A total of 18 Division IA teams have given the reigns to new coaches for their football teams. Here are the 18 coaches in new places, with what their season outlook is, coaching outlook, number of years they have to build up the program, and projected season record for the 2008 season.
Only the Cowboys and Patriots have the combination of unwavering arrogance and structural fortitude to confidently trade a 4th round pick for a player like Pacman; in other words, I love the trade for Dallas.
Okay, babeee!!! It’s March Madness time!!! Except, the madness is the NFL free agency period, not college hoops. NFL teams have been making big name cuts and signing free agents to big, BIG contracts.
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Thumbs Up:
- To the Kansas City Chiefs, the unquestioned stars of the draft. Coach Herm Edwards wanted 15 picks and at least five immediate starters from the draft. He only got 12 picks, but 6 of them should be starters by November, and all of them look like upgrades at their positions.
The guy Glenn Dorsey most reminded me of is Chiefs' legend Neil Smith, a guy they’ve never really replaced. Until now, anyway.
Branden Albert can start at T or G, and he run blocks as well as anyone this side of Jake Long. Brandon Flowers and Dajuan Morgan are both experienced, reliable tacklers with strong cover skills.
Jamaal Charles makes for a nice change-of-pace speed back and provides insurance against Larry Johnson hitting the “overuse” wall.
Two of their later picks could really make this a legendary draft class. In the 4th round they took Mizzou WR Will Franklin, who made my under-the-radar gold list. In the 5th they somehow found CB Brandon Carr from D-II Grand Valley State. You’ve probably never heard of him, but trust someone who lives 15 minutes from GVSU--this kid can hang with the big boys.
At worst, the Chiefs probably aren’t the worst team in the league on paper anymore. Phyrric praise, but this team has not had much to cling to lately.
- To Sirius NFL Radio and Hardcore Sports (Ch. 186), for vastly more informative coverage of the players and the reasons behind the decisions. While ESPN had endless shots of Chad Henne and a stream of woefully inaccurate predictions, those of us lucky enough to get Sirius got to listen to fair and balanced breakdowns of players, as well as former GM's talking about why certain teams made certain moves. Kudos to Pat Kirwin, Gil Brandt, and the producers of both channels for providing intelligent, insightful analysis. And I’m not just saying that because I was a featured guest on Hardcore Sports, either…
Thumbs Down:
- To draft grades in general, because it is way too premature. These draftees have not played one down of their first NFL scrimmage yet, and everyone wants to give ratings on how they believe a team fared in the draft. I’ll use the Jaguars as an example. This year they traded way up to snare Florida DE Derrick Harvey, then followed that by selecting pass-rushing OLB Quentin Groves in the second round, their only real picks of consequence. Most people feel they gave up too much to jump so high to get Harvey but consider the Jacksonville rationale for a minute. This team is real close to passing the Colts as the class of the AFC South, but in order to do so, they have to pass them first. That means disrupting the precision timing of Peyton Manning and limiting his options by forcing a back or TE to help quell the pass rush. Harvey was the best available pass rusher, and the Jaguars correctly assumed that once Sedrick Ellis was off the board, the Bengals were going to draft Harvey with the 9th pick. The Jags showed their fans and the team they are committed to winning now by making such a bold move. Did they give up too much? - perhaps. But we won’t know for sure until the next couple of seasons play out. Let these guys play before putting hard-to-shed labels all over them.
- To the universal praise heaped upon the Patriots’ recent drafts. They are the best team in the league for a reason, but that reason sure as heck isn’t the last two drafts. Two years ago they drafted 10 players. Of those 10, only RB Laurence Maroney (a great pick when he’s healthy) and K Stephen Gostkowski are regular contributors. Those two and reserve OL Ryan O’Callaghan are the only players from that draft likely to make the 2-deep depth chart come this September. 2007 produced underwhelming DB Brandon Meriweather--the only one still on the roster out of 9 picks.
To be fair, they did parlay two picks into Randy Moss and Wes Welker, one of the best starting WR duos in the league. But when you’re at the top and heavily dipping into free agency to fill holes, you have to have successful drafts to build depth and develop players in your system. The Pats have done a lousy job of it the last two years, and at first impression, they didn’t do much better here.
Their first two picks in this draft, ILB Jerod Mayo and CB Terrence Wheatley, should both be able to contribute right away, and late-round CB Jonathan Wilhite could be a really nice find. But the team that unearthed Tom Brady in the 6th round blew a 3rd rounder on QB Kevin O’Connell, who wasn’t even on most draft boards 2 months ago. Another playoff team’s reaction: We would have considered him in the 6th round and not one pick before then.
They also traded up into the 5th round to draft a special teams'/punt return expert who almost certainly would not have been drafted by anyone else. Patrick Slater might indeed help them in those areas, but Jackie Slater’s son (Jackie is one of my all-time faves, FYI) isn’t anywhere close to NFL-caliber at either WR or S. Because they have dominated the AFC pretty much this entire century, I’ll give them the very slim benefit of the doubt on this class. But open your eyes and stop praising Pioli, Belichick & Co. as the epitome of draft masters.
Thumbs Twiddling:
- To the Carolina Panthers, who had perhaps the most uneven draft class I have ever seen. Their first pick RB Jonathan Stewart is a great pick at #13 and will be a huge boost to the offense. Then they consummated perhaps the worst draft-day trade since the Ricky Williams' fiasco, giving up a 2nd and 4th round pick this year and their 1st rounder next year to take lumbering OL Jeff Otah. Regardless of my underwhelming opinion of Otah, the Panthers spent the equivalent of 2 first round picks on a guy who will probably play guard for the next year or two. That’s significantly more than the Browns gave up for Brady Quinn or the Colts surrendered for Tony Ugoh, a much more ready-to-play tackle, last year. Remember, they franchised Jordan Gross and gave a big extension to Travelle Wharton, and neither of them can play guard. With one of those traded picks, the Eagles took Otah’s Pitt linemate Mike McGlynn, who just might wind up being a better pro. The Panthers rebounded nicely by taking the very underrated CB Charles Godfrey and solid LB Dan Connor, both of whom add talented depth where it was sorely needed. Then they finish the draft by taking 3 projects, two of whom were highly unlikely to be drafted by any other team.
- To the new draft format, with just 2 rounds on Saturday and less time per pick. I loved the pacing in the 1st round, and I think it forced teams to work harder ahead of time to cobble together trades and more “if/then” scenarios regarding players and other teams. All of those 33 trades happened in part because of the shorter time allotment for picks. But Saturday evening I was still primed for more draft action, and it abruptly ended like 3 hours earlier than last year. This resulted in two things--unexpected family time Saturday night (a good thing) and a seemingly interminable, boring Sunday.
Thumbs Sucking:
- To wide receivers who lack outstanding speed. Malcolm Kelly, Limas Sweed, Mario Manningham, and Early Doucet spent much of the college season in the first round of most mock drafts (although I told y’all early on that Doucet and Manningham were going to fall!). All plummeted down draft boards at least 30 slots lower than any of them expected. The common denominator is the concern that they all lack enough speed to get consistent separation from defensive backs. Apparently size does not matter to NFL coaches and GM's. I wonder how they’ll feel about that on 3rd and goal from the 7, and the QB can’t see any of his fast little guys…
- To ESPN, for basically ignoring at least half the draftees in favor of incessant debate over “Did Atlanta take Matt Ryan to erase the stain of Michael Vick?” and “Who is going to take Brohm and Henne?”. After the stock player profiles when each player was selected, most players got no further mention other than recapping their slot and whether the wonks (none of whom have any more front office or paid NFL scouting experience than me) liked the pick or not. Fans who block out a spring Saturday to watch the draft want to know what skills a player brings, how he can help, where he can improve--not two overhyped retired WR's trading barbs and making outrageous comparisons. It’s too bad because when they did go to the tape and break down certain players in-depth, I thought Jaworski, Kiper, and McShay did excellent work. Note to ESPN honchos: If Chris Mortensen is wrong at least 60% of the time (and he is) with his “insider” info, it might be time to find someone who has any shred of credibility with your more intelligent audience.
