Notes and Reactions to the First Round

By Todd L. Frank | Friday, April 23, 2010 | ( 4 )

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With the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft in the books, let’s take a quick look at how it all went down. This was the first year that it was in primetime, starting on a Thursday night, and I like the new format.

By having about 18 hours between rounds 1 and 2 (instead of 5 minutes) there’s a whole new strategic wrinkle to the trade possibilities for the 2nd round, as teams have plenty of time to catch their breath and see what they missed in the 1st round and who’s still sitting there in the 2nd.
So what happened Thursday night in round one? Well, as expected, the St. Louis Rams stayed in the top spot and took Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford. On the ESPN telecast, while Bradford smiled with the commissioner and held up his shiny new Rams jersey, Steve Young told us that “this might be the best moment he has for the next 9 months.” Thanks Debbie Downer.

After the Detroit Lions gladly grab dominating defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, Chris Berman informs us that Ndamukong means “House of Spears.” Football fans in the Motor City hope that’s not a new Britney Reality TV show.

Tampa Bay picks DT Gerald McCoy third, as expected, and then things are supposed to get interesting at #4 with the Washington Redskins on the clock. Everyone on the planet not named Vinny Cerrato knew they desperately needed help on the offensive line, and they had their pick of all the top tackles on the board. And yet all day the internet was a-buzz with “reliable” reports from “inside sources” claiming that Washington was going to pick safety Eric Berry. It was an obvious smoke screen leaked by the Redskins in hope that maybe Kansas City or Cleveland or some other team would trade up for Berry so Washington could slide down, add an extra pick or two in the 2nd and 3rd rounds (where they have no picks), and still be able to land one of the top O-linemen.

Nope. Washington drafts OT Trent Williams who’s a bit more athletic and fits Mike Shanahan’s zone-blocking scheme better than the consensus-best OT Russell Okung. The Chiefs then jump on Eric “Ed-Reed type” Berry, Seattle happily lucks into Okung, Cleveland grabs top CB Joe Haden, the corpse of Al Davis makes a solid pick by selecting LB Rolando McClain for the Raiders, and the Bills take RB C.J. Spiller a bit too high. Buffalo and Oakland probably coulda/shoulda taken an offensive lineman, but they also set the table for the theme of the night by not taking Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen.

Then at #10 we get our first and biggest head-scratcher of the night: “With the 10th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select Tyson Aluala, defensive tackle from California.” WHO? Okay, he might be a decent player but he was nowhere on anyone’s first-round mocks and not on any list of the top 30 players available. If the Jags loved this guy, fine, they should have been able to trade down several slots and still grab him while adding extra picks. The very next slot (Denver at 11) was able to trade down a few spots. Other more highly touted players at positions of need for Jacksonville were still on the board, like DE’s Derrick Morgan and Jason Pierre-Paul, DT’s Dan Williams and Jared Odrick, safety Earl Thomas, plus several offensive linemen and linebackers. Heck, everyone in the first round.

After that, the trade flood gates opened and Denver bounced up and down the board a few times, San Diego jumped up to grab RB Ryan Matthews, and Philly moved up for LB Brandon Graham.

Denver’s first pick made Demaryius Thomas the first WR taken, and later the Cowboys moved up to make Dez Bryant the second.

Then, Denver coughed up the extra 2nd and 3rd rounders they’d acquired and Baltimore dropped out of the 1st round (nicely adding those two extra picks in a deep draft) so the Broncos could select…. TIM TEBOW, “quarterback” from the University of Florida. While poor “NFL-ready” Jimmy Clausen was sitting with his grandpa throwing stuff at his TV, we were treated with a solid 4 minutes of Tebow and his family and friends all smiling and putting on Broncos hats well before the trade or pick was announced.

Is it me or does Tebow have like 5 or 6 cousins, brothers, or friends who all look just like him? I think one guy had the same freakin shirt on. Do they all share the same hair gel and lip gloss or do they each have their own? Every male in that shot except for Jeremy Shaap looked like Tebow. Did he clone himself as part of some effort to do the Lord’s work more efficiently?

Hey, I know Tebow is supposedly The Best Person in the World, but I’m really tired of hearing about his heart, and his intangibles, and leadership, and work ethic. Guess what, almost of all of these top players are good kids. They ALL work hard and want to win and are coachable. Reading and listening to the draft analysis, you’d think Tebow was the only player who gives a damn and puts forth any effort. Like he’s the only one with “a passion for football.” And, oh by the way, he’s not a great passer, doesn’t have good footwork, isn’t used to taking a snap from under center instead of in the shotgun, and had such a poor throwing motion that he’s committed to changing it completely. Good luck with that. “Intensity” and “uncanny intangibles” and “heart” don’t read defenses and complete passes at the pro level.

By the end of the night, here’s what I thought I thought: Seattle had a great first round getting OT Russel Okung and safety Earl Thomas, two great players at positions of need, without having to move up. The Pittsburgh Steelers got a really solid interior lineman in OG/C Maurkice Pauncey from Florida and didn’t give away their horny drunk franchise quarterback in a foolish trade. The Redskins finally had the sense to make the safe boring pick and not trade away their future for a big splash. Green Bay got great value in Bryan Bulaga at #23 to help protect Aaron Rogers. The Lions did well getting Suh and then trading back into the late first round for RB Jahvid Best.

There’s still plenty of guys on the board who were projected first rounders, the Rams are back on the clock, Jimmy Clausen is still sitting and waiting with grandpa, Canton is probably working on the mold for Tim Tebow’s bust, but I still think he’ll be a bust of another kind, and I just wrote an article containing the names Maurkice, Ndamukong, and Demaryius.

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Comments: 4 | Sign Up View all comments


	No.1 JrWorthy	01:54 PM 04/23/2010

	Yo, Why don't you tell us how you really feel about Tebow? Do you hate him because he is a good christian? Pffff, probably.


	No.2 cowgirl	11:20 AM 04/27/2010

	Todd, Did you ever see Tebow play? I live in Kentucky and our football program is average at best, but being in the SEC, I've had...


	No.3 Todd L. Frank	02:12 PM 04/27/2010

	hey cowgirl, thanks for reading and i appreciate the comment. he is/was a great college football player and certainly won a lot...