Detroit and Buffalo Appear to Be the Big Winners in the First Round of the 2009 NFL Draft

The drama of the first pick was taken away the moment we opened up our eyes. Detroit had already negotiated a deal with Matthew Strafford. The QB from Georgia had signed a multi-year contract that was the largest that any rookie has ever seen, including over $41 million guaranteed. From that point, the draft went pretty much as expected. Jason Smith, Tyson Jackson and Aaron Curry went to St. Louis, Kansas City and Seattle respectively. Then the 5th pick came up on the board and the first deal of the day was made.

Cleveland had the pick and there was plenty of talk about Mangini wanting to make a move. Well he did it in a huge way. He traded off his 5th round pick to the Jets and moved down to 17 and also received a second round pick and 3 of his former Jets. With an obvious need at QB, the Jets snagged Sanchez to the cheers of the fans in the audience.

This was a great move for both teams. Mangini immediately gets players in key positions that are familiar with his system and that will garner some locker room support for him and the Jets get one of the best QB's in college football on their roster. There is little doubt that Sanchez will make an immediate impact.

Cincinnati did well to address their line woes with OT Andre Smith. The Oakland Raiders pulled off the next shocking move, but it wasn't done via a trade. With Michael Crabtree still on the board, they chose to select the speedy wide receiver from Maryland, Darrion Heyward-Bay. When you look at the fact that Bay is not a top 3 WR or possibly even a 1st round pick, you just shake your head.

Yes, he is jack rabbit quick and they love to go downfield, but there is no way you can pass up on the talent of Crabtree if you are going to take a WR in that position in the draft. The bright side is that they will probably get a fruit basket from San Francisco as they snagged him at 10 and were about as giddy as can be that he managed to make it down to them.

The fill picks were taken by Jacksonville and Green Bay. Both teams made great picks to address their needs. Jacksonville snagged OT Eugene Monroe to shore up that offensive line that just took some massive hits last year. Green Bay addressed one of the worst defenses in the league and chose the massive B.J. Rahi from B.C. They needed a player that would plug the middle and have an immediate impact and they are getting exactly that. Expect a much better defensive squad this season.

Buffalo addressed and immediate need by drafting a very good DE, Aaron Maybin from Penn State. He may have gone a little high, but there is a lot to like here. Another surprise happened at 12 with Denver taking RB Knowshon Moreno. This is no knock against the young running back, it is more about Denver addressing their needs. They absolutely need a QB and they have to get defensive help and they addressed neither of these. We know they can churn out running backs, but this pick just made no sense.

Both the Washington and the Saints made good picks with Orakpo and Jenkins respectively. They have both been struggling on defense and both got players that will step right on the field and be very effective. The more impressive pick however was probably the Saints as they resisted some very attractive running backs to compliment Bush and got exactly what they needed in a high quality defensive back. They have no other high round picks, so they are going to have to get his backfield partner through a trade, but choosing a running back here would have been a huge mistake.

Another USC player was chosen at 15 with Brian Cushing going to Houston. It is hard to argue with the pick and as long as he stays healthy, he is going to be a force to be dealt with. San Diego was up next and would seem to be set on offense, so the defensive pick was not a surprise. However, picking Larry English from Northern Illinois was. This pick is either going to make them look very foolish or very smart. English was definitely a first round pick, but there were several other players that look a little better on that side of the ball.

Cleveland made its second trade of the day with the 17th pick. As you will recall, they gave the Jets their 5th round pick to get into this spot. They obviously liked the way the draft was going and moved down again so that Tampa could move up two spots. With the pick they chose Josh Freeman, QB from Kansas State. The move was obviously made in fear that Denver was going to use their second pick in the first round to address the QB situation. While the position choice made sense, I am not so sure about the player. There are a lot of question marks that surround this kid and Tampa Bay may be in for another long season.

Cleveland made yet another move at 19 by trading the pick to Philadelphia who in turn addressed the WR position with Jeremy Maclin. The thought process behind this selection is baffling. He is a talented receiver, but with Boldin available, why would they not have packed this trade and something else in order to snag a proven professional football player? Was it the contract that he would have commanded or was it his attitude? You are getting a player here who's route running does not transfer to the NFL and is not very physical. With the lack of accuracy of Donovan McNabb, his receivers have to be able to go up and fight for the ball. I just don't see it happening with Maclin.

While a lot of people will probably disagree with me, I believe Detroit taking Pettigrew was a great selection. They have a young QB that is going to need a TE that can block and bail him out when necessary by breaking off and getting open to dump the ball off. It also gives them the benefit of growing up as NFL players together. This may have been the pick of the draft in my opinion.

After trading down multiple times, the Browns finally held onto a pick and with the 21st pick, they chose Alex Mack, C from California. It is a pick that you can argue against, but there is little doubt that a quality center was needed and Mangini is getting one that is arguably the best in college.

Minnesota took little time to make their pick and chose Percy Harvin, WR Florida at 22. This kid is a flat out playmaker. Yeah, they could have addressed a million different positions, but this was a very good pick here. Versatile and smart, he will make an impact. He does have a longevity question, but if healthy he is going to make a huge impact for this team.

Someone other than Cleveland made a trade as New England traded down with Baltimore for the 23rd pick. They made an outstanding choice in Michael Oher to protect first year winder Joe Flacco. While they definitely need to get him a WR, the quality that was available was not nearly as important as keeping their QB on his feet. You have to love his enthusiasm to play. There is every right to expect a huge year out of this kid.

Next up was Atlanta with the 24th pick and they chose Peria Jerry, DT from Ole Miss. Pickings were starting to get thin for defensive line positions and they got about the best that was on the board to address a definitive weakness on their team. Jerry will step right into a starting role and should make some decent noise in his rookie season.

In typical Parcells fashion, Miami went for more defense with the 25th pick overall. Vontae Davis is a super fast corner back and there is little doubt that he was being drafted to deal with the physical receivers in their conference. He was a little inconsistent in regards to being a shut down corner, but Parcells doesn't draft guys that he can't coach. It would be surprising to see him develop into anything other than a star.

The Patriots started to do their best Cleveland imitation and traded down again with the Packers. The move was actually of little surprise as both Mangini and Belichik thought that this draft was very deep and equally talented. With the 26th pick, the Packers stole Clay Matthews right from under Indy. In all honestly, this may be the steal of the draft. There is little doubt that Indy was eying him up so this was a great move for GB to make.

With Tony Dungy retiring, everyone's eyes were on the 27th pick. Would they address the WR need or would they address the defense as it was anticipated that they would do before the New England-Green Bay trade. The suspense was ended when they took the running back from Connecticut, Donald Brown. Brown rushed for over 2,000 yards last season and had 33 TD's in his career. He is a great athlete and h should be able to contribute to this team with both his hands and his running ability.

Buffalo made another quality pick with the 28th pick overall. Eric Wood out of Louisville played for a big time passing program and knows how to protect his QB. They were pretty much forced to make this move as the centers were projected to go by the time it got back around to them. This is another pick that may go unnoticed, but it should have a dramatic affect on the success of this team if he can pick up the playbook.

With the 29th pick in the draft, the NY Football Giants selected Hakeem Nix, WR from North Carolina. This was a great pick for them to address the whole Plaxico Burress situation. You will find little argument that he is the second best WR in this draft and is 100% NFL ready right now. This kid is going to step right in and make a huge impact for the Giants. He is going to be physical and he will give them that end zone fade again.

The look on the Titans face when the Giants made their pick was as though their candy had just been stolen from them. The one glaring weakness on their team is at WR and with Nix lasting this long and then being taken away with only one choice ahead of them had to be a blow. They immediately went after the next best WR available and took Kenny Britt out of Rutgers. He is another big WR that saw a lot of action in college. He should fit right in with the Titans.

By the way, IMO all of these WR are better than then Heyward-Bey who was taken at 7 by the Oakland Raiders. It will be very interesting to see how he handles the pressure of being taken first and having the lowest amount of yards and touchdowns as the next 5 receivers taken after him. Each of these guys are stepping into situations where they are going to be very effective and see a significant amount of playing time. Heyward-Bey is going to be in a position of getting smacked around on the line and having a QB that cannot get the ball to him. It should be a lot of fun to watch.

With the 31st pick in the draft, Arizona received an absolute gift with Chris Wells. One of the most explosive runners in college football, it is hard to imagine that he would have fallen this far. He will immediately step in for James and will find a lot more room to run in than he had at Ohio State. The pressure of being 'The Man' will no longer be solely on him and he should absolutely thrive on this team. You want a keeper for your fantasy team? Snag this kid and you will be rewarded for quite some time.

Round one came to a conclusion a mere three and a half hours after the first pick was made. Pittsburgh had the fate of many contracts in their hand with the final first round money. The choice was a little bit of a surprise as they selected Evander Hood, a DT out of Missouri. A lot of people were expecting this pick to be Maualuga out of USC. There was definitely a need to young up their defensive line and this will do it. They are getting a quality pick here.

Overall, it was a very good first round for most teams. Everyone seemed to address their needs or pick the best available player on the board. The loser of the day would have to be Oakland and the big winner of the day should be the Detroit Lions or Buffalo Bills. Both teams addressed immediate needs with high quality players. It may take a couple of years for Detroit to develop, but they definitely appear to be headed in the right direction.

You also have to give Cleveland a great grade. Coach Mangini managed to double his picks in this draft and add 3 NFL players to his roster that are familiar with his system. It may not pay off this year, but within the next 3 or 4 years, this team is going to have to be dealt with. When you really look at it, it is a genius move because when his team is peaking, the current powerhouses will be on the down side. He has set himself up for a long career in Cleveland.