Assuming Donny doesn't follow the path of his former idol, Charlie Casserley, there's this little nugget I found out today:
Sean Payton, NO’s new head coach, was Marshall Faulk’s position coach at San Diego State. I think he knows what to do with the second pick in the draft. Also, New Orleans should be playing more games this season on turf. I wouldn't worry about the potential for running back by committee, Bush will get his number called enough times.
I am sure some of you have read through a dozen instant analysis of the draft. So I won't try to go the usual route and give grades out to the NFL teams. I will, however, grade FADUCO teams on how they made out from this draft. In order of draft position selection:
1. Donny: A+.
See above. Also, potential keeper WRs in Andre Johnson and Donald Driver get to remain option 1 on their teams' passing game. His QBs didn't really get any help, but at least Mike Vick aka Ron Mexico can now use his brother as his personal towel and water boy.
2. Katy: A.
Look at the weapons Drew Brees has now. True but unsubstantiated fact: The only people happy with Houston's #1 pick are Saints fans and fantasy owners who have Domanick Davis as their keeper.
3. Andrew: B+.
Andrew gets indirect help here. Potential keeper Tom Brady will get a solid #2 WR with the Patriot's pick of Chad Jackson. Hines Ward also gets some relief from double teams with the Steeler's selection of Santonio Holmes. Curtis Martin may get another year to get some decent stats with D'Brickshaw paving the running lanes for him.
4. PJ: C-
Deuce McAllister now suddenly less attractive as a keeper. Same with Corey Dillon, who may have to share carries with Laurence Mauroney. Cadillac Williams did get some help for his O-line, however. Like the Redskins, PJ benefited tremendously from the Free Agent Market, and so could afford to grade poorly on the draft. Bledsoe to TO anyone? Ok, that may last the first four weeks, but still.
5. Kevin: A-
Looks like Willie Parker is the Man in Pittsburgh, they didn't select a RB till round 7. Neither did the Broncos upgrade at RB, so it seems Mike Shanahan will annoint Tatum Bell as this year's 1000-yard wonder. Assuming Kevin keeps Chad Johnson, he'll have to drop one of his four starting-caliber RBs. Yes, all four have durability questions, but this grade reflects on how Kevin escaped RBBC situations caused by the draft.
6. Victor: C
Not much help from the draft to show Victor who to keep as his fourth player. One could make a weak, weak case that San Fran's pick of Vernon Davis may prevent opposing defenses from stacking the line against whomever becomes San Fran's starting RB. Out of his 7 RBs on the roster, only 2 will be starters, the rest are backups. So everyone can make an educated guess on which position is of greatest need for Victor in the first round and thus plan accordingly.
7. Tuna: C+
Tuan's gamble at the second half of the season did not succeed, so he doesn't have too many choices on whom to keep. At least the Jaguars didn't pick a successor for Fred Taylor. And Larry Fitzgerald's long-term viability was solidified by the Cardinals' pickup of Leinart. Neither Ronnie Brown nor Kevin Jones got much blocking help. Worst was Mcgahee. Most analysis pummeled the Bills' draft, and with no upgrade at QB or offensive line, Willis can expect to see 8 or 9 man fronts continuosly.
IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR THE COMMISSIONER:
Who gets the 8th selection, Bill or Larry? Larry finished the regular season with a worse W-L record than Bill, but ended in the Final. He always had more points than Bill. I'm assuming Larry is deemed to finish higher in the standings and so Bill gets the better draft position here.
8. Bill: B
This is a neutral grade. I'm not feeling anything for Bill's roster in terms of draft development. Eli has another target, so that's good. Out of the 9, yes 9, RBs currently on Bill's roster, he may just keep ONE, if he keeps Eli, Javon Walker, and Antonio Gates. I'm counting Javon Walker as a draft impact guy, because he was traded for a second round pick. Given the current state of the smallish Broncos running back corps, they may attempt to pass just a bit more in goaline situations. Advantage: 6'3" Walker.
9. Larry: B-
Looks like Larry also has a limited selection of whom to keep. The draft didn't really upgrade the situation of his current stars like Shaun Alexander or Torry Holt. Since KC didn't really draft wideouts, Tony Gonzalez gets to keep his touches. Possible keeper (albeit unlikely) Jake Plummer got his long term prospects downgraded with the Bronco's pick of Jay Cutler, but the draft didn't really damage his other keepers either. With a late pick, the draft has limited impact on Larry's first round.
10. Hai: B-
I'm assuming Hai's keepers to be Palmer, Jackson, James, and Randy Moss. All are in established offenses that didn't need much draft help, and Moss has a veteran QB throwing to him instead of Leinart or Cutler. No potential successors were drafted. So short-term looks good for Hai. All, except for Palmer, will be playing for new coaches, so the draft has less of an effect for them. With a late round pick, Hai probably will miss out on rookie RBs, but he can pick up a good WR or TE in his position.
Sean Payton, NO’s new head coach, was Marshall Faulk’s position coach at San Diego State. I think he knows what to do with the second pick in the draft. Also, New Orleans should be playing more games this season on turf. I wouldn't worry about the potential for running back by committee, Bush will get his number called enough times.
I am sure some of you have read through a dozen instant analysis of the draft. So I won't try to go the usual route and give grades out to the NFL teams. I will, however, grade FADUCO teams on how they made out from this draft. In order of draft position selection:
1. Donny: A+.
See above. Also, potential keeper WRs in Andre Johnson and Donald Driver get to remain option 1 on their teams' passing game. His QBs didn't really get any help, but at least Mike Vick aka Ron Mexico can now use his brother as his personal towel and water boy.
2. Katy: A.
Look at the weapons Drew Brees has now. True but unsubstantiated fact: The only people happy with Houston's #1 pick are Saints fans and fantasy owners who have Domanick Davis as their keeper.
3. Andrew: B+.
Andrew gets indirect help here. Potential keeper Tom Brady will get a solid #2 WR with the Patriot's pick of Chad Jackson. Hines Ward also gets some relief from double teams with the Steeler's selection of Santonio Holmes. Curtis Martin may get another year to get some decent stats with D'Brickshaw paving the running lanes for him.
4. PJ: C-
Deuce McAllister now suddenly less attractive as a keeper. Same with Corey Dillon, who may have to share carries with Laurence Mauroney. Cadillac Williams did get some help for his O-line, however. Like the Redskins, PJ benefited tremendously from the Free Agent Market, and so could afford to grade poorly on the draft. Bledsoe to TO anyone? Ok, that may last the first four weeks, but still.
5. Kevin: A-
Looks like Willie Parker is the Man in Pittsburgh, they didn't select a RB till round 7. Neither did the Broncos upgrade at RB, so it seems Mike Shanahan will annoint Tatum Bell as this year's 1000-yard wonder. Assuming Kevin keeps Chad Johnson, he'll have to drop one of his four starting-caliber RBs. Yes, all four have durability questions, but this grade reflects on how Kevin escaped RBBC situations caused by the draft.
6. Victor: C
Not much help from the draft to show Victor who to keep as his fourth player. One could make a weak, weak case that San Fran's pick of Vernon Davis may prevent opposing defenses from stacking the line against whomever becomes San Fran's starting RB. Out of his 7 RBs on the roster, only 2 will be starters, the rest are backups. So everyone can make an educated guess on which position is of greatest need for Victor in the first round and thus plan accordingly.
7. Tuna: C+
Tuan's gamble at the second half of the season did not succeed, so he doesn't have too many choices on whom to keep. At least the Jaguars didn't pick a successor for Fred Taylor. And Larry Fitzgerald's long-term viability was solidified by the Cardinals' pickup of Leinart. Neither Ronnie Brown nor Kevin Jones got much blocking help. Worst was Mcgahee. Most analysis pummeled the Bills' draft, and with no upgrade at QB or offensive line, Willis can expect to see 8 or 9 man fronts continuosly.
IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR THE COMMISSIONER:
Who gets the 8th selection, Bill or Larry? Larry finished the regular season with a worse W-L record than Bill, but ended in the Final. He always had more points than Bill. I'm assuming Larry is deemed to finish higher in the standings and so Bill gets the better draft position here.
8. Bill: B
This is a neutral grade. I'm not feeling anything for Bill's roster in terms of draft development. Eli has another target, so that's good. Out of the 9, yes 9, RBs currently on Bill's roster, he may just keep ONE, if he keeps Eli, Javon Walker, and Antonio Gates. I'm counting Javon Walker as a draft impact guy, because he was traded for a second round pick. Given the current state of the smallish Broncos running back corps, they may attempt to pass just a bit more in goaline situations. Advantage: 6'3" Walker.
9. Larry: B-
Looks like Larry also has a limited selection of whom to keep. The draft didn't really upgrade the situation of his current stars like Shaun Alexander or Torry Holt. Since KC didn't really draft wideouts, Tony Gonzalez gets to keep his touches. Possible keeper (albeit unlikely) Jake Plummer got his long term prospects downgraded with the Bronco's pick of Jay Cutler, but the draft didn't really damage his other keepers either. With a late pick, the draft has limited impact on Larry's first round.
10. Hai: B-
I'm assuming Hai's keepers to be Palmer, Jackson, James, and Randy Moss. All are in established offenses that didn't need much draft help, and Moss has a veteran QB throwing to him instead of Leinart or Cutler. No potential successors were drafted. So short-term looks good for Hai. All, except for Palmer, will be playing for new coaches, so the draft has less of an effect for them. With a late round pick, Hai probably will miss out on rookie RBs, but he can pick up a good WR or TE in his position.
Comments
BREAKING NEWS: Kevin has traded Chad Johnson and his 5th round pick (And naming rights for his team) to PJ for his 1st round pick.
On the other side of the trade, Kevin has more options. He can elect to keep all 4 RBs and use the first 2 picks on WR and QB, but I'm not sure there will be a stud free agent WR any better than Chad Johnson. He could have kept Johnson and used his existing pick to get a potential stud RB. If he keeps Hasselback (Who should be available in the 1st round anyway), he will have to decide which RB to drop. If Kevin feels very bullish on this year's crop of RBs, the trade would make sense. Otherwise, it'd be like trading your late 3rd round pick (the latest where Chad would go) and 9th round pick for an early to middle 4th round pick (where rookie RBs are usually picked).
In either case, it's unlikely Kevin will pick 2 RBs with the #4 and #5 picks, so the real winner is Victor, who is assured of at least a top 5 RB in the draft pool.
I will trade you Santan Moss for PJ's 1st round pick.
Victor let me know if your interested in T. Bell since I'm trading daft picks.
As far as C. Johnson is concerned. I have no patience with WR's with head cases after putting up with TO on the Eagles.