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What a great first round for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Dee Milliner, Chance Warmack, and D.J. Fluker are picked 9-10-11 to make it 11 first round picks in the last 3 years and 13 in the last 4 years for the Tide. Jesse Williams, Eddie Lacy, and Barrett Jones should all be selected on Friday. This was the first time since 1963 that a running back was not taken in the first round but don't expect Lacy to stay on the board too long.
It astonishes me that the so-called experts get paid to hem and haw about how a guy like Geno Smith will be a Top 10 pick. Almost every Mock Draft out there had him going somewhere between #2 and #8. This observer was not fooled nor surprised he was not picked. He may someday pan out but he is third round material in my eyes.
New drinking game: take a drink every time an analysts suggests Manti Teo' will be the next pick. You'll be wasted by 7 o'clock.
THE TEMPTATION OF TRADING UP
The Falcons made an odd move trading up from #30 to #22 just to pick Washington CB Desmond Trufant. Did they really think he would be picked before #30? The swapped picks with the Rams and gave them their 3rd and 6th round picks. Call da cops, they gots robbed!
The shocker of the night was the Raiders actually making a smart move to trade their #3 pick to Miami for #12 and #42 because they need all the picks they can get. But then they turned back into the Raiders and used the #12 pick on... Houston CB D.J. Hayden???
And then there was Dallas. The Cowboys traded their #18 pick to San Francisco - who made a great pick in Eric Reid of LSU - for the 49ers 31st pick which Dallas in turn used on Wisconsin center Travis Frederick???!!! If you hate the Cowboys, you gotta love that move.
Second and third rounds: Friday., April 26
5:30-7pm CT/6:30-8 p.m. ET, ESPN
7-9:30pm CT/8-10:30 ET, ESPN2
* Full and less annoying coverage also on the NFL Network.
33 Jacksonville Jaguars - Jonathan Cyprien, S, FIU
34 San Francisco 49ers (from Kansas City) Tennessee Titans - Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee
35 Philadelphia Eagles - Zach Ertz, TE, Stanford
36 Detroit Lions - Darius Slay, CB, Mississippi State
37 Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland) - Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina (REALLY?)
38 Arizona Cardinals San Diego Chargers - Manti Te'o (BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!)
– Cleveland Browns - selection forfeited after selecting WR Josh Gordon in the 2012 Supplemental Draft.
39 New York Jets - Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia (Welcome to the Circus)
40 Tennessee Titans San Francisco 49ers - Tank Carradine, DE, Florida State
41 Buffalo Bills - Robert Woods, WR, Southern California
42 Oakland Raiders (from Miami) - Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State
43 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Johnthan Banks, CB, Mississippi State
44 Carolina Panthers - Kawann Short, DT, Purdue
– New Orleans Saints - selection forfeited as part of the punishment for the team's bounty scandal
45 San Diego Chargers Arizona Cardinals - Kevin Minter, LB, LSU
46 Buffalo Bills (from St. Louis) - Kiko Alonso, LB, Oregon
47 Dallas Cowboys - Gavin Escobar, TE, San Diego State
48 Pittsburgh Steelers - Le´Veon Bell, RB, Michigan State (what the bleep?)
49 New York Giants - Johnathan Hankins, DT, Ohio State
50 Chicago Bears - Jon Bostic, OLB, Florida
51 Washington Redskins - David Amerson, CB, North Carolina State
52 New England Patriots (from Minnesota) - Jamie Collins, LB, Southern Mississippi
53 Cincinnati Bengals - Margus Hunt DE Southern Methodist
54 Miami Dolphins (from Indianapolis) - Jamar Taylor, CB, Boise State
55 Green Bay Packers San Francisco 49ers - Vance McDonald TE Rice
56 Seattle Seahawks Baltimore Ravens - Arthur Brown, OLB, Kansas State
57 Houston Texans - D.J. Swearinger, FS, South Carolina
58 Denver Broncos - Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin
59 New England Patriots - Aaron Dobson, WR, Marshall
60 Atlanta Falcons - Robert Alford, CB, Southeastern Louisiana
61 San Francisco 49ers Green Bay Packers - Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama: ROLLTIDE!
62 Seattle Seahawks - Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M
---THIRD ROUND---
UPDATE: Thursday's round 1 was a pretty unremarkable round but then came Freaky Friday.
- Eddie Lacy dropped behind Giovani Bernard of UNC, Le'veon Bell of Michigan State, and Montee Ball of Wisconsin but ended up on a good team, Green Bay. I think they wanted him all along.
- The talking heads of ESPN came to full release when Manti Teo' (Chargers) and Geno Smith (Jets) went back-to-back at 38 and 39.
- Auburn had their first and only pick when Corey Lemonier went in the third round to the 49ers.
- Tyrann Mathieu was finally picked in the third by Arizona and gave a strange interview.
- Inexplicably, Jesse Williams was NOT selected in the first three rounds. Some guy from Missouri Southern State went to Baltimore instead. I cannot understand why he has dropped.
*** NICO JOHNSON TO KANSAS CITY: ROLL TIDE! (4th round) ***
*** BARRETT JONES TO ST LOUIS: ROLL TIDE! (4th round) ***
*** JESSE WILLIAMS TO SEATTLE: ROLL TIDE! (5th round) ***
*** QUINTON DIAL TO SAN FRANCISCO: ROLL TIDE! (5th round) ***
*** MICHAEL WILLIAMS TO DETROIT: ROLL TIDE! (7th round) ***
Per Twitter accounts of the players:
*** Robert Lester to Carolina, Damion Square to Philly, Carson Tinker to Jacksonville ***
Rounds 4-7: Saturday, April 27
11am-6pm CT/12noon-7 pm ET, ESPN
6-7pm CT/7-8pm ET, ESPN2
* Also available on NFL Network.com or ESPN3.com.