Not the most exciting draft I've ever witnessed. Well, not that drafts are very exciting by nature. It is a room full of people focused on a guy making an announcement at a podium every 10 minutes or so. Here's hoping the Bama guys get drafted. As I mentioned earlier, the liveblogging of the draft is finished. I'll recap the rest of the rounds with the SEC players.
Pick #32: Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Gonzalez (WR) Ohio State: Mr. Oxygen Tent closes out the first round.
Pick #31: Chicago Bears: Greg Olsen (TE) Miami: Third 'Canes player taken in the first round.
Pick #30: San Diego Chargers: Craig Davis (WR) LSU: Four LSU players in the first round!?!?! I remember three players from Auburn a few years ago, but four in the first round?
Pick #29: Baltimore Ravens: Ben Grubbs (G) Auburn: Teagles add to the steady flow of SEC players in the first round. 10 of 29 players taken so far are from the SEC.
Pick #28: San Francisco 49ers: Joe Staley (OT) Central Michigan: The MAC is the first mid-major conference to have a player picked.
I'm only going to liveblog this through the end of round 1. After that, I'm only going to mention SEC players on a round by round basis.
Pick #27: New Orleans Saints: Robert Meachem (WR) Tennessee: Boo! Hiss!
Pick #26: Dallas Cowboys: Anthony Spencer (DE) Purdue: Dallas and Philadelphia made a trade of picks?
Pick #25: Carolina Panthers: Jon Beason (LB) Miami: Back-to-back players taken from Thug U.
Pick #24: New England Patriots: Brandon Meriweather (S) Miami: I hate Miami.
Pick #23: Kansan City Chiefs: Dwayne Bowe (WR) LSU: Big day for LSU players. A new target for Brodie.
Pick #22: Cleveland Browns: Brady Quinn (QB) Notre Dame: I hope Kansas City hurries up with their pick. I don't think I can handle hearing much more of the ESPN mancrush. Should've known Quinn would go right after the Snickers joke.
No real surprise that the jokes are already circulating:
Pick #21: Jacksonville Jaguars: Reggie Nelson (S) Florida: The defense fest continues. Nine defensive players in a row. Definitely not one of the flashiest drafts ever.
Pick #20: New York Giants: Aaron Ross (CB) Texas: Burnt Orange Nation analysis is soon to follow I'm sure. My internet went out a second ago. Crapola.
Pick #19: Tennessee Titans: Michael Griffin (S) Texas: Hook 'em Horns.
Pick #18: Cincinnati Bengals: Leon Hall (CB) Michigan: I'm sure Brian at MGoBlog will have all sorts of charts and stats about drafted Michigan players up eventually.
Pick #17: Denver Broncos: Jarvis Moss (DE) Florida: They're showing highlights of him beating up on Kentucky? I seem to remember him doing okay in a big game against Ohio State too. Hmmmm?
Pick #16: Green Bay Packers: Justin Harrell (DT) Tennessee: Packers' fans are booing the choice. I didn't realize Green Bay was in the SEC.
Now they're talking about Quinn going to the Packers. I bet Suzy Kolber gives him a hug when they cut away. She's doing the whispery, school teacher "everything's going to be OK sweetie" style interview with him. They are saying that his handling of interviews on a couch in Radio City Music Hall is indicative of his leadership and ability to handle on the field pressure.
Pick #15: Pittsburgh Steelers: Lawrence Timmons (LB) Florida State: Glad he won't be in Jacksonville in September.
Pick #14: New York Jets: Darrelle Revis (CB) Pittsburgh: Jets fans actually sound happy for once. Take this opportunity to check out Pitt blog Pitt Blather.
Pick #13: St. Louis Rams: Adam Carriker (DE) Nebraska: I imagine the guys at Corn Nation will be chiming in shortly about this pick.
Pick #12: Buffalo Bills: Marshawn Lynch (RB) California: I refer you to EDSBS' 27 Things You Didn't Know About Marshawn Lynch. Talk about a crappy weather trade though.
Pick #11: San Francisco 49ers: Patrick Willis (LB) Ole Miss: Willis is one of those guys that I'm glad to see out of the college game since he frequently played against my team. Mel Kiper just said, "He had 15 tackles against Aubrun." Yeah, he actually said "Aubrun." That wasn't a typo.
Pick #10: Houston Texans: Amobi Okoye (DT) Louisville: Getting drafted at age 19, Alabama high school football will prepare you for that apparently. Second Alabama guy to go in the draft and both went out of state.
Pick #9: Miami Dolphins : Ted Ginn (WR) Ohio State: Stunned looks out of the Quinn camp. The crowd is rumbling. Dolphins deliver a shock by choosing Ginn over Quinn. I think all of the ESPN guys want to go cuddle with Quinn and make him feel better. I think Berman is personally offended. I took them several minutes to start talking about Ginn and stop talking Quinn. This is almost like Texas beating USC and them interviewing Leinart before Young.
Incredible that we had to wait until 12:42 for the first reference to the Bob Dylan song.
Pick #8: Atlanta Falcons: Jamaal Anderson (DE) Arkansas: Incredible, they didn't show highlights against Alabama. It'll be interesting to see what Petrino does in Atlanta.
Pick #7: Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson (RB) Oklahoma: You've gotta look at the upside, at least he gets to play his home games indoor.
Adrian Peterson heads north
I might have to go for the mute button soon. Not sure how many more times I can handle Spurrier's Under Armour commercials.
Pick #6: Washington Redskins: LaRon Landry (S) LSU: 2nd LSU person to go in the Top 6. I do have to say that I'm getting tired of seeing highlight reels of players lighting Alabama up. :D And the Valley Shook joins ESPN in that regard.
Ron Jaworski's hair/glasses combo might outdo Mel Kiper on the "you've gotta be friggin' kidding me" scale.
Pick #5: Arizona Cardinals: Levi Brown (OT) Penn State: I'm not going to lie to you. I have no ability to comment on Big 10 offensive linemen. However, I am still amused about by the collective Brady Quinn mancrush of ESPN.
Pick #4: Tampa Bay Buccaneers : Gaines Adams (DE) Clemson: He looks less than thrilled. Oh well, at least he gets to play in a nice stadium.
Pick #3: Cleveland Browns: Joe Thomas (OT) Wisconsin: First semi-shock of the day. All the cameras were on Brady Quinn. The commentators were slobbering all over the ND wonderboy saying things like, "He's already experienced NFL type situations and he's used to bad weather. He's the local boy and could be the face of the franchise" Oh well. Brady Quinn might be this year's Matt Leinart.
Pick #2: Detroit Lions: Calvin Johnson (WR) Georgia Tech: Gotta love the comments they make about players after they've been chosen: "Calvin Johnson can adjust to poorly thrown balls; something he had to do a lot at Georgia Tech." Hehehe. I'm also amused by the looks players get on their face when they get chosen by a rotten team.
Pick #1: Oakland Raiders: JaMarcus Russell (QB) LSU: I'm always amazed that Russell didn't go to Alabama or Auburn. I know plenty of players go out of state, but when there's two historically successful programs in state, it is surprising when they leave. I do have to say though, if he didn't go to Alabama, I'm glad he went to LSU instead of Auburn.
Super QB, Super Dresser
I can't believe I'm going to subject myself to Mel Kiper Jr.'s hair today.
Picks by Conference:
ACC: 6 - Clemson (1), Florida State (1), Georgia Tech (1), Miami (3)
Big 10: 6 - Michigan (1), Ohio State (2), Penn State (1), Purdue (1), Wisconsin (1)
Big 12: 4 - Nebraska (1), Oklahoma (1), Texas (2)
Big East: 2 - Louisville (1), Pitt (1)
C-USA: 0
Independents: 1 - Notre Dame (1)
MAC: 1 - Central Michigan (1)
MWC: 0
PAC-10: 1 - California (1)
SEC: 11 - Arkansas (1), Auburn (1), Florida (2), LSU (4), Ole Miss (1), Tennessee (2)
Sun Belt: 0
WAC: 0