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After three days full of surprises, reaches and steals, the NFL Draft is finally over. Here is a look at some of the winners and losers of the draft: I don’t grade by talent because it’s so hard to determine just who will be good and who will bust. My grades are based on the teams that filled needs and maximized value by selecting players in rounds where they should have been taken and taking players that fit their offensive and defensive schemes.
Five Winners
New Orleans Saints: The Saints made a move on day one when they traded with New England to get back up into the first round. With their first pick at 24th overall, they grabbed California defensive tackle Cameron Jordan who many thought would go a lot higher. They also stole former Heisman Trophy winning runningback Mark Ingram at pick 28 with their trade with New England. That gives them a ton of options at runningback with Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, and Reggie Bush. The Saints also took a pair of Illinois linebackers with Nate Bussey in the seventh round and the underrated Martez Wilson in the third. Pittsburgh defensive end Greg Romeus was a huge steal in the seventh round and third round selection cornerback Johnny Patrick will add depth at the position.
My Grade: B+
Dallas Cowboys:The Cowboys will be giving quarteback Tony Romo plenty of protection by selecting a pair of lineman in rounds one and four. Tackle Tyron Smith should be a sure starter at left tackle, and David Arkin is an option at guard. Outside linebacker Bruce Carter was a steal in the second round and has great potential if he's healthy. They also added an explosive backfield option in Oklahoma's DeMarco Murray. Fifth round selection Josh Thomas filled a need in the secondary and will compete for playing time.
My Grade: B+
Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati had a great first two days in selecting two future stars. A.J. Green was selected with the fourth overall pick and is sure to replace either OchoCinco or Owens, depending on which one goes first. They added their franchise quarterback in the second round with TCU's Andy Dalton. The Bengals filled a need in drafting defensive lineman Dontay Moch and added more depth at wide receiver with Stanford's Ryan Whalen. They also got some protection for their future quarterback by stealing Clint Boling in the fourth round.
My Grade: A
Detroit Lions: The Lions really had a good first three picks. They added defensive tackle Nick Fairley to play alongside Ndamukong Suh which will be one of the best interior defensive lines in the whole league. They grabbed Boise State's wide receiver Titus Young who will give Matt Stafford another weapon and a good complement to Calvin Johnson. Illinois' runningback Mike LeShoure will be great alongside Jahvid Best- A tandem that will be an excellent one-two punch. These picks will be nightmares for opposing offenses and defenses alike and maybe people will start taking the Lions seriously for the first time in a long time. One downfall however is that they failed to draft a corner which was probably their top need. They will have to address that in free agency (that is, if we have one.)
My Grade: A-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tampa Bay was a winner in this draft after their first two picks. They shored up the defensive line for ten years in selecting defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers. Bowers was projected as the number one overall pick by many three months ago until questions surfaced about his knee. If he can stay healthy though, he will be a forced to be reckoned with. There's no doubt about that. These two picks, along with last year’s picks Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, will be one of the best defensive line corps in a couple years and could rival the Vanden Bosh, Kearse, Brown, and Haynesworth corps of the Titans from a few years ago.
My Grade: A-
That's it for the winners, now to the losers.
Five Losers
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers reached on just about every pick except for defensive lineman Terrell McClain. They set themselves back three years in selecting Cam Newton with the first pick. He isn't an NFL quarterback and he sure won't succeed without any weapons around him. They didn't take a wide receiver until the fifth round which made absolutely no sense especially with Steve Smith likely on his way out. The Panthers raised a lot of eyebrows with most of their picks.
My Grade: C-
Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks drafted two offensive lineman with their first two picks in James Carpenter and John Moffit. There's only one problem with that. Seattle doesn't have a quarterback! They had the perfect chance to select TCU's Andy Dalton at 25th, but instead they reach for Carpenter. Who are these guys going to be protecting? Charlie Whitehurst? I really don't understand Seattle's drafting strategy at all, but I think I have it figured out. Reach for offensive linemen in the first two rounds to protect a career backup or a 35 year old has-been. We'll see how far that gets them.
My Grade: D+
Oakland Raiders: Well, I can't get on the Raiders too much since they didn't have a first round pick, but the rest of their selections still didn't make much sense. They drafted a cornerback with their second pick to replace departing cornerback Nnamdi Asomougha, but they didn't get the right guy. They drafted one of the fastest corners in the draft, which is a mistake that can be blamed on owner Al Davis, and they drafted Chimdi Chekwa later in the draft. I like Ohio State and Chimdi Chekwa, but he isn't an NFL starter. I really think they messed up on that and it could be reflected by their pass defense this season.
My Grade: C-
Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons should have never moved up 21 spots to take wide receiver Julio Jones. The pick doesn’t make a ton of sense. They needed defensive help way more than they needed offensive. I understand that they wanted a playmaking wide receiver, but they could have grabbed Maryland’s Torrey Smith in the second round if they wanted a deep threat. With their other picks, they took only two defensive players which probably might not even be rotational guys. They came into the draft primarily needing defense and came out with one quality pick in Jones, who they gave up way too much to get, and a few special teamers.
My Grade: C-
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers surprised a lot of people selecting linebacker Aldon Smith at number seven; a pick that I thought was a bit of a reach, but could still add an outside pass rush to their defense so I can’t criticize that pick too much. But other than that, I didn’t understand the rest of their picks. They took Colin Kaepernick to be their quarterback of the future. That’s fine, but I’m not sure that he has the skill set to be an NFL starter. I thought Ryan Mallett would have been a better selection. They didn’t take a cornerback until the third round, which I thought was their top need. Some of their picks left me shaking my head.
My Grade: C-
Some of the teams I didn’t see as a winner or loser. Here’s a look at the rest:
Arizona Cardinals: B
Baltimore Ravens: B+
Buffalo Bills: B
Chicago Bears: B-
Cleveland Browns: B
Denver Broncos: B
Green Bay Packers: B
Houston Texans: B
Indianapolis Colts: B-
Jacksonville Jaguars: C
Kansas City Chiefs: C
Miami Dolphins: B-
Minnesota Vikings: C+
New England Patriots: C+
New York Giants: B
New York Jets: C
Philadelphia Eagles: C+
Pittsburgh Steelers: B
San Diego Chargers: B+
St. Louis Rams: B-
Tennessee Titans: C+
Washington Redskins: B-
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