Day 1: what went down
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Clevenland pulled off the drft-day trade of the year (ignore Randy Moss for a 4th round pick, it wasn’t worth the trouble). They took two top-10 guys and managed to get the second one all the way down at #22 because of how the needs of other teams panned out. General Manager Phil Savage redeemed himself and the entire organization — no draft pick for the 2.0 Browns has been to a Pro Bowl — that’s 71 picks prior to yesterday. Now they have Joe Thomas — the undisputed number one offensive lineman in the draft — and Brady Quinn, who had at one point been considered the top quarterback in the draft. Thomas will be an immediate impact player and Quinn will likely start before the season is done — or head coach Romeo Crennell is toast in Ohio.
There was a ridiculous amount of trading going down in the draft, particularly in round one. When the 49ers traded this year’s fourth-round pick and 2008’s first-round pick to the Patriots for the Pats’ second first-round pick this year, it’s hard to tell who got the best end of the deal. The 49ers are now a team on the verge, and poised themselves — with two first-round picks — to make a serious run at a division title this year. They also secured Darrell Jackson, Seattle’s #1 receiver, for a fourth-round pick. With their first-round picks, they picked up ILB Patrick Willis and OT Joe Staley, two excellent picks. The Patriots, however, now have the luxury of two first-round picks for the second straight year.
The What Were They Thinking award goes to…no one. That’s because the most deserving recipient of the award, the Philadelphia Eagles, traded away thier first-round pick and dropped to an early pick in the second round — and selected a quarterback, even with Donovan McNabb and Kelly Holcomb in the stables. The only possible reasoning here is thinking that McNabb may be in the twilight of his career in Philadelphia. Otherwise, it was a wasted pick.
And the Obvious Pick of the Year award winner is the Arizona Cardinals. If they didn’t pick the top remaining offensive lineman here, the entire front office should have been fired.
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