PRELIMINARY 2011 DRAFT REPORT CARD

Team-by-team Draft Grades

(Ed note: As it can take up to 2-3 years for a draft class to fully develop, these are obviously still very preliminary grades, and very little should be made of them at this point.)

SEATTLE: The Seahawks failed to make the playoffs, but may be a team to reckon with down the road as no other team in the league got more from their 2011 rookie class. OT James Carpenter and OG John Moffitt, the team's top two picks chosen in the first and third rounds respectively, for example, locked down the right side of the offensive line much of the year, although both were injured late in the campaign. The injury to Moffitt, the former Wisconsin roadgrader, was particularly serious, but the Seahawks are hoping he will be available when training camp starts in July. The Seahawks may also have a 5th round steal in CB Richard Sherman, who didn't play all that much early in the season, but came on late and led all rookies with 4 interceptions and 13 other pass breakups. Same story for OLB K.J. Wright, a 4th rounder who played so well that the Seahawks never thought twice about unloading underperforming LB Aaron Curry, the former top 5 pick who was shipped to Oakland. For good measure, the Seahawks also got some unexpected help from unheralded 7th round LB Malcolm Smith who had 16 tackles including a sack and a pair of forced fumbles in limited minutes. The Seahawks top rookie, though, was undrafted rookie free agent WR Doug Baldwin, Andrew Luck's former go-to receiver at Stanford who led the team with 51 receptions for almost 800 yards and 4 scores. Grade: A

CLEVELAND: Time will tell whether the Browns live to regret trading the 6th pick at last April's draft - and a shot at WR Julio Jones - for a package of picks including an extra first rounder this year. Certainly the offensively challenged Browns could have used a big-play threat like Jones. At the same time, though, the Browns can have few regrets about moving back up in last year's opening round to acquire DT Phil Taylor with the 21st pick. Indeed, the Browns got some outstanding production from both Taylor and DE Jabaal Sheard, the team's second round pick this year, who should anchor their defensive front for the foreseeable future. Taylor, for example, was a rock upfront posting 59 tackles including 4 sacks, while Sheard had 8.5 sacks, 4th among all rookies, and 5 forced fumbles coming off the edge. Meanwhile, WR Greg Little, another second rounder, emerged as a solid possesion receiver hauling in 61 passes, although he had a few too many drops and averaged less than 12 yards per catch, while 5th round OG Jason Pinskton was a pleasant surprise as he held up very well starting every game. Same story for FB Owen Marecic (4), while CB Buster Skrine, another 5th rounder, earned increasing playing time late in the season. Grade: A

CINCINNATI: The Bengals hit a couple of home runs at the 2011 with the acquisition of WR A.J. Green and QB Andy Dalton withn their first and second round picks respectively. Green, the 4th player selected this past April led all rookie receivers this fall with over 1,000 yards; indeed, the former Georgia star was 17th in the league overall in receiving yards as he averaged over 18 yards per catch and scored 7 times. Meanwhile, Dalton, the 35th player selected this year, was efficient from day one and led the Bengals to the playoffs as he completed 60% of his passes for over 3,300 yards and 120 TDs while throwing only 13 inteceptions. On the other hand, the Bengals got almost nothing else from their 2011 rookies this year, but likely aren't going to complain a lot considering what they got from Green and Dalton. Grade: A

DALLAS: The Cowboys missed the playoffs, however, they have to be reasonably happy with their 2011 rookie class. RB Demarcus Murray, for example, whom Dallas selected in the 3rd round, may ultimately turn out to be one of the biggest coups of this year's draft. Murray had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage, including almost 900 on the ground this fall despite not playing much in the first month of the camapign and then missing the final month with a fractured ankle. And it certainly wasn't lost on the team's front office that the Cowboys were 5-0 when Murray carried the ball at least 20 times and 3-8 when he didn't. Meanwhile, LT Tyson Smith, taken 9th overall this year, gave up a few too many sacks, but was still arguably one of the best rookie offensive lineman in the league this season. In fact, the Cowboys had entered the season with an all-rookie left side of their offensive front with Bill Nagy, an obscure 7th rounder starting at LG, but he too went on IR with a broken ankle after playing in only one game. The Cowboys also got an unexpected bonus when undrafted rookie PK Dan Bailey put a lock on the kicking job, although he did miss several crucial kicks down the stretch, while WR Dwayne Harris (6th) did a decent job returning kicks. Grade: A

DENVER: Arguably the story of the year in the NFL was the QB Tim Tebow 'miracle' in Denver as the former Florida great sort of led the Broncos to a playoff spot in the AFC West where 8-8 can get these things done. The real story in Denver, though, may have been the resurgence of the defense which kept the team in a number of games it really had no business being in. One of the key elements of the Broncos' defensive renaissance was OLB Von Miller, the second player chosen at the 2011 draft. Indeed, a pretty good argument can be made that Miller was the defensive rookie of the year through the firts 3/4 of the season as a he piled up over 60 tackles including 11.5 sacks. However, Miller broke his thumb late in the year and played the final month of the season with a cast on his hand which greatly limited his effectiveness. And it was probably no small coincidence that with Miller disabled the Broncos lost their final three games of the regular season and had to literally back into the post-season. Miller, though, wasn't the only Denver rookie to contribute this fall. FS Quinton Carter, a 4h round pick, emerged as a physical force in the Broncos' secondary registering 56 tackles despite not playing much early in the year. However, Carter didn't make many plays when the ball  was in the air, although he did have a pick against Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs. Carter actually got to play a lot, at least in part, because fellow rookie DB Rahim Moore, the Broncos' second round pick, was banged up much of the year, although he too showed promise when healthy. Meanwhile, OT Orlando Franklin, another Denver second rounder, was quietly very effective protecting Tebow's blind side as the starting RT. Grade: A-

ATLANTA: Atlanta went for the gusto at the 2011 draft when they gave up four picks, including their #1 selection next year, in order to move up from the 27th to the 6th pick where they chose WR Julio Jones. Nobody in Atlanta is rueing that move, though, as Jones was one of the most dynaic rookies in the league this fall. Indeed, despite missing all or parts of 5 games with injuries, the former Alabama star had 54 receptions for almost 1,000 yards and 8 scores; Jones also had over 100 receiving yards in 5 of the 9 games he was able to play. By putting all their draft eggs in one basket, though, the Falcons didn't a whole lot else from this year's draft. RB Quizz Rodgers, the team's 5th round pick, had 400 yards from scrimmage as Michael Turner's understudy, while 3rd round LB Akeem Dent had 20 tackles. In fact, other than Jones, the Falcons most productive rookie was P Matt Bosher, the team's 6th rounder who averaged almost 43 yards per punt and was very accurate putting 27 kicks inside the 20 versus only 4 touchbacks. Grade: B+

BALTIMORE: The Ravens went into the 2012 draft looking to find a big-play receiver and in the end didn't have to go all thta far as WR Torrey Smith, a 2nd round pick from just down the road at Maryland, averaged almost 17 yards a reception this fall and scored 7 times, more than one of which was a real game-changer. Baltimore also got something of a steal in DE Pernell McPhee, a 5th rounder who had 6 sacks as a situational pass rusher. At the same time, though, CB Jimmy Smith, the Ravens' first round pick, remains something of a work in progress. Smith barely played early in the season and then struggled at times when he was forced into the line-up because of injuries, although he did end up with a couple of interceptions and 6 other pass break-ups. However, while all seven of the Ravens picks in 2011 made the team out of training camp, these three were the only ones that saw more than got more than minimal snaps. Grade: B+

TAMPA BAY: After fashioning one of the better turnarounds in NFL history last year, it was back to reality for the Buccaneers whose hopes of challnging the likes of  New Orleans and Atlanta for NFC South supremacy came crashing down in a 10-game losing streak that left the team looking at yet another top 10 this coming April. And while there wasn't much for the Buccaneers to cheer about this past season, they did get some decent production from their 2011 draft. LB Mason Foster, the Bucs' 3rd round pick, for example, led all rookies this year with 84 tackles, including 2 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Meanwhile DE Adrian Clayborn, taken 20th overall in the opening round, was also solid registering 7.5 sacks. On the other hand, DE Da'Quan Bowers, whom Tampa Bay selected in the second round, only had 1.5 sacks, but the Bucs saw some flashes and are hopeful that those numbers will increase once the former Clemson star, who at one time was rated as a possible top 5 pick before hurting a knee, get's fully healthy. The Buccaneers, though, were also probably hoping more from TE Luke Stocker, who was considered to be one of the top prospects at the position, but the 4th rounder had only 12 catches this fall when he averaged a paltry 8 yards per reception. Grade: B-

NEW ENGLAND: It was proably asking way too much for the Patriots' incoming rookie class to duplicate the tremendous success their 2010 predecessors have had on the field the past couple of seasons, however, one would have expected more than they ultimately got this year, particularly given that New England had 6 premium picks heading into the 2011 draft. Of course, no one expected that QB Ryan Mallett, the Patriots' surprise 3rd round pick this year, was going to play at all this season; he didn't. It also didn't help that oft-injured 2nd round CB Ras-I Dowling spent most of the year on IR after suffering a hip injury very early in the campaign. At least OT Nate Solder, the Patriots' #1 pick, showed plenty of upside as an injury replacement and blocking TE, while RB Stephen Ridley, a 3rd rounder, gave the run game a bit of a boost late in the season. The Patriots may have also gotten a real steal in OT Marcus Cannon, who played well after coming back in mid-season after undergoing treatment for lymphoma. If nothing else, Cannon was one of the better stories in this year's draft class. So was undrafted rookie free agent CB Sterling Moore. Moore, who was actually originally signed by Oakland, was cut four different times by the Raiders and Patriots before ending up the year as the starting FS for New England where he picked off a couple of passes one of which he returned for a TD in the season finale. Of course, it wouldn't be New England without a few extra picks heading into the upcoming draft. And that will be the case again this April as the Patriots acquired a #1 ick from New Orleans and a second rounder from Oakland as a result of  draft day trades. Grade: B-

KANSAS CITY: After last year's turnaround season, the Chiefs were hoping to take the next step this fall, but it didn't quite work out that way. Certainly injuries to key players like QB Matt Cassel and safety Eric Berry were a major factor, however, the Chiefs also got very little support from their current rookie crop. Kansas City had hoped, for example, that WR Jon Baldwin, the team's #1 pick this year, would take some of the heat of Dwayne Bowe, but Baldwin had only one game all year in which he had more than 30 receiving yards and finished the campaign with a paltry 21 receptions for just over 250 yards. OLB Justin Houston, the team's 3rd round pick, also started slowly this fall, but closed with a rush as he posted 5.5 sacks in the final five games of the season. DE Allen Bailey, another 3rd rounder this past April, also showed some flashes late in the year, but still finished the year with just 10 tackles and one sack. The worse news is that other than Baldwin and Houston, Bailey was the only Chiefs' to play much at all this year. Grade: C

MINNESOTA: Not much went right for the Vikings this season as they stumbled to a 3-13 record and unfortunately, that appears to have extended to their 2011 rookie class. The Vikings, of course, rolled the dice when they selected QB Christian Ponder, who few had rated anyehere near that highly, with the 12th pick overall this past April. And while Ponder did showed some flashes at times after taking over as the starter - he ran for almost 300 yards and the Vikings did lead the league in red-zone efficiency under his leadership - for the most part his rookie season was a mixed bag as he completed just 54% of his pass attempts and had as many picks (13) as TD passes. In fact, mixed bag pretty much describes the overall Minnesota draft class which didn't produce any real hits despite the fact the Vikings had 10 picks this past April. TE Kyle Rudolph, the Vikings second rounder this year, for example, had 26 receptions, but avearged less than 10 yards per grab and did not have a game this fall in which he had more than 3 receptions or 45 receiving yards. Same story for defenders Christian Ballard, a DT taken in the 4th round, 5th round CB Brandon Burton and 6th round S Mistral Raymond who combined for just 43 tackles and one pick by Raymond who at least started a couple of games down the stretch. Grade: C

CHICAGO: Any chance the Bears would get a quick payoff from their 2011 draft probably went out the window when promising OG Gabe Carimi, the team's #1 pick this year who had played very well up until that point, was lost for the year with a partially torn knee cap suffered in the second week of the season. On the other hand, DT Stephen Paea, the Bear's second round pick, was inactive the first month and a half of the season, but showed some promise chipping in 14 tackles includig a couple of sacks the rest of the way. S Chris Conte, the Bears' #3 pick, also showed some promise for the future as he had 30 tackles and an interception after replacing the team's ineffective starters. In the end, though, the Bears' most productive rookie this year may have been undrafted free agent WR Dane Sanzenbacher who emerged as an effective possession receiver as he caught 27 passes including 3 for scores despite missing 6 games with an injury. Grade: C-

SAN DIEGO: Sounds a bit like a broken record, but once again the Chargers were one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL. And while it would be unfair to attach much blame to this year's San Diego rookie class, the Chargers didn't get much of an impact from their 2011 draft this fall, although DB Marcus Gilchrest and WR Vincent Brown, who were second and third round picks respectively, did contribute some valuable minutes as situational players. Gilchrest, for example, registered 34 tackles as well as a couple of picks, while Brown averaged over 17 yards on 19 catches. On the other hand, DE Corey Liuget struggled to get off blocks and finished the year with only 19 tackles and one sack. Meanwhile, LB Jonas Mouton, another second round pick didn't play at all because of a shoulder injury, while CB Shareece Wright, San Diego's second third rounder, barely played at all. Grade: D

NEW ORLEANS: The Saints did get some useful contributions from its rookie class, but it wasn't the big immediate impact that maybe the team expected when it selected DE Cameron Jordan and RB Mark Ingram is this year's opening round and LB Martez Wilson in the third. Jordan, for example, emerged as a starter as the season progressed, but had only one sack on the year, while Ingram ran for almost 500 yards before going on IR, but averaged less than 4 yards per carry and struggled at times in short yardage situations. Meanwhile Wilson played little as did CB Johnny Patrick (3rd). Grade D

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