The NFL Minute

A complete recap the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft

Apr 28th 2007
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The longest first round in NFL history is finally over — incidentally, this is the site’s longest blog — after a little more than 6 hours of draft and analysis. And now it’s your time to read about who teams drafted, who was passed on. This is your quick guide with links to the original reported story (top 10 picks only).

First of all, though, who won and who reached?

Who won? Cleveland Browns — Cleveland came out of the first round with two of the top 5 players in the draft (Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas); talk about making a splash!

Who reached? Miami Dolphins — The Dolphins watched Brady Quinn fall to 9th overall and they passed on him for a wide receiver who is anything but a guarantee, Ted Ginn Jr. Nothing personal against Ginn, but he is too small and not a top 10 pick.

Draft recap with grades and analysis:

1. Oakland Raiders — JaMarcus Russell; quarterback, LSU

  • Grade: A-
  • Russell is a good quarterback who will do well in the Oakland offense

2. Detroit Lions — Calvin Johnson; wide receiver, Georgia Tech

  • Grade: A+
  • Johnson is the best player in the draft and he should help Detroit move up in the NFC North

3. Cleveland Browns — Joe Thomas; tackle, Wisconsin

  • Grade: A
  • Cleveland fulfilled a big need on the offensive line with this pick

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Gaines Adams; defensive end, Clemson

  • Grade: B+
  • Adams is a good rush end who can help the Buccaneers recover from a bad 2006 season

5. Arizona Cardinals — Levi Brown; tackle, Penn State

  • Grade: A-
  • Arizona filled a big hole on the offensive line here; best available pick for them

6. Washington Redskins — LaRon Landry; safety, LSU

  • Grade: B+
  • Good pick that improves secondary and might make best safety duo (he and Sean Taylor) in the league

7. Minnesota Vikings– Adrian Peterson; running back, Oklahoma

  • Grade: B+
  • Better than current RB Taylor; boom or bust type pick

8. Atlanta Falcons — Jamaal Anderson; defensive end, Arkansas

  • Grade: B
  • Good pick for Atlanta; Okoye was only other reasonable selection at this point

9. Miami Dolphins — Ted Ginn Jr.; wide receiver, Ohio State

  • Grade: D+
  • Not a very good pick; passed on Quinn, the better — and safer — pick; could haunt them

10. Houston Texans — Amobi Okoye; defensive tackle, Louisville

  • Grade: B
  • Solid pick for the young team; adds second first round defensive line choice (Mario Williams, first overall last season) making the defensive line younger and better

11. San Francisco 49ers — Patrick Willis; linebacker, Mississippi

  • Grade: B+
  • Good pick that will improve the defense (worst in league in ‘06); head coach Mike Nolan loves him

12. Buffalo Bills — Marshawn Lynch; running back, California

  • Grade: B+
  • Fills hole left open after Willis McGahee left for Baltimore; good running back with potential; considered 2nd only to Adrian Peterson

13. St. Louis Rams — Adam Carriker; defensive end, Nebraska

  • Grade: A-
  • Takes care of the team’s highest priority — defensive line — with a big defensive end (6′6, 296); considered top 3 defensive end behind Gaines Adams; versatile, can play almost anywhere on the line

TRADECarolina receives 1st round (25th), 2nd round, and 5th round picks; New York Jets receive first round (14th) and 6th round picks

14. New York Jets (from Carolina Panthers) — Darrelle Revis; cornerback, Pittsburgh

  • Grade: B
  • Revis will be welcome addition to secondary; helps defense and adds fast corner who matches up well against good receivers

15. Pittsburgh Steelers — Lawrence Timmons; linebacker, Florida State

  • Grade: B+
  • Direct replacement for Joey Porter; good fit for 3-4 defense; solid selection

16. Green Bay Packers — Justin Harrell; defensive tackle, Tennessee

  • Grade: B+
  • Great defensive tackle who missed much of 2006 because of a torn bicep; big (6′5 300), strong, and athletic man in the middle; could have been top 10 had he played all of 2006

TRADE Jacksonville Jaguars receive Denver Broncos 1st round (21st overall), 3rd round, and 6th round picks; Denver Broncos receive Jacksonville first round pick (17th overall)

17. Denver Broncos (from Jacksonville Jaguars) — Jarvis Moss; defensive end, Florida

  • Grade: B+
  • Very fast speed rushing end; Denver has struggled putting a consistent rush on opposing quarterbacks, Moss will certainly help; gave up a lot, unfortunately, to draft him

18. Cincinnati Bengals — Leon Hall; cornerback, Michigan

  • Grade: A-
  • Arguably the best corner in the draft and a top 10-15 prospect; steal at 18th overall; fills a major team need for the Bengals

19. Tennessee Titans — Michael Griffin; safety, Texas

  • Grade: B
  • Very good safety who delivers crushing hits; leader on the field for Texas, should translate well to NFL

20. New York Giants — Aaron Ross; cornerback, Texas

  • Grade: B+
  • Good corner who fulfills a team need; also, he doubles as a kick returner (think Devin Hester of last season)

21. Jacksonville Jaguars (from Denver Broncos) — Reggie Nelson; safety, Florida

  • Grade: A-
  • Top tier safety; team comes out ahead in trade with Denver because they probably would have taken Nelson at 17th overall

TRADEDallas Cowboys receive first round pick in 2008. Cleveland Browns receive 1st round pick (22nd).

22. Cleveland Browns (from Dallas Cowboys) — Brady Quinn; quarterback, Notre Dame

  • Grade: A+
  • Arguably the best quarterback in the draft; Cleveland now has the draft’s best tackle to protect Quinn; Quinn is NFL-ready

23. Kansas City Chiefs — Dwayne Bowe; wide receiver, LSU

  • Grade: B+
  • Solid top 3 receiver who will make an impact on a Kansas City team that currently lacks good receivers

24. New England (from Seattle) — Brandon Meriweather; safety, Miami

  • Grade: B
  • A good safety with loads of talent; wasn’t in top form last season; part of Miami brawl

25. Carolina Panthers (from New York Jets) — Jon Beason; linebacker, Miami

  • Grade: B
  • Fills need for linebacker; lots of instinct and intangibles

TRADE Philadelphia Eagles receive 2nd round, 3rd round, and 5th round picks; Dallas Cowboys receive 1st round (26th) pick.

26. Dallas Cowboys (from Philadelphia Eagles) — Anthony Spencer; defensive end, Purdue

  • Grade: B-
  • Good defensive end; Joe Thomas said he was most challenged by Spencer throughout his career; good athleticism could translate to linebacker

27. New Orleans Saints — Robert Meachem; wide receiver, Tennessee

  • Grade: B+
  • Should help the offense following Joe Horn’s departure; top rated receiver who runs great routes

TRADENew England receives 4th round pick (this year) and first round pick next season; San Francisco receives 1st round (28th) pick

28. San Francisco 49ers (from New England Patriots) — Joe Staley; tackle, Central Michigan

  • Grade: B+
  • Staley will improve an uncertain offensive line; top 3 tackle in the draft

29. Baltimore Ravens — Ben Grubbs; guard, Auburn

  • Grade: B+
  • Will help add youth and talent to offensive line; pure guard

30. San Diego Chargers — Craig Davis; wide receiver, LSU

  • Grade: B-
  • Good receiver who, with enough growth and maturity, could become a solid NFL reciever

31. Chicago Bears — Greg Olsen; tight end, Miami

  • Grade: B
  • Great value pick; best player on most draft boards; best tight end in the draft; pure receiver, not a blocker

32. Indianapolis Colts — Anthony Gonzalez; wide receiver, Ohio State

  • Grade: B
  • Gonzalez is a good fit for a slot receiver in Indianapolis replacing Brandon Stokley (Denver); has raw ability

Distribution of Picks:

15 Offensive Players

  • 1 guard
  • 1 tight end
  • 2 quarterbacks
  • 2 running backs
  • 3 offensive tackles
  • 6 wide receivers

17 Defensive Players

  • 2 defensive tackles
  • 3 linebackers
  • 3 cornerbacks
  • 4 safeties
  • 5 defensive ends

Interesting notes:

  • 2 Ohio State wide receivers chosen in the first round
  • 0 (zero) USC players chosen

BallHype: hype it up!

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