NFL Draft 2007

“The Oakland Raiders are on the clock…”

Draft day in the NFL approaches, and it seems as if everyone who knows how to type is conducting a Mock Draft. With all of the various scenarios that are in play, anyone who can accurately match the players, picks and teams for picks 1 through 5 is clairvoyant. Some mocks on the web are full seven-rounders, projecting every player who will be drafted according to the team. Now we know what certain people with too much time on their hands do to while away the hours…

The Raiders are currently on the clock and have not tipped their hand as of Thursday. Last year’s consensus first pick, Reggie Bush from ‘SC wanted too much up-front money
From Houston, so they passed on him in favor of DE Mario Williams. Time will tell how that works out.

There is one consensus #1 player on the board this year, Calvin Johnson, WR Georgia Tech. There is one impact offensive lineman, Joe Thomas from Wisconsin. There are two quarterbacks, JaMarcus Russell from LSU and Brady Quinn from Notre Dame. Originally, Oklahoma’s RB Adrian Peterson was projected among the top five, but he may drop due to lingering concerns from a broken collarbone.

There are a number of studs on the defensive side of the ball that the Patriots won’t have a chance of selecting around 4:00. There are bound to be a number of deals. Teams like Detroit and Washington ought to seriously consider trading their high pick for more value later in the draft. One player will not be the answer to all their woes. Tampa Bay has targeted Johnson, and it will be interesting to see how high teams 1-4 will drive the price to move down a few slots. Hopefully, no one will be dumb enough to pull a “Ditka” (i.e., trading all of the team’s draft choices to obtain one player). “How’d that work out for you, Mike?” Two days before the draft, Round 1 is in a state of flux, depending on what the Raiders do and trades that are made thereafter.

The only thing that’s relevant around here is what the Patriots intend to do at #24 and #28 in Round 1. No one knows what the Patriots will do, except the crew in the War Room and they’re not talking. Hopefully, the Patriots will use one of the picks and trade down for additional choices in the later rounds.

Since the first Belichick/Pioli Draft in 2000, they’ve done well on draft day:

2000
6 199 Tom Brady QB Michigan
7 239 Patrick Pass FB Georgia
2001
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 6 Richard Seymour DE Georgia
2 48 Matt Light T Purdue
2002
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 21 Daniel Graham TE Colorado
2 65 Deion Branch WR Louisville
4 126 Jarvis Green DE Louisiana State
7 253 David Givens WR Notre Dame
2003
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 13 Ty Warren DE Texas A&M
2 36 Eugene Wilson FS Illinois
2 45 Bethel Johnson WR Texas A&M
4 117 Dan Klecko DT Temple
4 120 Asante Samuel CB Central Florida
5 164 Dan Koppen C Boston College
7 239 Tully Banta-Cain OLB California
2004
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 21 Vince Wilfork NT Miami
1 32 Benjamin Watson TE Georgia
2005
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 32 Logan Mankins G Fresno State
3 84 Ellis Hobbs CB Iowa State
3 100 Nick Kaczur T Toledo
7 230 Matt Cassel QB Southern California
2006
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 21 Laurence Maroney RB Minnesota
2 36 Chad Jackson WR Florida
3 86 David Thomas TE Texas
4 106 Garrett Mills TE Tulsa
4 118 Stephen Gostkowski K Memphis
5 136 Ryan O'Callaghan T California
6 206 Le Kevin Smith NT Nebraska

They have been more successful in certain years than others, but in fact no one can complain about their ability to find players in the mid/late rounds who have been impact players. For every “miss”, they more than compensated with tremendous/fortuitous choices. The only real area of need for the team appears to be at linebacker and in the secondary. Conventional wisdom suggests that this will be their area of focus on Saturday and Sunday.

With the Patriots, we’ve all learned to expect the unexpected.