NFL Draft Recap...

It was a good day today. I woke up early, had a great breakfast with some friends, and planned a trip to southern Argentina. Oh, I also watched my Oakland Raiders NOT pick the fastest person available in the first round and end up with a surprisingly decent draft weekend. Getting a linebacker was key, and Rolando McClain looks like a future stud. Second round pick Lamarr Houston is undersized but very quick and talented. The Raiders actually did draft the fastest person available in Clemson WR Jacoby Ford (4.28 40), but they at least were able to wait until the fifth round to do so. They even ended the draft by taking a Wolverine in S Stevey Brown. But the biggest move of the day for the Raiders didn't involve a draft pick. It involved trading for Redskins QB Jason Campbell. (Hopefully) this either encourages Jamarcus Russell to step up or step out. Either way, it finally means we have a QB who is somewhat competent. Super Bowl 2011? Probably safe to answer yes to that one.

But the Raiders weren't the only team that had a good draft weekend. Here are three other teams that should be feeling pretty good about themselves. In tomorrow's post, we'll look at three teams that might be asking for a do-over:

The Good:

Detroit Lions: Maybe the Lions can play a helping hand in stimulating the Detroit economy. They had already been making moves in Free Agency to bolster their lineup, such as adding Kyle Vanden Bosch and Nate Burleson. But they really struck gold in the early rounds of the draft. Ndamukong Suh almost won the freakin Heisman last year as a DT, so he should be a stud. And Jahvid Best and Amari Spievey both are very athletic players who fill positions of need. Add these players to the existing pieces of the puzzle in Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Kevin Smith, and the Lions might be pushing for a playoff berth soon rather than later.

Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens didn't have a first round draft pick, but that didn't prevent them from getting some supremely talented players. Sergio Kindle was a stud linebacker at Texas, and there's no reason to think that he won't continue to improve. And if Mount Terrence Cody can improve his conditioning a little bit, he has the potential to be a perennial Pro Bowler at defensive tackle. Just ask Tennessee last year about what he can do:



Getting Arthur Jones out of Syracuse in the sixth round was an absolute steal, and the Ravens picked up two quality, but different tight ends: the hybrid, more athletic one in Oregon TE Ed Dickson, and the solid blocker and reliable one in BYU TE Dennis Pitta. All in all, adding to an already solid defense and adding some more pieces to complement Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap leads to life being good for a Ravens fan.



Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I like what Head Coach Raheem Morris did in this draft. He knew that improving the defensive line and the wide receiving corps was essential to becoming a more consistent football team, so he went out and picked two quality players at each position. Gerald McCoy has the potential to be even better than Suh, and many thought he could be the #1 overall pick. And DT Brian Price out of UCLA was considered a first round pick by some, and was ultra productive in college. Then, in the receiving game, the Bucs go out and grab two physical and very athletic receivers in Illinois WR Arrelious Benn and Syracuse WR Mike Williams. Williams had some off-the-field issues, but if he can put it together upstairs, he has the potential to be a stud. The Bucs then used their bevy of late round picks to add more potential pieces to the puzzle on defense. With a young, talented QB in Josh Freeman, the pieces might be finally in place for the Bucs to make another playoff run.

Finally, I want to give a shout-out to the three Michigan Wolverines drafted: Brandon Graham (1st round-Eagles), Zoltan Mesko (5th round-Patriots) and the aforementioned Stevie Brown. Gotta give some love to Donovan Warren too. Didn't get drafted, but hopefully you make it to the NFL sooner than later.