The draft could have gone a bit smoother, but because of all the draft day trades to track, trying to hear the audio of the conference call, my attempts to live-twitter, me finishing dinner, it felt a bit chaotic. I think having the telephone conference set up was overall for the positive, so thank you Bill for setting that up. Here are my initial impressions of the draft.
Tuna
Mild surprise going WR, but Jennings was probably the safest overall top pick to go with in the 1st round. Had strong start with first 4 picks, things got a bit more iffy for some of the later rounds. Good handcuff of Parker with Mendenhall. Overall, rest of the picks seemed a bit safe but bland. Grade: B+
Lily
Made several rookie mistakes, like not picking a kicker. Minus points for not paying attention and drafting for her pick instead of PJ's. Most of her WR picks were solid but didn't really improve her RB position. May have reached in a couple of picks, but they at least have potential. Grade: C
Andrew
Very puzzling 1st round pick in Aaron Rogers when he already has Tom Brady. Thin as a heroin addict in the RB position. Didn't really get any standout WRs either, since 1st round was used on Rogers. Draft looks more like it was conducted by a bunch of Ewoks rather than a Sith lord. Grade: D
Donny
Would have broken the record for fastest time to pick, if he hadn't forgotten to set auto-pick for his last K pick. Very decisive yet having a coherent plan (Go with Cardinals passing and Indy running). Got some good young talent with his picks. Grade: A
PJ
Reached for quite a few picks (Ricky Williams, Jeremy Shockey, Kicker in 7th round). But also got a potential keeper for next season with McCoy and got a capable TE backup with Celek. WR reserves have high ceiling but also can flame out. Gets a few bonus points for rant on the conference call. Grade: B-
Katy
Could have picked up McCoy to handcuff Westbrook but reached deeeeep down the rankings to pick up Fargas instead. Don't like the Benson or Lee Evans picks either. Later round picks like Carlson and Cotchery seemed pretty solid, however. Not sure Team Katy really missed their 1st round pick, since there really weren't any sure things left at RB or WR with that pick. Grade: C+
Kevin
Though he was only one spot different than Team Katy, this draft was full of value and win for Kevin in all spots except maybe QB. Great upside picks in later rounds combined with solid early picks like Witten and Eddie Royal. Only quibble is with QB picks. Schaub can be very good when healthy, but he has a checkered health history and Kevin should have gotten a more exciting backup than Hasselbeck. Grade: A/A-
Bill
After all the off-season excitement of his trade, he only got Bowe, but missed out on Roddy White or Greg Jennings due to Tuna and Lily going against expectations and picking a WR. Got his target RB in Ray Rice, however. Also got solid Ravens D and Anthony Gonzalez. Bill built his team to overcome Peyton Manning in the playoffs. Grade: A-
Victor
Couldn't resist picking a Denver RB with his 1st round pick (see 2005, 2006) even though already had 3 RB keepers. Pick may not be useful for 2009, so a bit aggressive with 1st round pick. WR picks were blah, all except Vincent Jackson have questions. Solid pick for TE with Greg Olsen, however. May have stolen Julius Jones from Bill and Cowboy Defense from Hai. Grade: C+
Hai
Good pick handcuffing Marion Barber with Felix Jones. However, ended up drafting quite a few old players like Jamal Lewis, Lavernues Coles, and Hines Ward, limiting his upside. May have to play QB roulette with Palmer and Ryan as they are similarly rated, so expect managerial inefficiencies this year. Grade: B-
Tuna
Mild surprise going WR, but Jennings was probably the safest overall top pick to go with in the 1st round. Had strong start with first 4 picks, things got a bit more iffy for some of the later rounds. Good handcuff of Parker with Mendenhall. Overall, rest of the picks seemed a bit safe but bland. Grade: B+
Lily
Made several rookie mistakes, like not picking a kicker. Minus points for not paying attention and drafting for her pick instead of PJ's. Most of her WR picks were solid but didn't really improve her RB position. May have reached in a couple of picks, but they at least have potential. Grade: C
Andrew
Very puzzling 1st round pick in Aaron Rogers when he already has Tom Brady. Thin as a heroin addict in the RB position. Didn't really get any standout WRs either, since 1st round was used on Rogers. Draft looks more like it was conducted by a bunch of Ewoks rather than a Sith lord. Grade: D
Donny
Would have broken the record for fastest time to pick, if he hadn't forgotten to set auto-pick for his last K pick. Very decisive yet having a coherent plan (Go with Cardinals passing and Indy running). Got some good young talent with his picks. Grade: A
PJ
Reached for quite a few picks (Ricky Williams, Jeremy Shockey, Kicker in 7th round). But also got a potential keeper for next season with McCoy and got a capable TE backup with Celek. WR reserves have high ceiling but also can flame out. Gets a few bonus points for rant on the conference call. Grade: B-
Katy
Could have picked up McCoy to handcuff Westbrook but reached deeeeep down the rankings to pick up Fargas instead. Don't like the Benson or Lee Evans picks either. Later round picks like Carlson and Cotchery seemed pretty solid, however. Not sure Team Katy really missed their 1st round pick, since there really weren't any sure things left at RB or WR with that pick. Grade: C+
Kevin
Though he was only one spot different than Team Katy, this draft was full of value and win for Kevin in all spots except maybe QB. Great upside picks in later rounds combined with solid early picks like Witten and Eddie Royal. Only quibble is with QB picks. Schaub can be very good when healthy, but he has a checkered health history and Kevin should have gotten a more exciting backup than Hasselbeck. Grade: A/A-
Bill
After all the off-season excitement of his trade, he only got Bowe, but missed out on Roddy White or Greg Jennings due to Tuna and Lily going against expectations and picking a WR. Got his target RB in Ray Rice, however. Also got solid Ravens D and Anthony Gonzalez. Bill built his team to overcome Peyton Manning in the playoffs. Grade: A-
Victor
Couldn't resist picking a Denver RB with his 1st round pick (see 2005, 2006) even though already had 3 RB keepers. Pick may not be useful for 2009, so a bit aggressive with 1st round pick. WR picks were blah, all except Vincent Jackson have questions. Solid pick for TE with Greg Olsen, however. May have stolen Julius Jones from Bill and Cowboy Defense from Hai. Grade: C+
Hai
Good pick handcuffing Marion Barber with Felix Jones. However, ended up drafting quite a few old players like Jamal Lewis, Lavernues Coles, and Hines Ward, limiting his upside. May have to play QB roulette with Palmer and Ryan as they are similarly rated, so expect managerial inefficiencies this year. Grade: B-
Comments
D - you will be proven wrong by mid season
Andrew
Andrew
I don't really think my draft was that good. I don't agree wtih VG. It was just conventional wisdom rather than any thinking on my part. The only guy that I had an independent view on was Rice, but the web is filled with those who think that he will breakout this year.
I thought Kevin's draft was impressive, I thought team Katy seemed to have spent no prep time on it at all and I don't believe in the value of two QBs (It took me a lot of years to learn lesson though).
Bill
POD
hahahahahahahahahaha
POD