2013 NFL Draft Thread

[TFM_Dale]

A few years ago, Ziggy Ansah had never seen an American football game. Now he’s a Detroit Lion.

The Lions took Ansah, a native of Ghana who played defensive end at Brigham Young University, with the fifth overall pick.
Ansah is a phenomenal athlete, with a freakish blend of size and speed. The question is whether Ansah is ready to play at the NFL level. At BYU his production didn’t generally match his talent, and he may not be ready to start in the NFL as a rookie.

For Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew and coach Jim Schwartz, they need Ansah to be ready in a hurry, or else someone else will be calling the shots for the Lions at the 2014 NFL draft.

[TFM_Dale]

The run on pass rushers and pass protectors continues as the Cleveland Browns took LSU defensive end Barkevious Mingo with the sixth overall selection.

Pass rusher wasn’t the biggest need for the Browns but it is a key component of Ray Horton’s 3-4 defense. Mingo will likely serve as a standup pass rushing linebacker in a similar role to the oneJames Harrison played in for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mingo fits that mold at 6-foot-4, 241 pounds.

With the first five picks playing offensive tackle or defensive end, the Browns had their choice of the best player available at any other position. However, the need for that pass rushing threat apparently was paramount to the Browns plans.

[TFM_Dale]

The Cardinals, in need of help along the offensive line, took one of the top guards available with the No. 7 overall pick, selecting North Carolina’sJonathan Cooper.

Cooper (6-2, 311) was an All-American at left guard for North Carolina a season ago. He would figure to compete to start immediately along the interior of Arizona’s offensive line. He may also have the ability to play center on the NFL level.

The Cardinals allowed 58 sacks a season ago, and they gained a paltry 3.4 yards per rush. With NFC West rivals Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis all having strong defensive fronts, upgrading the offensive line was a necessity.

The Cardinals have six more draft picks, with their next selection in Round Two (No. 38 overall).

[TFM_Dale]

Tavon Austin’s rocket ride has come to an end at the eighth overall pick of the 2013 Draft.

The Rams, who owned a pair of first-round picks coming into the draft, traded up with the Bills to get the wide receiver. It’s one pick before the first of two Jets first rounders and the Jets have been linked with Austin in several different places in recent days. The need for Austin is obvious in St. Louis. The departures ofDanny Amendola andBrandon Gibson leave the offense without much in the way of targets forSam Bradford at wide receiver. Austin changes that and you can expect the Rams to find plenty of different ways to get the ball into his hands next season. It’s something their offense needed even before those wideouts (andSteven Jackson) left town, so it’s easy to understand why the Rams went up the board to get Austin.

Buffalo’s drop will fuel speculation that they want to draft a quarterback in the first round, just not with the eighth pick of the first round.Ryan Nassib,Geno Smith andMatt Barkley
have all been linked with the Bills at different points. They’ll now pick 16th, which could be the spot that they strike for their quarterback of the future. Buffalo also added the 46th, 78th and 222nd overall picks. The Rams will get the 71st overall pick back from the Bills.

[TFM_Dale]

The Jets just traded a star cornerback for a first-rounder, but used the first they already had to draft a star cornerback.

The Jets selected Alabama’s Dee Milliner with the ninth pick, getting a guy thought to have been a top five-caliber player.

The Jets were said to have wanted wide receiver Tavon Austin, but the Bills sent the eighth pick to St. Louis to keep him out of the division, as well as pick up extra choices. Milliner might not be Darrelle Revis, but he is talented enough to step into the lineup and make the defense more legitimate than it was 24 hours ago, something they have a chance to add to at 13.

[TFM_Dale]

Former Alabama guard Chance Warmack said this month that he wanted to be drafted by the Titans. He got his wish, as Tennessee took Warmack with the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft.

Warmack is excited about playing for a couple of great offensive linemen in head coach Mike Munchak and offensive line coach Bruce Matthews.

“I’ve never been coached by an actual offensive lineman before,” Warmack said. “That alone will escalate my play to a phenomenal level. Most of my coaches played tight end. My offensive line coach in college played linebacker. They couldn’t really relate to what an offensive lineman does. They did a good job coaching me, but with [Munchak and Matthews] it would be a whole ‘nother level of learning the position. I was more attracted to hearing those two guys being on the same team and to know that it was three hours away from my college. It would be like a dream come true for me.”

Warmack’s dream has come true, and he’s going to Tennessee.

[TFM_Dale]

Desperate for help along the offensive line, the San Diego Chargers selected Alabama tackle D.J. Fluker with the 11th pick in the draft.

The San Diego Chargers were forced to watch as five of the first 10 picks came along the offensive line.Eric Fisher, Luke Joeckel, Lane Johnson, Jonathan Cooper and Chance Warmack
all were off the board by the time the Chargers got on the clock.

Yet the need to protectPhilip Rivers dictated the Chargers selection. Fluker was the third straight player selected out of the University of Alabama. The Chargers were unable to adequately protect Rivers last season and San Diego will need to rely on Fluker to bolster a porous offensive line.

[TFM_Dale]

The Raiders, exercising a pick acquired from the Dolphins in a trade earlier on Thursday, selected Houston cornerbackD.J. Hayden with the No. 12 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

PFT’s Mike Florio reported earlier Thursday that the Raidershad interestin Hayden, who was regarded as one of the top CB prospects in the draft.

Hayden’s senior season at Houston was cut short by a freak accident. He suffered a ruptured inferior vena cava, a blood-vessel injury that can be fatal. However, he has recovered, and now, he figures to contend for a role in the Raiders’ secondary in his first NFL season.

Oakland originally held the No. 3 overall selection but dealt that to Miami for selections Nos. 12 and 42.

The Raiders, who are reworking their roster with general manager Reggie McKenzie in his second year at the helm, have seven more draft picks, with the second-rounder from Miami and their own third-round selection slated for Friday.

[Nickdfresh]

Is it me or was the Dolphins' pick completely bizarre and terrible?

[TFM_Dale]

The Jets got a player to try to fill the hole left by theDarrelle Revis trade with their first pick in the first round and now they’ve added another piece to what could be Rex Ryan’s last defense as the team’s head coach.

After taking up nearly the entire 10 minutes allotted for their pick, the Jets decided to pick Missouri defensive tackleSheldon Richardson.

That makes three first round picks in a row on defensive linemen, with Richardson followingQuinton CoplesandMuhammad Wilkersonto New Jersey.

Unlike Coples and Wilkerson, Richardson projects to line up on the inside of the line. WithSione Pouhagone, the Jets have a need for someone to fill that role so Richardson should have a good shot at starting from day one. Richardson is smaller than Pouha, but his quickness and ability to penetrate will be useful to a Jets team that needs to pressure more pockets in 2013.

If Ryan’s fighting for his job, the Jets are letting him do it on the defensive side of the ball.

[TFM_Dale]

The Panthers had a glaring need at defensive tackle. Now they have a Star, drafting Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei with the 14th overall pick.

It didn’t take them long to get their card in, apparently eager to land the big man, who will start next to Dwan Edwards
inside, on a defensive front seven that is suddenly quite good, with endsCharles Johnson and Greg Hardy outside, and a corps of first-round linebackers including Luke Kuechly, Jon Beason and Thomas Davis.

Lotulelei was thought the be a top-five pick before a scare about a heart condition at the Combine, but those concerns turned out to be unfounded.

[TFM_Dale]

Is it me or was the Dolphins' pick completely bizarre and terrible?

All I can think is they have the Albert trade pretty much done so they filled a different hole. Why they traded up to not take a tackle I have no fucking idea.

[TFM_Dale]

Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has himself a new safety. Kenny Vaccaro, a safety from Texas, has gone to New Orleans with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft.

Vaccaro was the consensus pick as the top safety in this year’s draft, and the Saints wanted a youngster to go along with veteran startersRoman HarperandMalcolm Jenkins. Vaccaro can cover slot receivers and is good at playing the run inside the box, and he should make an immediate difference, both on defense and on special teams.

Last year, the Saints’ secondary was nothing short of pathetic. This year, Vaccaro should make that secondary better.

[Nickdfresh]

And the Bills take E.J. Manuel. I'm happy with the pick, but Buffalo is a place where talent comes to die (since 1997)...

[TFM_Dale]

When the Buffalo Bills traded out of the eighth pick in the draft to move down, it seemed they were moving down with the intention of selecting a quarterback.

The Bills were thought to be high on Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib and West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. Just about every quarterback was linked as a possibility for the Bills at some point in the process. The Bills were able to accomplish their goal of drafting a quarterback, it just wasn’t the one everyone was expected.

Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel become the first quarterback off the board in the 2013 NFL Draft. It’s the first time since 2000 that a quarterback wasn’t selected in the Top 10. Manuel comes in alongside recent acquisition Kevin Kolb and Tarvaris Jackson to compete for the Bills starting job. Manuel is the first quarterback taken by Buffalo in the first round since J.P. Losman in 2004.