Since everyone in the known world has made their comments on the annual NFL Draft, I figured it was my turn to chime in.
Being from Louisiana, I am always interested to see how New Orleans will draft.
Considering how weak their defense was, I expected the Saints to maybe go out and draft a defensive back early on.
However, they did it to me again by picking Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem with the 27th pick of the draft.
But once I got to thinking about it, I knew why the Saints went receiver.
During the offseason, the Saints let Joe Horn go. I have no idea why they would have cut Horn, considering he was the face of the franchise for so many years and was key in helping Hurricane Katrina victims get back to the city.
Now Horn is in Atlanta, where he will no doubt come back to haunt the Saints as he joins forces with the most overrated quarterback in the league, Michael Vick.
But let’s look at the rest of the draft.
It was no surprise that the Raiders went for LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Many experts thought they would go with receiver Calvin Johnson from Georgia Tech, but you need a quarterback to throw the ball to the receivers. And I don’t consider Josh Booty or Andrew Walters quality quarterbacks.
The Oakland Raiders also got a solid tight end in Zach Miller and I think the steal of the draft in Louisville running back Michael Bush with the 100th pick overall.
Michael Bush is a great running back that has been dealt some setbacks with a broken leg. However, I think he will be a great runner with the Raiders.
The Cleveland Browns also had a good draft, being able to pick up Brady Quinn with the 22nd pick of the first round, which had belonged to the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaking of the Cowboys, they took Anthony Spencer from Purdue, going with a defensive player for the 10th straight year.
The last time Dallas drafted an offensive player in the first round, it was 1997 and tight end David LaFleur, who hailed from Westlake, La.
Ironically, that was the last year the Cowboys won a playoff game.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the first round of the draft was that four LSU players were drafted.
JaMarcus Russell, of course, went to the Raiders, while defensive back LaRon Landry went sixth to the Washington Redskins. Wide receivers Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis were drafted 23rd and 30th, respectively.
Bowe will be catching passes in Kansas City, while Davis should help the Chargers and quarterback Philip Rivers.
As for the quarterbacks in the BCS title game, Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith of Ohio State and Florida’s Chris Leak, only one got drafted.
Troy Smith went to the Baltimore Ravens with the first pick in the fifth round, the 174th pick. Chris Leak, on the other hand, wasn’t drafted at all, but did sign a free agent deal with Chicago, where he will try to unseat another former Florida quarterback, Rex Grossman.
All in all, it was an interesting draft with many interesting picks.
The season begins in just a few months, with training camps opening in late July and early August.
I can hardly wait.
