Category: NFL Draft (Page 96 of 102)

No. 19 San Deigo Chargers, Antonio Cromartie
Cromartie has arguably the biggest risk/reward potential out of anyone in the draft. He missed the entire 2005 season after tearing his ACL, but had tremendous offseason workouts that teams took notice. Slated to go somewhere in round two, Cromartie has excellent size and speed and might end up bigger a huge value at 19.

No. 20 Kansas City Chiefs, Tamba Hali
Hali was projected by some early mock drafts to go in the top 15, if not the top 10. Hali’s height might have been the reason he slipped all the way to 20. Hali will bring power and speed off the end for the Chiefs and should make an immediate impact.

No. 21 New England Patriots, Laurence Maroney
To me, Maroney is a bit of a mystery pick for New England. I don’t know if he should be ranked higher over DeAngelo Williams. But hey, I think the Patriots brass know what they’re doing. And although they still hope to get production out of Corey Dillion, Maroney should be a great change of pace back.

No. 22 San Francisco 49ers, Manny Lawson
With their second pick in round one, the 49ers decided to fill a defensive need at defensive tackle. With need at linebacker, cornerback and safety, the choice of Lawson, Mario Williams fellow end at NC State, is a bit of a question mark. Although blessed with raw athletic ability, Lawson is a bit undersized and may struggle against stronger offensive tackles at the next level.

No. 23 Tampa Bay Buccs, Davin Joseph
The first guard selected in the draft is Davin Joseph who goes to Tampa. Joseph was ranked as one of the top guards, if not the top guard. Joseph, out of Oklahoma has the quickness to be a solid pulling guard, although he lacks ideal height.

No.14 Philadelphia Eagles, Brodrick Bunkley
The Eagles don’t necessarily fill a need here since they’re pretty loaded at defensive tackle. However, Bunkley was certainly the best player available at 14 and could step up as a starter if Hollis Thomas, Darwin Walker and Mike Patterson continue to underperform.

No. 15 St. Louis Rams, Tye Hill
Hill was clocked at 4.3 and took the honor of fastest cornerback at the combine. Mel Kiper had Hill as the highest rated corner in the draft over Virginia Tech’s Jimmy Williams.

No. 16 Miami Dolphins, Jason Allen
Allen has an exceptional combination of size, strength and speed. With all of those skills intact, Allen has the making of a solid safety. With Sam Madison now in Kansas City, however, Allen might also be looked at to play cornerback as well.

No. 17 Minnesota Vikings, Chad Greenway
Minnesota filled an immediate need at linebacker by going with Greenway out of Iowa. Greenway is tall and has great lateral speed, which would be great in the Vikings traditional 4-3 defense. He might need to add some size to his 243 pound frame.

No. 18 Dallas Cowboys, Bobby Carpenter
With the Cowboys filling most of their pressing needs through free agency, Carpenter is a great value pick at 18. Carpenter excels in pass coverage and is tough and versatile. One of his weaknesses might be overall strength, however and needs to clean up his technique.

With the No.13 pick, acquired from Baltimore, the Browns selected Kamerion Wimbley out of Florida State. Wimbley probably needs to add more weight to his frame to be a defensive end in the NFL. However, as Tom Jackson commented, he can become an outstanding hybrid player in the Browns 3-4 defense. Wimbley is fast, intelligent and if used right, could become a bit of a sack artist at the next level.

Baltimore traded with the Browns and took Haloti Ngata out of Oregon. Ray Lewis’ commented that he needed big bodies in front of him such as when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000. Ngata is a big body who isn’t fast out of his stance and has had injury problems in the past.

In return, Cleveland gets Baltimore’s first round pick, No.13 overall and also acquires a sixth round pick from the Ravens.

The Denver Broncos swapped picks with the St. Louis Rams and nabbed Jay Cutler. Cutler, the top rated quarterback on many scouts’ boards, will get the opportunity to groom behind Jake Plummer.

Once again, why did Buffalo select Whitner when they could have obviously traded down? The Broncos where dying to select either Leinart or Cutler and I doubt Whitner was even a top 15 pick on most teams boards. Strange.