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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
December 12, 2007
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here at DraftKing.com. Send your thoughts to me at LouPickney@gmail.com.
From: Dave Cox
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Dec 12, 2007 9:41 AM
Subject: 12/12/2007 Mock draft
As a Chiefs fan I just wanted to send a quick thank you for the mock drafts.
I was curious after the Petrino departure where Brohm would land and I was disappointed to see that you had the Chiefs passing on him to take a reach on Baker. I believe that if J Long is there the Chiefs will be doing cartwheels – but after that getting a true franchise quarterback will be the real priority. SanDiego has Rivers, Denver has Cutler, and the Raiders have Russell. The Chiefs do love Croyle, but I don’t think they will pass up the chance on Brohm.
Any info you feel like passing on there would be appreciated.
Lou: The possibility of the Chiefs going for a first round QB is entirely reasonable. The team's horrible running game must be fixed, but if the Chiefs really like one of the top tier QBs and they fall to their spot, who's to say they won't pass on it?
|  | Bobby Petrino abruptly departed as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. (Todd Kirkland/Icon SMI)
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With the Petrino/Brohm Louisville connection now a non-factor, I think we'll see a little bit of separation between Matt Ryan/Andre Woodson and Brian Brohm as far as projecting who will go where. Brohm should still be a solid first round pick, but I think we'll see both Ryan and Woodson go before Brohm.
As for the Bobby Petrino situation, DeAngelo Hall made some very telling comments on the NFL Network last night. He discussed the difficulty that players had in communicating with Petrino, the isolation he felt from the coach (both in a lack of feedback and the red tape in having to go through 2-4 people to get to talk with Petrino), and that even normally even-keeled veterans like Warrick Dunn and Alge Crumpler were grumbling behind the scenes.
There are some who are demonizing Petrino for his move (for an example, see here), but the reality is that if the situation wasn't working and if Petrino's heart was really in college football, perhaps it was better to cut the cord now and allow the Falcons to start looking for a new coach. While some successful college coaches have made a jump to the pro coaching level and won (such as Jimmy Johnson), there are many wonderful college coaches (from Steve Spurrier to Pete Carroll) who found little success on the NFL level.
One interesting note: Bobby Petrino left the NFL after less than a year with a 3-10 record for a coaching job at Arkansas... just like Lou Holtz did in 1976.
As for Sam Baker, his versatility will allow him to fill multiple spots for whatever team he ends up with. There's a considerable drop from Jake Long to the rest of the O-Line prospects, and unlike last year where highly touted Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas went to the Browns and then the Cardinals made what many considered at the time to be a stretch in drafting Penn State OT Levi Brown, there may be enough separation in place (or at least multiple similarly graded prospects below Long) to where the Chiefs would be more inclined to trade down and then draft one of a number of linemen (Michael Oher, Jeff Otah, Ryan Clady, etc.) who might be on the board a bit further down in round one.
But, even if the Chiefs decide to snag a guy like Brian Brohm or Andre Woodson in round one, they will need to do something major to improve their porous offensive line.
From: jesusfan2722@aol.com
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Dec 12, 2007 10:44 AM
Subject: 2008 mock draft
You have the Bucs taking a CB... the bucs play cover 2 which means they don't need a superstar corner to do well. I've heard that teams that play cover 2 almost never use a 1st round pick on a CB. I think the bucs would be more likely to pick DeSean Jackson or, like you said, a stud OLB.
Lou: You make a very valid point about how corner is not nearly as important in a "Tampa Two" style defense than it would be elsewhere. And while there are rumors swirling that Monte Kiffin may head to Oakland to take on an assistant role there in 2008, with the personnel the Bucs have (e.g. LB Cato June), they may be better off taking a playmaking OLB or a WR with strong kick return skills like DeSean Jackson.
For the last time the Tampa Bay Bucs took a secondary player in the first round, you have to go back to 1986. Bo Jackson at #1 overall is the most memorable player that Tampa Bay drafted that year (though he never signed with the Bucs), but at pick #25 the Bucs took SMU DB Rod Jones (who was part of the scandal that ultimately lead to SMU receiving the death penalty and indirectly changed football forever by helping to cause the breakup of the Southwest Conference.) That pick will have happened 22 years come this April, which is worth noting. Smart drafting landed the team guys like Ronde Barber and John Lynch with non-first rounders, which helped Tampa Bay create the nucleus that eventually won a Super Bowl in January 2003, and perhaps it would make more sense for the Bucs to use a non-first rounder on a corner.
The Bucs used a second round pick on Oregon State strong safety Sabby Piscitelli (who broke his foot early in the year) in the most recent draft, and if they are going to look defense, the team may decide to go with a standout OLB in round one. That makes a great deal of sense depending on certain circumstances, in particular the status of Derrick Brooks. He turns 35 in April, but Brooks also has a reasonable salary at $3 million per year through 2009. Brooks and MLB Barrett Ruud both have more than 100 tackles each already, and Tampa may decide to keep the crew as-is at LB going into 2008, particularly if Brooks shows that he has at least one more good year left in him (which, in my opinion, he already has done.)
The more I think about it, the more I think the Bucs will look to bring in another receiver. Joey Galloway has looked tremendous despite being 36, but Michael Clayton has been an improbable bust after posting amazing stats (nearly 1,200 receiving yards) as a rookie in 2004. I anticipate that the Bucs will keep Clayton around since he is slated to make just $980,000 in 2008 and an even million in 2009, but the time is now to be begin developing a long-term wideout talent, particularly one with the potential for a special teams boost that Jackson shows.
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