Draft Day

So, it's draft day '08 and I'll try to follow the significant events for Michigan fans and picks of local interest.

1. Jake. No further words necessary. (The first of two likely Wolverine first round picks. (Hey Millen, how about taking Chad after trading down a few notches?? -- Or maybe you could just take another MSU wide receiver. That'd be a good idea.)

2. Long Number 2 is expected, according to the espn guys and The Doo (Mel Kiper, also known as TD).

Aaaannd: Yes, The Doo nailed it.

3. Atlanta is supposed to take Matt Ryan. The Doo is going to continue to gush over him the next 10 minutes. Trade?

Bonus Material: Did anyone at ESPN consider telling Shannon Sharpe that he looked like a circus clown?

Aaaannd: No surprise, other than Sharpe's outfit.

4. Oakland. Will they stay with the offense for Lane Kiffin, or will Al Davis stick it to his coach and take a defensive star after Lane wanted to fire the defensive staff, but Davis wouldn't let him? If offense, it's McFadden. If defense, I'd guess it will be Dorsey.

Aaaaand: Kiffin wins.

RED WINGS: GOOOOOOOAAL. 1-0 WINGS.

5. KC on the clock. This is a toss up, as far as I'm concerned. KC could use some Dline help. They should go with Dorsey. We'll see.

Aaaand: Dorsey it is. Wow, Herbstreit trying to cover up his buckeye favortism by saying that Dorsey is the best DL in the draft and the best DT in 13 years.

6. Jets: McFadden is gone, who they surely would have taken. Would they take VG if Dorsey is gone to KC?

Bonus Material: Not that my vote counts, but with the way this is potentially shaking out, I'd love to see the Cowboys give the Lions some draft picks for Roy Williams here. Can't imagine that Matty would make a smart move, but . . .

Aaaaand: FWIW, they should take a look at Chad or Flacco here. Pennington is, shall we say, very bad? That probably doesn't cover it, actually.

VG it is.

7. It doesn't seem possible, but New England is picking 7th. Doesn't seem right, does it. Will they take VG? Will they trade down? We know they aren't taking Vernon. I really have no idea who they'll actually take here. But, I'd be thinking defense were I Belichek.

Will it be Rivers? Personally, I'd like to see them trade down. But who's going to jump up here? Maybe Millen to draft a receiver?

Aaand: TRADE! Sean Payton, huh. We know him. We contacted him. How about Rivers?

Ellis. I think this is a great pick. I actually believe he could be better than Dorsey and Ghoston. I was hoping he'd be there at the Lions pick. O'well.

8. Already, Jacksonville moves up to Baltimore's pick. Mort says they have the guy in mind. Thought he said Harvey. Missed part of it. The Doo likes Mendenhall in this area on his chart.

Aaand: The Doo says they'd be crazy to move up to pick the "23rd best player in the draft". Wow. Harvey. Dumb move, in my mind. He would have been there later. Why would they trade all the way to 8th to take Harvey. Why not try to trade with Chicago, the Lions, or someone a little lower?

BTW, what a GREAT trade for Baltimore. 4 picks for one. Nice move.

9. Cincinnati: Who will become the next felon?

Aaand: Looks like Rivers as he's crying before the commercial break.

It is so.

10. New England is back. They missed out on Rivers, if they wanted him. They needed LB help.

Aaaand. Mayo. Darn it. That's a Lions pick, too. Major bummer. Maybe they did miss out on Rivers, as Mayo and Rivers play the same position, and Rivers universally higher ranked by the pundits, and The Doo.

GOOOOOOOAAAAAL. Franzen. 2-0

GOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLL! 3-0. Right between goalie legs.

11. Buffalo: I missed this entirely while watching 2 goals in a minute by the Wings. Missed The Doo. They took the CB McKelvin.

12. Denver. All set at quarterback are the Broncos. Henne won't be it.

Aaand: Ryan Clady, Boise. Tackle. Good pick. This is the type of guy that we can expect to see on Michigan's OL athletically in tye next 4-5 years.

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAL Henrik. 4-0 Wings.


Followed by a McCarty fight!

13. Panthers. Missed it while watching the Wings score again, but Jonathon Stewart the 2nd back taken? Really? Why not Mendenhall? I shouldn't wonder after watching what he did to our sieve defense v. Oregon. But, I'm surprised. This is good for Mendenhall to Lions proponents, though.


14. Chicago: They're going to steal Mendenhall from the grasp of the Lions, were I a betting man. But, I've never bet. Not even on the Wolverines in the NIT in Vegas. So I don't know what I'm talking about.

I cannot imagine anyone taking Felix Jones in this range. He shouldn't go until the end of the 1st, for my money.

Aaaand: There goes one of the Lions 2 possibilities at tackle. Now probably Mendenhall of rhe tackle out of VT.

15. Millen's Miserious Lions: Conventional wisdom is Mendenhall or a tackle. As much as they need a wide out, I'm still hoping for a trade down for multiple picks. If not, Henne, Henne.

Please take Henne. Please take Henne. Please take Henne. Kitna must go. Stanton, muh, not so much. With Martz gone, we've got to think pounding the ball with play action passing, unlike Martz-ball. Henne would be perfect for this. But, he's also probably still available in 8 spots from now.

Hey, wow. Lions war room. Matt had his finger in his nose.

Wooooo. Trade to KC. Awesome move! This is good. Millen, Millen, Millen (what am I thinking?)

So, what do the Lions get: To pick two spots later, and. . . . Meh. The 5th round probably doesn't matter. They do, though, move up 10 spots in the 2nd round, so I guess that'll work out, so long as Arizona doesn't take who the M&M boys want--presumably Mendenhall.

KC takes: Brandon Albert from UVA. Intersting pick considering that he's not supposed to really be ready to play tackle. I thought the idea was to find out whether Coyle could hack it. Not sure how a nonstarter is going to do that.

16. Arizona takes a corner the Lions probably had no interest in, so, good trade and looks like they get Mendenhall at 17.

17. Millen's Not Quite as Miserious Lions:

Aaaaand: Noooooooooooooooooooo! Gozder Cherilus?????? Whyy?

Really. Why not just take the kid from UVA at 15? I like taking an offensive lineman. I don't like this offensive lineman at this spot. The Doo says a "C" grade.

18. Trade to Baltimore = Flacco. Ok. I guess. Cam Cameron takes Flacco instead of Chad. Huh. Chad will be next qb to go. Cam must have been lured by the helmet.

19. Eagles. This should be an offensive lineman. The guy from VT is still available. Trade. Jacksonville takes. . . .

Aaaaand. Otah. Well, there's a tackle Millen could have taken and expected to play. I do agree with The Doo, though, that Jacksonville gave up quite a bit.

20. Bucs. I dare you, Jon. Take the State receiver.

Aaand: I like it. DB from Kansas. Aquib alone is a great name. Not to mention Talib sounds really stinkin' good with Aquib. Nice pick, I think. I would've taken him for the Lions at 17. Apparently, though, Aquib does have Manningham Burning tendancies.

21. Redskins. Trade to Hotlanta. Sam Baker. USC. Interesting move by Atlanta. 6'5" OL to go with Matt Ryan. We're coming up to Chad Henne range here.

22. Dallas. Don't expect Dallas to take Henne, obviously. I'm betting Mendenhall. Maybe Felix.

Aaaand. Felix it is. Can't believe they took him before Mendenhall, really. I guess Mendenhall is a little more like Barber than Felix. Felix probably a little faster and trickier, but not as tough as Mendenhall. At what point does Detroit look to trade up a little to try to pick up Mendenhall?

23. Steelers. Some teams are smart. Others are not. Pitt falls in the former category. The Lions in the latter. The Lions reach to take an OL that probably would have dropped to the 2nd round. Maybe not, but certainly farther than they took him. On the other hand, Mendenhall drops all the way to 23, and Pitt pulls the trigger. Nice pick. This will be a little like having Bettis in the backfield, only Mendenhall may be better.

Aaaand. Mendenhall it is.

24. Tennessee. This could be a slot for Chad. If he doesn't go here, it looks like he could fall to the 2nd round. Well, considering that Nashville actually plans to use Vince Young as its quarterback (though I don't think he'll be around in 2 years) I suppose they really can't take Chad here. ESPN guys talkin' up Devin Thomas. Were it me, I'd take an OL to bolster that line.

Aaaand: Chris Johnson. Wow. Would not have expected a running back here. But, if a 4.24 is a real 40 time, that's amazing. Still wouldn't have pulled the trigger here for this team.

25. Seahawks. Huh. Trade to Dallas, and Dallas picks cb Mike Jenkins. I thought they picked up Pac Man? This guy is blazingly fast. From South Florida. And he returns kicks, including a 100 yarder last year. The 'boys will not be hurting for speed in this draft after taking Jones and Jenkins, plus they'll have Pac Man, who at least before being evicted from the NFL was pretty fast.

26. Texans. Duane Brown. Tackle. VT. Quite the run on OLs. This is a guy who does not look as athletic as Gozder. I'll give the Lions credit here. The Doo had him ahead of Gozder.

Ok. So I took some time off. I realize I have wrongfully called Keshawn, Shannon Sharpe. Sorry Shannon. The rest of the first round went off without much fanfare. The lions took a short linebacker from Colorado with their second pick. Don't know anything about him. I also, suppose it's too much too ask for Detroit to draft good, strong q.b. I mean, you know, they have Drew Stanton. He'll be perfect for the continued mediocrity the Lions are headed for.

Wow, Brian Brohm before Chad. That's surprising to me. Maybe Green Bay wants somebody more mobile than Chad, a la Brett Favre. Still Surprising, Chad's the better pro.

Wooooooooooooh for Chad. Best spot he could've gone. He'll start in 2 years. Parcells will be putting together a tough, running team, and Chad will be perfect for that type of offense. And to go to Miami with Jake. Wow. As much as I would've like to see Chad in Detroit, it's good for his career not to become part of the death star that is the Detroit Lions. Favorite new AFC team = Miami Dolphins.