Who Won the Draft in the NFC West?
by mbn on Apr 24, 2010 5:46 PM MDT
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PrintNow that some of the dust has settled from the draft and we all have had time to breath deeply for a few minutes, check out some info on the draftees, and think about it for a minute it is time to look at the NFC West and see how the Cardinals compared. I realize that evaluating the draft picks before they have played an NFL game is kind of fool hearty, but so are mock drafts and that didn't slow us down.
The Rams Drafted:
1-1 QB Bradford
2-1 LT Saffold
3-1 CB Murphy
4-1 WR Gilyard
5-1 TE Hoowmanawanui
5-15 DE Hall
6-1 TE Onobun
6-20 DE/OLB Sims
7-4 CB Johnson
7-19 DE Selvie
7-48 LB Hull
Not a bad draft but I am not nervous. Their first five picks will likely be starters. Saffold and and Murphy are solid if not flashy. Gilyard will be a solid returner. Hoo... is a great inline blocker for Jackson. The rest... Nothing that makes me nervous. No one that is likely be an impact player. Potential, but not impact.
The Seahawks Drafted:
1-6 LT Okung
1-12 S Thomas
2-28 WR Tate
4-13 CB Thurman
4-29 DE Wilson
5-2 S Chancelllor
6-16 TE McCoy
7-29 DE Davis
7-38 WR Konz
Really good draft. Solid LT, and a great safety tandem in Thomas and Chancellor. Tate is a 3rd or 4th WR with return possibilities but not blazing speed. Thurman will likely start and McCoy will be a solid addition. Wilson is a good DE and will end up starting in my opinion. Davis is a solid 7th rd pick. Konz... No clue. At least 7 likely starts within the next few years. They just got a huge infusion of talent.
The 49ers Drafted
1-11 LT Davis
1-17 G Iupati
2-17 S Mayes
3-27 LB Bowman
6-4 RB Dixon
6-13 TE Byham
6-37 WR Williams
7-17 CB Adams
Eh... They will be better but not impressive. Davis is solid in run, Iupati is solid in the run, Byham is a good inline blocker, and Dixon is a smash mouth rusher. Not hard to see what they were trying to get. Mayes is a classic looks like Tarzan plays like Jane in my opinion and does not make me nervous at all. Bowman will add to special teams and add depth. So they got 3 starters and 2 good depth players. Adams and Williams are pure projects. Are they better? A little I guess. Their OL is going to be better but Dan Williams schooled Iupati in the Senior Bowl. I'll take that match up any day of the week.
The Cardinals Draft
1-26 NT Williams
2-15 ILB Washington
3-24 WR Roberts
4-32 OLB Schofield
5-25 QB Skelton
6-32 CB Calvin
7-26 TE Dray
Trying to get rid of my preconceived notions about who should have been taken (i.e. what is up with Warren that no one drafted him), is not easy but let's step back and try to be objective. Williams is a clear upgrade and will make the entire defense better. He is the #1 NT in the draft. For me Washington needs to be 240+. He said he will be "at least" 235 at mini camp which is where Lenon is. He needs to lower his hips when tackling but he is a dart in the hole and if Williams et. al. can consume the blocks Washington will be impactful. A 240lb Washington is as good as Weatherspoon or better, in my opinion. I think Washington will be better than Dansby. Roberts... I liked Gilyard as a 4th receiver instead of Roberts and I liked J. Ford as a returner over Roberts, but I have not seen film of him so I am limited. He may be a good blend of receiver and returner. Stats look good on him. Schofield is the steal of the draft. Before his knee injury I had him graded next to Hughes as an OLB and some days I thought he was better than Hughes. He might have been the #1 rush OLB. If he can come back and play like he did before the injury, he will be a pro bowl player. He is better than C. Brown or Davis and would beat out Haggans and maybe Porter if he was healthy. I can not rave enough about this guy. That knee is the "if" but man he is worth the risk. Skelton could be a starter in 2 years. Calvin and Dray... potential but not impactful right now. 3 top 35 ranked players on defense. The last two picks were not my favorite picks but I will wait and see.
So who won the draft? I think the Seahawks and the Cardinals are clearly the leaders with the Cards getting the edge because of the level of impact players they got. Rams will be better but they have a long way to go. 49ers are going to live off of their defense and power running. I am not sure they got that much better through the draft. Some, but not a lot. The Seahawks will be much better on defense but didn't get the impact player through the draft. Give me Williams, Washington, and Schofield to build a defense around, with a solid returner and a potential starting QB... that ain't a bad draft.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.
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Seahawks also came home with Lendale White and Leon Washington
Need to look into trades too. Other than McFadden going to Pittsburgh I don’t know what else occured tradewise in the division. Seattle looks like they did very well. They snagged a replacement at LT, rebuilt their secondary and got a quality WR in three rounds, plus pulled in a pair of good veteran RBs somehow.
If I had to rank the drafts, it'd be
1) Seattle
2) St. Louis
3) Arizona
4) San Francisco
All four teams had really solid (great, even) drafts, though.
I agree – loved SF draft for what they want to be – rock’m sock’m football this is Mike Singletary’s draft.
by lorenzothedog on Apr 24, 2010 9:12 PM MDT up reply actions
But
It’s a passing league these days. We will see how they fair with a ball control O and a mean D
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Apr 25, 2010 3:37 AM MDT up reply actions
Hopefully they tank then.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand fair-weather/bandwagon fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
It's boom or bust in it's truest sense, but..
Moving up for Davis was stupid, as was taking a raw Iupati a few picks later – Davis is an overrated, lazy lump of a man who will probably be out of the league in 4 years, and using a 1st round pick on an RG at that point is stupid. Taylor Mays is a terrible coverage safety, which is what the Niners needed, and overall they failed to address the defense, which they sorely needed to. Who’s going to rush the passer? Who’s going to defend the pass? Typically, run-heavy teams are low scoring and, thus, need a great defense to get anywhere. The Niners don’t have that.
Agree on Mays
Sando was saying he and Dashon Goldson would make a very athletic safety duo, but they’re both awful in coverage so I’m not too worried.
Goldson is slightly better in coverage, but that’s not saying anything at all.
I’m definitely with you; I was shitting myself at the idea of Earl Thomas maybe being taken by the 49ers, but thank god they still don’t have anybody who can actually cover back there.
And they really didn't address their pash rush
Was reading some of their posts, and some are delusional (like us all a bit around this time) predicting their pass rush to be fine. But one of the guys broke it down and said the majority of their sacks came against the Rams, Detriot, and Seattle. They also said Indy had an elite line last year, but I thought they had a mediocre line last year thus all the talk about a T in the first round.
So, great run defense, average, to decent, pass rush, and average (at best) coverage?
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Apr 26, 2010 3:53 AM MDT up reply actions
Yeah, the Colts owner specifically pointed to the OL being a weakness
After their SB loss and wanted it addressed this offseason. One of their starters is gone, I think — Lilja maybe? Didn’t pay attention to who they brought in.
Yeah, absolutely right.
And Indy had (and will continue to have) an elite line in the way we had a great line last year – Manning makes them look much better by doing what he does and taking as few sacks as he does, but they’re really overrated. Jeff Saturday’s the only good one, but even he’s lost a step now that he’s older.
I'd put us on top
but Seattle filled some holes as well. Okung falling to them at #6 was a gift, and getting Golden Tate when they did was a good value. Anthony McCoy projects to be a pretty solid TE, with Carlson already there they should be set. Thurmond, good pick-up. I generally liked everything they did, but do wonder about taking Thomas at #14 over our own Dan Williams, who would have been a major upgrade for them on the DL.
Had trouble following the 49’ers logic. It didn’t seem necessary to move up to get Anthony Davis, and I think Bulaga would have been a better choice. Taylor Mays is a great athlete, but not a great football player. Bowman has had too many off-field issues for my liking but both were good values where they got them. Williams dropping to us felt even better after they got Iupati – they pushed us around enough on the line of scrimmage last year, if we didn’t answer that choice I think they really would have added to that advantage.
St. Louis – largely rides on Bradford. If he turns out to be worth the #1 pick, then obviously it looks pretty good for them. If not, they had Suh for the taking and passed on him. It looks like Barron isn’t a long-term player for them, so picking up Saffold to pair with Smith seems logical enough. Gilyard was very productive in college.
Us – by and large, loved it. Of course, I follow the Cards much closer than anyone else but in terms of filling needs and getting steals I think we did as well as anyone. Needed a NT badly, had Williams fall into our lap at #26 (still can’t figure that one out). Washington projects very well as Dansby’s replacement, will give us a whole new dimension in pass coverage, his speed and quickness makes it difficult to get a blocker on him. Roberts likely fills in immediately as a PR, and should work well in the slot when called upon. Schofield, major steal. Can see him and Davis as our future OLB’s. Skelton has a world of potential that doesn’t need to be rushed. Didn’t know anything about Calvin until today, will trust they saw something in him that wasn’t present in SydQuan Thompson. Was hoping for ILB Micah Johnson in round 7 to back up Hayes, but the blocking ability of Dray could land him a spot on the roster (although I’m guessing Practice squad in 2010).
Probably homerism on my part, but the additions of Williams, Washington, and Schofield, to a scheme that needs them, badly, puts us over the top.
The other name
that surprised me by not being picked was West Virginia QB Jarrett Brown. Sometimes watching what happens after the draft is as interesting as what happens during it.
Not that I want anyone to get the impression that I’d like us to pick up Brown, very happy with the addtion of Skelton. Just mention it because it’s hard to believe nobody sees him as being worth a draft pick.
Additional note
just noticed the 49’ers picked up Blount (RB, Oregon). With him, Mays, Bowman, and Davis this will be boom or bust for them.
The entire draft went very well for the NFC West.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand fair-weather/bandwagon fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
According to
Todd McShay, the Cardinals had one of the worst drafts this year because they passed on getting a QB like Clausen at 26. I hate that guy more and more every year.
The Seahawks did slightly better than the Cardinals in the NFC West draft. Okung will be a solid LT which they badly needed. Thomas is a beast at CB or S. Thurmond is a solid CB. Tate will take over at WR for Burleson. Only thing they missed on was getting a quality pass rusher so it degrades them a bit.
Cardinals did second best. Filling in for Robinson, Dansby, and Boldin isn’t easy but they pulled it off. Hope Williams finally gives the team a true NT. After that Schofield should be a steal. Skelton will have to develop and may be no more than a backup but still is a fine pick.
49ers I think missed with Davis and Iupati. Davis has character concerns and Iupati has been beaten in pass protection too much. They ignored the secondary until Mays but even he misses too much in coverage. Their draft sounded impressive but I am not worried about them.
Rams made a decision to take Bradford but I think in his first year he will be too cautious throwing and they rely on Jackson to run the ball. Saffold was a good pick to help on their O-line. Gilyard is a system WR but will probably start sooner than later. After that they picked up mediocre players that will start just because they lack talent at many spots.
We'll see how Bradford handles getting hit 100 times a year
Think that’s the main question about pairing him with the Rams.
McShay said that?
I listened to him argue with Kiper about how Clausen wasn’t worth a first-round pick.
Hahahaha, this.
McShay is an absolute moron, and about as clueless as one could be. I fear if he’s truly Kiper’s successor at ESPN.
I can appreciate a difference of opinion
like you and I have about Clausen, but I don’t get the sudden flip-flop on McShay’s part that criticizes us for taking Williams over him.
Agreed, let’s hope he doesn’t take over for Kiper – at least Mel stands by his observations.
McShay strikes me as the type of guy who loves to be the center of attention by going against the norm, but he at least has the balls to call out teams/players for being bad teams/players if he believes so.
He’s still a moron, though.
+1
Both are, “entertainment” value only.
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Apr 27, 2010 4:38 AM MDT up reply actions
So... a great upgrade at NT is a bad draft according to the man who seemed to HATE Clausen?
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand fair-weather/bandwagon fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
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