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 NFL Draft 2008:
Day Two Thoughts
by Chris Brophy
28/4/2008
What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than sitting in front of your laptop with NFL Network coverage of day two of the 2008 draft. Day one brings in a lot of hype and a lot of intense analysis but day two brings in the interest stories and the guessing game of who your team is looking at with more of a developmental view. Add in that even when these final five rounds are over, GMs are hitting the phones for the best of the rest.
As always, the Diner stocked up on munchies and soft drinks and followed every moment with interest.
Round 3:
We’re off (again) and straight away, picks are being traded. The Lions move up for Central Florida RB Kevin Smith. A smart move after passing on runners in round 1, Smith should be able to get involved in the battle for playing time straight off the bat for the Lions.
Charles Godfrey, CB from Iowa goes to the Panthers. After selling next year’s top choice it was vital the Panthers came away with plenty of contributors from this draft and Godfrey promises to be that. A few picks later, the Panthers add Dan Connor (LB, Penn St) to make the third round a real winner for them. Connor could have easily been off the board a full round earlier and not raised eyebrows.
The Chargers go for a replacement for veteran Lorenzo Neal as the first FB comes off the board in the shape of Jacob Hester of LSU, and he can also play tailback.
Tavares Gooden, LB from Miami goes to the Ravens. A linebacker from Miami for the Ravens that rings a bell!
 Jamaal Charles, RB from Texas goes to the Chiefs who keep their good draft going. He should be able to share time with Larry Johnson and stop him getting worn down so much. It’s a two back league nowadays. The Chiefs follow up a few picks later with a guy to double up with the great Tony G in Brad Cottam (TE, Tennessee). Not quite starters, but both should add depth to the Chiefs offense.
Shawn Crable of Michigan becomes another drafted linebacker for the Patriots. The Pats needed to get younger on defense and add bodies, but this guy looks very much a project.
With Bubba Franks gone, the Packers get a TE to use in the many double TE sets they feature in the shape of Jermichael Finley of Texas.
Another weapon for Eli Manning in the shape of Mario Manningham, WR from Michigan. Maybe Amani Toomer’s eventual replacement?
The Patriots go QB with Kevin O’Connell of San Diego State. I bet Tom Brady is wetting his pants!
Over half the picks in this round have been traded at least once. The shorter pick window for the early rounds hasn’t stopped the moving and shaking.
Round 4:
Justin King (CB, Penn St) finally off the board to the Rams with the second selection of the round. Fine pick, should get involved in the DB heavy packages from the get go.
The Titans draft keeps on disappointing as they reach massively for William Hayes, DE from Winston-Salem. I assume they know something we don’t.
A run on the offensive line starts at pick 107 and five of the next six picks go in that direction. I really like the Broncos pick of Kory Lichtensteiger (Bowling Green) who can play guard or center. He got downgraded in some draft reports for durability/injury concerns yet played and started right through a pretty bad shoulder injury that required surgery a year ago.
The Bills take a Corner Reggie Corner (Akron). He’ll be remembered easy enough on name alone.
Dre Moore (DT, Maryland) goes to the Buccaneers, looks pretty good value but six picks later sees the Seahawks take Texas A&M; DT Red Bryant which I like even better. Those two picks surround possibly the best pick of the round in linebacker Xavier Adibi of Virginia Tech, who should be able to help the Texans defense out in pass coverage packages at the very least.
The Cowboys finally make a choice Choice! Tashard Choice, a running back out of Georgia Tech. Is this an insurance in case they can’t reach a long term deal with Marion Barber in the near future?
After slagging the Titans picks these past few days, they finally make a good choice in Lavelle Hawkins, WR of California. He has a chance to get on the field early and give Vince Young a target.
Round 5
John David Booty, QB of USC is a nice fit for the Vikings WCO. He is not going to challenge Tarvaris Jackson though. Well, not unless I want death threat emails off the Diner’s Sam Monson
Ryan Torain, RB, Arizona State goes to the Broncos. 1,000 yard rusher soon?
The Cardinals take Hightower, Timothy Hightower, a RB from Richmond. I’ve always found the Cardinals much funnier than the Police Academy films
 Dennis Dixon, the QB from Oregon goes to the Steelers. Any chance he becomes the new Kordell Stewart (Slash)? Speaking of QBs, recent Diner interviewee Josh Johnson (San Diego) finally goes off the board to the Buccaneers who have more QBs on their roster than the rest of the NFC South combined I believe.
Marcus Howard (LB, Georgia) goes to the Colts, real nice fit for their Cover-2 scheme I reckon. Two picks follow with guys who have slipped further than many though, Carl Nicks (OT, Nebraska) and Johnathan Goff (LB, Vanderbilt).
Round 6
First punter off the board, Durant Brooks of Georgia Tech. I bet the Redskins current punter spat his coffee all over the TV when he saw that one.
The Texans take Marion Barber’s brother, Dominique Barber (S, Minnesota) so they are now cross-state rivals. Their father also played for the NY Jets (he should give them a ring, he might get a game next season).
Geno Hayes (OLB, Florida St) is another perfect Cover-2 Linebacker going to the right type of team.
Another player with a father who played in the NFL, Jalen Parmele, RB, Toledo. His dad (Bernie) played for the Jets and Dolphins, where he was an excellent special teams player. His son may have to follow the same route to stick around.
 The prolific Colt Brennan (QB, Hawaii) finds a home with the Redskins. He’ll be Jim Zorn’s pet project just in case Jason Campbell is not the long term future and given the spread offense the Redskins are likely to feature a lot of the time, Brennan might just be a good fit.
Mike Hart, RB, Michigan goes to the Colts. Many moons ago this guy was touted as a possible first rounder but his stock dropped with poor measureables. He reads blocks well and finds the crease, could find a spot for himself spelling Joseph Addai.
Round 7
Caleb Campbell, S, Army gets the full on draft treatment as he is selected by Detroit. Whatever he’s a 7th round pick, all he’s done is delayed getting sent on a jolly to Germany by six months, congrats.
Much better value for a safety selection at this point comes in the shape of Joshua Barrett (Arizona St) by the Broncos. A knee injury appears to have dropped his stock but could be a real bargain here.
The NFL Network guys don’t much care now, they are just waiting to go home and start talking about how they failed to get drafted even when this thing lasted 12 rounds! Someone needs to tell Jamie Dukes that if I was doing a draft of TV analysts I’d let him go undrafted again.
Last but not least is Mr. Irrelevant. The choice belongs to the St Louis Rams and it’s linebacker, David Vobora of Idaho. Mike Mayock gets all excited because they actually have film of him. He actually projects as a useful addition who could make the roster.
So there it all ends, two days of madness, guessing and going “Who?” several times. GM’s will be scrambling round trying to mop up the undrafted guys that have a shot at making the roster and since the draft was reduced from twelve to seven rounds it is actually a pretty interesting couple of days to follow. I’m happy with my NFL fix, but it will soon wear off and it’s a long time until pre-season.
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