Some Thoughts on Some Round One Picks

By Michael Schneid

Here are some of last night's picks that for one reason or another stood out to us. We will have more of this type of analysis throughout today and the weekend.


Jaguars trade up and select Justin Blackmon

Great move to trade up ahead of Rams, but how effective can he be with Blaine Gabbert as QB? Plus Laurent Robinson is the #2, who will no longer attract double teams. Again though, the problem is Gabbert is the QB.

 

Cowboys trade up and draft Morris Claiborne.

Dallas signed Brandon Carr and now adding Claiborne is huge move. Cowboys reportedly wanted Mark Barron but likely didn't expect Claiborne to realistically fall and become a possibility. Claiborne is one of those few guys atop the draft who is a game-changer and can really have an immediate impact for Dallas. Rob Ryan's defense is pass-rush happy and last year the secondary struggled so when everyone blitzed, it isolated the corners and the WRs often had the advantage. Now with Claiborne and Carr, the Cowboys can blitz more without getting burnt. Orlando Scandrick now becomes the slot corner and Mike Jenkins goes on the trade block...or the IR.

Dolphins draft QB Ryan Tannehill

Tannehill reunites with his college head coach and new Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman. This is a bad pick and will ultimately cost GM Jeff Ireland his job and ultimately ruin new coach Joe Philbin's reputation.
As a freshman and sophmore he played mostly WR. He had 55 reception as a freshman and 46 as sophmore. Tannehill took over as starter mid-way through his junior year and started 7 games his junior season. As a senior, he threw 29 TD and completed over 60%. Tannehill did not lead any 4th quarter comebacks and never won a close game (4 points or less). The Dolphins are investing their future into him. Good luck.

Chiefs draft Dontari Poe

Memphis Tigers went 1-11 last year. Poe has very little impact on any specific game. He is a work out monster who impressed people at the combine and in individual work outs. But if you watch game film (isn't that most important?) he is slow, has an inconsistent motor, and did not play well in games at times. This is a reach pick and could add to Scott Pioli's track record of questionable picks in KC.

Cardinals draft WR Michael Floyd

This is a great pick for the Cardinals. Arizona lacks another WR along side Fitzgerald and Floyd has potential to be great. Floyd put up huge numbers despite never having good, consistent QB play at Notre Dame. He had 7, 9, 12, 9 TDs from 2008-2011 in that order. He went over 1000 yards the last two seasons with Tommy Rees and Dayne Crist as the QBs. That is quite an accomplishment. He has good speed and great leaping ability. This makes things better for Kolb and really makes life easier on Fitzgerald.

Titans draft WR Kendall Wright

This was a questionable pick to me. Titans need offensive line help and defensive line help. Kenny Britt is coming off an ACL tear and Chris Johnson had a lackluster season. But if CJ can regain his form and Britt comes back healthy, Titans have depth at WR with Nate Washington too. Wright is a good player, who also has injury history. Assuming Jake Locker starts at QB, the Titans will have plenty of fire power now.

 

Patriots trade up twice, draft Chandler Jones and D'onta Hightower

New England's defense was bad last year, even though they went to the Super Bowl. The Pats need pass rushers and took Jones, who was a late riser in the draft process. Hightower will be plugged into the LB rotation and comes from Alabama, so he has that SEC experience and championship pedigree.

Browns trade up one spot to draft Trent Richardson and draft QB Brandon Weeden #22

The Browns were likely scared of TB or someone trading with Minnesota so they made the move to trade a 4th, 5th, and 7th round pick to move up one spot and secure T-Rich. Richardson becomes the new focal point of the offense, replacing Peyton Hillis and really becomes the face of the franchise, a franchise that has been without a face for some time.

 

For Weeden, the Browns get a 29 year old franchise QB. The pick is questionable for several reasons. One, is you often take young QBs to build future around. There's no telling how long Weeden can play for. Also, the Browns promised Colt McCoy he will start and they will not draft a QB in round one. Oops! McCoy is apparently on the trade block today with the Browns planning on starting Weeden with Seneca Wallace as the backup.

 

Fun fact about this pick-last time Browns took a QB in round one was also pick 22 and it was Brady Quinn.