So the 2010 draft is now in the books. As it is often said, it takes at least three years to truly evaluate a draft class, but that does not stop us here at Football Futures from taking a stab at it only a few days after.
What I will do with today's article is to give each team a grade for their draft weekend efforts. To do this I have compiled a "Team GPA" for each NFL squad. I will take just a minute to explain to you how I have come up with this GPA. Throughout the seven round draft, each team made multiple draft selections. I evaluated each selection, then awarded it a grade based on value, team fit, and skill of the player. The grades were as follows:
A = Excellent Pick
B = Good Pick
C = Adequate Pick
D = Not a Good Pick
F = Bad Pick
Once each of the individual selection grades were assigned, these grades were converted to numbers. Just like in college, the numbers were averaged to create a GPA for each team. A GPA of 4.0 would indicate all "A" picks. A GPA of 0.0 would mean only "F" picks.
After the individual scores were added together, but before they were averaged, I also went through each team and made some additional evaluations, which could result in bonus points. For example, if a team failed to address their needs through the draft weekend, they could get a bonus of -1, added to their score. Conversely, teams who moved around the board effectively, creating value through trade, or signed some highly skilled, undrafted free agents, the team could earn a bonus of +1 to be added to their score. Then these adjusted totals would be divided by the number of selections made by the team to create a "weighted GPA" for each team. So without any further discussion, let's review each teams draft weekend performance.
- San Francisco 49ers – 3.25
During my mock drafts, I said that San Fran had the opportunity to really make a big impact with this draft and move to a power position in the NFC West. Well, they must have heard me, because they really took advantage of their positioning in this draft, and walked away from the weekend with the best results. I love that this team avoided flash early, and instead acquired two real good linemen to solidify themselves up front. This will give Alex Smith the best chance to succeed. I absolutely love the addition of Taylor Mays in the second round. Under Singletary's tutelage he can become a superstar in their secondary. I also love the pickup of Navarro Bowman in the third. They needed a linebacker and got exceptional value with this pick. The bottom line with the Niners is that they used their draft position well and moved around at the appropriate times, filling all of their major needs with value picks.
- Arizona Cardinals – 3.14
As the experts review the draft, they talk a lot about how well San Fran, Seattle and Detroit did over the weekend. Not a lot of chatter surrounding the moves made by the Cardinals, but I loved their draft. They started off on the right foot, showing patients, and grabbing DT Dan Williams in the first round. Then in the second they were able to grab a borderline first round talent in Daryl Washington to replace Karlos Dansby in their linebacking corp. With the 88th pick, they grabbed Andre Roberts who has as much potential and upside as anyone in this draft. Then with their 4th round pick the pounced on O'Brien Schofield, who had a borderline round 1 grade until he got hurt during the Senior Bowl. Absolute fantastic additions for the Arizona team who all of a sudden found themselves with some significant holes to fill.
- Seattle Seahawks – 3.11Pete Carroll's first draft as the head coach of the Hawks was one to remember. His moves to stay put in the first round were stellar. By showing patients and staying at 6, he was able to have the best o-lineman in the draft fall to him courtesy of the Redskins. Then he stayed put at 14, and had one of the top overall players in the draft land in his lap courtesy of the Eagles. After Okung and Thomas they did well to find Golden Tate in round 2, Kam Chancellor in round 5, Anthony McCoy in round 6, and Dexter Davis in round 7. Very excellent work for the Hawks.
- Tennessee Titans – 2.89
Tennessee nabbed themselves a catch in the middle of round one. Derrick Morgan is NFL ready and quite polished for a rook. He will provide an immediate replacement to a defense that recently lost Kyle Vanden Bosch this offseason. Damien Williams has great potential to become an awesome weapon for Young and he was a great grab in round 2. Alterraun Verner and Robert Johnson were good pick-ups in the middle rounds. I also think that Myron Rolle was a steal for this team late on Saturday afternoon. Then the team added Stefon Johnson and LaGarrett Blount as undrafted FAs. Both of those guys have a chance to make the team in August. Good work by Tennessee.
- Cincinnati Bengals – 2.78For the second straight season, Cincinnati has netted one of the best drafts in the league. Each of this team's first 5 picks were all good picks. Gresham, Dunlap, Shipley, Ghee, and Atkins all will make this team and help them improve. Of the remaining picks, I really fell they grabbed an excellent player late Saturday in Dezmon Briscoe from Kansas. He can develop into yet another weapon for Carson Palmer.
- Oakland Raiders – 2.78
So how about this turnaround for Al Davis' Raiders. Last year they had the worst draft by quite a wide margin. This year, a top ten performance. Things started off on the right foot with the Rolando McClain selection. Granted, on draft night, I was a little surprised by the pick, but the more I thought about it, the more I like it. Then they kept it going with Houston, Veldheer, Campbell and Ford. To top it off, the team grabbed bonus points for trading for QB Jason Campbell. They gave up a 4th round pick, but there would have been no QB of equal quality available to them at that pick. Then they added Trent Guy as an undrafted FA. Good work for Oakland.
- Kansas City Chiefs - 2.71By most accounts I really like what the Chiefs did with their draft. Eric Berry has the potential to be the single best player taken from this class. I also think they made an excellent move to position themselves to acquire John Asamoah early in round 3. In fact, most of their picks were real solid, except for Dexter McCluster. I have felt the Mississippi running back has been overrated from the start, but adding him to a team that plans to feature Jammal Charles, and who acquired Thomas Jones to spell him makes no sense to me at all. Otherwise, quite a nice weekend for KC.
- Baltimore Ravens – 2.71
One of the things you can almost guarantee is that on draft weekend, Ozzie Newsome and the Baltimore Ravens will put together one of the league's best drafts. They did it again this year. They were smart and added assets by trading out of the first round, and then grabbed value in Sergio Kindle in the second round. I also liked the Terrance Cody pick as he makes this team much more difficult to run on. I didn't really like the Ed Dickson pick in the third round, as I think McCoy and Hernandez would have been better choices, but the Arthur Jones pick could wind up as one of the steals in the draft. When he is focused, he is almost unblockable.
- Cleveland Browns – 2.63Cleveland came into this draft with a lot of needs, but also with good draft position to address some of those needs. In the first the team grabbed Joe Haden. The truth about Haden is he plays better than he measures, and on Sundays the Browns play football, not run track. He will be an immediate asset to this secondary. In the second round the team selected safety TJ Ward. Now Ward is quite injury prone, and with guys like Mays, Burnett, and Wright still on the board, I did not like that selection. The next two picks however were stellar. Montario Hardesty and Colt McCoy are both pieces that the Browns can build around in the future, and I really liked both of those picks. Overall Cleveland did a nice job over the weekend.
- Miami Dolphins – 2.63
Rounding out the top ten was the Miami Dolphins. The Phins first move of the weekend, trading down from number 12, really set this team up for a successful draft, essentially replacing their loss from the Brandon Marshall trade earlier this month. Then they used their new found position to acquire Jared Odrick, Koa Misi, and John Jerry with their first three selections. I like all three additions for Miami, as I expect all to contribute during their rookie year. The Rashad Jones selection in the 5th, and Austin Spitler in the 7th were two more choices I really liked as well. Overall the Dolphins did a solid job with their opportunities during the draft.
- Pittsburgh Steelers – 2.60For the first time in a very long time, there was the image of instability and uncertainty surrounding the Steelers as they entered the draft. With all of the drama associated with QB, Ben Rothlisberger, there were questions as to what the Steelers would do during the draft. They answered those questions by making some solid picks, starting in the first round with Maurkice Pouncey to hopefully become the next in a line of hall of fame quality centers for Pittsburgh. Jason Worilds, Manny Sanders, and Thaddeus Gibson made for strong choices after Pouncey. I also like the late round addition of Jonathan Dwyer. He may have had some post-season struggles, but I think they got value with that selection late. Then, the team went and added Daryl Clark, and Andre Dixon as undrafted FAs. Again, nice moves. The Big Ben drama may not be over, but the team is no doubt better as a result of a nice draft.
- New England Patriots – 2.58When it come to using picks as assets, and using assets to create opportunities, no one in the league does it better than the Patriots. The Pats amassed 12 picks over the weekend, and at the same time left themselves in the power seat for next year's draft too. In terms of the players they picked, I really liked some of their moves. The McCourty selection in round one is a nice fit for their system, as he will come in a play both corner and return man roles. If Gronkowski satys healthy, he could be an awesome TE for them, and if he can't mid round selection Aaron Hernandez will be an excellent fit for their system. Brandon Spikes should fit the mold of a New England ILB very well, and should excel as a Patriot. I also like the Zac Robinson selection, as a developmental project, to close out their weekend. Again, the Pats were masterful in their movement and solid in their selections, which should keep them competitive in a much tougher AFC East.
- Detroit Lions – 2.57
Many of the experts I have read are really impressed with what the Detroit Lions did on draft weekend. I like their moves, but I don't love them. I think getting Suh second overall was an awesome addition to this unit, as he has hall-of-fame talent written all over him. I also like the additions of Javhid Best and Amari Spievey with their next two selections, but I have some questions about their thought process. Looking at the board, I am not really sure why Detroit gave up assets to move back into round one to grab Best. I really think he would have been there when they picked three picks later at the top of the second.
- Philadelphia Eagles – 2.54After finishing last year's draft as the top team in my ratings, this year the Eagles drop to the middle of the pack. This is not because of any bad picks. In fact, the lowest grade I gave any of their selections is a "C". But they did make 13 total selections, so the law of averages start to kick in and each "A" and "B" are worth a little less in the average. The Eagles made a nice move in the first round to go up and grab Brandon Graham. He has immense talent and should develop into a great pass rushing end. Nate Allen in round 2 was a dynamite pick. I also like the Kafka, Harbor, and Cooper picks in the middle round. The one pick I really like is Ricky Sapp. He has the potential to be a big time playmaker at the next level, and with Graham and Allen in the mix, this could make for a good, young defense.
- Carolina Panthers – 2.50
The Panthers are another team who had a nice quantity of picks for the weekend. Only, they did not have a pick in the first round. This did not stop them from grabbing a few potential signal callers to compete for their starting spot this year. They got Jimmy Clausen in the second round and then Tony Pike in the sixth. They also added Armanti Edwards who was a QB in college but likely won't be in the pros. I really like the Eric Norwood addition on Saturday too. I do think the Brandon LaFell pick has some real risk attached to it though.
- Dallas Cowboys – 2.50The Cowboys made a big splash on Thursday trading up in round one to grab the top receiver in this class in Dez Bryant. Then then they made a nice pick in round two, grabbing Penn Stater Sean Lee. Overall, the Cowboys made some nice moves over the weekend, and should be a better team in 2010.
- New Orleans Saints – 2.50The defending Super Bowl Champs landed in the middle of the pack in their first draft as the best. The best choice was in Round 2 when they grabbed Charles Brown to solidify their o-line. Their initial selection was somewhat curious. I like Patrick Robinson as a corner, but I am not sold on the pick filling a need for the Saints. Yes it is a passing league, so a good secondary is a necessity, but Daryl Washington was still on the board, and this team needs to replace Fujita in their linebacking corp.
- Washington Redskins – 2.50The Skins are not a typically an active team during the draft. This is because they usually trade away their picks. Under Mike Shannahan I expect this to be different. In round one the team surprised me a little by picking Trent Williams instead of Okung, but Mike is obviously banking on his upside. They made some other nice picks over the weekend, but none better than Selvish Capers in the 7th round. This guy had a second round grade, so grabbing him real late was a steal.
- Indianapolis Colts – 2.50
The Colts started out the draft with one of the best first round selections, getting Jerry Hughes, who is the perfect fit for their defense. Things cooled off a bit afterwards though, as the team made only adequate choices after. I like Pat Angerer, although I think they took him too high. Kevin Thomas was a pretty good pick too, although, again I think a little too high.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2.44
Tampa made a nice grab in round one with McCoy. He will be the anchor this team needs to build around. In round two the Bucs took Brian Price, who has a first round grade, although I do think the team had bigger areas to address. Two of my favorite picks were Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams. This team needed receivers, and now they have some. Overall this draft was fairly good for the Bucs.
- Chicago Bears – 2.40So the biggest impact to the Bears 2010 draft was the high price paid to acquire Jay Cutler last offseason. As a result, Chicago had no first round pick. Then they inexplicably paid the Bucs a second round pick for Gaines Adams. Although the Adams death was a tragedy, giving up a second for the guy was silly. Despite these missteps, Chicago still managed to turn in a respectable performance, grabbing Major Wright and Corey Wooten with their top two picks. Both of those guys should be good, and the Chicago defense is not what it used to be. Now if only they could get Cutler to play like the first rounder they paid for him.
- St Louis Rams – 2.36
The Rams really had a pretty good draft overall, but one pick really hurt their overall grade. Getting Bradford first overall was a nice pick for the team, as they now have their future leader. Saffold and Gilyard were also good picks for the club. I also love the pick of George Selvie in the seventh round. Unfortunately, with their top pick in round three, I think they completely busted on Jerome Murphy. Not only was it about a round to early, but he will be a bust in the NFL. This was a real bad pick. Worse considering that Spievey, Brandon Ghee, Dominique Franks, and Perrish Cox were all still available.
- Houston Texans – 2.33The Texans weekend started off quite curiously. They came on the clock with the top cover corner in the class still available, and they were in need of a cover corner. Instead of taking Wilson though, they chose Kareem Jackson. Jackson is a nice fit for their system, but they do get knocked for passing on Wilson. The remainder of their picks were adequate. Daryl Sharpton has some nice potential though, and they did add the underrated Adam Ulatoski as an undrafted FA.
- Atlanta Falcons – 2.29
The Falcons had an adequate draft overall. I was not really in love with any of their picks. Although I like Sean Weatherspoon , I think Jerry Hughes and Sergio Kindle would have been better first round options for the Falcons. The rest of their picks were also adequate in my book. The lone exception to this was their early fifth round selection of Dominique Franks. This was a nice pickup.
- Green Bay Packers – 2.29The Pack started off real strong. They were patient and they scored a top ten talent in Bryan Bulaga all the way at 23. The Neal and Burnett picks were also pretty good choices two. Unfortunately, they made a real poor choice in round 5 in Andrew Quarless. Although this is only a 5th round choice, Quarless has shown he is incapable of acting like a mature adult, and this should prevent him from ever making an impact in the NFL. Considering talents like Holmes and Groves were just had for 5th round picks, I think they still got robbed.
- New York Jets – 2.25
So here is the thing with the Jets. I think three of their four selections are talented football players, with the lone average player being McKnight. Unfortunately, they only made four picks, and curious picks at that. Having Wilson available to them in the first was nice, except for the fact that they already have two very talented corners on the roster. The other big knock on the Jets is that they needed to come away from this draft with a pass rusher and a safety, and they came away with neither. Don't misunderstand me, the jets will still be good, but I am not loving their draft.
- Minnesota Vikings – 2.25The bottom line about Minnesota's draft is that it was largely unexciting. I liked them grabbing Everson Griffen in the fourth round, especially considering he had a first round grade by me and most experts. My biggest criticism is in their second round pick of Toby Gerhart. I like him as a running back, but I am still not sure why you would trade up in the second round to grab a player who is no doubt a backup on the team. I know with Chester Taylor gone, they Vikes needed a second carrier to All Day AP, but did they really need to trade up to get him? Just seems like some itchy nerves to me.
- San Diego Chargers – 2.17I read a review praising the Chargers for their brazen behavior in going after they guy they wanted. I think there is a thin line between brazen and risky, and it is my felling the Chargers were on the wrong side of the line. Please do not misunderstand. I like Ryan Matthews. I think he can become a pretty good NFL back. I just don't feel they got value taking him at 12, and worse, they gave up a lot for the privilege of reaching. Can Mathews be a good back? Yes. Will he be the next LT in SD? I just don't see it. The Cam Thomas and Darrell Stuckey picks were nice little additions in the mid rounds though, and I do like the team grabbing Brandon Lang as an undrafted FA.
- New York Giants – 2.14
So the night got off to a rough start for the G-Men. Everyone and their brother knew the team was hoping to make something happen to ensure their landing of Rolando McClain, but Oakland was not about to let that happen. Instead the team grabbed Jason Pierre Paul. He has mega potential, but he is raw. Since Osi is already occupying what should be his spot, he will have some time to learn and develop, which is a plus, but do you really pick a developmental project at 15 overall? Not when you have some other pressing needs. I like Linval Joseph as a player, but I think he was overhyped a bit, and as a result, it left the Giants reaching for him in the second round. The Chad Jones pick in round three was nice. Then in round seven, the Giants took a punter. I know it is their seventh round pick, but I am rarely in favor of ever drafting punters, as team's can almost always find a good punter in free agency.
- Buffalo Bills – 2.11So, did the Bills grab some talent in this draft? Yes. I like the Alex Carrington pick, and I think Arthur Moats and Marcus Easley could make contributions to this club. Each of those picks earned "B" grades on my score sheet. As for their first round pick, CJ Spiller, I think he is an awesome talent. He has the potential to be a game changer, and having this type of talent is valuable. Unfortunately for the Bills, if there was one position they came into the draft covered at it was at running back. I know they have been trying to unload Marshawn Lynch, but right now they still have him, and Fred Jackson too. This just makes an even bigger crowd. With huge needs on the o-line (not addressed until round 5) and at QB, not addressed at all, I expect this team to find themselves picking first overall next April.
- Denver Broncos – 2.00Will someone please explain to the Broncos that although imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, it is not an effective draft day strategy. Like his former boss, Josh McDaniels tried to show his wisdom by moving all over the board on draft day. Unlike his former employer he made some bad picks when they chose to not move. I know the team had Demaryius Thomas rated higher than Dez Bryant. Although I disagree with the assessment, that could have worked for them, if they had traded down again. Instead, they sat tight, and reached. Then they traded back up to grab a really great guy in Tim Tebow. Unfortunately, they grabbed a guy who may be an awesome human, but won't be an awesome NFL QB. I think this is a simple case of falling in love with a player, and the Broncos made a good media decision, but a bad football one. Then they went and reached again with their third pick, Zane Beadles. He could develop into an adequate guard in the NFL, but with Asamoah and Jerry still available, again they reached. But as much as I disliked the Broncos draft, they made nice picks in the mid rounds with Eric Decker and Perrish Cox, and this saved them from being the worst performing team on draft weekend. That distinction is thus saved for…
- Jacksonville Jaguars – 1.83Again, I will start with the positives. Tyson Alualu could become a good DT in the NFL. Seriously though, tenth overall? Ok, I get it, you had him rated really high, but why not trade down. They could have dropped back 15-20 spots, amassed some nice assets, and still grabbed Alualu slightly too high. After Suh and McCoy, Williams was clearly the next best tackle, and he didn't go until the late 20's. Talk about reaching. Then they really failed to make a stong impact with any one of their remaining picks. Of the bunch, the only grade higher than "C" goes to Austen Lane. Just not a good weekend for Jacksonville, and although I hate to say it because I really like him, Jack Del Rio could be in trouble.
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