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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
January 11, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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Following last night's Titans/Ravens game, my girlfriend and I went out to dinner at a Chili's restaurant not too far from where I live in Smyrna, TN. There was a lingering sense of disappointment that hung in the air, shared seemingly by everyone we encountered at the restaurant. People wearing Titans blue jerseys seemed to all have the same look of stunned disbelief on their faces. Even our waiter seemed to be in a daze.
Baltimore's win impacts the order of the 2009 NFL Draft, since that means the Titans are out of the #32 spot and it will be either Baltimore or Pittsburgh in the #31/32 slot.
 | Albert Haynesworth could have an indirect impact on the 2009 draft. (Icon SMI)
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Meanwhile, teams in the #23-30 range moved up one spot with the NFC results over the weekend, as either the Cardinals (at #21) or Eagles (at #22) will slide down the board to #31/32 depending who wins next week's NFC Championship Game in Arizona.
Looking at the Titans, it was interesting to hear quotes attributed to the Titans management that placed second-year center Leroy Harris (a 2007 fourth round pick out of NC State) as the "center of the future" for the team once 37-year-old Kevin Mawae is done. Mawae turns 38 later this month and has just one year remaining on his contract. The mock draft up on the site as of this writing has the Titans taking California center Alex Mack, but if the Titans are really sold on Harris, perhaps they won't go in that direction in round one.
Yesterday could have been the final game for DT Albert Haynesworth in a Titans uniform. He is likely to command a massive contract with a huge signing bonus in free agency, and the Titans are contractually prohibited from using the franchise tag on Haynesworth this off-season. Haynesworth is 27 and playing as well as anyone else at the DT position today, and he will likely receive some staggering, mind-blowing contract offers in unrestricted free agency. Pat Kirwan of NFL.com ranked Haynesworth as the top defensive tackle in the league prior to the 2008 season.
Haynesworth could end up going to a team that might otherwise look to the draft for a top flight defensive tackle, which is why I mention this (and why I try to keep a close eye on impending free agency). A perfectly aligned draft board can (and usually is) thrown into chaos when the free agent feeding frenzy begins on March 1 and team needs suddenly change dramatically overnight. I'm not complaining -- that's part of what makes this process so interesting to me.
With Carolina losing last night to Arizona, the Panthers face some tough decisions. Jake Delhomme is entering the final year of his contract, and while John Fox says that the team plans to bring him back (with a salary of $5.325 million), the team still has to plan for the future. Also, there is the issue of DE Julius Peppers, whose contract has now expired. Odds are that if the Panthers can't sign Peppers to a long-term deal before February 28 that the team will use the franchise tag on him.
What the Giants do from here will be interesting. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward are both eligible for unrestricted free agency, though one would figure that the Giants will do everything they can to retain Jacobs, up to and including using the franchise tag. Longtime Giants WR Amani Toomer is also headed for unrestricted free agency, and today might have been his final game for New York.
For the Chargers, the team's impending free agency losses aren't as severe. The Chargers will likely lose Darren Sproles (and his mediocre rushing performance against Pittsburgh didn't do much to give the team great reason to re-sign him, though as a kick returner he remains a very dangerous weapon), but overall they should have mostly the same team intact for next year... not to mention the return of Shawne Merriman.
A late update tonight: Tim Tebow has announced that he plans to return to Florida for his senior season.
Tomorrow I anticipate that we will hear from players from Florida and Oklahoma who could apply for early entry into the 2009 NFL Draft. There seems to be a perceived inevitability about Florida junior WR Percy Harvin leaving school for the NFL, whereas the decisions for Florida junior LB Brandon Spikes and Oklahoma redshirt sophomore QB Sam Bradford remain a mystery as for now. They, along with the rest of the eligible underclassmen, have until January 15, 2009 to apply for entry into the 2009 NFL Draft, and from there until January 18, 2009 to withdraw from the draft.
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