IT WAS A NEED DRAFT

4/28/08 – 5/3/04


Unlike some drafts in the past, this draft was for the most part a need filling draft. What I mean by that is teams took what they needed instead of what they wanted. Take for an example the Atlanta Falcons who needed to draft franchise quarterback, but in order for them do that. The Falcons had to pass up on a guy, in which they wanted to draft in Glenn Dorsey. But as it turns out Atlanta did the right thing and got the new cornerstone of their franchise, in Quarterback Matt Ryan. In which they drafted with the third pick, in the first round out of Boston College.


That to me was the first sign of the draft, in which this was going to be a need selecting one. So many times in the past drafts, in the first round teams tend to end up drafting with who they want instead of what they need. Looking back at it The Houston Texans did the best thing in my mind in the 2006 draft in drafting Mario Williams, with the first pick of that draft. Instead of drafting Reggie Bush, Yes I know some people are now going to say, “That is easy to say now”. But the truth of the matter is they needed to get young at that time, on the D- line and they did. So my point is they drafted with need instead of what they wanted or what the fans wanted.


The most overwhelming sign, of a team wanting to improve on what they needed to draft was the Jacksonville Jaguars. Who moved from the 26th pick in the first round to the 8th pick in that round and they also got a steal, if you do look at it from the draft value chat stand point. In that trade Baltimore not only received the first but, both third round picks and a fourth round.


From the chart the Ravens 8th was worth 1,400 and the Jaguars 26th pick was worth 700 points. The total amount came to with the other picks from the Jaguars add up to 1,127 points. So the ravens got lesser value by 273 points. So with that number 8th pick from the Ravens the Jaguars took Derrick Harvey a DE from the University of Florida. Which is what Jaguars main need was at defensive line; the Jags even took it a step further by adding another DE in the second round in Quentin Groves from the University of Auburn.


The Bottom line is that this past draft was a need draft, for teams looking to fill in their gaps. It was also a draft of two longs being taken one and two in Jake Long for Miami and Chris Long for the Rams.

So my question to each of my readers is this: our u happy with on how the NFL draft came out? Send in your answer to rjintampawsa@aol.com . My answer to that question is yes and I sure hope there our more of these need positions drafts in the future. As they make for better turns out for all parties involve.

RJ