Needs and Players in Round 1 of the NFL Draft Coverage
The NFL draft day 1 is made up of the frst two rounds of the draft. In my last two articles I wrote about picks 1 through 10. Trying to predict which players will go the each team in picks 11 through 20 is nearly impossible but I can give the needs of each team and players expected to go in the first round. Here is the list:
The 11th pick is owned by St. Louis, followed by Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Minnesota, Dallas, San Diego and Kansas City.
St. Louis might go with defense here and select giant defensive tackkle, Haloti Ngata out of Oregon. He is a run stuffer with great tackling ability and he could be a great presence on that defensive front four.
Cleveland has a lot of issues to address but with their defensive minded coach Romeo Crenel leading the team look for them to draft a defensive players who can make an immediate impact. Michael Huff, corner back out of Texas can make a real difference from that at a position they need help at right away. Huff has great speed and covering abilities that he excellently demonstrated in the rose bowl as he was able to shut down USC’s excellent receivers.
Baltimore is a mess right now as they recently released Pro Bowl RB Jamal Lewis, one of the best RB in the leauge. If Baltimore doesn’t resign him which is very likely, I think they will take Laurence Maroney, RB out of Minesota who had almost 1500 yards rushing last year and is the 4th best running back in the draft.
Philadelphia owns the next pick and with the release of Terrel Owens, they might feel the need to take a playmaking wide receiver that they have been sorely lacking ever since Owens got kicked off the team. The top Wide receiver is Santanio Holmes out of Ohio State. Holmes was an outstanding receiver last year who made some all out diving and leaping catches. He has hight and speed and is the best wide receiver at a weak draft class position.
Atlanta is picking afterwards and with a QB, RB, TE ,and young WRs in place, look for Atlanta to draft for defense that declined last year. Linebacker Chad Greenway, a senior out of Iowa. Greenway has great tackling ability and can chase down any offensive player in the open field.
Miami is looking for a QB but I think they will pick up Drew Brees as a Free Agent. Their RB is set with Ronnie Brown drafted last year. They could go with an offensive lineman here, Winston Justice out of USC. Justice gave up very few sacks in his entire career at USC protecting Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer. He is the best in his class and Miami might want to take him to give their QB time to throw with tenacious defensives in their division.
Then there is Minesota who will more than likely trade Daunte Culpepper and allow Brad Johnson to start who played very well for them last year. This could very well be Minesota’s 2nd pick in the draft. With a weak bunch of receivers, they might take Chad Jackson out of Florida University. Their new head coach, Brad Childress is offensive oriented and they will probably take an offensive player as well.
Dalls is next and they are going to try and sign Terell Owens in the offseason as coach Bill Parcells has already stated he would like a big play maker on the team like Owens. Dallas is set at Cornerback, RB, and TE. They might take a linebacker here with an emphasis on defense like Demeco Ryans out of Alabama. Ryans is a quality linebacker who resembles the play of A.J. Hawks. Ryans doesn’t have ideal speed, but he makes sure tackled out of the backfield and is a good quality defender with cover skills.
San Diego picks at #19. This is interesting since they hope untested Philip Rivers will step in to replace Drew Brees. They are set at RB with Tomlinson and at TE with Gates. An interesting player here is cornerback Tye Hill out of Clemson.
Finally there is Kansas City who will definitely take a defensive player. For the last couple of years their offensive ranks near the top while their defense is at the bottom. With new defensive minded coach Herm Edwards at the helm, they could take Ernie Sims, linebacker out of Florida State.
