Hot Chicks and cool sports links: nfl draft

Showing posts with label nfl draft. Show all posts

Friday, May 24, 2013

The Mount Rushmore of Detroit Lions

Friday, January 20, 2012

2009 St. Louis Rams NFL draft review: Three years later

When we see teams pick at the top of the draft in many successive years, we automatically know that they have not done a great job making draft picks. In 2009 the Rams picked second, in 2010 first, 2011 14th, and they will have the second overall selection in the coming 2012 draft. That seems to be a strong indicator that there are missing the boat on a lot of draft picks.

Their first pick in 2009 was OT Jason Smith. It looks like he will be a salary cap casualty this off-season as his salary far outweighs his production on the field. He seems to not have a strong passion for the game, and that is a big issue. The future of the Rams rests in keeping QB Sam Bradford on his feet and if Smith cannot do that (in justifiable terms to his salary) then it may simply be time to move on for this team.

Now in the second round the Rams hit a home run in 2009. With the 35th overall pick they got MLB James Laurinitis out of Ohio State. He is the captain of their defense, and has been very productive in his three seasons since being drafted. However, their third round pick Brandon Fletcher does not even appear on their depth chart right now. That may be due to an injury, but a team in the position hat the Rams are need to draft productive starters in the first three rounds. So far from the 2009 draft class they have just one legit, impactful starter.

The news gets worse for this team as none of their picks past round four remain on the roster. That is seven draft picks for one impactful starter, one guy with no passion and a backup DT taken in round four. The simple fact here is the St. Louis Rams must do better in finding talent in the NFL draft. The final grade for this draft comes in at a C+ since Laurinitis is such an impactful player.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Detroit Lions 2009 NFL draft in review: three years out

The 2009 NFL draft will always hold a special place for me because it was the first draft I covered professionally, and it was were the rebirth of my team the Detroit Lions began. General Manager Martin Mayhew fleeced the Dallas Cowboys for a first round pick 20th overall and he began to rebuild a team that was not far removed from a 0-16 campaign. The Lions scored big in this draft and with that let us begin our final look at the NFL draft of 2009.

With the first pick overall the Lions selected QB Matthew Stafford out of Georgia. Over his first two years this looked like a waste of the first overall pick, but after Stafford threw for 5,000 yards in year three it looks like the Lions got the right guy to lead their team. Of course this was the first year in which Stafford played all 16 games and if he can stay healthy the future for this team looks very bright.

With the 20th overall pick picked up from the Cowboys in the Roy Williams trade. Mayhew took TE Brandon Pettigrew out of Oklahoma State. Many were critical of that decision at the time, as TE is a luxury for a team that needed so much. However, since the team needed so much why not draft the very best at every position possible. Three years later Pettigrew is a big piece of the Lions offense and I can remember a pass to him on a seam route in almost every Lions' game I watched this year.

With the 33rd overall pick in the second round the Lions picked up Safety Louis Delmas and he has become a fixture in the Lions secondary. For the record that is three impact starters with their first three picks, and that will be the legacy of this draft for Mayhew and the Lions.

Of course there was a miss in here. In the third round they selected WR Derrick Williams. We understand the team needs to have more at wide out than Calvin Johnson but Williams was a clear miss. So far the only miss in this draft class for the Lions of any consequence. They also landed DT Sammie Lee Hill and RB Aaron Brown who also contributed some.

In the end this draft will be remembered as the birthplace of the Lions rebuild plan. After three season and securing three impact starters we have to give it a final grade of an A.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Friday, January 20, 2012

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Monday, April 18, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Monday, April 4, 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Friday, April 1, 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011