I remember saying here that our biggest needs going into that draft were 3-4 end and CB. Guess what our biggest needs are this year( especially if we hire a coach that keeps the 3-4)? I campaigned for us to take McElvin or DRC. We know today that either guy would have been a better pick. Who else had a guy they were fighting for we didn't get and became a player? Merling was another guy I liked and he played well for Miami. I rememer the rumor that Mangini loved him. In the interest of being fair, I loved Calaias Campbell pre-combine and he looks like a bust. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_NFL_Draft#First_round
I was hit or miss with last years predictions. I liked Gholston early on while people still expected him to be a 2nd rounder and no one talked about him, but the bigger the hype got the more I questioned it. There's nothing really about insight there, I just avoid hype like the plague. Jonathan Stewart being the best rb, Darren McFadden being an over-hyped joke, and King Charles and Chris Johnson not being talked about enough are other things that I remember. People in the draft chatroom should remember my crying over not getting Brandon Flowers, since I didn't see the Keller pick coming at all. While McKelvin or Rogers-Cromartie would have been solid picks for the Jets, I really felt that the CB depth last year was insane (McKelvin, DRC, Talib, Cason, Flowers) and that Flowers would have been great value at the end of the 1st/beginning of the 2nd. You know where I was WAAAY off? Dre Moore. Didn't even stay in the league, and I thought he would be gone by the 3rd. Ouch. You know where I was dead on? Jameel McClain. Ravens picked him up undrafted, but he should have been drafted and could have gone as early as the late 5th round. He was horribly misused in college and he will at least be a solid starter before the end of his NFL career. I predicted him to be a special teams ace his first year and see backup playing time at ILB, and that's what happened. I'm still pissed that out of all of those undrafted rookies that the Jets called, he wasn't one of them. I'm sure there are other not entirely uninteresting tidbits I've got in my draft notes from last year. Just gotta find em. Edit - Looking through my draft notes now. FB - Peyton Hillis as the top FB, since he was the only one that could do everything, but I felt that Schmitt was a better pure run blocker, your typical thumper FB. WR - Rankings were way off. I listed Dustin Keller as my #1 receiver (due to his lack of blocking skill he was actually #7 of 10 tight ends), followed by Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Desean Jackson and Limas Sweed. Dexter Jackson and Eddie Royal were too low on my board. RB - Split into Power/Balanced backs and Speed backs. Speed backs were, in order, Johnson, Charles, Jones and McFadden and power/balanced were Stewart, Mendenhall, Choice, Slaton, Ray Rice, Matt Forte, and finally Kevin Smith. QB - In order: Ryan, Brohm, Flacco, Henne, Josh Johnson, Andrew Woodson, Ainge, Booty, Dixon. Final note being that I wanted Craig Steltz like a fat person wants cake. Mmmm . . . cake . . .
I liked Moore alot too, but supposedly he had a ton of Red flags. These are the things the teams learn that we never do.
DRC was my favorite prospect after Jake Long and Chris Long. I wanted to trade down a few spots and take him with pick 10-12. I thought Gholsten was a potential bust at # 6 but would have been ok with the pick outside of the top ten. In round two I wanted Devin Thomas, Brandon Flowers, or Limas Sweed. I thought that trading up was a good move but not for Keller. I also underestimated both first round QBs. Jamal Charles was another guy I would have liked in round two or three. I think he worked out well for KC.
i wanted DRC or Mendenhall, put a gun to my head i would have probably chose DRC back then i think, but everybody said it was too high to choose him. I wanted to trade down to get him too but if we couldnt i wouldnt of had no problem choosing him over Gholston because he sucks.Oh well hindsight...
I thought the Ravens were nuts to trade up for Flacco. At the time, we heard they were doing it to get ahead of us, I remember thinking "I like Flacco, but not in the first round. He played at Delaware and has questionable heart for leaving Pitt" Does the Pitt coach look like the biggest douche on earth? The kid is cool as ice.
i wanted Mcfadden so i guess in retrospect i look stupid, but its way to early to evaluate a draft after one year, we should evaluate the 2005 or 2006 draft now
I thought Gholston was a good pick at that point. I was afraid he'd go to the Patriots and become Adalius Thomas II. I thought Gholston would push Bryan Thomas for a starting spot by mid-season. I also liked Mayo but thought NE overdrafted him. I was a Keither Rivers fan too. I think he'll be solid coming back from injury next year. Lots of good LB last year. Too bad we didn't get one of them. I had Flacco as my #1 QB. His size and arm strength really wow'd me. I thought Ryan would be good if he went to a domed stadium. But his success caught me somewhat by surprise. I was sure of his maturity and charisma. I just didn't know if he had the arm strength. What happened to Mendenhall? I thought the Steelers got a gift and expected big things from him. He did absolutely jack nothing.
His productivity before that was zilch. He had 28 yards in the season opener and then sat on the bench for 2 games. By comparison, Matt Forte ripped off 141 total yards in his first game and Chris Johnson had 127.
And the Steelers offensive line for most of the season couldn't block for anyone. Yesterday was an exception.
As far as rookie Rb I'd have to pick between Forte and Johnson and I'd lean towards Johnson for the blinding speed.
He also has great motor. He doesn't have the size of a power back, but his legs never stop moving, even when he gets hit.
