This pick was announced well before the draft started to it was no shocker that the Carolina Panthers went with DeMeco Ryans at the #1 overall pick. In 2005 the Panthers went 1-15 ranking 31st in points allowed a game at 30.8, 28th in total defense giving up 383.9 yards, and 32nd in rush defense a game letting up almost 150 yards on the ground. They did fare a bit better in pass defense ending with a ranking of 18th in the league giving up 253 yards per game and for a team that went 1-15 it's really impressive that they were actually positive in the turnover differential and ranked 10th in the league at +3. Both sides of the ball needed help but I can see where going defense here could be a bit of an easier fix to have 2006 be a lot more successful for Mr. Roberts and Ryans will be a great start to the rebuild. Ryans is one of the most athletic Linebackers coming out of the draft while also being one of the youngest. He has got great awareness for someone who is entering the league at 22 years old at one of the most important positions on a Football Team being the anchor in the middle of the field. He may not be the tallest but having 87 jump is going to let him make up for being a bit shorter then some of the Tight Ends he may be covering and his 90 Speed 91 Agility and 92 Acceleration will really make him great in zone coverage over the middle of the field. Some people may not value the position as others but honestly given the chance I think most people would rather have Ryans on his roster then not. I do think this is going to really be a good starting piece for the Panthers moving forward.
1.2 CB Antonio Cromartie - Florida State
The Cardinals landed who I thought and was probably the consensus with most General Managers you talked to as THE best player coming out of this 2006 draft class. There is some great talent in the top of this class but Cromartie really looks like he is going to step in and instantly make a massive impact on a team that really needs it. As the 2005 season went on it became apparent that the Arizona Cardinals were facing a full rebuild as the season went on and starting to put their plan into place making quite a few trades to get draft assets for the offseason and put themselves in position to make it a quick turnaround. One of the best examples of that is the trade of QB Phillip Rivers to the Houston Texans bringing in veteran Chad Pennington who is ready to step in and win now with a revamped offense. As the Panthers handed in their card to the Commissioner with the #1 overall pick Mr. Cook had to be smiling when he found out that Cromartie had fallen to them. The 6’2” 22 year old from Florida State is going to be a game changer from day 1 of stepping foot into the league. He has an unmatched combo of size and speed and that will only get better as he gets used to the level of competition he will be facing. Starting off as a rookie with 73 Awareness is something that is going to become a quick issue for any opposing Quarterback within the next year or so. He is coming in as a rookie ahead of where most people get to the league intelligence wise and his great hands will truly help him be an impact player instantly as I think he will end his rookie season in the top 10 in the league in Interceptions, and by the end of his career probably will go down as the best corner the league has ever seen to this point. This is the player that you build your whole defense around, if he can continue to make good moves getting supporting talent in the first and second levels in the defense he could get Arizona into a real contender in the near future.
1.3 WR Brandon Marshall - UCF
This was the last of the picks that everyone pretty well knew what would happen. Brandon Marshall out of UCF was the obvious choice as a drop in replacement for WR Randy Moss who was traded to Pittsburgh earlier in the offseason. There really was not much debate here on who Mr. Herr and the Vikings would be looking at. Marshall was the clear best player to get on offense that could step in and help the Vikings. Brandon Marshall is as close to a Randy Moss clone as you can really get. Being 1” taller and very similar athletically the Vikings really just found a way to trade the most coveted wide receiver in the PTF and made a great trade to get to 1.3 and easily replace him while acquiring a 2nd top 5 pick in the draft. Marshall will probably hope to be used a bit more then Moss was as he did have 14 Touchdown receptions you still felt like 78 receptions could have been a bit low for him seeing as he had 7 games last year with 3 or fewer receptions. Some of that is going to come down to the Vikings superb run game and being able to eat away at the clock and really strain opposing teams to be super efficient anytime they have the ball and really force them to feel the need to score with every possession because they may not get too many in the game. But with the right gameplan I'm sure Marshall will be able to step in and really come into his own very quickly. It will be interesting to see how he and also newly acquired 2005 1st round draft pick WR Dante Ridgeway step in replacing both the Minnesota Vikings top targets in 2005 with Hines Ward not being re-signed and ending up in Green Bay.
1.4 ROLB Chad Greenway - Iowa
Here is where the draft really started to get interesting and where the draft truly started. The Giants ended the 2005 season at 3-13 and also won their last 2 games of the season to get there. What's kind of odd about them is looking ranking wise, they really weren't terrible at anything like you would expect with a team with that kind of record. Looking back on the week by week games they were really in most of the games by the end of it with 8 of their losses being 7 points or less. They could be the team with a few changes and a couple plays going the other way of really having a big bounce back season in 2006. I think Greenway was the best choice for them to step in and make a nice impact for them. 6’3” with GREAT speed at OLB and is someone that will not let many players get away once he gets his hands on them and wraps them up. Once he gets his Awareness up he really will be a pretty big headache for the NFC East teams who probably will not be overly anxious to run his way and they know he is going to be a guy who is going to break up a lot of passes in his career. He doesn't have the best hands to come up with a ton of interceptions but should be able to blanket any person he is matched up with in the second level. With there being no elite edge pass rushers that would be worth taking with the 4th pick in the draft this pick really made the most sense as a great upgrade over LOLB Matt Wilhelm who is not bad but just needs more time developing and getting better at reading what the offense is going to do and being in the right spot at the right time. The combination of OLB Dhani Jones, MLB Andra Davis and OLB Chad Greenway will be solid for the Giants in 2006.
1.5 QB Vince Young - Texas
Some draft day frenzy surrounding this pick was really the talk of the league leading up to draft night and deals being negotiated truly up until the Vikings were on the clock flipped the look of the future of the team in an instant. Brooks Bollinger who looked to of finally found his permanent home got traded AGAIN for the 3rd straight offseason going from being drafted 9th overall by the Panthers in the 2003 rookie draft got traded to the Titans in the 2004 offseason. Following that year he was part of the Daunte Culpepper deal that really seemed like he had landed in his long term home in an offense that he would thrive in. Draft Night really was a shock to him as multiple teams were reported to be in talks with the Vikings to acquire him and the 49ers put the right package together and Bollinger will now try and prove himself in San Francisco freeing up the Vikings to select what they hope to be their long term franchise Quarterback in Texas University’s Vince Young. It was not a move many General Managers around the league saw coming but once they looked into it more it did make some sense. Young has a lot of upside and could turn himself into an ELITE Quarterback in due time. Great arm, great accuracy right off the bat is always great to see, its just going to take some time to be able to read the defense properly and make the best decisions on the field to lead your team to a win. Trading Bollinger away and going QB at 5 may not of been what some GM’s would of done in that position with a couple other players on the board who could come in and make an immediate impact on a roster that is in the toughest division in the PTF but in the long term this could be a great decision by Mr. Herr and the Vikings.
1.6 RT D'Brickashaw Ferguson - Virginia
Last season the Jets addressed the most important position in football at Quarterback by drafting Alex Smith with the 1st overall pick in the 2005 draft. Smith did not have a terrible rookie year honestly. 3007 yards passing and 20 touchdowns out of a rookie is honestly pretty decent, the only thing that really hurt him was throwing 28 interceptions and what I think really led to a lot of incomplete passes and rushed throws was getting sacked 42 times last year. Smith was the 8th most sacked QB in 2005 and the Jets really addressed that by grabbing the top offensive linemen in the draft with D’Brickashaw Ferguson. He is going to step in and be a great replacement for Jason Fabini who was let go after struggling last season at Right Tackle. It may be interesting to see if Ferguson comes in and instantly starts at Left Tackle or if he will start at Right Tackle to develop a little bit and then move over to be an anchor for Alex Smith in the next couple years. Not all of Smith’s issues were on the offensive line, coming in as a rookie they will always struggle dealing with pressure early in their career and also fall into the trap of holding onto the ball too long and not making a quick enough read or knowing when to throw away a play and not take the negative yardage getting sacked. Either way I think the Jets are thrilled to get a guy like this at 6 who will be a “Brick” (ill see myself out) Wall for both the pass game that ranked 24th last season and a run game that ranked 22nd last season. Ferguson and Alex Smith are both going to be a great building blocks for Mr. Hinch and the New York Jets to build around for seasons to come.
1.7 QB Jay Cutler - Vanderbilt
Here is what ESPN8 sportscaster Cotton McKnight had to say during the live draft coverage when the pick was announced
“It’s a bold move Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.”
1.8 TE Leonard Pope - Georgia
This is to me one of the most interesting and could be one of the most fun picks to watch of the guys who went top 10. Leonard Pope is one of the biggest unicorns this draft class has with unmatched size and speed. Just to give you an idea of where he ranks as a day one rookie lets play a fun game. Pope is one of 8 players who are at least 6’6” and has at least 75 SPD, AGI, ACC, and 70 CTH. That puts him in the same class as some of the top Tight Ends in the top end in height and speed in the Chargers Jason Witten and Packers Bubba Franks. If we drop the catch filter and try and narrow the list down by upping the SPD, AGI, and ACC to 80 we find out that Leonard Pope now becomes one of 2 TE’s in the whole league to be of that size and speed and the only other one who can get close is actually the Cowboys Courtney Anderson who just barely passes the filters on most of those and is sitting with a 61 CTH rating. Leonard Pope in year 2 will be up over 90 in all 3 of those categories and at 6’8” he is going to be a real menace over the middle of the field. There really is nothing you can do when someone is just that much taller then anyone you can throw out there on defense and has the athletic ability to get himself open and not just need to rely on just using his wingspan to get receptions. Tight Ends really don't quite get the love that Wide Receivers do in the league but when you can find the right one they can really make a big impact and help change an offense's outlook. Heath Miller may be the best example of that being the only Tight End to break the 1000 yard mark last season while hauling in 11 Touchdown Catches, I think under the right offensive scheme Leonard Pope could truly come in and do that his rookie season if not by year 2 he is going to be in that level of production. That will be exactly what Mr. Miller and the Oakland Raiders will be looking for when the season starts to help out an offense last season that overall was not very good. The Raiders are in a really tough division and wins will always be hard to come by, especially now with both Manning brothers leading the Chargers and Broncos. They ranked 27th in points scored a game, 28th in total offense, and 30th in pass offense. The one thing they were better at was running the ball where they ranked 18th. Getting Pope here is a great start to working on getting more first downs and keeping drives alive and the offensive numbers should come up and we may see a better version of the Raiders heading into the 2006 season. Leonard Pope with the right offense around him I also think could go down as the best Tight End the league has ever seen. I'm excited to watch what he does!
1.9 CB Johnathan Joseph - South Carolina
The New Orleans Saints were a 6-10 team last year and injuries to key players really hindered their chances at a good season Cornerback Greg Brooks broke his wrist during the week 2 matchup with the Jets and was out for the season as it just barely got started. WR Matt Jones tore his groin Week 8 and was out the rest of the season, Ben Roethlisberger went down for a couple weeks during week 11, WR Mike Williams went down for a couple weeks late in the season too. There were a couple different positions the Saints could have looked for at 9. DT, TE, OLB, WR, OG, Secondary all could have good arguments as a position of need and the Saints went out and grabbed the clear 2nd best Cornerback in the class in Johnathan Joseph out of South Carolina. There is truly nothing not to like about Joseph, 5’11” great speed, elite acceleration and agility, great tackling ability, good jump and is pretty football smart already coming into the league. He is going to come into his own after a season or so and be an anchor for many years to come. If New Orleans can stay a bit healthier next season Joseph can really come in and help out a defense that was 28th in pass defense a game and 24th in points allowed and total defense a game. With CB’s Duans Starks and Walt Harris on the back 9 of their career’s the Saints seem to be in great positioning with now 3 Cornerbacks that are up and coming and with a bit of time could be one of the best CB trios in the league who all have elite speed and athleticism. They will be hard to deal with in the very near future.
1.10 DT Haloti Ngata - Oregon
Another team that has found themselves with 2 1st round draft picks inside the top 10 picks is the New York Jets. With the last pick they got their Offensive Tackle of the future with D’Birckashaw Ferguson and on this pick they would be looking to help out the other side of the ball. The Jets again could of went quite a few different ways with this pick but I honestly really like what they did at 10 here and selected who I had as my #1 Defensive Linemen in the class with Oregon’s Haloti Ngata. The New York Jets ended 2005 in 29th in points allowed a game, 25th in total defense a game, 19th in pass defense and 28th in rush defense. Some of that honestly comes down to their offense not being very good last season and their defense just had far more pressure on it and they were on the field quite a few more times then they should have been. Defensive Tackles Bryant Young and Josh Williams were both let go after the season and New York decided to start looking for who they would want to line up with 2003 1st round draft pick Kenny Peterson who has already shown that he is going to be one of the better Defensive Tackles in the league in due time and Ngata is going to be a great fit and I think this combo will cause some fits in the AFC East. The player you can look to now to try and get an idea of what Ngata will be like is the 49ers Marcus Stroud, they athletically are nearly identical with Haloti being a rookie. He is only going to get stronger and faster and once his awareness comes up he is going to be a better player and I think will put up some big numbers for a Defensive Tackle in the sack department. At 340lbs his size and speed combo are going to make him really hard to handle and it will be exciting to watch him develop and really turn into an elite player in a very short period of time. I really like what the Jets did at pick 6 and 10 and think they absolutely nailed both of them and are really trending towards building a contender quicker than people may think.
This will conclude my take on the Top 10 picks of the 2006 PTF Draft. I really enjoyed doing this and tried to bring in a good mixture of stats and opinions to be the determining factor in my outlook on the choices made. If you guys like this let me know and I may think about breaking down 11-21 and 22-32 in separate parts.
1.1 MLB DeMeco Ryans - Alabama
1.2 CB Antonio Cromartie - Florida State
1.3 WR Brandon Marshall - UCF
1.4 ROLB Chad Greenway - Iowa
1.6 RT D'Brickashaw Ferguson - Virginia
1.7 QB Jay Cutler - Vanderbilt
1.8 TE Leonard Pope - Georgia
1.9 CB Johnathan Joseph - South Carolina