1. Detroit Lions (Matt Stafford, QB, UGA) - I hate that all the suspense is taken out of the draft now. But good pick up by Detroit. Whether he pans out or not, it's good to get this fan base excited.
2. St. Louis Rams (Jason Smith, OT, Baylor) - Shocking that they didn't take Monroe, but a good pickup for them nonetheless. He has a heck of a job ahead of him in replacing Pace.
3. KC Chiefs (Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU) - Another shocker, especially with Aaron Curry still on the board. But as I've learned over the years, Scott Pioli knows what he's doing.
4. Seattle Seahawks (Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest) - WOW!!! Crabtree and Sanchez are falling FAST. I'll take either one of them in San Francisco.
5. NY Jets (Mark Sanchez, QB, USC) - Great move to trade up to get Sanchez. Wonder what they gave up to get him though.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (Andre Smith, OT, Bama) - MY MAN!!!! This is the only pick to go to according to script so far. Good job Dre. We're proud of you, man.
7. Oakland Raiders (Darius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland) - I knew Al Davis would fall in love with this guy. He has the ability to go vertical and Al loves the deep ball. I would've gone Crabtree, but whatever.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (Eugene Monroe, OT, UVA) - Good pick for them (AND ME!! This allows Crabtree to fall to Frisco). Their O-Line was depleted all season long last year. And now he's gotta block Freeney, Van Den Bosch, and Mario Williams both twice a year. Good luck young fella!!
9. Green Bay Packers (BJ Raji, DT, Boston College) - Wonderful pickup for them. Gives them the presence in the middle of their defensive front that they haven't had since Gilbert Brown.
10. San Francisco 49ers (Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech) - It took so long to post this pick because I've been running victory laps around my house. I haven't been this happy about my Niners in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time. Now we just gotta get someone to get him the ball! (Nate Davis, maybe?)
11. Buffalo Bills (Aaron Meybin, DE, Penn St.) - Good pick for them. Great edge rusher. I take it that he'll become friendly with Mark Sanchez early in the season.
12. Denver Broncos (Knoshawn Mareno, RB, UGA) - WOW!!!!!
13. Washington Redskins (Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas) - GREAT pickup for them. This guy's a stud.
14. New Orleans Saints (Malcom Jenkins, DB, Ohio St.) - Good pickup. Their are some pretty good WRs in the NFC south (Steve Smith, Roddy White, Antonio Bryant). They need someone to matchup better to keep their offense out of shootouts.
15.
Houston Texans (Brian Cushing, LB, USC) - Alongside DeMeco Ryans this is a GREAT pick for them. This guy is a warrior. And he's versatile enough to put a hand on the ground opposite Mario Williams on 3rd downs and also play in a 2-point stance on 1st and 2nd downs for run support. Good pickup for Houston.
16. San Diego Chargers (Larry English, DE/LB, Northern Illinois) Sorry. I don't know ANYTHING about this guy. But I think this is their insurance policy for Shawn Merriman's knee. Shaun Phillips is pretty solid on the other side. But this is great insurance.
17. Tampa Bay Bucs (Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas St.) Good move to maneuver in front of Denver and take Freeman. From here on out there's a considerable dropoff at the QB position. New Tampa coach Raheem Morris coached Freeman at KSU. This is going to work out JUST fine.
18. Denver Broncos (Robert Ayers, DE, Tennessee) Good pickup. THey need all the help they can get on D.
19. Philadelphia Eagles (Jeremy Maclin, WR, Mizzou) GREAT pickup. Got McNabb a new toy. Alongside DeSean Jackson this could be fun to watch.
20. Detroit Lions (Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma St.) WOW...I think they should've gone with Michael Oher here. I would not have made this move. Sure it gives Stafford another target to throw to, but it won't matter if he can't stay upright.
21.
Cleveland Browns (Alex Mack, C, Cal) They've been trading down all day, and they've racked up on pics (they've got 3 in the 2nd round as a result). And the first player is one heck of a player. Besides Luigs out of Arkansas he's probably the best center in the draft. You build a good team from the inside out.
22. Minnesota Vikings (Percy Harvin, WR, Florida) WOW. This gives the Vikings another big play threat. Weigh you down, work you over with Adrian Peterson and BOOM there goes Harvin. And can you imagine how fast he's gonna be on Astroturf?!?! And good grief, if they line him up at QB in the Wildcat formation, it's CURTAINS.
23. Baltimore Ravens (Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss) He's finally out of the green room. Good pickup for them. Willie Anderson is good, but with Flacco being as young as he is, this is great to get a good young tackle to protect him throughout his carer.
24. Atlanta Falcons (Perria Jerry, DT, Ole Miss) Ole Miss back to back. He'll be a better version of what Ed Jasper was in Atlanta for so many years. Absolute steal.
25. Miami Dolphins (Vontae Davis, DB, Illinois) This defensive backfield was pretty decent last year. Adding him won't hurt.
26. Green Bay Packers (Clay Matthews, LB, USC) Good deal. With everybody else in the NFC North going offense, the Pack has gone defense twice in the 1st round.27. Indianapolis Colts (Donald Brown, RB, UConn) Surprising pick. This guy is a good back. But I think they had more pressing needs at WR and on defense. As we've seen in the past though, all of their picks turn out to be pretty good.
28. Buffalo Bills (Eric Wood, C, Louisville) As has been said, a good team is built inside out. Good pickup for them.
29. NY Giants (Hakeem Nicks, WR, UNC) GREAT pickup. This gives them a solid replacement for Armani Toomer and Plaxico Burress. I think this guy will be a special player in this league.
30. Tennessee Titans (Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers) I guess this means Anquan Boldin will be playing in Arizona again this year. Britt is a good big receiver.
31. Arizona Cardinals (Chris "Beanie" Wells, RB, Ohio St.) Now I guess Edgerrin James will get his wish. He's dunzo in Arizona. Wells and Hightower are the same backs.
32. Pittsburgh Steelers (Evander "Ziggy" Hood, DT, Mizzou) Good pickup. This is a great eventual replacement for Casey Hampton.
So the first round finished in a little under 3 1/2 hours. Great for the NFL. It's been fun. I'm burned out. I'll just watch the rest of the draft without reporting. I hope you've enjoyed it.
