First Round Choices Can Bring Hope, or More Disaster, for First Four Teams Picking

The First Round of the NFL Draft will go off in a few hours. Oh, the excitement. Seems like just the anticipation makes activity necessary.

So Saints free safety Darrell Sharper has changed his number to 42, which was his old number in Minnesota. Cornerback Sharper was 42 until this day when adreneline forced activity for its own sake. Now Sharper's 29.

Perhaps it was the adreline that caused the Lions to sign Stafford for the largest NFL guarantee... ever? Not that Stafford isn't obviously talented. He is. But talent without experience, without the honing of decision making (rather critical for a QB, don't you think?), well, he's just talented kid.

Sort of wonder what the management team has in mind to fill out the team. This poor (but very rich) little boy is going to need a solid and consistent team to support his efforts. He's got Culpepper there to give him some guidance, but my guess is that the golden rookie will decide that Culpepper has nothing to teach him.

So, where are the Lion's going to get the LB or Tight End they need? Have they even noticed that their defensive line is in need of people who can provide defense?

The Lions corner Stafford, which leaves Sanchez available. I like Sanchez. If I needed a QB I'd be talking to him. I know he didn't start a whole lot of games at USC, but did you see that Rose Bowl performance? I wouldn't be talking the kind of numbers Stafford seems poised to receive, but then, I wouldn't talk those numbers to Stafford, either.

A whole bunch of teams could use a good QB, of course. 2nd pick Rams have Bulgar, who would be a good mentor for Sanchez if they decide to grab him. Then they would have two tradeable QBs for future drafts. I think Bulgar would have been a good mentor for Stafford as well, but its hard to argue with a guaranteed 42 million.

My guess is that Seattle will grab Sanchez, and have a much improved over last year performance overall. But if they use their first round to pull Curry, they'll still show improved performance. I don't see the bottom half of the NFL line-up changing much this year, with the exception that Seattle seems ready to move up a few notches.

With that First Round just hours away, its hard not to think about the first four picks, though, I must admit, it's hard to think of the Chiefs at all. They traded Gonzales to Atlanta for a first pick next year. Maybe they also think that this year is sort hopeless. With that kind of thinking, I'd have to agree. They're hopeless.

The Lions and the Chiefs seems to have some thinking patterns in common. Someone should tell both of them that, unless you're talking about some other-worldly superstar like Peyton Manning, the QB is not the best place to spend ALL your cash, and even Peyton Manning needs an experienced and talented team to surround him.
Someone should also tell the Lions that Stafford is no Manning.

It's too bad. With all the bad news Detroit has had to take on the economic front, with the car industry woes and the general state of the economy, a management team for the Lions which would have focused on building a good line, offensively and defensively, would have given Detroit something to cheer about. The good news is, I might be wrong. NFL dot com Senior columnist Thomas George believes Stafford is a cure the Lions need!