Earlier today, I wrote about the teams I thought were winners in the opening round of the draft. Now, it’s time to look at the big losers from the first day of the draft. As with the winners, the list is in order of when the teams made their picks. With that, let’s jump right in.
Miami Dolphins
In a quarterback driven league, the Miami Dolphins needed a better option than David Garrard who didn’t play at all in 2011. The Dolphins most definitely overdrafted Ryan Tannehill, but frankly, if they didn’t someone else would have. Miami, like the Browns were later in the round, was put in a position where it had to overdraft a quarterback. That fact speaks volumes about the failure of the Dolphins front office in building a good football team.
St. Louis Rams
This one comes with a bit of an asterisk. I love the Rams’ trade to move from 2nd overall to 6th overall, but this list is who lost on day 1 of the draft, not the entire process. The Rams misfortunes began when Justin Blackmon was drafted by Jacksonville at 5th overall, one pick in front of the Rams. So, the Rams traded down again which seemed logical. Then the Cardinals drafted Michael Floyd at 13th overall, one pick in front of the Rams again. In the end, Michael Brockers should be a solid pick, but the Rams should have walked away with a playmaker, not a defensive lineman.
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle’s first round pick just looks bad. With the 15th overall pick, the drafted Bruce Irvin, a situational pass rusher. Maybe this is just me, or maybe I’m old fashioned, but if I’m picking a guy in the first half of the first round of the NFL draft, I want him on the field the majority of the time. The pick just confuses the hell out of me. I know that you have to rush the passer to be successful defensively, but that’s an outrageously high cost to get a pass rusher with off the field problems.
San Diego Chargers
In my winners article, I said the Bears were fortunate enough to have Shea McClellin fall right into their laps. They can thank the Chargers for that nice gift. I spoke briefly with Derek Hughes, a Chargers blogger, and he was livid the Chargers went with Melvin Ingram over McClellin. Hughes believes the Chargers need a pass rushing linebacker, not another defensive end to get pressure, and I can’t say I disagree.
Cleveland Browns
Brandon Weeden has potential. There’s no doubt about that, but then again, Colt McCoy still has potential too. I liked that the Browns added a solid running back in Trent Richardson, but I thought Richardson was overrated, and no quarterback can be successful without a few good weapons. The Browns need to be helping McCoy be successful. The only thing drafting Weeden accomplished is it brought the quarterback controversy back to Cleveland.
