My 1st-round grades

[thumper]

1. Carolina Panthers; Cam Newton; quarterback; Auburn - What was Carolin a
to do? Cam has sick skills, but is he a good enough person? Will he be smart
enough to get the NFL plays and defenses? Can't know. But I don't think Car.
could afford to pass on him. Jimmy Clausen is their current QB and he is a
punk ass poser whose teammates have never liked. You can't be a leader
if everyone hates you. You have to inspire you teammates. But I can't give them
an "A" for just doing pretty much what they had to. If Cam ends up being a star
and the skipped on him, the fans may never forgive the team. B+


2. Denver Broncos; Von Miller; outside linebacker; Texas A&M - Similar to Car.
in that they almost had to take this kid. Along with Dumervile, Von Miller will
provide madness at rushing the QB. Denver was one of the very worst Ds in
the NFL. This goes a long way to changing that. A-


3. Buffalo Bills; Marcell Dareus; defensive tackle; Alabama - This guys is a beast
and the Bills were pathetic at rushing D. They had to make this pick. A.


4. Cincinnati Bengals; A.J. Green; wide receiver; Georgia - With the mess Cinci
finds itself in, they had to go BAP. And this pick does that. Ocho is on last legs
but they do have other WRs in the wings, but no one like this kid and it fits
the mode of the Bengals in always stacking up at WR. A


5. Arizona Cardinals; Patrick Peterson; cornerback, Louisiana State - With their
QB situation in a total mess, they did good in not letting the BAP go by. This had
to be the pick. This guys is Hall of Fame level in skills. B+


6. Atlanta Falcons (from Cleveland); Julio Jones; wide receiver; Alabama - Horrid
pick. They gave up a boatload of value hoping this kid is the next huge time
WR. He drops balls. And he might have low IQ. Way to much of a gamble with
a team that needs better defense. GB shredded them in play offs. Jones won't
change that. D-


7. San Francisco 49ers; Aldon Smith; defensive end; Missouri - I honestly
thought there was better value but at least they didn't crap their pants. C

8. Tennessee Titans; Jake Locker; quarterback; Washington - Thought this
was a reach. I have never understood why some rave about this guy. He
has never shown he can throw with consistent accuracy. Yes, he's like
Tebow in that he is big and will run over ppl. But he will get killed doing
that in the NFL. I don't think this is a good pick at all. D.


9. Dallas Cowboys; Tyron Smith; offensive tackle; University of Southern California -
Actually got to give Dallas props for making a sound pick instead of going for
whoever was the flashiest skill position out there. This guy is solid, needs to
grow some, add some muscle, but he fills a major need for them, as their OL
had gotten rickety pretty quickly. B+


10. Jacksonville Jaguars (from Washington); Blaine Gabbert; quarterback; Missouri - I really don't get this pick. This guy's value shot up at combine, but why? Work
out #s don't matter with QBs. How did he play football games matters far more.
He was a good college QB but isn't consistent and doesn't make good decisions
on where to throw the ball. He threw into double and triple coverage a lot. Plus,
Jags had to give up picks to get him, on a team full of holes at OL, WR, CB, LB, DE and safety. This one was a head scratcher. D-

11. Houston Texans; J.J. Watt; defensive end, Wisconsin - Their D was a joke.
They had to try something to fix it and this guy makes sense. B

12. Minnesota Vikings; Christian Ponder; quarterback; Florida State - Huge reach.
Ponder will be a career back up. he simply didn't win enough in college. If he
were a legit NFL prospect he would have won more games. Plus, they didn't
need to take him this high. Bad, bad. Plenty of other better values at this point.
They are getting old on both lines, could use a DB or LB. F

13. Detroit Lions; Nick Fairley; defensive tackle; Auburn - Love this pick. Any
time you can make one unit like King Kong, you do it. Having two beasts right
in the middle of the D is a great start to continuing the teams growth. Plus they
got this kid later than he was supposed to go. The Lions are coming
together if Stafford can stay healthy. A.

14. St. Louis Rams; Robert Quinn; defensive end; North Carolina - good value
and needed, even though you'd think they'd go WR none left were worthy of
this spot. B

15. Miami Dophins; Mike Pouncey; offensive center; Florida - I think Mike
owes his bro half of his signing bonus. Fact that Maurice did so well in Pgh
boosted this guy's spot a lot. But, still a good pick. B-

16. Washington Redskins (from Jacksonville); Ryan Kerrigan; defensive end; Purdue
- Skins are a mess. This is a solid pick to stop the bleeding. B+

17. New England Patriots (from Oakland); Nate Solder; offensive tackle; Colorado
- I don't get they hype on this kid, being that he is a pushover right now. He _could_
develop and add muscle, but right now, he isn't even ready to play. C-

18. San Diego Chargers; Corey Liuget, defensive tackle; Illinois - Kind of a head
scratcher. They play a 3-4 and, like Pgh, I don't know if an end in the 1st round
is the best way to go. C

19. New York Giants; Prince Amukamara, cornerback; Nebraska - Good late
grab. Big value for where they picked. A steal. A.

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Adrian Clayborn; defensive end; Iowa - Nice
addition to their re-build of D. Safe and logical. B+

21. Cleveland Browns (from Kansas City through Atlanta); Phil Taylor; defensive tackle; Baylor - They are gong back to 4-3 and need DLmen. This guy is a
a beast and they got him late after getting so much for their trade with ATL. A.

22. Indianapolis Colts; Anthony Castonzo; offensive tackle; Boston College - B+

23. Philadelphia Eagles; Danny Watkins; offensive guard; Baylor - C

24. New Orleans Saints; Cameron Jordan; defensive end; California - A-

25. Seattle Seahawks; James Carpenter; offensive guard; Alabama - Thought
there was more value than this guy. C-

26. Kansas City Chiefs (from Atlanta through Cleveland); Jonathan Baldwin; wide receiver; Pittsburgh - They desperately needed another WR but Baldwin seems
like he has a bad attitude. C-

27 Baltimore Ravens; Jimmy Smith; cornerback; Colorado - Has skills to
put him in top 10 and with Ray Lewis, they will get this kids attitude right. Now
we can't just pick on their CBs like last year. Bad for us. A

28. New Orleans (from New England); Mark Ingram, running back; Alabama - Huge
value pick. This could bring NO right back to Super Bowl contention. Ingram
doesn't have top end speed, and that's his only knock. Neither did Walter Peyton
and Emmit Smith. Ingram might be in their class. And NO got him with the 28th pick.
A+.


29. Chicago Bears; Gabe Carimi; offensive tackle; Wisconsin - Solid. B+

30. New York Jets; Muhammad Wilkerson; defensive end; Temple - Might
be a reach here. C

31. Pittsburgh Steelers; Cameron Heyward; defensive end, Ohio State - Solid
but they better hope they find good players at CB and OL in this draft too. B+

32. Green Bay Packers; Derek Sherrod; offensive tackle; Mississippi State - Great
value at this spot. Sherrod is a solid player and GB is getting long in the tooth at OT.
A