Immediate reactions can sometimes be over reactions so after attending this year’s NFL Draft and walking out with an abundance of intial feelings, I sat down the past couple of weeks and sorted everything out. After total review, I came up with these rankings, gradings, feelings or whatever you want to call them. In this series of eight NFL Draft blog entries I’ll rank the teams inside their own division from first to last as to how I feel they did with their selections.   

AFC EAST

1) New York Jets – The Jets scored a two-fold victory in round one when they selected outside linebacker Vern Gholston from Ohio State and in so doing, prevented their arch rival New England which owned the very next pick from adding the coveted pass rusher to their roster. Having the sixth pick overall meant that New York was going to get one of the perceived “Big Six” players who were rated a cut above all the others but which one would fall to them was the question. In employing the 3-4 defensive system, the Jets had an urgent need for a true sack specialist on the outside. Gholston and his NCAA leading 23 sacks over the past two seasons figures to fit very nicely as the final piece to New York’s starting front seven puzzle.

In a move that inside Radio City Music Hall was greeted by Jets fans with a chorus of boos, plenty of quizzical looks and the phrase “what the **** are they doing”, New York traded for the 30th pick in the first round and took Purdue tight end Dustin Keller. The fans who for the better part of the two day event let it be known that they’re sick of the Jets passing game really wanted one of the top rated quarterbacks but would’ve also been happy with a highly rated wide receiver. New York probably did not have to trade up from their 36^th spot to get Keller but they panicked into thinking that the cross town Giants who were on the clock next would select a tight end. In the end, it didn’t cost New York all that much and the selection of Keller does now equip them with a speed and pure pass receiving element that they didn’t have at that position. The Jets who use a short to mid range passing game can now go to a deceptive four receiver set in which they have current starter Chris Baker (41 catches in 2007) and Keller on the field making it look like a run formation.

A pair of later round selections made by the Jets really stood out to me as excellent value choices. The fifth round pick of QB Erik Ainge out of Tennessee is one that could harvest their future starting signal caller. Ainge has all the assets to succeed in this offensive system and the shaky status of the depth chart ahead of him could quickly ascend him to the top. He’s got time to learn the speed of the league and absorb the playbook and I feel that in 2009 he can legitimately challenge for the starting job. I also thought the selection of 6’4” Kansas wide receiver Marcus Henry was a tremendous choice in the sixth round. He does not come from a true pro-set style offense but in watching him this season, the skill set is there to immediately earn him a spot in the Jets two deep rotation.

While the Jets draft wasn’t one of upper echelon status, I would rate it as above average and in this division where none of the four teams made a real score, New York gets the nod as having done the best.            

2) New England – They settled for trading out of the #7 overall spot in the first round once the hated New York Jets plucked Vernon Gholston off the board right in front of them. New England dealt the pick to New Orleans and in return the Patriots received the Saints #10 spot in the first round along with their third round choice which was #78. As they always seem to do, the Patriots made it count because they parlayed those selections into promising linebackers Jarrod Mayo from Tennessee and Shawn Crable from Michigan . First rounder Mayo was soaring up some draft boards including that of the Detroit Lions at #15 so New England was shrewd in making sure that when they traded out of the #7 hole they’d still be in front of the Lions. Mayo is a far faster and stronger inside linebacker than current Patriots starter Teddy Bruschi but he’ll need to obtain the smarts and savvy the Bruschi possesses in order to make the clean jump into the starting lineup. I’d expect that to happen relatively soon because by all accounts, Mayo is instinctive and very coachable. With the Patriots apparently upgrading an inside spot in their linebacking corps, they look to at the very least have gained quality depth on the outside in Crable. Crable is an explosive outside backer who found his way into opposing backfields regularly last year finishing second in the nation with 28.5 tackles for loss. He’s not likely to be needed at a starting post as urgently as Mayo because New England already owns a great first string bookend tandem in Mike Vrabel and Adalius Thomas. Crable will however have his talents used in his rookie season by head coach Bill Belichick and again, he will add solid depth to what was becoming an aging and somewhat average linebacking corps.

The only other true need New England had in this draft was in the defensive backfield where they lost both Eugene Wilson and stud cornerback Asante Samuel. The team addressed the matter to a degree in free agency but they still felt it necessary to obtain a top cover man in this draft and their solution to that was Colorado speed merchant Terrence Wheatley. Wheatley’s physical stature is in the mold of a lot of recent Patriots corners as he’s just 5’9” and 180 pounds but it’s his 4.37 speed and playmaking abilities that they selected him for. He broke up 21 passes and intercepted 10 in 22 games as a Buffalo the past two seasons and while they’re not always noted for it, the Big XII had some very potent passing attacks. He got drafted into a nice situation here because the AFC East is not a division with physical receiving corps and his main obstacle between becoming a starter or being a nickel back will be his sturdiness versus the run and bigger, faster wideouts.

I wasn’t overwhelmed by the remainder of this draft by the Patriots but San Diego State QB Kevin O’Connell is a guy who finally in his last year lived up to some of the hype bestowed upon him during his college career. It’s tough to judge  when, if ever he’ll even have a chance to contribute here with Tom Brady being a permanent fixture for the foreseeable future.               

3) Miami – I’ll give the Dolphins Jake Long just because he was a safe pick that can’t really be argued but he just doesn’t strike me as a #1 overall talent. Yes I believe he’ll start right away and yes I think that with the tutelage of new head coach Tony Sporano (an offensive line coach by trade) that he’ll progressively improve. Long’s strong suit which is run blocking fits what Bill Parcells wants to do with this team but it will be his ability to handle speed rushers that will decide whether this top pick approaches Pro Bowl level. This entire draft just wreaks of plodders and grinders to me and I understand the down and dirty, let’s become physical philosophy that’s being instilled here, but I just don’t know if that wins enough anymore in this league. To me, you can only go so far with the run it down their throat mentality and when I look it over, I just don’t see enough speed and athleticism drafted here to go with the toughness that was selected in abundance. Entering the draft and owning the #1 overall spot in five of the seven rounds should at least produce one or two “wow” type players but instead Miami walked away with a lot of “steady” guys. Clemson defensive end Philip Merling, Michigan QB Chad Henne, Toledo RB Jalen Parmelee are all guys that when I watched them throughout their college playing days I come away saying “he’s OK”, “he’s pretty good”. In my estimation, that’s not what you want from the draft when you are selecting at the very top like Miami was. While I feel that overall this is a ho hum, lackluster type of draft class chosen by the Dolphins, I will say this; I have always felt that the game is won at the point of attack and with that being said, Miami did improve the most through this draft in the offensive line area. Fourth rounder Shawn Murphy out of Utah State is big and physical like Jake Long is and I think the two of them could become fixtures across the front. Just not sure that you can create a plodding offensive style team like Parcells had in the 1990 New York Giants and win a title nowadays unless you have a terrorizing, point producing defense. I don’t think this draft helped all that much.

4) Buffalo – While I didn’t care for the Dolphins draft very much, I evaluate this one by the Bills and rate it even lower. Let’s start with the positive, first round cornerback Leodis McKelvin out of Troy was a solid selection as Buffalo gets an immediate starter with loads of ability at a position of need. With the Buffalo secondary suffering as many serious in juries as it did last season and now having those players return, the addition of McKelvin could suddenly make this the most improved pass defense statistically in the NFL.

The fact that Buffalo chose Indiana wide receiver James Hardy ahead of Texas wideout Limas Sweed absolutely stuns me. The Bills were definitely in pursuit of a taller athletic wide receiving target when they selected in the second round at #41 so it’s understandable why they did not choose some of the other top rated wideouts but my feeling is they made a mistake by taking Hardy. I admit that he made a ton of plays for IU but every time I saw him, he seemed like a guy who simply used his physical attributes to make plays on less talented defenders. He only ran basic, playground style routes which were nothing more than just throw it up high and I’ll get it. That works in college when you’re almost six to 10 inches taller than everyone you play and it works in the NFL only if you’re ability is in the class of Randy Moss. This isn’t the NCAA anymore, and Hardy isn’t near the talent of Moss. I feel he’s raw and we’ll have to see if he actually develops into somebody who will actually learn to run precise routes at this level. He’s got some character issues and I truly feel that Sweed is the more polished, more NFL ready receiver if you’re specification was to select the best tall target wide receiver. We’ll see how this pans out for the Bills who obviously had Hardy above Sweed on their board and feel as if they got immediate help.

Virginia Tech defensive end Chris Ellis is the player we remember terrorizing Boston College Matt Ryan in last year’s first matchup between the teams. He’s got a chance to elevate this draft class to a higher status than where I have it rated but he’ll have to change his reputation as a player who doesn’t always go hard. He’s definitely got the ability to play in this league but like Hardy, he’s a real question mark. The rest of this Buffalo draft is full of guys who are either “tweeners” or guys who played in against lesser competition. There could be a couple of truly solid special teams finds here because Buffalo took highly productive college players but even in time, it doesn’t seem as if any will become significant offensive or defensive players.