NFL Draft Notebook: 1st Round

11:53 – 7 minutes until the long hard road through the first round. The big news (from yesterday)…Mario Williams is going #1. I think the Texans will regret this for years to come. WOW. I think Bush is going to dominate in the NFL and no #1 pick in the draft on defense over the last several years has had any big impact in the league despite the fact the defenses do win championships (take note Michael Irvin).

-I see Matt Leinart is being followed around some more. Is this a ploy to actually get guy’s spouses to be more accepting of sitting on our asses watching this thing? I need to go get my wife and tell her to watch it right now.

12:00 – What a gay opening to the draft. That might have been the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Give me a break. What’s next? The big news right now, is if the Saints are going to trade the pick and to who. I look forward to seeing what happens there.

12:04 – Have I mentioned that I hate Michael Irvin. Why is he on there? This is going to get annoying fast. I don’t want to hear him running his damn mouth today. I’d rather listen to Mel Kiper ramble all day. Thank goodness I have Sirius radio as an option. They are telling us all that TE Vernon Davis brought a record 82 people to the draft with him. Interesting…

12:10 – Here we go already. Michael Irvin says points win championships instead of defense. This guy is such an idiot. Go snort a line of drugs and get off my TV screen.

12:12 – Paul Tagliabue comes to the podium for his last time to start the clock. Just announce the pick Paulie! What a waste of time. We know it’s Mario Williams.

12:14 – Two minutes later, Mario Williams is selected. As predicted, the fans show no class and boo a guy on his dream day for no reason of his. Nice job morons. Chants of overrated are now being heard. I say the top pick should have the right to go up in the stands and kick people’s ass an added bonus. The only draft pick that recently deserved that was Eli Manning. The Saints are up…this could go the distance.

12:25 – Adam Schefter from the NFL Network reports that the Jets are desperately trying to trade up to #2 right now.

12:27 – Here we go…the Saints selected Reggie Bush! They told the Jets to screw off and select him. Haha Jets’ fans. Interesting situation now with the Saints. Are they still entertaining trade offers? How do they work in this stud with Deuce McAllister still on the roster? They have an interesting situation on their hands now. Bush is a big time talent, and the Saints may be going places with him. These first two picks could mean so much for the Texans and Saints right now down the road. Now another interesting pick is coming up with the Titans. Who’s their QB?

12:35 – Vince Young to the Titans! Matt Leinart isn’t reuniting with Norm Chow after all. However, Young may be reuniting with Steve McNair if McNair somehow returns. McNair has already worked with Young in the past, but the odds of him coming back right now are tough. I think Young will be the better QB between the big 3 this year, and I think Leinart will be average. Quote me on that. I’ll eat crow if I have to. The Jets are up.

12:44 – Tom Jackson looks like he’s going to kick Michael Irvin’s ass. Do it Tommy! Do it! Jackson is really fired up right now. Take Irvin out man! The Jets are taking their time.

12:47 – The Jets select…D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Nice pick by New York here in my opinion. Leinart was tempting, but I still think Leinart is not going to be that great. Get the top LT on the board and protect the QB. A protected Chad Pennington could be a good thing if he's healthy. Another mediocre QB on the roster would be bad…despite the Hollywood image and the comparisons to the glamorous drunk Joe Namath.

12:56 – The Pack is up and my boy AJ Hawk may be coming off the board. We’ll see. I keep hearing about physical freak Vernon Davis. Something tells me he’s getting way too over-hyped. I think Hawk is the pick here.

12:59 – Sure enough, Ohio State’s stud LB goes to the Packers. This could help solidify the weak side of the ball for the Packers. Great move here. Barring injury, I think Hawk has a Pro Bowl career ahead of him.

1:05 – Vernon Davis is bawling. Either there was a death in the family or he’s going to the 49ers. Gee I wonder… He goes to the 49ers. He’s a freak, but let me see him perform in the NFL first. His workout helped him big time. Now Da Raidahs are up. Could Leinart go here? It certainly seems like something Al Davis would have them do.

1:14 – MICHAEL HUFF! Surprise! The Raiders went defensive need over the glitzy Leinart pick. As much as I think Leinart is going to struggle a bit, he’s 10 times better than Aaron Brooks in my opinion. Brooks is a pile of crap that looks like he doesn’t care out there half the time. I would almost endorse that Leinart pick for them because of Brooks. I guess they like guys like Andrew Walter at QB too over there.

1:23 – The Bills pick is up and some teams have been mentioned as potential trade possibilities: 1) Philly to move up and select Brodrick Bunkley and 2) the Broncos to move up to select Matt Leinart. If the Bills stay with this pick, they may just go with Bunkley as well. Bunkley’s workout put him at the top of the DT rankings. And a curve ball has been thrown Chris Berman….WOW the Bills surprise everyone and take Donte Whitner…one of my boys from Ohio State! What a big surprise here. I guess the Bills want some secondary help huh? He was projected in the teens this year. That’s two top 10 NFL draft picks recruited by Ohio State coach Jim Tressel from his first couple recruiting classes. Nice job Jimmy. That’s also the 3rd Ohio State DB taken high by the Bills in the last however many years as they also selected Antoine Winfield, and Nate Clements.

1:32 – Matt Millen’s up. LOL. The Detroit Lions select… WR Santonio Holmes…oh wait, they just went defense with LB Ernie Sims from Florida State. This was one of my Browns’ 1st round options and is the first one to go. I’m a little surprised he went before others, but he could turn out to be a VERY good LB in the NFL. Leinart is still on the board. Is he on his way to the Cards? We’ll find out in a few minutes.

-Or we’ll find out now. Leinart is on the phone. Leinart is a Cardinal. Denny Green has to be pretty happy here. That was very quick. Will the Cards ever get out of the gutter? We’ll find that out soon as well. The team has a new stadium, new feature back (Edge), and a new young ‘franchise’ QB. I still think he’ll struggle, but he has the two best young WRs in the NFL to throw too, and great guy to learn from in Kurt Warner.

1:45 – Nice hat Leinart. Woah..I just heard that Denver is on the clock. Trade baby! The Rams traded out of 11. Who do the Broncos take? Do they take Jay Cutler here???? Apparently so. Just flash to the cell phone calls ESPN and ruin the suspense for us why don’t you? The bearded one, Jake Plummer, has to wonder what is up here. I think Cutler is going to be a major bust, but going to Denver may increase his chances a bit. Mike Shanahan runs a well oiled machine on offense. I look forward to finding out how the Rams benefited from moving down here.

-I was hoping the Browns would move down at #12. They have their pick of defense right now. They’re up. Do they take Wimbley, Lawson, Bunkley, Ngata, or surprise the shit out of everyone? I’m looking forward to this. Maybe the Browns move down a bit. Just about all of their players are on the board. A few may be there 5 picks later or so.

1:55 – The Rams got the Broncos high 3rd round pick in exchange for their first rounders. That is San Francisco’s pick originally.

2:00 – HOLY SHIT!!!!!! The Browns traded with the RAVENS!!!!! Are you kidding? That’s a steal for the Browns. They are gaining a pick and will still have their choice of defenders. The Ravens pick Haloti Ngata from Oregon. Apparently the Browns didn’t want him bad enough, and I don’t blame them…if you are gaining an extra pick by moving down ONE slot, that is great. I can’t get over this deal man. The Browns traded with the enemy. Wow. Phil Savage and Ozzie Newsome wheeling and dealing together. Now let’s see if the Browns pull off another coup by dangling Brodrick Bunkley in front of the Eagles right now. LOL

2:06 – The pick the Browns received was a 6th rounder. I guess I expected a little better there. Let’s see who they decide to pick now. Savage made the deal for a reason and the Ravens wanted to provide Ray Lewis with a big Nose Tackle to shut him up. Ngata was too much of a question mark in my mind, yet I would think more positively if he was a Brown right now. Ngata has been criticized for his work ethic, and more importantly has had injury problems in college. We don’t need anymore guys spending time on the IR here in Cleveland.

-Man Suzy Kolber is having some problems trying to work those interviews. They need to get better equipment there.

2:12 – The Browns are taking their time with the 13th pick here. Do they really need this time or are they pulling the trigger on yet another trade?

2:14 – KAMERION WIMBLEY is the newest Cleveland Brown. Good pick here by Savage. Good kid, talented kid, and can pick up a ton of knowledge from Willie McGinest. The first hybrid LB taken off the board is going to Cleveland. So they got their guy, and picked up a 6th round pick from the Ravens in the process. Not too bad. HOWEVER, Wimbley has been labeled an injury risk as well. That scares me a little bit. I’ll go into more details later on the Browns’ picks. Now Bunkley may be ripe for the picking for the Eagles. I’m surprised he fell below Ngata after his rise.

2:27 – Brodrick Bunkley goes to the Eagles. The questionable character may have hurt him a bit, but not enough to fall out of the top 15 as he goes to the Eagles to help that DL. Bunkley was a physical freak at the NFL Combine, and becomes the 3rd Florida State defensive player to go in the draft so far. The Eagles picked up Darren Howard in the off-season, and have Jevon Kearse coming back, so Bunkley will be an interesting inside addition to that DL.

2:32 – The Rams get Tye Hill out of Clemson and successfully get the man they had their eye on all along after moving down. Nice work by the Rams here. Tye Hill was the best CB on the board with exceptional speed and great cover skills. They did a good job moving down 4 spots and getting a 3rd rounder out of Denver. Now the Dolphins are up. Is Manny Lawson next?

2:44 – Jason Allen goes to the Dolphins. Nick Saban knows all about Allen after Allen ditched him for Tennessee out of High School. He could be a hybrid player. He could move to Safety or stay at corner. He has some size on him. Saban continues to build that defense.

2:48 – I need a break.

3:05 - DAMNIT!!!!! Bobby Carpenter went to the Cowpolks. That team doesn’t deserve a guy like him after signing Terrell Owens. I think he’s going to be a great one, but Dallas reached a bit here according to draft experts. I still think it’s a good pick by the Cowboys. Before that, the Vikings took another good talent at LB by taking another favorite of mine, Chad Greenway. I like the Vikings pick as well. I think both LBs will have good NFL careers.

3:25 – The Chargers just reached a bit to select CB Antonio Cromartie from Florida State. Cromartie hasn’t played since 2004 because of an injury and his intentions to come out early are for financial purposes mostly. Sounds like a bad pick to me, but who really knows. It will be interesting to focus on a pick like this down the road after feeling negatively about it from the get-go.

3:32 – The Kansas City Chiefs took one of my favorite players in all the draft that I hoped would maybe slide down to the Browns in the second round: Tamba Hali. The man got a raw deal after the combine, and I think he could be a great, great player in the NFL. The man did his job better than most players in college and fell victim to the NFL’s obsession with the damn combine. The Chiefs helped their defense in a big way today as they got a level headed great guy who has one of the best motors in the draft and can will himself to the QB. They couldn’t have made a better pick here in my opinion. Look out for him.

3:34 – The New York Jets fans just gave Herman Edwards a warm welcome. You gotta love the live crowds at this thing.

4:23 – After an extended break from this: I see RB Laurence Maroney to New England, LB Manny Lawson to the Niners, G Davin Joseph to the Bucs, DB Johnathan Joseph to the Bengals, and then I see the damn Steelers traded up to 25 to select Ohio State receiver Santonio Holmes. Damnit! Another Buckeye going to a team I don’t want him to go to. The Giants made out pretty well to move down 7 spots by acquiring the Steelers’ 3rd and 4th round pick. It was nice cheering for you Holmes. Now I wish you the worst. At least they don’t have to count on that piece of crap Quincy Morgan as much now.

4:29 – The new enemy (Santonio) is getting interviewed as I see the Bills traded up to grab someone here by giving up a 2nd rounder and a 3rd rounder to the Chicago Bears. Let’s see who they grab here. John McCargo? Wow. The Bills took the DT everyone thought they would pick at #8…except it’s a different guy. Not sure what to think here. The Bills are boggling my mind right now…I need a beer.

4:33 – Damn it all to hell…another guy I liked went to another team. This time, it’s DeAngelo Williams out of Memphis who went to Carolina. If the Browns were going to go after RB in this draft, I wanted them to invest in this guy in round 2 if he was available. Oh well. I think he’s going to be stud. Good pick by the Kittens.

4:45 – This thing is scooting now. Marcedes Lewis goes to Jacksonville. Nick Mangold goes to the Jets as their 2nd 1st round OL. Another Ohio State guy goes off the board. Joe Addai goes to the Colts to help fill the void left by Edgerrin James. This marathon 1st round is almost over!
4:58 – Damn. The Seahawks just ended the Miami Hurricanes’ 1st round drought this year. I was hoping CB Kelly Jennings would slip to round 2 just for that reason. FU Michael Irvin.

5:01 – Mathias Kiwanuka ends the 1st round by going to the New York Giants. Here’s another guy who got shafted by the NFL Combine. I think he’ll be good in the NFL and the Giants made a good pick here and fleeced Pittsburgh in the process. You’re alright in my book if you can get away with that.

Stay tuned for more of this. I would bet the 2nd round will be a little bit more abbreviated. Congrats if you read all this…