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Revisiting the 2007 NFL Draft, Part Deux

13 Jan

Ok, ok so Tom Brady wasn’t in the 2007 draft. But, I just couldn’t resist. I mean seriously…who would have ever looked at that and said, “Franchise QB! This is gonna be the next great one!” I mean, even Michigan was happy to see him go. But props to Brady for allowing his coach to cheat with a video camera to win 3 Super Bowls using his low pick to motivate him into becoming probably the best QB of the past decade. So with all of this inside information I am giving you here, let’s move along to the 2nd half of the 2007 NFL Draft. (If you didn’t catch the first part you can scroll down to the post before this one or click here)

  1. Denver Broncos - Jarvis Moss, DE, Florida – A lot of talent and a lot of waste of said talent. Moss has not only struggled at DE but also when Mike Nolan, then DC for the Broncos, moved him to Outside Linebacker. He has struggled so much that he himself even contemplated retiring. So who picks him up after being released…you guessed it: Oakland, the last stop for busts in the NFL. F-
  2. Cincinnati Bengals - Leon Hall, CB, Michigan – A solid pick for an unstable franchise. Leon Hall gets absolutely no press but he is a solid starting corner in this league. Is he worth the #17 pick? Probably a little high but a good pick nonetheless. B
  3. Tennessee Titans - Michael Griffin, S, Texas – I would say that this was a good pick. I think Griffin is a really good safety in this league. Some would say he’s overrated but I would disagree. The man makes plays and was a 2nd team All-Pro in 2010. There are a lot of great safeties in this league and I think Griffin qualifies to be in the discussion. A
  4. New York Giants - Aaron Ross, CB, Texas – Another Longhorn DB being picked in the 1st round. Ross at times has been good but has definitely not been good enough to qualify a 1st round pick. C-
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars - Reggie Nelson, S, Florida – This makes 4, count them 4 straight DB picks in this draft. It kind of feels like these teams were in a fantasy draft…once a position starts coming off the board, everybody’s got to jump in and take that position so they won’t be left behind. I have to say I liked this pick when the Jags made it, but boy were they wrong on this guy. Whew! D
  6. Cleveland Browns - Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame – Remember when Quinn was in free-fall? The NFL Network and ESPN were freaking out!! The Browns had already picked up OT Joe Thomas and traded up to pick the QB of their future. I thought this was a good pick. I thought Quinn falling was the best thing for him. But…all you have to know about this pick is Quinn is now sitting behind Tim Tebow. Yeah! D-
  7. Kansas City Chiefs - Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU – Absolute stud! Bowe started out his career as a talented yet lazy player. Bowe was the biggest benefactor to Todd Haley being in KC. Haley pushed Bowe into being a star WR with a great work ethic. Bowe has been one of the best WR in the league and maybe one of the most underrated. A+
  8. New England Patriots - Brandon Meriweather, S, Miami – What is it with Bill Belicheat taking problem childs and thinking he can turn them around in his system? Meriweather was nothing but trouble at “The U” and has been nothing but a waste of talent. D-
  9.  Carolina Panthers - Jon Beason, LB, Miami – The Pats should have taken Beason with this pick. Maybe their D would look a little better right now. Beason has been a great linebacker for Carolina. This is another underrated player but at least he is getting a nod in the Pro Bowl. A
  10. Dallas Cowboys - Anthony Spencer, LB, Purdue – Spencer has been an average linebacker for the Cowboys. I don’t think he is worth a 1st round pick but it is a lower pick in the round. Spencer also plays on a D that is nothing much outside of DeMarcus Ware (who is probably the best defensive lineman in the NFL). C-
  11. New Orleans Saints - Robert Meachem, WR, Tennessee – I can’t stand Meacham!!!! It never seems to fail that I get stuck with him on my fantasy team. One of these days I will have a WR group that won’t suffer injuries and I can laugh at the tool that ends up with him. Ok, I am going to put away my bias now and say Meachem is a good WR in a great passing system. He is a very up and down receiver. He’ll have 3 quiet games and then break out with 150 yds. and 2 TD’s. Not a great pick but could have been worse. C+
  12. San Francisco 49ers - Joe Staley, OT, Central Michigan – Now here is a great Chippewa! Staley is finally getting some credit on a really good Niner offensive line. Staley is a very solid lineman who anchors a line that helps the 49ers running game go. A
  13. Baltimore Ravens - Ben Grubbs, G, Auburn – Grubbs is a solid pro and a pretty good pick in the 1st round. A
  14. San Diego Chargers - Craig “Buster” Douglas Davis, WR, LSU – Yeah, all you have to know is he isn’t playing in the NFL right now. F
  15. Chicago Bears - Greg Olsen, TE, Miami – I don’t know why the Bears didn’t want him and traded Olsen away to the Panthers. This was a really good pick by the Bears who never seemed to realize what they had. Hey Chicago, not every good TE is just a receiver the best of them block too. Olsen does it all…in Carolina now and that’s why the grade isn’t as high (not because of what Olsen is) C+
  16. Indianapolis Colts - Anthony Gonzalez, WR, Ohio St. – I’m not buying it. Gonzalez is the biggest benefactor of Peyton Manning. He is a very average #3 WR that is in the best passing system in the league…maybe ever! D-

So, that does it for the ’07 Draft. Let me know where I was right and/or right wrong. Tomorrow is ALL NFL baby! You have New Orleans @ San Fran (you can’t get a better contrast of styles than this game) and Denver @ New England (can Jesus, er…Tebow upset Brady and the Patriots?). I’ll have more coverage of these games tomorrow.

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2012 in Aaron Ross, Anthony Gonzalez, Anthony Spencer, Auburn, Baltimore Ravens, Ben Grubbs, Bill Belichick, Brady Quinn, Brandon Meriweather, Carolina Panthers, Central Michigan, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Craig "Buster" Douglas, Dallas Cowboys, DeMarcus Ware, Denver Broncos, Dwayne Bowe, ESPN, Florida, Greg Olsen, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jarvis Moss, Joe Staley, Joe Thomas, Jon Beason, Kansas City Chiefs, Leon Hall, LSU, Miami, Michael Griffin, Michigan, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, NFL, NFL Draft, Notre Dame, Oakland Raiders, Ohio St., Peyton Manning, Purdue, Reggie Nelson, Robert Meachem, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee, Tennessee Titans, Texas, Tim Tebow, Todd Haley, Tom Brady, Uncategorized

 

Revisiting the 2007 NFL Draft

12 Jan

Yesterday, I was perusing around some sports websites when I stumbled upon ESPN’s own Mel Kiper, Jr.’s piece re-grading every NFL team on the 2011 NFL Draft. First, let me say how absolutely stupid this is. How in the world are you going to judge any player on just 1 season? Especially, when all rookies didn’t even have a full training camp and pre-season. I know why they did this, it’s a little slow right now in the sports world…yes, it will pick up this weekend but how many times are you going to analyze the Divisional Round of the playoffs? So, I will spare you all from critiquing Kiper’s grades but it got me thinking…how about looking back 5 years and critiquing each team’s 1st round picks. So, let’s go back to the 2007 NFL Draft and look at how these players are doing after finishing their 5th season in the league. I’ll post the 1st 16 picks today and the other 1/2 of the 1st Round tomorrow. Here we go…

  1. Oakland Raiders - JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU – Wow! What can we say about Mr. Russell?!?! To think a lot of pundits raved about Russell because of one game where he carved up one of the worst defenses to play in South Bend on his way to winning the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame. Notre Dame shouldn’t have been anywhere near a BCS bowl game that year. Hey, at least the man got paid…which he has already devoured (pun intended). F-
  2. Detroit Lions - Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech – Matt Millen can thank Oakland for this one. Millen had a thing for picking WR’s in the 1st round but this one was the only one to pan out. Megatron has been a BEAST for Motown. Great pick for Millen. A+
  3. Cleveland Browns - Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin – Another great pick! Joe Thomas has been/will be the cornerstone in Cleveland for more than a decade. If he isn’t the top Offensive Tackle in the NFL he is right up there. A+
  4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson –  Really sad story. The late Adams had tons of talent that never got much of a chance to show it. He only played 2 1/2 seasons for the Bucs before being traded to the Bears in October of 2009. Unfortunately, his life was cut short in January of 2010. I can’t give out a grade on this one. N/A
  5. Arizona Cardinals - Levi Brown, OT, Penn State – While Levi Brown has not been a bad offensive lineman for the Cards, he certainly does not deserve a Top 5 pick. This was a huge reach for the Cardinals, but hey…it’s the Cardinals and they are who they are because they continue to reach. C-
  6. Washington Redskins - LaRon Landry, S, LSU – If this piece was done 2 or so years ago I would have graded this pick pretty low. Since, I am a Skins fan I have seen every game LaRon Landry has played in the pros. Landry has plenty of talent but got absolutely scorched time-after-time in his first few seasons. Since Haslett has come to town he moved Landry to SS where he belongs and Landry has been an absolute stud on the football field. The only problem is he hasn’t been on there much the past couple of seasons. C+
  7. Minnesota Vikings - Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma – I wish my Skins had made this pick. Peterson was a BEAST in college but prone to injuries (which shied me away from him in ’07). But from his first game on he has been nothing short of the Best Runningback in football! A+
  8. Atlanta Falcons - Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas – Eh. Not that good of a pick by the Falcons. Maybe they thought they we re-picking the “Dirty Birds” Jamaal Anderson??They released him before this season and he has been an integral part of the Indianapolis Colts’ 2-14 season this year….I kid, I kid. F
  9. Miami Dolphins - Ted Ginn, Jr, WR, Ohio State – What were they thinking?? At least the Fins only kept Ginn around for 3 years. I think the Dolphins look back at this pick and think “we should have taken Dwayne Bowe”. D
  10. Houston Texans - Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville – Okoye has been a pretty good Defensive Tackle but worth a 10th pick? Let’s just say this: Houston let him walk to Chicago before this season started. Nice player, a reach of a pick. C-
  11. San Francisco 49ers - Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss – The BEST Linebacker in the game today. Have you seen this machine play? He will end his career as one of the best Linebackers to play the game. San Fran absolutely hit it out-of-the-park with this pick. A+
  12. Buffalo Bills - Marshawn Lynch, RB, California – After shooting of the gates and posting back-to-back 1,000 yd. seasons his first 2 years. Skittles then got into various off the field problems and had a couple of injuries before being traded to Seattle. Since then he has kind of rejuvenated his career. New Orleans might be able to tell you a little more about that! B
  13. St. Louis Rams - Adam Carriker, DE/DT, Nebraska – I don’t know what St. Louis saw in Carriker by moving him to Defensive Tackle but it didn’t work. He was then traded to Washington where he was switched back to Defensive End and has been a pleasant surprise. He definitely is not a Top 15 pick though he does show flashes of that from time to time. D+ (this low because they used him as a DT)
  14. New York Jets - Darelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh – Does anyone not know about Revis Island? He is the best shutdown corner in the league. Really doesn’t need anymore explaining. A+
  15. Pittsburgh Steelers - Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida State – Until 2011, Timmons had been getting better and better. Was it the contract or the short pre-season that resulted in a decent but not great season? Timmons has shown to be a very good Linebacker but I don’t know if a Top 15 pick is where he should have been drafted. Only time will tell which way this one goes. I think he’ll be a pretty good starter for another 5-10 years but nothing too special. C+
  16. Green Bay Packers – Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee – This is a very hard pick to evaluate. Harrell, who is a Free Agent right now, has been constantly hampered by injuries. This last one in 2010 was a major knee injury that looks like it might have ended his pro career. I have to give a low grade on this pick since he was coming off of a pretty big biceps tear at Tennessee but to be fair the Packers couldn’t have totally seen this coming. D-

So, there we have the first 1/2 of the 1st Round of the 2007 NFL Draft. A lot of reaches, a HUGE bust and a few future Hall-of-Famers. I hear JaMarcus Russell has been signed to a huge deal for a starring role in one of TV’s biggest shows. Good for him!

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2012 in Adam Carriker, Adrian Peterson, Amobi Okoye, Arizona Cardinals, Arkansas, Atlanta Falcons, BCS, Buffalo Bills, California, Calvin Johnson, Chicago Bears, Clemson, Cleveland Browns, Darelle Revis, Detroit Lions, Dwayne Bowe, Florida St., Gaines Adams, Georgia Tech, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jamaal Anderson, JaMarcus Russell, Jim Haslett, Joe Thomas, Jr., Justin Harrell, LaRon Landry, Lawrence Timmons, Levi Brown, Louisville, LSU, Marshawn Lynch, Matt Millen, Megatron, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Nebraska, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, NFL, NFL Draft, Notre Dame, Oakland Raiders, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Patrick Willis, Penn St., Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers, Revis Island, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Skittles, St. Louis Rams, Sugar Bowl, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee, Washington Redskins, Wisconsin

 
 
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