Great Blue North Draft Report

You gotta have Hart... It had to be a little painful for Michigan RB Mike Hart to watch player after player coming off the board while Hart, one of the most productive runners in college football, went undrafted. Indianapolis, which knows a lttle about football, put Hart out of his misery when the Colts took Hart with a compensatory pick late in the 6th round. And from the 'good things happen to those who wait' file, Indianapolis could actually be a great landing spot for Hart as the Colts really need some quality depth at RB. Meanwhile, long slide also came to an end for QBs Colt Brennan of Hawaii Kentucky's Andre' Woodson. Brennan was selecte 186th overall by Washington, while Woodson went 12 picks later to the Super Bowl champion Giants. In selecting Woodson, the Giants cornered the market on QBs from Kentucky as Woodson is likely going to compete with former UK QB Jared Lorenzon for the #3 QB job with the Giants behind Eli Manning and David Carr.

Its nice to be special... The 6th round also saw the first specialists come off the board. Again, it was Washington selecting Georgia Tech P Durant Brooks with the second pick in the ound, while New Orelans took Wisconsin PK Taylor Melhaff in the middle of the round. We even saw the first long-snapper come off the board when Seattle nabbed San Diego State's Tyer Schmidt with the 189th pick. For the record, its not the first time a LS has been drafted. Tennessee, for example, took Eugene Amano in 2004, while Jacksonville took Canadian Randy Chevrier back in 2001.

Best picks… The best pick of the round may have been Cleveland's selection of Iowa State Ahtyba Rubin. In fact, the Browns had two very nice picks in the round with rangy Wisconsin WR Paul Hubbard going to the Browns one pick after Rubin. Also liked Oakland's choice of Buffalo DE Trevor Scott early in the round.

Boom or bust... The biggest boom or bust pick of the round may be the Chiefs selection of Clemson OT Barry Richardson. Richardson has great size and decent feet for a big guy, but isn't all that physical or aggressive.

Break up the Spiders... When Arizona selected Richmond RB Tim Hightower with the 149th pick in this ear's 5th round, it gave the Spiders a second player drafted after WR Arman Shields went in the 4th round to Oakland. and while no one is quite ready to label Richmond a 'football factory' the Spiders have had as many players drafted today as Florida and Florida State, one more than each of Ohio State, Georgia and Nebraska and two more than Alabama. The rich also got a little richer in the 5th round when Kansas City, which has probably had the best draft of any team in the league this weekend, selected one of the better sleepers in Grand Valley State DB Brandon Carr, a 6-1, 205-pound saftey/corner tweener with 4.45 speed. Two other non-D1A players - Furman FB Jerome Felton, who went 146th to Detroit, and Montana DE Kroy Bierman, taken 154th by Atlanta, were also taken in the 5th round, although both were relatively known prospects who really don't qualify as sleepers. In fact, if there was a true sleeper taken in the 5th round it was New England's selection of UCLA WR Matt Slater, a seldom-used college CB with track speed who will get a shot at receiver. In fact, Slater's only real claim to footbal fame is that he is the son of former Rams' Pro Bowl OT Jackie Slater.

To be QB or not to QB... After being ignored pretty much through today's first two rounds, there was a mini-run on the position starting with the second pick in the round where USC's John David Booty was taken by the Vkings. Meanwhile, somewhat surprisingly, Pittsburgh took injured Oregon QB Dennis Dixon later in the round, while Tampa Bay took their annual QB by selecting Josh Johnson of San Diego, ironically with a pick acquied from San Diego.

Best picks… Saving the best for almost last, maybe the best pick of the round was New Orleans' selection of Nebraska OT Carl Nicks with the third to last pick in the round. Nicks probably would have gone much higher were it not for the fact that he got into some off-field trouble. Meanwhile, Seattle fans are going to like former West Virginia FB Owen Schmitt who was taken one pic before Nicks. Also like Dallas' pick of Boise State CB Olando Scandrick who can really run.

Boom or bust... The biggest boom or bust pick of the round may be the Bears selection of Neraska CB Zack Bowman, who has first-day measurables including sub-4.4 speed, but like Jake Ikegwuono, the previous round's boom or bust guy, suffered what could have been a career-ending knee injury a few years back.

Head scratcher... Perhaps the most difficult pick to understand in the round was Arizona's choic eof the above-mentioned RB Tim Hightower of Richmond. Not that Hightower isn't a decent sleeper type prospect, but the Cardinals reportedly were looking for a quick back who can catch the ball out of the backfield, however, Hightower is very much a plugger in the mold of incumbent starter Edge James.

The fourth round is something of a transition round for NFL teams as most of the top players are off the board and teams start looking for those gems in the rough. And that showed up a tad this year as the number of players taken from the power conferences dropped to 24 of the 37 players taken in the round. On the other hand, this year's 4th round was characterized by the selection of a umber of players who weren't overly highly rated, at least, on consensus value charts in the media. Indeed, Tennessee snapped up the 2008 draft's first real sleeper when they selected Winston-Salem State DE William Hayes with the 103rd pick overall. Make no mistake about it though Hayes, a 6-3, 260-edge rusher had been generating some buzz in the days leaing up to the draft. In addition, underrated players who came off the board in the 4t round included Weber State OT David Hale by Baltimore and Central Florida OG Josh Sitton by Green Bay with the final pick of the round. In fact, however, there were only 3 non-D1A players selected in the round, which had 4 players taken from the Mountain West conference.

What do you get for a Pacman… Perhaps the most interesting pick in the 4th round was the 126th overall with which Tennessee chose California WR Lavelle Hawkins. For the record, this was the pick the Titans acquired from Dallas in exchange for suspended CB Pacman Jones. Meanwhile, Cleveland finally made an appearnce at the 2008 draft, selecting UNLV LB Beau Bell and Missouri TE Martin Rucker.

Best picks… Picks we liked in round 4 included Tampa Bay taking Maryland DT Dre Moore, who could turn out to be a real steal if the Bucs can keep his motor running; Kansas City's selection of Missouri WR Will Franklin and Philadelphia taking UTEP FS Quentin Demps, who should fill a real need.

Boom or bust... The biggest boom or bust pick of the round though was the Eagles selection of Wisconsin CB Jake Ikegwuono, a first-day talent with enough red flags to start his own parade. For starters, Ikegwuono is rehabbing from a serious knee injury, plus he has had his share of off-field troubles.

Head scratcher... Perhaps the most difficult pick to understand in the round was Cleveland's choice of TE Rucker. Rucker is a nice receiver, but with Kellen Winslow getting most of the looks at the position isn't going to see the ball all that much and he isn't going to contribute much as a blocker. Without a pick in the first three rounds probably needed more help at either RB or on defense at CB or the DL.

Even, though, the third round is now held on the second day, it is still premium pick territory and that showed in this year’s third round. Indeed, 28 of the 36 players were taken from the power conferences led by the SEC which had 8 players taken in the round. That included a trio of former LSU players in CB Chevis Jackson, WR Early Doucet and FB Jacob Hester. The small-schools had their moments though with 4 non-D1A players going in the round including Hampton DE Kendall Langford, Eastern Kentucky CB Antwaun Bolden, McNeese State DE Bryan Smith and Northern Iowa OG Chad Rinehart.

Wither Chad… Maybe the most interesting pick in the 3rd round involved Cincinnati taking Florida WR Andre Caldwell; Caldwell in fact was the second WR the Bengals took within the first couple of rounds after taking Jerome Simpson of Coastal Carolina in the second round. The Bengals do have to a need for a #3 receiver, but the selection of two receivers in the first three rounds is sure to set off increased specualtion as to the future of embattled WR Chad Johnson in Cincinnati.

Also have to like picks like #71 which Baltimore got from - well Baltimore! The Ravens in fact regained the pick after it went through Jacksonville and Buffalo. For their troubles, the Ravens ended up with a pretty good player in Miami LB Tavares Gooden.

Best picks… Picks we liked in round 3 included Carolina taking Iowa CB Charles Godfrey AND PSU LB Dan Connor, Chicago getting Vanderbilt WR Earl Bennett AND Arkansas DT Marcus Harrison, the 49ers getting Oklahoma DB Reggie Smith, and Pittsburgh pick of UCLA DE Bruce Davis who will be a nice fit in the Steelers system. The biggest boom or bust pick of the round though was the Giants selection of Michigan WR Mario Manningham, a first-round talent with ’don’t draft’ red flags. Overall, though, Baltimore had a nice third round selecting LB Tavares Gooden, Safety Tom Zbikowski and OG Oneil Cousins. Houston also had a solid third round taking Eastern Kentucky CB Antwuan Molden and West Virginia RB Steve Slaton, after a very quiet first day. Same for Cinciinati which got solid SEC prospects in Auburn DT Pat Sims and Florida WR Andre Caldwell.

On the other hand, picks we really didn’t like headed San Diego’s selection of LSU RB Jacob Hester. No question Hester is a great character kid, but it is hard to believe that he was worth the 69th pick overall. And the Chargers gave up a second rounder in 2009 to get there. Meanwhile, while the TV announcers spun it just about every way they could, New England’s selection of San Diego State QB Kevin O’Connell, who hardly fit’s a need and could very well have been on the board for a while. The oher possible reach, at least on our board, in the third round was Washington‘s selection of Northern Iowa OG Chad Rinehart.