Well, so far things seem to be going according to plan for Team Kangaroo. The players we wanted seem to be falling to us. I'm not sure if that is a good thing, or whether it says something horrible about the prospects we chose to target. Now I just have to hope that our plan wasn't an incredibly stupid one.
Predictably, our first pick was Joel Bitonio, and I'm sure I'll get scolded by people for "reaching" here, but it's a pick I'm happy with. I would have preferred to trade back, but I have no say in this. When our second pick rolled around, the top 3 remaining prospects on our Little Big Board were Kareem Martin, Cody Latimer, and Allen Robinson, and I really wasn't planning to take a wideout, but plans change. When Ozzie selected Timmy Jernigan (seriously, WTF?), who I have little faith in, my willingness to take a gamble went up a bit. Actually, it went up a whole lot, as we selected Cody Latimer, who I've had a strange fascination with despite missing some data on him. This pick is making me fairly nervous, and I suspect Allen Robinson would have been the safer option, at least among the available receivers. Despite those concerns, when the 3rd round came up, and Kareem Martin was still available (who I would have probably been willing to take in the 1st round, if I had to), I was ecstatic.
One strange little factor in this series of events was the trade that the Cowboys made in the 2nd round, where they sent their 2nd and 3rd round picks to the Redskins. As far as I could tell, from looking at pre-draft team visits, I felt that the Cowboys were probably one of the main suitors for Kareem Martin. When they were no longer a threat, as they picked just ahead of the Ravens in both rounds before trading those picks away, the chances of Kareem Martin taking a tumble and falling into my lap went up quite a bit. Or maybe I'm hallucinating, and just got lucky. I really have no idea, but it surprised me that it worked out this way. Now, I just need for Martin to not suck. That would be nice.
Maybe things are going horribly for us, and I just don't know it yet. Either way, I'm just happy we haven't pulled a Da'Rick Rogers yet, and selected someone with a high pick, only to see them go undrafted. We seemed to have a lot of those sorts of picks last year. It was a bit embarrassing, so it's a pleasant surprise to see that this hasn't occurred yet. Still, as we move into the later rounds, I'm sure our picks will become a bit more ridiculous. I'm bound to do something harebrained at any moment.
While I'm mystified by the picks that Ozzie Newsome is making, he's far from the only GM who is doing their best to confuse me. I'm particularly stunned by the way certain teams with really poor offensive lines appear to be doing very little to protect their quarterbacks. The Giants, Steelers and Ravens, in particular, seem intent on getting their QBs killed, though there are still some good linemen available. I'm really curious to see which of these teams makes some moves to address this issue with their remaining picks.
To some degree, I also like to follow what the Seahawks organization is doing, as they tend to be an interesting group that goes off the beaten path a bit. Still, I was a bit shocked when they selected Paul Richardson. While I respect the Seahawks decision makers, at least more than I do many of the other teams, Richardson still strikes me as a huge risk. More than anything else, I would be afraid that his skinny 175# frame will end up resulting in frequent injuries. I'm not trying to jinx him, but it would scare the hell out of me. Considering the team's history with players like Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin, I would have thought durability would be a bigger concern.
Oh well, onward to Day 3...
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