Ignorant Draft Musings

My favorite night in the annual sports calendar just past, and I wanted to share some of my oh so enlightening reactions:

1. J-Boogie!!!!!!!!!!

2. The dominant theme of the 1st Round was smart teams, and yes I'm including the Jags and maybe even the Cowboys in this group, taking advantage of an unusual market inefficiency. The consensus around the league settled so firmly around the concept that the value of this draft was its depth that real value could be found in moving up. When everybody wants to move back, value can be found in moving up. The Jags, Cowboys, and Eagles all sacrificed a relatively meager amount to move up and draft elite players. The Patriots, perpetual kings of moving back, moved up twice. It was a different kind of night.

3. Gene Smith made an outstanding move. Every unknowing blogger and Peter King on the planet thought the Jaguars wanted to move back until about an hour before the draft. Then, all of a sudden, my man Gene only sacrificed a 4th round draft pick to get J-Boogie!!!!!!!!!! Just as a point of reference, I want to list some of the best 4th round picks from the last 3 years:

Roy Helu-RB-Redskins
Sam Acho-LB-Cardinals
Delone Carter-RB-Colts
Cortez Allen-DB-Steelers
Mike Williams-WR-Bucs
Jacoby Ford-WR-Raiders
Aaron Hernandez-TE-Patriots
Geno Atkins-DT-Bengals
O'Brien Schofield-LB-Cardinals
Mike Thomas-WR-Jags
Louis Murphy-WR-Raiders
Austin Collie-WR-Colts
Jacob Tamme-TE-Colts

That's it. 13 quality picks out of a possible 96. Gene Smith sacrificed a 13.5% of finding a quality player for the chance to draft J-Boogie!!!!!!!!!! My man Gene. What a hoodwink.

4. It is safe to say we can stop talking about the Steelers offensive line woes. If greater Pouncey stays healthy and David DeCastro is half the player people think he is, we are looking at an all-time great interior offensive line. Look for a great year from Rashard Mendenhall and some favorable comparisons to the Walter Jones-Steve Hutchinson road-grating excellence that somehow yielded a Shaun Alexander MVP.

5. Teams around the league yearn to get after the quarterback. The Giants won the Super Bowl with an elite pass rush that outlasted the glamorous offenses that dominated the regular season. So, in a cliche-perpetuating movement, the "copycat" league attempted to replicate their success by drafting an enormous amount of pass rushers. 7 seemingly indistinguishable quarterback chasers were selected between picks 15 and 28. One of those players might turn into Clay Matthews of Jason Pierre-Paul, but it is safe to assume there is a Vernon Gholston or two in that bunch. My money would be on Bruce Irvin, Quinton Coples, and Nick Perry.

6. Just to recap, the Rams turned the 2nd pick into:

Michael Brockers-DT-LSU
39th Pick in 2012
45th Pick in 2012
Washington's 1st in 2013
Washington's 1st in 2014

That is an enormous load. The ascendancy of Robert Griffin should be one of the best things ever to happen to the Rams franchise as they have the opportunity to turn his potential into 5 quality starters. As long as the front office does their job, the Rams just created five years worth of championship contention.

7. J-Boogie!!!!!!!!!!

-Myles
(KPPBH's ignorant draft commentator)