2008 NFL DRAFT LIVE THREAD

http://www.nfl.com/draft/tracker#tab:dt-by-round ^

[mainepatsfan]

2008 NFL DRAFT LIVE THREAD

April 26

3:00PM ET - ESPN

1ST ROUND DRAFT ORDER

1 - Miami Dolphins - Jake Long, OT, Michigan

2 - St. Louis Rams

3 - Atlanta Falcons

4 - Oakland Raiders

5 - Kansas City Chiefs

6 - New York Jets

7 - New England Patriots (From 49ers)

8 - Baltimore Ravens

9 - Cincinnati Bengals

10 - New Orleans Saints

11 - Buffalo Bills

12 - Denver Broncos

13 - Carolina Panthers

14 - Chicago Bears

15 - Detroit Lions

16 - Arizona Cardinals

17 - Kansas City Chiefs (From Vikings)

18 - Houston Texans

19 - Philadelphia Eagles

20 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

21 - Washington Redskins

22 - Dallas Cowboys (From Browns)

23 - Pittsburgh Steelers

24 - Tennessee Titans

25 - Seattle Seahawks

26 - Jacksonville Jaguars

27 - San Diego Chargers

28 - Dallas Cowboys

29 - San Francisco 49ers (From Colts)

30 - Green Bay Packers

31 - New York Giants

[darkangel82]

An opening Monday night game with 2 dud teams, 3(!)for the Browns? NFL schedule makers are teh stupids.

[Richard Kimball]

Re: The Bills pick. Maybe I’m out of touch, but isn’t it a little bit of a reach to pick a 5’ 10” cover corner in the first round? I thought the trend towards cover corners was taller, to deal with the bigger wideouts.

[Dysart]

KC move up, and on the clock. They need everything.

Pick up Branden “Fat” Albert.

[Darren McCarty]

Gosder Cherilus? I don't know anything about him, but Kiper gave him a "C" rating as a tackle.

Giving Matt Millen's history, I'm not optimistic.

[justiceseeker93]

The draft is deemed a necessity of the league to thrive, hence it has been upheld by the courts until now.

My gut feeling is that your are off base on that, both legally and historically. I believe that the only basis by which courts have upheld the legality of a draft is that a players union had voluntarily entered into a collective bargaining agreement with a league and agreed to a "draft," thereby waiving its members' rights to contract freely as individuals. That is what a union collective bargaining agreement generally does.

People forget the historical fact that professional baseball leagues thrived (in general) without any "draft" until about 1965. Even today, there is no "draft" for FOREIGN players entering professional baseball - they can agree to play for any team they wish. Similarly, professional hockey did not start a "draft" until the 1970s(?) and was able to thrive before that. In fact, even professional football wa in business before it started the first sports "draft" c. 1935. Although it hardly "thrived" before then, its relatively unstable finances during that eatrly period can be attributed to factors other than the lack of a "draft." And college sports have always survived, if not thrived, without "drafts."

What is a necessity of a league of professional sports teams to thrive is that league members recognize contracts signed by players with other members and are barred from negotiating with such players until their contracts expire. This should not be confused with a "draft."

[KevinDavis]

When you have no offensive line to block you.. Anyone can be a bust..

[misterrob]

He mentioned that they might use it to trade up. With 62, 69, 78 and 94 they can get a good LB and a few DBs. B grade corners are available. Maybe LB Henderson from Maryland late in round 2?

The key to all of this is Seymour. If he comes back in good shape then that changes everything.

[Dysart]

Tampa picks Aqib Talib. Horrible pick!

[justiceseeker93]

You overlook the main reason why there is a “draft” at all - to reduce the salaries that players might otherwise command in a free competitive market, so that the owners can improve their profits. Of course owners and leagues will never tell you this, often selling the “draft” to the public as a means of achieving “equality.” These owners, for the most part, advocate their own form of socialism within their closed “society.” No wonder why the large majority of them are fat-cat Democrats politically.

[Dysart]

Dallas takes Felix Jones at 22.

[Uncle Ivan]

Darren McFadden, WELCOME TO THE OAKLAND RAIDERS

My condolences to D-Mac.

[justiceseeker93]

If engineers, computer scientists, chemists, etc., worked in businesses where people payed to watch them compete against each other. then THEY wouldn't be free to choose their employer and place of employment either.

You miss several points which contradict your statement. First of all, college athletes are free to choose what college they wish to play for, and people do pay to see them compete against each other. You may argue that college athletics are not "a business," but many would disagree.

So lets move onto professional athletes. There is now a "free agency" system in most professional sports, which a "draft" precludes for entering players, no matter what the level of their skills. So many professional athletes are indeed free to choose their employer and place of employment and people indeed pay to watch them to compete against one another.

Historically, professional athletes DID have the right to choose their employer and place of employment, even on entry. No sports "draft" was existent until c. 1935 when the NFL invented one - primarily to save on incoming players' salaries. Similarly, major league baseball didn't have a "draft" for previously amateur incoming players until 1965. So ALL incoming professional baseball players had the right to choose their employer and (to a certain extent) their place of employment for close to a century before then. Even today, such incoming baseball players from outside the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico still have that right. And professional hockey didn't have a "draft" until the 1970s(?), so hockey players had such rights before then.

[Dysart]

Dallas trades and picks up CB Mike Jenkins.

[BJClinton]

Dallas trades and picks up CB Mike Jenkins.

That should resolve our defensive backfield issues.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

and then there’s the “conservatives” who have the ability to spot differences as wall as similarities. The NFL, or any league, is hurt if a team at the bottom is in effect a useless team. They are bound to keep them viable, if at all possible. The field of engineering has no reason to make the worst engineering firm any better. An entertaining sports league is both competitive and collective at once. Some “Conservatives” think, then post.

[justiceseeker93]

What you said about relative salaries of NFL picks vs. those of scientists and engineers may be exaggerated and overgeneralized to some extent, and of course, neglects to mention that careers in professional football are much, much, shorter than careers in the sciences as a general rule.

It may not break your heart that these athletes can't choose their employer, but it should at least concern anyone who is an advocate of free market economics.

Not to advocate specifically for the players, but I should point out that not all of these NFL draftees have jobs "lined up" before graduation. Some will be injured or cut from their teams before they even get an opportunity to play their first professional game. Yes, it can be very financially rewarding for some, but it's a very risky business.

[HiramQuick]

Oh, I don't discount that at all, I agree.

And the parity issue has always been a smoke screen in reality. the salary cap is the socialist aspect .... but it does initially even out the teams initially. But despite the NFL’s governance that drives us nuts .... excellence always finds a way to moving to the top ten year after year. And the bottom ten year after year .... despite the handouts .... seem to stay there as well.

It still comes down to quality of leadership, management and motivation.

Somehow I think Lombardi an Halas are shaking their heads in disbelief.

Does the stop me from being an NFL junkie? Nope. They caught me and take my money ... easily. year after year

[AGreatPer]

Hey, I'm happy.

It took them 19 years, but the Steelers today finally drafted a running back in the first round when they selected Rashard Mendenhall of Illinois with the 23rd pick.

Mendenhall has Barry Foster-like size at 5-10, 225 and should serve as the perfect complement to Willie Parker, a Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, if you will. Mendenhall ran for 1,681 yards last season and averaged a whopping 6.4 per carry. He also has a 4.41 speed in the 40, considered excellent for his size.

He lasted a lot longer in the first round than most expected, and it did not take the Steelers long to snap him up.

My only reservation is that he played in the Big Ten. And, who is going to block for him? I think they will attempt to address that in the next rounds.

Go Steelers.

[justiceseeker93]

The NFL, or any league, is hurt if a team at the bottom is in effect a useless team.

As long as you keep won-lost records and standings of the teams, there's going to be someone at the bottom. That's the sports are and that's the way life is.

What the heck is "useless" team? If my team beats a bad team, I enjoy the win just the same. Just about every bad team is financially viable anyhow, especially in the NFL where everyone is guaranteed massive TV contract revenue whether they win or lose. And if that losing team has an incentive to improve, let them go out and pay market rates for the best management, coaches, and players they can find. Or let them sell their franchise to someone who will.

That's real capitalism, not mercantilism or collectivism.

[justiceseeker93]

It still comes down to quality of leadership, management, and motivation.

Plus, of course, the quality of the players!