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04.28.2008 7:58 am

Breaking down the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is one of the weirdest spectacles in sports. It’s not exactly a made-for-TV event — guys in suits yammering away and waving their arms — but ESPN and the NFL Network try hard to make it seem fascinating.

Here is what some of our favorite pundits saw over the weekend:

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “With the Redskins’ first-rounder, the Falcons grabbed Southern Cal offensive tackle Sam Baker, son of Arena Football League commissioner David Baker. Makes perfect sense to me. After all, Bud Selig, David Stern, Gary Bettman and Tim Finchem don’t have any kids who are 6-4 5/8, 309 pounds.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Forget about 330-pound Jake Long. Everybody knows the three biggest entities in (the) NFL draft are: (1) Chris Berman’s ego, (2) John Clayton’s forehead, (3) Mel Kiper’s hair.”

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: “Through the years, one of the best parts of the draft is watching the video from the family parties. The legendary bash that LenDale White appeared to be throwing when Tennessee took him remains the stuff of legend. That was a crowd that was enjoying itself. (Joe) Flacco needs to step up his game from I-AA to NFL starter. Even his family and friends wore silly ‘Let’s Go Joe’ t-shirts. Marlo Stanfield will not allow him to represent Baltimore like that.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Only one controversy in the first round: Tampa Bay drafted cornerback Aqib Talib despite reports he tested positive for marijuana. Cannot confirm that when introducing him, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell immediately suspended Talib to beat the rush.”

Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: “If Jerry Angelo wasn’t an NFL general manager, he’d be a worm farmer. Or an air-duct cleaner. Or a first-base coach. Or a Rockford tour guide. Or a cement-mixer driver. Or Lovie Smith’s hair stylist. You know, something boring that requires little creativity. Saturday, in a draft of immense importance to the Bears, Angelo again hit the snooze button when he needed to bust a move and resurrect his fading football franchise. This is a man whose reputation as an erratic draft-day maneuverer never has been more heavily doubted, yet rather than take chances and excite the nervous masses, he and his minions stuck to a script and chose two players who may or may not make grand impact.”

Sam Farmer, Los Angekes Times: “If there’s a moral to this draft story, it’s this: Mamas, let your babies grow up to be offensive linemen. A record seven of them went in the first round.”

Don Banks, SI.com: “Let me get this straight: the Lions traded two picks to Miami to select Central Florida running back Kevin Smith with the first selection of the draft’s second day, No. 64 overall? I think I’m beginning to understand the draft strategy in Detroit. Whenever possible, you take the best available generically named running back — providing his first name is Kevin. The Lions cut injury-prone veteran running back Kevin Jones (first round, 2004) earlier this offseason and just replaced him with Kevin Smith. What, was Kevin Doe draft ineligible?”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering why every other general manager took a pass on Kyle Lohse during spring training:

  • Should the Cards send the Astros a thank-you note for firing them up over the weekend and prodding them out of their slump?
  • When, exactly, did Brandon Backe turn into The Terminator on the mound? What’s with the Don Drysdale routine?
  • Will Troy Glaus relax now that he has finally gone yard?
  • Is there any reason to rush Cesar Izturis back into the starting lineup?
  • Now that the Pirates have turned him lose, will Matt Morris use his free time to search for his missing fastball?

ONE GIANT MELON

Chris Long touched on many topics during his first Rams news conference, but he didn’t not address his father’s skull size. But that topic came up recently on Dan Patrick’s syndicated radio show.

Patrick asked Chris about Howie’s hat size.

“I’m going to estimate 8 ¾,” Chris said.

“So I could use your dad’s hat for a beer cooler if I wanted to?” Patrick said.

“You could,” Chris said. “You might have to buy out 7-Eleven’s ice supply.”

MEGAPHONE

“Some of our guys play Madden better than they play on Sundays. And they spend more time talking about playing Madden.”

Retired Packers quarterback Brett Favre, the cover boy on the Madden NFL ’09 video game.

26 comments

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Bernie had a good write up in his blog about how stupid grading a draft class the day of the draft really is. A good read if you find time today.

I wish more teams would tick the Cards off the way Houston does. This team seems to respond well. Too bad they let the game go Friday…

Whoever said that Jay Mariotti is a pompous windbag last week…I’m starting to see your point.

— Tim
8:25 am April 28th, 2008

Rams need to sign Chris Long quickly so that no time is wasted…OTA’s and mini-camps are right around the corner.

I thought Moe was high when he signed some clown named Lohse…but he has been the ace so far this season…I apologize Moe but please, don’t sign Matt Morris…leave that to Walt.

— Ten High
8:56 am April 28th, 2008

The Astros are a bunch of pussies but what would you expect with a manager named Cecil????

Nice to see that Glaus finally received that latest shipment of HGH, now if he would just share with Ankiel….

It wouldn’t be a typical Rams draft if they didn’t make you scratch your head….

Thanks for coming Matt Morris…. What were the Pirates thinking anyway??? Could a trade for Barry Zito be very far away???

— S.W.
9:07 am April 28th, 2008

SW, what was it about the Rams draft you didn’t like? Maybe Brandon Backe and you should get a room together…..

— J.T.
9:15 am April 28th, 2008

OK, I’m officially done reading anything Jay Mariotti writes. Hopefully Gordo will follow suit.

— RG
9:18 am April 28th, 2008

Weekend Observations: Not sure if Wainwright did the right thing (no way Oswalt was throwing at the Cards backup catcher) but I like the fact that he made a conscious decision to be a leader and send a message. That was a very gutsy performance by Wainwright. Backe is a total loser!

Nicely done Rams. Long reminds me of Grant Wistrom with more talent and a little more size. Only time will tell if he can play. Either way, at least he won’t embarrass the city by ending up in prison then subsequently on the Dallas Cowboys roster. Is Jerry Jones the biggest owner whore in all of sports or is it me?

— cncdaddy
9:19 am April 28th, 2008

Don’t forget to watch SportsCenter tonight, we have more NBA highlights. We won’t show you any passing or defense, just tons more highlights of people dunking. Because all these dunks will be completely different than the 10,000 other dunks we’ve shown this week. We will also just post the scores to baseball games so we have time to go back and have ten dunks on our Top Ten plays. We’re ESPN, our shit doesn’t stink!

— ESPN
9:45 am April 28th, 2008

Last time I checked there wasn’t a gun to your head making you watch ESPN…if you don’t like what we put on, don’t watch! It’s pretty simple really…

— You have a choice...
10:44 am April 28th, 2008

I’m not necessarily interested in who teams draft in the first round, who as we know, don’t always work out. Probably because some of them peaked in college and can’t/won’t take it to the NFL level. Many players drafted pretty low, had VERY productive careers. Brett Farve, Jerry Rice, Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce are just a few that come to mind.

— pf
12:11 pm April 28th, 2008

I’m the pompous-windbag guy you are looking for…or something….

Not a Bears fan, but taking 3 linemen is something that team needs. If they are going to succeed, like every other team tries, you need to keep your QB standing and have your RB getting more than 2 ypc. Maybe Benson won’t be a bust if there is a line to get him some holes to run though.

Rams did fine. Argue all you want about the 2nd Round pick, it’s warranted, but overall, they did fine. They addressed what they wanted and reached on one pick, a pick, if it works out, could be huge. And with the NFL, there is no sure-fire hit. They are all one bad tackle away from being done so who knows?

— whatthetlr?
12:57 pm April 28th, 2008

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