In one of the dumber moves in Roger Goodell’s tenure as NFL commissioner, the draft will now be a three-day event.

The 2010 NFL Draft will now start on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and only the first round will be held on that day. The second and third rounds will resume on Friday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. and Rounds 4-7 will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

“We continue to look for ways to make the draft more accessible to more fans,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “Moving the first round to prime time on Thursday night will make the first round of the draft available to fans on what is typically the most-watched night of television.”

I get what Goodell is trying to do. The first round is what most people care about, so he’s trying to get maximize the number of viewers he can attain for that round by having it on a popular TV night.

That’s fine, but the draft to me is about getting together with a bunch of buddies on the weekend, kicking a few back and gushing (more like ranting on most occasions) over who our favorite teams selected. Two years ago you could kill a Saturday watching the first three rounds and making it into a big event. Now I feel that Goodell is turning the draft into the Emmys with having the first round be on a Thursday night and then kicking the other rounds to the side by having it on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Maybe it’s just me and I’m making a bigger deal out of this than I should be. But I hate the thought of not being able to get up on a Saturday morning all pumped up for the first two rounds of the draft.

Regular readers know that Anthony Stalter is our NFL guru and that I’m a huge Packer fan. And since Green Bay’s general manager, Ted Thompson, made one of the more questionable trades of the day — giving up a second round pick and two third round picks to move up and select USC linebacker Clay Matthews — we thought it would be interesting to have Anthony play general manager for those three picks and see if things would have turned out better had the Packers stood pat (and drafted on Anthony’s recommendations). So Anthony is going to pick players at 2.09, 3.09 and 3.19 (the three picks Thompson gave up for Matthews) and see if he can do any better.

Thompson has a reputation for being one of the best general managers in the league on draft day, but Anthony sure didn’t agree with how much the Packers gave up in order to land Matthews:

But to give up their second round pick and two third round selections was just too much – especially considering Matthews could be one of the more overrated prospects in this draft. Some believe that he’s more of a bodybuilder posing as a football player (i.e. he looks great in workouts but could fizzle once he gets onto the field) and his character has come into question after it was made public that he and fellow USC teammates started a Facebook group called, “White Nation,” in which they posted a picture of an African American baby in handcuffs and had a caption underneath that read, “arrest black babies before they become criminals.” He claims it was just a joke and maybe he will turn out to be a versatile pro. But the trade and selection were very un-Ted Thompson-like for draft day.

We’ll revisit this after each of the next three seasons (unless the winner becomes obvious before then) and see how the two strategies compare. In the interests of fairness, I asked Anthony to make his pick at 2.09 without thinking about who slipped to 3.09 or 3.19.

So, without further ado, Anthony’s picks…

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I’m going to channel my inner Peter King and dole out a crap load of quick-hit thoughts on last weekend’s NFL draft, which by the way, was one of the more unpredictable drafts I have ever witnessed.

Below are 65 observations from the 2009 NFL Draft. Why 65? I don’t know – don’t worry about it. Originally I came up with 62, but I know that some people freak out when things aren’t in round numbers, so I added three more. But the number 65 means nothing, so don’t waste time searching for its meaning.

Obviously these are all my opinions and feel free to debate them. But before you do, I already know that it supposedly takes three seasons to fully grade a draft and that no prospect is a sure thing. Again, I’m projecting here – so lighten up and let’s strike up some good debates.

1. Outside of the fact that he’s now a millionaire and could buy a small country, I kind of feel bad for Matthew Stafford. You know some halfwit fan or media member can’t wait to utter the comment, “For $72 million, he should have made that pass.” I hate the fact that money plays such a huge role in sports because when you get down to it, completing a pass, making a catch or kicking a field goal has nothing to do with how many zeros are on your paycheck.

2. I know I’m not saying anything new here, but the rookie salary structure is a joke. When teams don’t even want a top 5 pick anymore because of the financial burden that comes with it, there’s a huge problem.

3. The kid could turn out to be the next Ryan Leaf on the field, but Lion fans have to at least take comfort in the fact that Matthew Stafford is saying all the right things at this point. He did an interview with the NFL Network on Sunday and he talked about how he wants to be a starter right away, but also wants to learn and be patient in his development. From all accounts, he looks like he has a great head on his shoulders.

4. If Tyson Jackson turns out to be the next Richard Seymour like Chiefs’ GM Scott Pioli believes, then nobody is going to remember (or care) that he was taken with the third overall pick in a weak draft class.

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What constitutes a second day steal in the NFL draft? Well, opinion of the evaluator above all else, I guess. But if a player was projected to be taken higher than he was, then that plays into the notion that a team got somewhat of a steal for that selection. Below are five players that were selected on Day 2 of this weekend’s draft that I thought were decent steals.

1. Carolina Panthers No. 163, Round 5: Duke Robinson, G, Oklahoma
I was flat out flabbergasted that Robinson fell to the fifth round. Not that this holds much water because I’m not a scout, but I projected Robinson to go to the Steelers with the last pick in the first round in each of my three mock drafts. He was arguably the best guard prospect in the draft and instead of being a first day lock, he fell all the way to No. 163 for reasons unbeknownst to me. He has the talent to be a future starter and maybe sliding this far will motivate him to succeed.

2. Chicago Bears No. 119, Round 4: D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt
The only reason Moore slipped to the fourth round is because of his size (5’8”, 192 pounds) – or lack thereof. If he were two inches taller and 10 pounds heavier, he would have been a second round pick and maybe the fourth corner taken overall in this draft. Moore has tremendous athleticism, good speed and is an aggressive player. Nathan Vasher has struggled the past two seasons for the Bears and I wouldn’t be surprised if Moore challenges for the starting cornerback job opposite Peanut Tillman in training camp. If he doesn’t start, he’ll certainly see some time in nickel packages as a rookie.

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-Sportsbybrooks.com shows an impressive pictorial of the newest addition to the Los Angeles Lakers management team.

-Deadspin.com tells of the unique relationship between San Diego Padres 2B David Eckstein and his actress wife Ashley, who provides a voice in the “Clone Wars” animated series.

-theloveofsports.com offers the tape of the tape between ESPN draftniks Mel Kiper and Todd McShay in honor of this weekend’s NFL Draft.

-aol.fanhouse.com shares an interview with ESPN’S Erin Andrews on her dreams of becoming a star in the virtual games world.

-youtube.com offers the top ten interview moments of Mike Tyson’s illustrious career.

One of the more intriguing rumors that circulated before the draft was one involving the Chiefs trading former 2008 No. 5 overall pick Glenn Dorsey to the Falcons in exchange for Atlanta’s first and third round picks in 2009. Apparently as part of the deal, Kansas City would have also been on the hook for the guaranteed portion of Dorsey’s contract, which would have been roughly $18 million.

From the Falcons’ position, this would have been a phenomenal trade. Dorsey struggled last year as a rookie, but most defensive tackles usually do in their first year. He would have filled a major need for Atlanta, who almost took Dorsey last year but decided instead to select Matt Ryan with the No. 3 pick.

The Falcons eventually wound up filling their defensive tackle need with Peria Jerry, who they chose with the No. 24 pick in the first round of this year’s draft. Jerry isn’t the prospect Dorsey was and it’s questionable if he can play nose in the 4-3, but obviously his selection means that Atlanta won’t continue their pursuit of Dorsey (if they ever did in the first place, that is).

For Kansas City, this would have been a brutal trade outside of the fact that Dorsey doesn’t fit in their new 3-4 defensive scheme. Acquiring another first round pick and an addition third would have been nice, but they would have been giving up on a player in Dorsey who has tremendous upside. Plus, and this is the killer, they still would have had to pay $18 million in guaranteed money to Dorsey. I don’t see how that deal would have been good for KC in the long run although again, they have a player in Dorsey that doesn’t fit their new scheme.

It’ll be interesting to hear if this was just a major rumor or if this was a deal that fell apart on draft weekend.

I hate the word “value” on draft day because essentially, all it means is that a team chose a player later than he was projected to go. But who projects where these players are supposed to be selected? The media – not the teams. So is it fair to talk about “value” when we don’t know where these teams have these players rated? And value means absolutely nothing if the player doesn’t pan out.

That said, below are the five teams who I felt got tremendous values out of their first round picks. These players should have gone much higher based on their talent and potential, yet for whatever reason (i.e. Al Davis took Darrius Heyward-Bey), they slipped. Will they pan out? We won’t know for a while, but nevertheless these teams made out well on Day 1.

1. San Francisco 49ers No. 10: Michael Crabtree, WR
For the Niners to land one of the best prospects in the draft at No. 10 was impressive. Teams were scared off by Crabtree’s offseason foot surgery and lack of top end speed, but the foot is healed and top end speed doesn’t hold as much water in the NFL as it does in college football because everyone is fast in the pros. Go back and watch games of Crabtree at Texas Tech; he catches the ball away from his body, he uses his body well and he performs in the clutch. I know Heyward-Bey has a ton of speed and could turn out to be a great deep threat, but Crabtree is the real deal and the total package. Word is that Crabtree had a very “diva” attitude on visits to Cleveland and St. Louis, but if there’s one head coach in the league who could humble the young wideout, it’s Mike Singletary.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars No. 8: Eugene Monroe, OT
Monroe doesn’t have the athleticism of Baylor’s Jason Smith or the overall natural talent of Alabama’s Andre Smith, but he’s solid across the board. He does have some durability concerns and while he doesn’t excel at one fact of the game, he’s a steady pass blocker and a mauler in the running game. He was also considered one of the safest prospects in the draft and considering he could have went anywhere in the top 4 picks, the Jags got a steal at No. 8. He’ll likely start at left tackle as a rookie and immediately upgrade a Jacksonville offensive line that was decimated by injuries last year.

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It’s unfair to criticize a team for reaching on a prospect or making a trade (or two) on draft day because obviously nobody has a crystal ball to see how those moves will inevitably pan out. But it’s hard not to question some of the decisions that teams made during the first two rounds of the draft on Saturday. Below I’ve compiled five questionable decisions from Day 1 of the NFL draft.

1 and 2. Broncos trade their 2010 first round selection to the Seahawks for their second round pick (37th overall); Panthers trade their 2010 first round selection to the 49ers for their second round pick (43rd overall)
I have no qualms with the two prospects that the Broncos and Panthers traded for. Denver got arguably the most underrated cornerback in the draft in Alphonso Smith, while Carolina landed a player in Everrette Brown who many believed would go in the top 15. But it’s hard to fathom why both of these teams would give up first rounders in next year’s draft, to trade up in what some are considering the worst draft in some time. Granted, it’s hard to speculate whether or not this draft will be turn out to be horrible or if next year’s draft will be strong. But there’s a good chance that Denver and Carolina could each be picking in the top 15 or 20 picks again next year and to give up those picks for two second round prospects is highly questionable. What happens if either of these teams implodes next year and the picks they gave up turn out to be top 5 or top 10 selections? That’s just too much of a risk in my opinion.

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It’s absolutely ridiculous to claim that a team “won” on draft day when none of the players have even played one down in the NFL yet. But it is fair to debate which teams made quality decisions on draft day (i.e. trades, overall maneuvering, etc.), and below are five franchises that I thought made out well after the first two rounds.

1. Cleveland Browns
Alex Mack, C (21); Brian Robiskie, WR (36); Mohamed Massaquoi, WR (50); David Veikune, DE (52)
The Browns became one of the day one draft winners the moment they were able to trade out of the No. 5 pick, because there wasn’t a prospect at that spot that Cleveland loved and they saved a ton of money getting out of the top 5. So they were able to make a deal with the Jets and landed the 17th and 52nd picks, as well as three players (Kenyon Coleman, Brett Ratliff and Abram Elam) that used to play for Eric Mangini in New York. The underrated Elam is the best of the group and should start at strong safety after the team decided to not re-sign Sean Jones. After the deal with the Jets, the Browns made yet another move, trading the 17th overall pick to Tampa Bay for the 19th and 191st selections. Still not satisfied, the Browns again traded back, this time dealing the 19th pick to Philadelphia for the 21st and 195th selections. When they finally did select a player at No. 21, they got the best center prospect in the draft in Mack, who joins a solid offensive line that already features Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas. Although I was surprised that they passed on OLB Everrette Brown early in the second, they got a polished receiver in Brian Robiskie and then eventually filled their linebacker need with Veikune, who is raw but has good upside. Massaquoi was a bit of a surprise, especially considering the Robiskie selection earlier in the round, but it’s hard to criticize what Mangini and new GM George Kokinis did on the first day. It also must be noted how well the Browns played everything before the draft, keeping things close to the vest and not tipping their hand. Obviously that trade with the Jets for the No. 5 pick had to be in the works for a while given the players involved.

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Intensity escapes the best of us. The amount of focus required to sustain a level appropriate for something as aggressive as collegiate football defense is hardly something to write off. Where does it come from? Can it be taught or learned? I’d like to hope so, though it seems a bit of a catch-22 in that in order to be intense enough to learn to be intense we must first be intense enough not to need to learn at all.

In any case, for those lucky enough to have it, raises seem to drop out of the sky and skirts appear to fly up into it. Rey Maualuga has it, and that’s gonna have to suffice for now since I am unaware of every single thing he does in his personal time (probably getting that 10% increase I should have had after landing the Gibson account). He’s been using that, along with his considerable speed and strength, to run roughshod over offensive lines and make tackles that look like Cthulu versus Howdy-Doody.

Well, maybe his past will give us a bit of a hint as to where this ferocious ability was acquired. Born on a military base in Oklahoma (OK, must be a lot of aggression and discipline there) to American Samoan parents, Maualuga then moved to Hawaii (you lost me). He reportedly began playing football in middle school after noticing that all the popular kids carried their pads to school. OK, that’s not that intense, reminds me of the reason I listened to Dave Matthews Band for a year.

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