I Shall Try My Hand At Sportswriting

It has been two days since the end of the 2008 NFL Draft, and I have some thoughts.

In general:

- Miami made absolutely the right choice with their first overall pick by going with Jake Long. Like any offensive lineman, he won't often be in the limelight, but Long has the skills and experience to give the Dolphins a much-needed boost. They also selected Chad Henne in the second round, showing their relative lack of faith in John Beck.

- Baltimore should not have chosen Delaware QB Joe Flacco in the first round. He has tons of potential and with his physical skills, he will develop into a good quarterback, but with Steve McNair's retirement, the Ravens need help at the position now. Do they really believe that Flacco can manage an NFL-style offense better than Louisville's Brian Brohm or Michigan's Chad Henne, at least in the next year or two?

- Contracts for rookie players are absolutely astonishing. Last year, JaMarcus Russell signed a six-year, $61 million contract, with $35 million in guarantees (Thanks to RotoWorld for this information). This all for a guy who has never taken a single snap in the NFL. Essentially, these guys are being paid for their great college careers. That's all well and good, but even the casual football fan can give you the names of fantastic college players that crapped out in the NFL. It's a huge risk for a team to pay rookies this much, but the alternative is having to deal with endless holdouts and other such distractions.


Now, for dem Stillers.

1) Rashard Mendenhall (RB, Illinois)
2) Limas Sweed (WR, Texas)
3) Bruce Davis (LB, UCLA)
4) Tony Hills (OT, Texas)
5) Dennis Dixon (QB, Oregon)
6) Mike Humpal (LB, Iowa)
7) Ryan Mundy (S, West Virginia)

- I am surprised that we waited until the fourth round to pick up an offensive lineman; the entire line underperformed last year, and it doesn't help that we lost Alan Faneca to the Jets. I understand not selecting one in the first round; by the time we picked at 23, all of the O-linemen worth a first round pick were gone. Fourth round, though?

- I like the selection of Limas Sweed. He is tall enough to win a jump ball with a cornerback, and fast enough to get behind safeties. I agree with Hines Ward that we didn't NEED a tall wide receiver, but it's nice to have one. Hines, Santonio, and Sweed are going to bother some defenses this year.

- Rashard Mendenhall was a good choice for the 23rd pick. Willie Parker is an excellent running back, but the 2007 season showed that he has trouble handling the every-down role for a full season. Mendenhall changes it up with a tendency to run inside, and is a good receiver out of the backfield. The Steelers have the makings of an even more formidable ground game next year.

- Dennis Dixon was an interesting choice. He suffered a knee injury at the end of last season, but he is fast and athletic enough to work out as a receiver if necessary, and one who can throw the ball at that. He could definitely be a more effective, albeit a backup, version of Kordell Stewart if we use him right.

- We love drafting linebackers.