The NFL Draft Thread (April 25th, April 26th)
My big draft opinions in general:
1. The Saints did what they needed to do, picking up CB/S Malcolm Jenkins in the first, grabbing additional help at S and LB as the draft went on.
The trade of next year's 5th and this year's 7th for what turned out to be a PK/P was a bit puzzling considering that last year's draft pick spent on a PK, Taylor Mehlhaff, was a total bust for them. (He was cut before the season, brought back after Gramatica got hurt, then cut again after the Saints' trip to London to play the Chargers.
2. Denver better hope that McDaniels' moves pay off or there will be a VERY ugly situation there.
McDaniels has made a bunch of moves since taking over there that I find questionable at best (running Cutler out of town, signing a bunch of RBs like Correll Buckhalter before drafting Knowshon Moreno, taking a probable one-year-wonder in Robert Ayres as a DE/OLB, trading next year's 1st when the team will likely be one of the worst in the NFL) and I don't think the fans will take things very well if they get passed by the Chiefs and Raiders en route to the basement of the AFC.
(The way things are looking, I think they are in competition with the Raiders for that dishonor, as the Jags will turn things around this year, the Browns will be better under Mangini than they were under Crenell, and the Bengals will be better this year solely because Carson Palmer will be healthy for at least part of the season.
Their saving grace seems to be that there are some really bad teams in the NFC, like the Rams, Lions, and 49ers, which will keep them from giving up a Top 5 pick to the Seahawks.)
3. The Jets appear to be playoff contenders this year in the AFC.
Granted, they've got a hellish schedule this year (6 games against the AFC East, 4 games against the AFC South, 4 games against the NFC South, Oakland, and Cincy), but they've put enough pieces together that I think they can compete for a Wild Card with decent breaks or an AFC East title if New England collapses for some reason, like another Brady injury.
That Sanchez move cost them very little for what the pick was worth, IMHO, since three pieces of what were sent off were former coach Eric Mangini's guys that were likely to be castoffs from coach Rex Ryan's regime by the end of training camp.
RB Shonn Green of Iowa was a good pickup considering that current RB Thomas Jones is unhappy with his contract and they'll need the running game while either Sanchez adjusts to the NFL or Kellen Clemens plays game-manager.
4. The Pats' reclamation project on their defense continues.
Between the selections of DB Patrick Chung, DT Ron Brace, CB Darius Butler, LB Tyrone McKenzie, DT Myron Pryor, and DT Darryl Richard, the Pats are continuing a youth movement on their defense, which used to be their calling-card before falling into disrepair over the past few years.
Trading Ellis Hobbs was needed to clear room for all of that youth, especially since he was bitching about being underpaid.
If the Pats can make a crappy defense from last year into a middling defense, that combined with Tom Brady's return on offense makes the team into an AFC juggernaut again.
