I'll be in Vegas so I won't get to watch the draft, but I'm gonna do my best to follow along. Although nothing will compare to seeing lil' Eli get booed last year.

Latest rumor is that the Vikes are trying to package their #7 & #18 pick to trade to Miami or Cleveland to get Braylon Edwards.

With Tice as your coach, does it really matter?

I am right there with you on that, PhillyFan! Thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge of football with us! Kudos!

Will the 49ers be dumb and draft Alex Smith? I think they would be more wise to draft Rodgers as they'd likely avoid the hold-out that Smith would have.

Miami seems very willing to trade their pick.

Everything I hear is that the 49ers will have a deal in place before they pick and the word is it's Smith. If no deal beforehand, it will likely be Rodgers.

Word on the street is that Smith hasn't been as enthusiastic as Rodgers in the recent press conferences and he's still a young player who needs to develop some arm strength...he's only 20 years old. Combine that with the fact that he is used to playing out of the shotgun, he's not going to be able to make an immediate impact in SF. Anyways, I say its almost a lock that the 49ers will take Rodgers if they don't trade/deal.

[ April 19, 2005, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: igortvi ]

Then on draft day, the Vikings won't get their pick up to the board in time, and will end up drafting 7th with their third round pick.

Who's running the show in DC?

God, too bad he just cant call a play in on them new fangled clocks they got dem up in dat nfl no more..

Start your engines!

Retirement!

[ April 19, 2005, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

4-Skins get the 25th pick....

Just a terrible trade, Denver will get a top 10 pick next year after God retires.

when will this team ever learn?

Dannyboy, draft an OL to block for your multi million, cap busting RB.

The Vikes/Miami swapping picks rumor has picked up a bit more heat today. I can't decide if I like this or not. I just haven't heard enough about the Edwards guy.

Edwards is, by all accounts, the best WR in the draft in terms of breakaway speed. Given that they've lost Moss and need a deep threat to open up the running game most of the experts think the Vikes really need a guy like Edwards to replace Moss. But given the Vikes history of draft day and trade blunders (Herschel Walker anyone?) I am leery of any move they make these days.

The Raiders are back in the first round. They've acquired the Jets first rounder (#26 overall) plus the Jets 7th round pick in exchange for TE Doug Jolley, a 2nd round pick and two 6th round picks. Jets need a TE badly and given this draft isn't that deep I guess it's not a bad move by the Jets.

Sal Paolantonio is reporting that the 49ers are saying they have been contacted by 4 teams about acquiring the #1 pick. One of the teams is the Redskins. This after the speculation that the Redskins made the trade to get the 25th pick so they could go after Auburn QB Jason Campbell who they said they believe is the best QB in the draft.

If the 4skins say he's the best, then he must be the best...

Just look at their track record....

It's hard to believe Washington feels they need a QB. They should stick with Ramsey and fix the rest of their team.

Yeah I couldn't quite understand the need for a QB but that is what the draftniks on ESPN were speculating. Anyway, it's nice to have a team that makes the Vikings look like they know what they are doing!

The Chiefs have acquired CB Patrick Surtain from the Dolphins for a second round draft pick.

The Chiefs have signed 4 starters for their defense. The first round draft choice will likely be another. Is that enough to supplement the best offesnse in the NFL?

The Raiders will be the Chiefs of last year. They were horrible and weakened their defense even further in the off season.

Die Raiders, die

Yeah I really like what the Chiefs and Vikings have done defensively with the free agent signings/trades. And I just hope the Vikes don't trade up to get Braylon Edwards. Michigan WRs tend to pan out like Penn State RBs. Stay at 7 and hope Williams falls to us. If they have to trade up a bit to get him, fine. Just don't give up BOTH first round picks to do so!

Mere minutes away from the draft, and plenty of uncertainty. As for the Chargers, with it pretty unlikely that Williams or Edwards would fall to 12, I'm hoping that we get either WR Williamson, OT Barron, DE Spears, or DE Merriman. But if they are moist on Willams, they may have to go up to Cleveland at 3, which with the Browns liking Pollack, a trade down could happen.

the 49ers are officially on the clock

one Ute down, one to go?

Smith goes 1, can Bogut do the same in the NBA?

[ April 23, 2005, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: Breesboy ]

less than 4 minutes left ... no pick from the Vikings

a tense nation awaits

Draft day winners... obviously the Vikes with the kid from SC (Williamson). It was interesting to see the fan reaction from Vikings camp. Obviously most of those fools had no idea who they drafted. James is a good pick if he can stay healthy.

The fact that Derrick Johnson dropped to 15 (thank you Detroit) gives the Chiefs another impact linebacker. That's 5 new starters.

The Chargers are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Baltimore gets a Top 10 pick at 22. But they have MAJOR QB issues.

Green Bay. There is not a better place for Rodgers to play. This should hopefully get the Madden suckfest Favre into retirement sooner than later.

Draft Day losers... Detroit. Way to put 100% of the pressure on a bad QB (those queens on the Hot Jock thread would argue). Look failure in the mirror.

Jacksonville - Matt Jones - what a joke. What a waste.

Dallas - two non-impact DE's on a bad team. You needed a playmaker.

St Louis - Hi, welcome to third place in the division.

Cincinnati - when was the last white impact player on the Defensive Line?

Maurice Clarett is drafted in the THIRD round by Denver!

The Eagles drafted Mike Patterson, DT from USC, with their first pick, and then WR Reggie Brown of Georgia (AKA Freddie Mitchell's replacement) with their first second-round pick. Showing what experts the experts are, they passed over various names that were on mock drafts I've seen.

After that they drafted a linebacker and running back, then traded the 94th pick in the 3rd round to the 49ers for picks no. 102 (4th round) and 175 (6th round).

[ April 23, 2005, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

CU's analysis is as good as any, but it's so hard to accurately judge these things for a few years. Tom Brady was a sixth-rounder and Aliki Smith was 3rd overall, so that's all one needs to know.

Mike Shanahan must be bored with this RB development thing. Now that you think of it, Denver would seem like a likely cnadidate for Clarett.

The funny thing about Denver, and if you have read either of the two Denver dailies since the end of the season, they have basically been trying to shape their team to stop the Colts - a team that isn't even on their schedule! First three picks are CB's. I guess with Moss in the division, that validates their choices somewhat. But the Clarett pick? A bad lockerroom guy? The team had more pressing needs.

My initial analysis was done just on the first round picks, not on the subsequent picks, but I still can't get over Detroit. If Millen is the one running this draft, this is just another example of someone being in over their heads (like Joe Gibbs).

With the Pats being three-time Superbowl champs and everybody and his brother crediting their success to brilliant recruiting (including their coach, who ought to know),more attention would be focusing on who they choose in the draft.

Even though they tend to pick up their key players from trades and releases, finding well-tested guys who still have a few years of good health left, or can be nursed back with a little self-discipline is their forte.

A typical pick-up for New England is Tim Dwight. Pats have a knack for finding those little guys who fly under the radar and Dwight, who was cut by the Chargers due to lost-time after an injury could turn out to be another one of those brilliant cogs the Patriots always seem to find that fills some perfect slot in a complete team.

A.J. Smith and the Bolts front office had another good draft this year. While there was no great splash. Merriman should be the only one expected to be a starter this year while the rest of the picks can be backups for our starters. Sproles brings another dimension between LT and Chatman, Jackson could become a big target/possession type, Castillo can give Jamal Williams some rest, Britt and Sims could develop as replacements for Oben and Goff down the road.

Breesboy is 100% right. This team gets knocked because of the coach, but Smith and Marty have made great move after great move. They dumped Junior and Rodney and you would have thought the earth was set to implode... but they were the right moves.

I'd like to give a special shout out to the last place Raiders. Way to improve your last place defense!

By the way, Merrill Hoge is a ...can I borrow this... bitch. Normally I would not make fun of cancer survivors, I would actually show them empathy, but he has to go. He has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. Did he say something about my team with which I disagree? Yes, but he said some of the biggest B.S. I have ever heard during an ESPN telecast. He makes Stuart Scott look like a Mensa candidate. I'm not sure I agreed with any point he made, regardless of the team (even Chief opponents). The rest of the telecast was top notch. I would have liked a little more of Salisbury, because he says what he believes regardless of how people feel about it. Tory Holt was a bad choice to sit on the big desk on Saturday. He was completely lost. Tom Jackson would have been a better pick.. or even Jaws. In all, ESPN did another great job, and I absolutely love this weekend every April.

Chiefs really have had an unbelievable off-season. The roar at Arrowhead is going to be unbelievable this season.

Hack, i mean hoge, is be best when hitting the mute button.

Hack hates the eagels.

Vermeil coached the eagles.

Hack hates the chiefs.

From someone who took too many hits in the head, it makes perfect sense to him.

[ April 25, 2005, 12:37 AM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Classic.

Usually, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers harvest players of questionable character through free agency (e.g., Darrell Russell, Michael Pittman). But they've now extended their turd collecting to draft day, given the selection of Mississippi fullback Rick Razzano in the seventh round on Sunday.

Razzano currently is on trial for an incident on April 3, 2004 during which he allegedly beat the bleeping barrister out of a law student, putting the guy in intensive care for two days.

A few years ago they had the Vikings' Corey Chavous on the draft (though not on the panel) and he was great. It was amazing how much he knew about all these draft prospects. He actually had notes that he'd accumulated throughout the year on so many of these guys that you almost had to wonder how he had time to read his own playbook. Which, of course, amy help explain the Vikes D!

Chavous was on the NFL Network this year.

Overall I am really happy with the Vikes draft. Couple that with the offseason trades and free agent signings (though they've not addressed the kicking issues) and the Vikes just might be a threat to be an NFC power again. The Red Sox lifted their curse in 2004 so you never know...

Hey, a guy can dream!

[ April 25, 2005, 07:56 AM: Message edited by: George_Twinsfan ]

Well, I dont think anyone should pin their hopes of the playoffs based on the current years draft. I can't remember a team that was elevated to the playoffs based upon the draft alone.

I'd say it's at least a 2-3 year window from the current draft to see how the players work out.

That said, I believe that AZ, Dallas, Baltimore has excellent drafts.

A quick note: in the fourth round, KC took Craphonzo Thorpe. The ESPN nickname squad will have a field day with that name.

~Adam

What were his parents thinking? He must have teased mercilessly in school. Imagine what they called him, at least until he became big enough to beat the snot out of them.

Well kiper said the Eagles had a good draft, this class is doomed.

How about those BCS snubbed, 13-0 Auburn Tigers and their 4, count them 4, first round draft picks.

Every report I've read gives the Eagles good grades.