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The first ever three day draft has come and gone and fans are wondering if their favorite team, hit or missed with their picks. It is impossible to determine how good an individual draft class is until two or three down years down the road, but I will grade each team anyway. Here are my grades for the AFC. East: New England Patriots: A The Patriots once again showed why they have been one of the best franchises of the last decade with their stellar performance in this draft. Not only did they find good players at each one of their picks, they managed to acquire more picks for next season and now have 10 picks in the 2011 draft. Last season, defense was the Patriots weakness so they stock piled talented defensive players in this draft. Devin McCourty, Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham are all studs that should make immediate impacts in the NFL. McCourty will sure up what is a suspect secondary and also provide help on special teams. Spikes is a tackling machine who fell to the second round because of a slow time in the 40 yard dash, and Cunningham is a pass rusher that the Patriots desperately need. Offensively, they surrounded Tom Brady with more weapons drafting tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and wide receiver Taylor Price. All are likely to be factors this season. If people thought they Patriots were down and out coming into this draft, I am sure they are rethinking those thoughts after an impressive three days. New York Jets: B- How do you stop the high flying offenses of the Patriots, Colts and Chargers? Shut down their receivers. This is an adage that Rex Ryan has taken to heart. Despite having maybe the best corner back tandem in football, the Jets chose the physical and fast Kyle Wilson from Boise St in round one. They bolstered their offensive line with second round pick Vladimir Ducasse but their failure to bring in a pass rusher or safety is what prevented them from getting an A grade. Jason Taylor is a nice pick up but they need someone to get to the quarterback. Joe McKnight is a home run hitter and will adequately replace the big play ability of Leon Washington. Overall, a nice job by the Jets but there are a couple positions they did not address that would have vaulted them into the upper echelon of the best drafts in the NFL. Miami Dolphins: C- The Miami Dolphins sat in one of the most coveted spots in the first round at number 11, and there were a lot of directions they could have gone. With a few players available that would have filled needs, but they traded down to number 28 and got Jared Odrick. I have no problem with the Odrick pick. He was one of the top two best defensive tackles right in the draft, and will be a big time player for the Dolphins. My issue is with the rest of the picks they made. With major needs at the outside linebacker/pass rusher position and free safety the Dolphins chose Koa Misi with Sergio Kindle and Carlos Dunlap still on the board. Misi is a hard worker and is talented but is nowhere near as talented as Kindle or Dunlap. Miami had a chance to make a major impact and find the air apparent to Jason Taylor. Given the talent still available at number forty, I think they reached a little bit in their pick of Misi. Buffalo Bills: D- I love CJ Spiller and believe he was one of the top five best talents in the 2010 draft, but the Bills had more pressing needs that they could have filled with ninth pick in the draft. The drafting of Spiller spells the end for Marshawn Lynch, who is likely to get traded. Despite all their offensive shortcomings last season, the running game was one of the better ones in the NFL, so the Spiller pick is a little puzzling. The Bills have nobody to throw the ball and nobody to catch it and nobody to protect the quarterback. They passed on in the first round to draft Spiller and then again in the second to reach for defensive tackle Torell Troup and also passed on a bevy of talented left tackles that probably would have helped their team more. For the last decade the Bills have been known for two things: finishing last in the division and reaching in the first two rounds of the draft (just look at the Donte Whitner, John McCargo) draft in 2005. Spiller is dynamic and will produce a lot of touchdowns for the Bills but they will have hard time handing the ball to Spiller if their quarterback is constantly on the ground because they have no protection for him. North: Baltimore Ravens: A+ If Mel Kiper and Todd McShay give the Ravens draft an A+ then who am I to disagree. The Ravens once again has an amazing draft despite trading their first round pick. Sergio Kindle has top 15 talent and the Ravens nabbed him with the 11th pick in the second round. They added more help on their defensive line by selecting Terrance Cody. Weight is an issue with Cody but if he controls it, he will be a tremendous player. The third and fourth round picks are where I believe the Ravens dazzled the most. Ed Dickson is a fast tight end with good hands who can play outside the hashes and stretch the defense. With Dickson and Stallworth stretching the defense, the middle of the field would be perfect for a sure handed tight end like Dennis Pitta, who they selected in round four. In addition to those picks they added depth to the defensive line in Arthur Jones who would have been a first or second round pick had he not been victim of the injury bug in college. Wide receiver David Reed is a good player who could contribute to the offense. Suddenly Joe Flacco has some weapons, and the defense has someone who can rush the passer. Ozzie Newsome looks like he has done it yet again. Cincinnati Bengals: A Many people forget that it was the running game and defense that were the strength of the Bengals last season. For years they were often associated as being a high octane passing team, but they lacked weapons last season. The Bengals addressed their lack of playmakers by selecting Jermaine Gresham in round one and then added a solid receiver in Jordan Shipley in round three. Last season, despite winning the division, they struggled to rush the passer after the injury to Antwan Odom. They addressed this issue by selecting Carlos Dunlap, who fell to round two for issues outside of his play on the field. Dunlap will likely be playing with something to prove and he was a steal in the second round. The Bengals didn’t reach, they got good value and addressed a lot of their needs. Although things spell success in the draft. Cleveland Browns: B In the first draft with Mike Holmgren at the helm, the Browns had one of their best drafts in recent memory. With the seventh overall pick, they addressed a glaring need at the corner back position by selecting Joe Haden who was the best corner back in the draft. It looked like the Browns made a mistaking passing on Colt McCoy twice but were able to get him in round three and they also landed running back Montario Hardesty from Tennessee who could become their starting tailback by season’s end. Pittsburgh Steelers: C It not that the Steelers has a bad draft, they just didn’t draft as well as the other teams in the division. Maurkice Pouncey fills a major offensive line need and his ability to play guard or center makes him a tremendous fit. Wide Receiver Emanuel Sanders was a great pick and has all the tools to be a legitimate pass catcher in the NFL. The puzzling thing is that the Steelers, who are already deep and talented at outside linebacker, draft three more outside backers. They are decent players but the Steelers had other needs to address and that is what prevented them from getting a higher draft grade. South: Houston Texans : B- The Texans filled a glaring need at corner back by selecting Kareem Jackson from Alabama at number 20 overall. Jackson will be tested right away having to face Reggie Wayne and Peyton Manning twice. If he can be the shut down corner that Houston expects him to be then certainly the grade for this draft will be higher then a B-, but I feel Kyle Wilson would have been the better fit for them. Running back Ben Tate and tight end Dorin Dickerson were tremendous picks and add much needed depth and talent at their respective positions. Dickerson may have been the most talented tight end in the draft. Tennessee Titans: C The Titans got Derrick Morgan at number 14 overall, representing tremendous value and he fits a glaring need for them. Morgan is top talent and should more than fill the hole left by Kyle Vanden Bosh. Damian Williams will team up with last year’s first round pick, Kenny Britt, to form a formidable young receiving corp. Trading LenDale White to the Seahawks for a 5th round pick was a mistake as the NFL is a two back league and the Titans failed to draft a running back to back up Chris Johnson. Rhode Scholar Myron Rolle is an interesting pick, but taking him in the sixth round proves to be no risk and possibly high reward. Indianapolis Colts: C- Jerry Hughes is the only reason that the Colts even have a C- grade for this NFL draft. Simply put, Hughes is a beast who can get to the quarterback and he fits the Colts system very well. Other than Hughes, the Colts reached for the rest of their picks. They drafted good players, but could have waited on Pat Angerer in round two and Kevin Thomas in round three. Luckily for them they have Peyton Manning, who can help them overcome a poor draft. Jacksonville Jaguars: D Many expected the Raiders to leave fans scratching their heads, but it was the Jacksonville Jaguars and their pick of Tyson Alualu at number ten that took care of that. Alualu is a good player but he is not even one of the top 3 best defensive tackles on the board. Why draft a guy at number 10 that you could have gotten late in the 1st round and now you are forced to invest at least 30 million dollars in him. Another problem I have is that prior to day two, a report leaked the Jags were interested in Sean Lee and were willing to trade up to get him. If you like a player, you absolutely do not tell anyone that may leak the story. The Alualu pick led to a snowball effect of poor draft picks for the Jaguars. West: Kansas City Chiefs: B+ Scott Pioli earned his paycheck by stock piling tremendous players from this draft on the Chiefs roster. At number five they selected All World safety Eric Berry, who many, including myself, think is the best overall player in the draft. Dexter McCluster in round two was a tremendous pick. He is versatile and explosive and getting the ball in hands will often lead to good things. He provides them with a legitimate playmaker on offense. Javier Arenas fills a major need at corner back and his ability to return kicks also makes him valuable. If Matt Cassel can pan out, the Chiefs will challenge the Chargers for AFC West supremacy in the not so distant future. San Diego Chargers: C I like Ryan Matthews and believe he is going to be a tremendous back in the NFL but they could have gotten him later in the first round. With needs at defensive tackle and outside linebacker as well as corner the Chargers could have used the picks they traded to move up to get Matthews. If he doesn’t pan out, this draft will go down as a very bad one for San Diego. I like him and think he will be a tremendous running back, but I think it was a bit of a reach at number 12. Cam Thomas is a great value pick in round five. Oakland Raiders: C Al Davis must have forgotten his draft strategy of drafting workout warriors way too early in the draft, when he drafted one of the five best overall players in the draft in Rolando McClain. The Raiders had other issues but its not often that stud middle linebackers are available, so I have no problem with the McClain pick. He is ready to play, and play well at this level. Offensive line and quarterback, which were two of their main needs, got addressed by trading for Jason Campbell and drafting Bruce Campbell in round four. Many thought the Raiders would reach for Bruce Campbell, but they took him where he was projected to go. He has the physical skills to be an elite NFL tackle, but he is still very raw. Fear not however, the Al Davis did get his speed guy in Jacoby Ford from Clemson, who is not a bad player and should make some plays. Overall, not a bad job for the Raiders. Denver Broncos: D+ Apparently in his time with the Patriots, Josh McDaniels learned nothing about how to work the draft board. He traded down to acquire more picks only to trade three of those picks to move up in the first round and take Tim Tebow. The verdict is still out on if Tebow can play at the next level but even if he becomes a good player, sacrificing three picks is ludicrous. They also passed on Dez Bryant who was the best receiver in the draft to take Demaryius Thomas, I like Thomas but I do not understand how you can pass up the best receiver in the draft when you have a glaring need at wide receiver. After mortgaging everything for Tebow, it really did not matter who Denver drafted. High character guys don’t win you championships, football players do. Josh McDaniels will learn that lesson painfully.
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