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2015 NFL Draft Day Two Open Thread:
Alabama Crimson Tide Football

Rounds two and three commence.

By CB969
Yeldon.
Yeldon.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

With the first round completed on Thursday evening, the Crimson Tide saw one player selected in wide receiver Amari Cooper going fourth overall to the Oakland Raiders. He is the 17th Crimson Tide player to be picked in the first round in the Nick Saban era at Alabama.

REVIEWS ARE IN

So what did the national press think?

Hear what the NFL Network guys had to say here. Note the groans from the Chicago crowd. I think they were hoping Cooper would slide to the Bears at #7.

Adam Schein of NFL.com called it "the perfect pick".

Cooper is special. He's an instant-impact, do-it-all receiver. It was a glaring need for Oakland. Young quarterback Derek Carr gets to grow with a stud playmaker who starred at one of the nation's true college football powerhouses. Is it too early to choose Cooper for Offensive Rookie of the Year? This pick is that perfect.

SI.com: "A-..."

ESPN: "I love it..."

Oakland Tribune: "Raiders make statement with pick of Amari Cooper..."

windycitygridiron.com (SBN's Bears site): "Scouts called Alabama's Cooper, who went 4th overall to the Oakland Raiders, the safer pick, while White, who played in a spread offense at West Virginia, had to prove he can master a pro style game...."

csnbayarea.com: Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio talks about Coop.

DRAFT TAKEAWAYS

  • The oddest pick of the day had to be the Redskins decision to select Iowa OL Brandon Scherff with the fifth overall choice. The Jets could not put in their card for Southern Cal DE Leonard Williams quickly enough.
  • The next biggest reach might just be the New York Giants pick of Miami-FL guard Ereck Flowers (#9 overall) with guys like Andrus Peat (Stanford), Cedric Ogbuehi (TAMU), and D. J. Humphries (Florida) still on the board.
  • Two running backs were picked early but both are a little risky. Todd Gurley (#10 Rams) is still recovering from a torn ACL and has had multiple nagging injuries during his time in Athens, GA. The San Diego Chargers are rolling the dice with Melvin Gordon at #15. The former Badger carried the ball a hefty 343 times his senior year and 631 times over four seasons.
  • Three of the top 10 players were from the SEC: Cooper, Florida's Dante Fowler (#3 Jaguars), and Gurley. The SEC had seven total first round picks.
      ACC - 9
      Pac-12 - 9
      SEC - 7
      Big Ten - 3
      Big XII - 2
      AAC - 2
      Notre Dame - 0
  • Three members of the Washington Huskies defense were taken in first round of NFL draft.
  • Although the top two picks were QBs, they were the only signal callers chosen. Six receivers, seven O-linemen, and seven pass rushers (four DE, three OLB) were picked.
  • Only one safety was selected. Damarious Randall (Arizona State) was taken by the Packers with the 30th pick. A bit of a strange pick, Randall ranks much lower than Alabama's Landon Collins. Besides, how amazing would it have been to see Collins pairing up with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in Green Bay?
  • Shane Ray (Mizzou) and Randy Gregory (Nebraska) were both expected to be early first round picks, perhaps in the top ten. However in the weeks leading up to the draft, both were busted for a marijuana violation. Because of their misguided life choices, they will lose out on a lot of money. Ray was finally picked (#23 Broncos) but Gregory was not.
  • LSU OL La'El Collins was a first round candidate but is wrapped up in a messy murder investigation of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. How far will he fall?
  • Interestingly, three of the first four picks - Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay), Marcus Mariota (Tennessee), and Cooper - were not in Chicago to accept the ball cap and awkward hug from embattled NFL Commish Roger Goodell. This may be a new trend. Expect to see even less draftees in attendance next year.

FIRST ROUND EPILOGUE

Clearly, the NFL has prostituted this whole event as one big dog and pony show. On several occasions throughout the course of the night, as many as three teams had their picks in but they were not announced because fathead Chris Berman had to do a drilling excavation on our ears.

Some people like the idea of the draft moving around to different cities. I am sure the people of Chicago enjoyed the whole experience but it just isn't the same spectacle it is when they hold it in New York City with all the obnoxious drunk Jets fans booing every single pick. Granted the Bears fans booed Goodell as they should but it was not with the gusto that you get from New Yawkers.

Overall, it was pretty boring television.

LANDON COLLINS

It was a rough night for former Bama safety Landon Collins as he had to sit in the green room and hear name after name called and never hear his own. But as you can see, he took it all with class and dignity. You gotta love these two guys.

NEEDS:

Teams that still have a safety need:

#33 New York Giants
#38 Washington Redskins
#39 Chicago Bears
#42 Atlanta Falcons
#52 Philadelphia Eagles
#53 Cincinnati Bengals
#56 Pittsburgh Steelers
#61 Indianapolis Colts

Teams that still have a running back need:

#36 Jacksonville Jaguars
#41 St. Louis Rams
#45 Minnesota Vikings
#58 Baltimore Ravens
#60 Dallas Cowboys
#64 New England Patriots

ROUNDS 2 & 3

2 - 33 New York Giants (from Tennessee) - Landon Collins, S, ALABAMA
2 - 34 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2 - 35 Oakland Raiders
2 - 36 Jacksonville Jaguars - T.J. Yeldon, RB, ALABAMA
2 - 37 New York Jets
2 - 38 Washington Redskins - Preston Smith, DE, Mississippi State
2 - 39 Chicago Bears
2 - 40 Tennessee Titans (from NY Giants)
2 - 41 Jacksonville Jaguars (from St. Louis)
2 - 42 Atlanta Falcons - Jalen Collins, CB, LSU
2 - 43 Houston Texans (from Cleveland) - Benardrick McKinney, OLB, Mississippi State
2 - 44 New Orleans Saints
2 - 45 Minnesota Vikings
2 - 46 San Francisco 49ers
2 - 47 Philadelphia Eagles (from Miami)
2 - 48 San Diego Chargers
2 - 49 Kansas City Chiefs - Mitch Morse, OT, Missouri
2 - 50 Buffalo Bills
2 - 51 Cleveland Browns (from Houston)
2 - 52 Miami Dolphins (from Philadelphia)
2 - 53 Cincinnati Bengals
2 - 54 Detroit Lions
2 - 55 Baltimore Raves (from Arizona)
2 - 56 Pittsburgh Steelers - Senquez Golson, CB, Ole Miss
2 - 57 St. Louis Rams (from Carolina)
2 - 58 Arizona Cardinals (from Baltimore) - Markus Golden, DE, Missouri
2 - 59 Denver Broncos
2 - 60 Dallas Cowboys
2 - 61 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from Indianapolis)
2 - 62 Green Bay Packers
2 - 63 Seattle Seahawks
2 - 64 New England Patriots
3 - 65 Indianapolis Colts (from Tampa Bay) - DJoun Smith, CB, FAU!
3 - 66 Tennessee Titans
3 - 67 Jacksonville Jaguars - A.J. Cann, OG, South Carolina
3 - 68 Oakland Raiders
3 - 69 Seattle Seahawks (from Washington)
3 - 70 Houston Texans (from NY Jets)
3 - 71 Chicago Bears
3 - 72 St. Louis Rams
3 - 73 Atlanta Falcons
3 - 74 New York Giants
3 - 75 New Orleans Saints
3 - 76 Kansas City Chiefs (from Minnesota) - Chris Conley, WR, Georgia
3 - 77 Cleveland Browns
3 - 78 New Orleans Saints (from Miami)
3 - 79 San Francisco 49ers
3 - 80 Detroit Lions (from Kansas City)
3 - 81 Buffalo Bills
3 - 82 New York Jets (from Houston)
3 - 83 San Diego Chargers
3 - 84 Philadelphia Eagles
3 - 85 Cincinnati Bengals
3 - 86 Arizona Cardinals
3 - 87 Pittsburgh Steelers - Sammie Coates, WR, Auburn
3 - 88 Minnesota Vikings (from Detroit) - Danielle Hunter, DE, LSU
3 - 89 St. Louis Rams (from Carolina)
3 - 90 Baltimore Ravens
3 - 91 Dallas Cowboys - Chaz Green, OT, Florida
3 - 92 Denver Broncos
3 - 93 Indianapolis Colts
3 - 94 Green Bay Packers
3 - 95 Washington Redskins (from Seattle) - Matt Jones, RB, Florida - odd pick
3 - 96 Cleveland Browns (from New England)
3* - 97 New England Patriots
3* - 98 Kansas City Chiefs
3* - 99 Cincinnati Bengals
* Compensatory pick.

TV SCHEDULE:

NFL Network: 6pm-10pm CT
ESPN: 6pm-7pm CT
ESPN2: 7pm-10pm CT

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