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 The Calm After The Storm
by Rob Staton
28/4/2008
Offensive Tackles are so 2008
Offensive tackles seemed to be a popular choice in the first round, but it’ll be interesting to see how some of them work out.
Jake Long was the first man off the board and the Dolphins will be hoping he has the same kind of impact Joe Thomas had as a rookie in Cleveland. Both will play left tackle next season.
Are they similar players? Not exactly.
 Long has been known to struggle against elite speed and some experts claim he could be best served on the right side. He comes up against Patrick Kerney, Chris Long and Mario Williams next season.
We’ll soon find out if he’s a left tackle.
The Chicago Bears taking Chris Williams raised a few eye brows. Williams is a finesse tackle which indicates that the Bears plan to pass the ball a lot next year.
Good luck, Rex.
Detroit earned the draft’s first gasps of shock / horror as they took Gosder Cherilus having moved down to 17th overall. Perhaps getting caught up in the excitement and seeing Williams and Clady off the board, Matt Millen snubbed Jeff Otah in favour of the Boston College product.
At least he didn’t go receiver (again).
Carolina seized the initiative and couldn’t wait to spend its 2009 first rounder to snag Otah to pair with the brilliant Jonathan Stewart. It’s the kind of move that could get the Panthers another deep playoff run, or lead to John Fox getting the sack.
There’s not going to be a middle ground at Carolina in 2008. Either one is going to happen.
Atlanta watched the tackles falling off the board like they were liquid gold, and panicked into rushing back into the first to get Sam ‘the beard’ Baker. It’s expensive, but there’s not much point drafting a Quarter Back third overall if he’s going to spend most of his rookie season on his backside.
Sam Baker is a first round bodyguard. He’s Kevin Costner to Matt Ryan’s Whitney Houston.
Speaking of which, there was enough time for a few more gasps at the rear end of round one as the Houston Texans selected Duane Brown. With the experts screaming reach and the Texans throwing yet another draft day curve ball, this pick will definitely test the good credit Houston got for proving the world wrong in taking Mario Williams before Reggie Bush.
 Quarter Back Controversy
The Baltimore Ravens appeared to have Plan A and Plan B.
Plan A select Matt Ryan with the 8th overall pick
Plan B select Joe Flacco later on
That’s fine. They clearly felt they needed a new franchise QB and now they have one. Joe Flacco may be the next big thing, or he might be the next Kyle Boller.
Here’s a list of players they passed on to take Flacco 18th overall.
Sam Baker, Aqib Talib, Mike Jenkins.
They needed a tackle with Jonathan Ogden seemingly on the brink of retirement, and they also needed a corner back. It’s ok drafting a young QB, albeit one who still has a way to improve before he’s the finished product, but he must be protected.
If Ogden is finished, with question marks already over Flacco’s footwork and movement, he could be a sitting duck.
Atlanta made a sharp move, taking their QB then trading up to get the protection.
Baltimore may have been better served making that move in reverse order; taking Baker in the first round and trading up to get Flacco. In fact, the chances are Flacco would have fallen into their laps in the 2nd round anyway.
Perhaps they plan to get a tackle in the top 5 during the 2009 draft?
Mocking the Mocks
You spend weeks following the mocks, trying to figure out who is going where. You even write your own mock and get it published, so that everyone can see in writing how wrong you are going to be.
Then the show begins and teams decide to start trading.
All in all, there were 12 moves in the first round. Any mock draft is surely going to be made redundant because of that?
Yep, that’s the excuse I’m using for only pairing four players to the teams who actually took them. That’s even including Jake Long who everyone knew was signing for the Dolphins anyway.
I correctly predicted the Rams would take the other Long, that the Broncos would snap up ‘perfect fit’ Ryan Clady and that the Panthers would draft Jeff Otah (eventually).
A grand total of 4 out of 32. Or another way of putting it, a success rate of 12.5% (can we round it up to 13 %?). Funnily enough, that’s the kind of mark I used to get in Science tests at school. They do say there’s a science to these drafts.
Amongst the main boo-boo’s in my mock, I had the Ravens selecting Matt Ryan after Atlanta picked up Glenn Dorsey. Why did I ever think that Al Davis would take anyone but Darren McFadden? I also had Brian Brohm going to Tampa Bay.
Oh dear.
On the bright side, it appears everyone else at the Diner did just as well.
Click Here to see the Football Diner Mock Drafts
The Quick-hit Round-up
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Do you think draft guru Mike Mayock sheds a tear when the draft coverage ends? He spends all year researching and analysing and in two days it’s all over. Now he has to do it all over again for 2009. He doesn’t get to be on the TV that much either. Thrown away like an old towel until they need him again. Poor Mike.
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How many experts does it take to say Mario Manningham is a steal in the 3rd round? Approximately 789 if you watch enough of the draft coverage. Nobody would touch him with a barge pole, but when he finally goes he’s certainly a safe selection in the ‘I told you he would be good’ stakes. Am I the only one who thought, Does Tom Coughlin need this guy to stand next to Jeremy Shockey?
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Whatever happened to Jamie Silva, the safety from Boston College? He seemed to be everybody’s sleeper pick in the mid to late rounds. Despite lacking size and speed, he supposedly made up for it with a brilliant instinct and understanding of the game. Not only did he not get drafted, but he appears to have been overlooked in the first wave of undrafted free agents. Talk about a rise and fall.
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How great was the fast pace of the 2008 NFL Draft? With less time on the clock, teams frantically rushed around making trades and choosing their picks. The first round provided perfect Saturday entertainment on the TV.
It’s just a shame we have to wait 132 days, 6 hours, 1 minute and 47 seconds for the 2008 Regular Season to kick off.
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