add some speed, youth, and depth. On day two, I hope they draft an outside linebacker, a defensive tackle, and a safety or an offensive lineman.

There will be some exciting teams in the NFC South this upcoming year. I'd say, next to the NFC East, it's the toughest division in football. New Orleans brings in Drew Brees and Reggie Bush to an offense that already has Deuce McCallister, Joe Horn, and Donte Stallworth. Carolina has added Keyshawn Johnson and DeAngelo Williams to join Steve Smith, and Jake Delhomme. Tampa Bay returns rookie of the year Cadillac Williams, to go with a solid group of receivers, and Chris Simms will be the starting quarterback from week 1 in the season for the first time in his career after a surprising '05. Atlanta has added Jerius Norwood to the backfield that includes Warrick Dunn, T.J. Duckett, and Michael Vick. They return two young talented receivers in Michael Jenkins and Roddy White to go along with Vick's favorite receiver, tight end Alge Crumpler. Carolina and Tampa's defense should be solid as ever and Atlanta's defense will be vastly improved. New Orleans still has a long ways to go on defense and it may take a while for everyone to gel on offense with all their changes, but they'll definitely be improved from a season ago.