On Wednesday, Colts officials confirmed the overwhelming thought that they were going to take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in the NFL draft. General Manager Ryan Grigson said, "We didn't see the point in prolonging what the world already knows. It's about Andrew and we wanted to do the right thing by him... We've exhausted the process. We've pretty much made up our mind and we're going to go from there. We feel good about it and we'll go from there."
The next day, Redskins G.M. Bruce Allen announced what most people assumed when the Skins gave up three first round picks to acquire the second overall selection from the Rams, which was that the Skins would take Baylor quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III with their selection. Allen said, "We think that Robert fits our offense to a tee. We're excited about being able to complement him with what we've already been able to do with some of his special talents. Obviously his charisma is going to be embraced by the Redskins Nation."
Although this year had no where near the amount of anticipation at the top of the draft like in 2006 when questions swirled all draft week on the Texans difficult decision between taking Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, and Vince Young with the first pick, a lot of another intriguing stroylines emerged.
With offense numbers at a record high last year and team's slinging the ball all over the field with the passing game taking over the league, defense was a priority in the draft. From picks 6 to 21, there were 13 defenses players taken, compared to just 3 offense players selected.
Coming into the draft, most people thought that there wouldn't be as many trades as last year because of a lack of really can't miss guys and not a great disparity between players projected to go in the first round and the second round. For example, instead of a team trading up to try and get a guy like Quinton Coples, the assumption was that they could wait until the second round and select a guy like Andre Branch, while not losing any more picks.
However, the first round was littered with teams trading up to get a player they desperately wanted as well as teams trading down to stockpile on picks. There were eight draft day trades during the first round, as the Colts were the only team in the top 7 to hold on to their draft pick from the start of the draft process. The Patriots, Broncos, and Rams all made two trades to change their position in the draft (including the Rams pre-draft trade with the Redskins).
Best Trades During The First Round:
#5 Pick: Jacksonville Jaguars - WR Justin Blackmon from Oklahoma State:
When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up from the 16th pick in last year's draft to acquire Blaine Gabbert out of Missouri with the 10th overall selection, the Jags expected Gabbert to become their quarterback of the future. Due to the ineffectiveness of Luke McCown (McCown was picked off 4 times in three quarters against the Jets in week 2) Gabbert was forced to play much earlier than expected, and the rookie severely struggled in his 14 starts.
In 8 of Gabbert's starts he threw for less than 150 yards and he had a woeful completion percentage of 50.8 to go along with a league low 65.4 passer rating. Gabbert was hit a ton in the packet, as he was sacked 40 times (tied for the most in the AFC along with Big Ben), and his confidence looked down and he looked deeply flustered when he would drop back to pass. Gabbert almost looked fearful of staying in the pocket and making a throw down the field because he was always getting hit.
Jacksonville's inept offense, which ranked dead last in yards per game and passing yards per game last year, will be getting a huge lift with the addition of 2-time Biletnikoff Award winner (given to the best receiver in college football) Justin Blackmon. Blackmon will provide the outside threat that Jacksonville so desperately needs, and a go-to-guy for Blaine Gabbert, who didn't have a receiver last year with more than 44 catches or 460 yards.
The Jags made a terrific move by giving the Buccaneers their 7th overall selection and a fourth round pick, in order to move up two spots and ensure that they would land Blackmon. Blackmon, who is 6'1'', is often compared to Anquan Boldin because of their similar stature and their great hands. Blackmon, who was third in the FBS last year with 121 catches, is very comfortable in catching the ball over the middle and he is also a huge red zone threat, as he ranked 2nd in the FBS last year with 18 touchdowns.
Whether Gabbert can be a successful quarterback in the NFL remains to be seen, but Jacksonville has found themselves a pro-bowl caliber receiver in Blackmon.
#6 Pick: Dallas Cowboys - CB Morris Claiborne from LSU:
The Cowboys time to win with their current core group of players is starting to run down and Cowboys fans are growing inpatient of their team's lack of success, despite all of the talent that they have assembled. By the start of next year, Tony Romo will be 32, Jay Ratliff will 31, DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten will be 30, and Marcus Spears will be 29. For a team that has a 1-6 playoff record since 1998 and hasn't made it past the Divisional Round since they won the Super Bowl 17 years ago in 1995, the Cowboys had to move up in the draft.
Last year the Cowboys downfall was their atrocious secondary play. They ranked 23rd in the NFL in opponents passing yards per game, as the opposing quarterback threw for an average of 244 yards against them. After the worst season of his 9 year career, the Cowboys released their long time top cornerback Terence Newman. Newman looked like he lost a step, as he struggled to stay with speedy receivers and had a career low of just 8 pass deflections all season long. As Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said," We've had our shortcomings in our secondary for the last three seasons."
It was a great draft day trade by the Cowboys to make a leap up 8 spots to the 6th pick and give the Rams their 14th overall pick and a second rounder because the Cowboys desperately needed a cover corner with the ability of Morris Claiborne. Claiborne, who has been overshadowed in LSU's daunting secondary the past two years because of the play of Patrick Peterson (who was taken 5th in last year's draft by the Arizona Cardinals) and the "Honey Badger" Tyrann Mathieu (who finished 5th in the 2012 Heisman Trophy voting), is the best pure cornerback of all three guys.
Claiborne is everything that a team is looking for in a cornerback that is going to try and shut down the opposing team's best receiving threat. The 2012 SEC Defensive Player of the Year and Jim Thorpe Award Winner (given to the best cornerback in college football) is extremely athletic and has unbelievable ball skills for a cornerback, as Claiborne had 6 interceptions last year. Although the move was a bold one, it was necessary because the Cowboys need a shutdown corner, which Claiborne has the ability to be. The Boys will have to stop top receivers like Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, Roddy White, A.J. Green, Mike Wallace, Marques Colston, as well as Victor Cruz and DeSean Jackson twice a year if they want to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
#12 Pick: Philadelphia Eagles - DT Fletcher Cox from Mississippi State:
Last year, the so called "Dream Team" began the season 1-4 and after a week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Eagles were sitting at 4-8. A season that started so promising with the signings and acquisitions of quarterback Vince Young, running back Ronnie Brown, defensive end Jason Babin, defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, and cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, ended without a playoff birth. It was the first time the Eagles didn't make the playoffs in back-to-back years since 1998-1999.
The Eagles downfall last year was their inability to stop the run. Through the Eagles first 5 games, they were allowing over 165 rushing yards per game and they allowed 6 rushing touchdowns in that span where they dug themselves into a huge 1-4 hole. The Birds allowed at least 100 yards to all of the top tier running back that they faced including Michael Turner, who ran for 114 yards, Frank Gore, who ran for 127 yards, Fred Jackson, who ran for 111 yards, Matt Forte, who ran for 133 yards, Marshawn Lynch, who ran for 148 yards, and finally Reggie Bush, who ran for 103 yards, and the Eagles had a 1-5 record in these games.
The Eagles made a smart move by trading their 15th overall pick, as well as a 4th and 6th rounder to the Seattle Seahawks, so that they could move up three spots and ensue that they would improve their run defense. With defensive tackle Dontari Poe from Memphis already off the boards after he was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 11th pick and no insurance that the only other two top defensive tackles, Fletcher Cox and Michael Brockers, would still be around by pick 15, the Eagles had to pull the trigger and move up. The Birds will be more than pleased with their selection of Cox out of Mississippi St.
Cox, who was a Pro Football Weekly All-American and a First-Team All-SEC selection, will be a large presence in the middle of the Eagles defense. The pick of the 6'4'' and nearly 300 pound interior linemen, along with the trade to aquire linebacker DeMeco Ryans from the Texans will greatly improve the Eagles defensive interior.
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