Draft grades--AFC

Ok guys, I don't know how much time I'm gonna have to get through this, so if this winds up getting cut short, sorry. I'll start with the AFC teams:

• Buffalo Bills: (A-) Filled needs well in first 2 rounds with Marshawn Lynch (who I like a lot) and Paul Posluszny (A first round talent). Also got good good insurance for J.P Losman (Trent Edwards) in the 3rd. Good value with Wyoming S John Wendling and Boise TE Derek Schouman in the 6th and 7th.
• Miami Dolphins: (C) This grade will increase significantly if 1. Ginn blossoms as a receiver and 2. John Beck becomes the QB they think he can. Now I like both Ginn and Beck, but I don't know if Beck is as good as Brady Quinn, who they passed over to take Ginn. He is already 26, meaning he's mature, but that also means if he takes 1-2 years to get ready, you don't have as many years as you could've gotten out of Quinn. In the end it worked out, and might turn out great, but it was too big a risk to take. Good value with Utah DT Paul Soliai in the 4th. Got a little insurance for Ronnie Brown in the 3rd with FSU RB Lorenzo Booker, and Hawaii C Samson Satele could turn out to be a monster, if he stays healthy.
• NE Patriots: (B+) It seems like these guys have 2 1st round picks every year, and they always score. This year, they took risks on 3 'character issue' guys--Miami S Brandon Meriwether in the 1st, Miami DT Kareem Brown in the 4th (both of whom were involved in the UGLY Miami-FIU brawl last season), and Randy Moss, who they got from the Raiders for a 4th rounder. No a lot else jumps out in the 6th and 7th, but Belicheck and Pioli have maybe the best knack for finding starting talent in later rounds. If anyone can corral the personalities of these guys, its Belicheck, Brady and Rodney Harrison. I think Meriwether could blossom under Harrison's tutilege, and if Brady can whip Moss back into his old form, this would raise to an off-the-chart A and bring another Super Bowl to the Pats.
• NY Jets: (B) They were left with only 4 picks after trading up for Darrelle Revis, but still wound up with a 1st-round LB in the 2nd to team with Jonathan Vilma in Michigan's David Harris. They had their choice of Revis or Leon Hall, so I'll trust their choice there. They didn't add any WR depth, something they needed, until Clemson's Chanci Stuckey in the 7th, but did add an OT, Jacob Bender from small Nicholls St. in the 6th. After a few seasons, he could be there, but needs a lot of development to fit the pro game. Their top 2 picks are among the best 1-2 tandems anyone got in this draft.
• Baltimore Ravens: (C) They got Auburn's Ben Grubbs, one of the best Gs to come out in several years, who will probably take a starting spot from either Jason Brown or Keydrick Vincent. They needed a Tackle to put opposite Jonathan Ogden, if they didn't want to expose Adam Terry to do so, and they got Iowa's Marshal Yanda for that reason, but I don't know if he's a starter right now. They also needed an OLB to fill the hole left by Adalius Thomas, and I don't think they did that with FIU's Antwan Barnes in the 4th. I'm glad they took Troy Smith in the 5th, though. He's good. Also, KSU's Yamon Figurs will make an instant impact as a returner coming in the 3rd round.
  
• Cincinatti Bengals: (C) They got the CB they needed in Leon Hall in the 1st, but adding another Aubrun RB behind Rudi Johnson tells me there's something wrong with former 1st-rounder Chris Perry. If there wasn't they wouldn't waste a 2nd on Irons. They added depth with 2 safeties (TCU's Marvin White in the 4th and ND's Nedu Nkwente in the 7th) but neither wows. And Nevada QB Jeff Rowe in the 5th should have been home state Heisman winner Troy Smith. Both are projects, but I think SMith's upside is much higher and closer to reach.
  
• Cleveland Browns: (A+) They got two guys they had in their top 10, plus 2 value corners in the 2nd and 5th. Wisconsin T Joe Thomas and ND QB Brady Quinn will be the foundation of this team for years to come. It cost them next year's 1st rounder, which might hurt, but if Jamal Lewis can run at 75% of what he used to be (a 2,000 yard back), Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow continue to improve, and Joe Jurevicius can give them around 750 yards and 8 TDs behind their improved O-line, they won't be in bad shape at all. After improving their secondary with both UNLV's Eric Wright (1st round talent) and value pickCB Brandon Mcdonald from Memphis in the 5th, if they can find long-term replacements for Ted Washington, Willie McGinest and Jamal Lewis, they could be good for some time. It's not often that a team takes this big a leap in 1 year. Of course, it all comes down to Romeo Crennel's abiltiy to get the best out of each of those guys.
  
• Pittsburgh Steelers: (B) New coach Mike Tomlin definitely left his mark on this draft, taking hard-nosed, talented defensive players in FSU LB Lawrence Timmons in the 1st and Michigan DE LaMarr Woodley in the 2nd. Throw in the best punter in the draft (Baylor's Dan Sepulveda) in the 4th and Louisville value CB William Gay in the 5th, and this is a good group of rookies to complement their the rookie coach.
• Houston Texans: (C) They had to add another D-Lineman to help out last year's unpopular overall 1st pick Mario Williams, and they did that in a big way with 19-yr old Louisville DT Amobi Okoye. If they had added anything else, their draft grade much higher, but reaching for small school Kick returner Jacoby Jones in the 3rd after having no 2nd rounder didn't help. Good value in the 7th with KSU LB Zack Diles. He could add depth to a porous defense in years to come.
• Indianapolis Colts: (A) The defending Super Bowl champs aren't supposed to be able to draft great guys to fill their needs--that's why the league makes them pick last. However, Tony Dungy and Bill Polian were able to do just that. They got the speedy Ohio St. Rhodes Scholar finalist WR Anthony Gonzalez with the 32nd pick. He will be able to step in immediately to replace departed slot receiver Brandon Stokely, and the offense won't miss a beat. Add Arkansas's athletic freak OT Anthony Ugoh in the 2nd, and they've already done better than most last-pick teams do. Throw in CBs Daymeon Hughes (Cali) and Michael Coe (Alabama St.), both of whom I like a lot, and Gonzalez's fellow Buckeyes DT Quinn Pitcock in the 3rd and WR Roy Hall in the 5th, and you've got more smart, proven winners.
• Jacksonville Jaguars: (C-) They got the guy they wanted in FL safety Reggie Nelson, even after tading down in the 1st. But they didn't add anything good enough to justify the risk of trading down. Small school (Hampton) LB Justin Durant has the physical tools to be great, but he's a reach in the 2nd, when you don't know how those skills will translate against better competition. They took Maryland's Adam Podlesh, whom most had ranked behind Baylor's Dan Sepulveda in the 4th, and some depth in the later rounds, but nothing that stands out.
• Tennessee Titans: (D) I like Texas S Michael Griffin, but the Titans shouldn't have taken him in the 1st round. They needed a RB or a WR to help out Madden cover-boy QB Vince Young. They did take Arizona RB Chris Henry in the 2nd, but beside having a very unfortunate name at this time for the NFL, he never was productive at AZ. He's athletically amazing, but hasn't proved he could actually put those skills to use. Pairing him with another underacheving back in LenDale White doens't add any scare factor to opposing defenses. A couple of WRs (Fresno's Paul Williams in the 3rd, FL St.'s Chris Davis in the 4th and productive Texas Tech's Joel Filani in the 6th), but none of them would have the impact of say, Tennessee boy Robert Meachem. If I didn't think Griffin was going to be really good, this would be an F.
• Denver Broncos: (B-) Mike Shanahan has been trying to shore up the D-Line for years now. He got a pair of good DEs in the 1st 2 rounds with FL's Jarvis Moss and Texas's Tim Crowder. Both are quick, high-motor guys. I don't think they needed to trade up to get Moss, though, and that hurt, leaving them only 2 picks in later rounds. They spent those well on ND OT Ryan Harris in the 3rd, who will become another nameless road-grader in Shanahan's O-line progression, and more D-line depth in Moss's FL teammate Marcus Thomas in the 4th. Thomas is another 'character issue' guy and was never great at FL, and will not get a ton of sacks, but he's a good risk/value pick here. They could have used more depth, especially at CB, after the tragic loss of Darrent Williams, and not wasting picks on trading up for Moss, who I think they could've gotten anyway, would have helped them do that.
  
• KC Chiefs (B-) They got a good WR which they desperately needed in LSU's Dwayne Bowe, a fast and TOUGH guy. He will have an immediate impact. Still without a solid DT after several years of trying to find one, they continued the search, adding Tennessee's Turk Tyler and NC St's Tank McBride in the 2nd and 3rd. Tyler won't help clog the run much, but he's a quick, intense and nasty guy who could help add toughness and maybe 5 or 6 sacks. I like Tank. In college, he was paired with John McCargo, a 1st-rounder last year, and many said Tank was the better of the two. He fell to them in the third after a slow senior season, but he could help solidify the D-Line. Nothing great in the later rounds, though Louisville RB Kolby Smith (5th round) showed he could be a decent backup after taking over for injured Michael Bush, and he could be the same in the NFL.
• Oakland Raiders (A-) They took the guy they wanted in Jamarcus Russell #1 overall. I have qualms about him, but if he becomes what he could be, he will be a great cornerstone guy for at least a decade. This draft was much improved by the acquisitions of coach Lane Kiffin's former #1 guy at USC, WR Mike Williams and QB Josh McCown from Detroit for only a 4th round pick. The young and creative Kiffin might be the only guy left who could revive these guys, and I think he has a good shot to do it. At least MCcown will allow them to let Russell develop for a season or 2 before they throw him in. And I know getting rid of one disgruntled WR (Randy Moss) and bringing in another (Williams) seems to be a neutral move, but I think both guys will be better off where they are now. Also, with another 4th round pick, the Raiders added injured Louisville RB Micheal Bush, who, if healthy, could add first round talent and versatility and be an interesting piece in Kiffin's offense. This is a draft of maybes, that could turn out to be monsters--good or bad.
• SD Chargers: (C-) They reached for both LSU WR Craig Davis in the 1st and Utah S Eric Weddle in the 2nd. Both guys have great potential, but aren't immediate helpers. I guess you don't need to add too much to a team that only lost 2 games last year. This might be harsh, because their biggest needs were at WR and S, but I just don't like these guys as much as some others. They traded up in the 2nd for Weddle, but seeing the short list of needs, should have been willing to give up more to get a guy like FL's Reggie Nelson or Texas's Michael Girffin in the 1st. They did get a decent depth guy in Clemson ILB Anthony Waters in the 3rd, which was also a 'need'.

R.I.P. #32; Show's over; Draft!

Hey guys,

Before anything else, I should pay tribute and condolences to the Hancock crew and the Cardinals. If you haven't heard, 29 year-old reliever Josh Hancock was killed in an atuomobile accident last night, thus leading to the cancellation of today's series-ender against the Cubbies. Read a full story here. The similarities to the Darryl Kile tragedy are eerie.
Ok on a lighter note: Sorry for the long break--I probably should have followed up our last show of the year (single tear) with a post, but it was finals time, leaving me basically no opportunity do anything other stare at books for hours. After that was all over for me, I took 2 days to sit around, eat pizza, drink Mountain Dew and take in about 12 hours of NFL Draft! I'll be following this with my draft grades soon! G2G now though.

Good show

Well I think that was a hell of a show today. If you didn't listen in, shame on you. We really had some good debate going. The main point of contention was the current NCAA system for doling out sanctions on programs for recruiting violations and the like.
It all began talking about how the NCAA office goofed and let the case against former Ohio St. men's coach Jim O'brien go by failing to file some papers before a deadline. In case you don't know, O'brien admitted to giving a player $6,000 of his own money to play.
Josh contended that penalties leveed for such violations should remain, as it is now, against the school at which the violations occured (in this case, Oh. St.) with no individual punishment (unless doled out by the school) against the coach. I don't know exactly what the penalty against OSU would have been exactly). Josh's main point is that putting the punishment on the school rather than the individual coach makes sense because the coach is merely a representative of the school, beacuse the coach is not always responsible for the violation and because that way schools will be deterred from hiring a coach who might be known for potentially committing such a violation.
I agree with him mostly, but I still think there is room for some individual punishment. I agree that as a representative of the school, the coach's problems are the school's problems. They've put trust in him and must pay the price if he screws up. I also agree that coach's definitiely are not always responsible for violations, as they often come from other personbel, especially boosters. Well, I say, either there needs to be more policing of booster activites by the NCAA or the school or the athletic dept (including the coach). But that's too big a mess to clean up probably. I think more likely, allegations of violations against schools should be investigated individually, and punishment should be dually leveed against the school and the individual who committed the act. In this case, that means O'brien and solely O'brien. Why, then, should Oh. St. players and coaches several years down the line potentially be punished for the actions of a man who they had nothing to do with. And, even bigger, why should that man be able to go freely to any other school and start with a clean record?
To speak to Josh's third point, I think it would be a bigger deterrent for schools hiring shady coaches if that potential coach had a record that trails him. If the NCAA says any school that guy goes to for the next X years will lose 2 scholarships a season, I think that would be a better deterrent than the way it is now. Josh counters that it isn't fair to the new school who had nothing to do with the violations, but I think if they are willing to hire a guy who has a record of violations in the past, they need to live with the consequences. After all, if the guy continues the way he has been, it will probably only be a few seasons before more allegations occur and he moves on to the next place, leaving behind more penalties against the school.
Well, I hope that all made sense, and I hope I don't sound like I'm bashing Josh. I'm not. I just wanted to let you all in on a great debate we had today.
Anyway, check out the show next Saturday, as it will be the last one for the year. And check out the last mock draft of the year at the J-Loe Down.
I'm out.

A little bit of this...

Sorry to all you non-Cardinals fans out there, but this is unabashedly a Cards-friendly blog. I hope that does not discourage you from reading regularly, but if you can't stand Redbird-friendly rantings, I will forgive you if you skip the first section of this post...

Just a few things. It seems Carpenter's elbow trouble could be quite serious, and that's not good for the Cards. The guys over at VEB have a much more in-depth analysis of the implications than I could put together in the very short time I have, so I suggest you head over there for some good reading. It's an excellent blog. Hopefully we will be ok, though, with the rest of the rotation looking good. Kip ripped it up in his first start, and Looper was lights out against the rolling Pirates. And Wagon-maker and Socks have given us no reason to be afraid so far. But if those don't give you enough comfort, you can at least squeal with delight reading about Jeff Weaver's first start in an M's uniform. Ha.

In NFL "news," Pac-Man has earned a full-season "vacation" from the NFL for his numerous shenanigans. His former WVU cohort Chris Henry won an 8-game reprieve. Congrats to them. Clowns.

NCAA/NBA:
-As expected, All-world freshman Kevin Durant is trading in his longhorn orange for (perhaps) the Kelly green of Boston...or any other number of suitors in the NBA. His west-coast rival Aron Afflalo has also declared (and he can't pull out again--2 times is the limit). Now we're just waiting to see if Durant's fellow frosh phenom Greg Oden will try to outjump Durant for the #1 overall spot come draft time. I can't say I blame anyone who makes the move. If someone offered me a job for millions of dollars blogging or doing PR or, hell, anything right now, I'd certainly do it, so I can't crucify any of these guys for doing so. I'll miss them in next year's tourney. And if Oden goes, I'm really gonna have to research my favorite to win it all...
-One other note: Wichita St.'s Mark Turgeon has been hired to take over the now-Gillispie-less Aggies. Sounds more like a hockey coach than a hardwood technician, but the Shockers have at least been competitive in the MVC for a few seasons now, so I guess its a good hire. I wouldn't expect to see anything close to the same type of success out of A&M we saw this season, especially now that they are without the Law-man.

For some interesting NFL rumors and his latest mock draft,head over to the Loe-Down.

Odds 'n ends

Wow. That show was fun. We had some fun topics to talk about, and we got to beat up on Ron like old times. It'll be back to normal next week though.

A few notes:
-The Cards are now 0-2, and I'm not thrilled. Carp's arm is sore and will miss 1 start. I hope it's not an indication of something more serious than that. At least Kip pitched pretty well today (6 innings, 2 ER). Who knows, maybe D. Dunc has actually whipped him into a legit #2. Let's hope. What concerns me more though is the lack of offense. 2 games, 2 runs is not good. Maybe its just sluggishness, but I have a small hunch the Cards' underlying injury problems (Enc, Edmonds, Eck, Rolen) may hurt us in a big way this year. I'd put good odds on Walt being forced to trade for a bat or 2 eventually, or selling high on some older players (Edmonds, Enc, perhaps even Eck or Rolen) if the price is right at the deadline and settling for "next year." I guess it's WAY too early to be talking like that, but I haven't had a great feeling since we failed to sign at least 1 impact bat in the off season.

-I am not too down on Dana Altman pulling a Saban-esque switcheroo on Arkansas. (I realize it's not the same scenario as Saban but the indecisive coach comparison is there.) For those who haven't heard, Altman left Creighton for Arkansas only to rescind and successfully ask for reacceptance at Creighton today. I can understand (and he said it was for his family) not wanting to leave a place where you and your family are comfortable, and where the pressure on winning is pretty much just to get to the Dance, and anything past that is gravy. Much better than the seemingly stark raving mad Razorbacks administration and the SEC. I also really don't see the Arkansas job as a marquee one now, anyway. They haven't been a major player since the days of Nolan Richardson, and I think his leaving really threw the program into dismay. Plus, with the emergence of the football team, the pressure will be increased on the basketball team, probably with lesser resources devoted to it. Not a situation I would want to step into.

As I touched on in the show Saturday, I think there is a common feeling and trend toward coaches being content at lower-pressure jobs. We saw it with Tubby Smith going to Minnesota; Alford moving to N.M.; Billy Gillispie at A&M; Chris Lowery at SIUC; Calipari at Memphis; Jeff Bzdelik at Air Force (for now anyway) ; and by my odds, Billy Donovan, who I think will stay at UF. Now there will always be those schools that can lure the guy they want away, and there will always be guys willing to move on from their jobs on to bigger and better things (see Beilein to Michigan), but I think the "traditional powers" don't hold the stature in younger coaches and players' eyes. And that's why these mid-major teams and up-and-coming programs (Tim Floyd at USC, Bob Huggins at K-State, Mark Few & Gonzaga) have been successful on the court and in recruiting. Personally, I like it. I guess it sounds funny to talk about more parity in the game when for the first time in 15 years a team won back-to-back championships and the final 4 featured 2 of the most storied programs of all time, but I think the playing field is becoming more even, and I think it's a good thing.

Ok, that was a lot to write on 2 things, so I'm gonna head out. Maybe I'll try to arrange some stuff better for a column in the Argus this week. We'll see. And I'll see you later.

EDIT: for those of you who care and didn't know, you can check out the Argus online at www.iwu.edu/~theargus.
There you'll find my column this week, and whenever I publish one (which isn't as often as I'd like).