Draft Day Winners and Losers
by CJ Sanchez
28/4/2008
 
I was somewhere near London in the middle of the night, when the stats began to take hold. Suddenly the air was filled with what looked like huge boards. They were all flashing and firing out forty times and other combine figures. I remember hearing someone say.
 
“Holy flying iguanas! Who are these sixth round players?”
 
Through the haze of those final rounds one thing was very clear. I didn't have a clue what was going on. The trades were coming thick and fast and across the board teams were scrambling madly to unearth that final golden nugget.
 
The draft moved with exceptional speed this year, which was good if you, like me, were attempting to stay with it for all seven rounds. But keeping track of all the swings and roundabouts proved a troublesome affair. Nevertheless, the picks have been made and I now present you with this year's NFL Draft 'Winners and Losers':
 
WINNER: Me – for sticking with the draft despite gnashing my teeth over several of the Dolphins picks.
 
LOSER: Me – for spending an entire weekend listening to a list of names being read out. And for finding it all incredibly exciting.
 
WINNER: My Broadband Connection – for not cutting out on me too often and for not losing the (exceptionally legal) live stream.
 
LOSER: My Broadband Provider – for having to use so much bandwidth on a single person in one weekend. For this weekend at least, 'unlimited' really was unlimited. I make no apologies.
 
WINNER: My Mock Draft – for being correct until the Patriots traded their first round pick (From the 49ers) to the Saints. Mike Mayock has nothing on CJ Sanchez. Well ok, maybe he does, but he thought Matt Ryan was going to the Chiefs. The Chiefs I tell you!
 
LOSER: The Other Diner Writers – I take great pride in winning the mock draft contest over my inferior comrades here at the Diner. You hear that peeps? That is the sound of my glorious victory!
 
WINNER: The Miami Dolphins – For not only making a good choice with their first pick, but also securing and presenting him in a timely and efficient manner.
 
LOSER: The Miami Dolphins – For failing to cover any of their needs in favour of drafting Chad Henne and trading down to pick up two running backs in the sixth round. (Running Back was possibly the only position that Miami didn't need help in. Bitter? You bet I am!)
 
WINNER: Kevin Smith – our friend Kevin Smith was drafted higher then predicted, by the Detroit Lions with the very first pick of the third round (from the Dolphins). The Lions are a great team for Kevin to go to, as he won't have much competition for the starting job.
 
LOSER: All Wide Receivers in the draft and any QB whose name wasn't Matt Ryan – Not a single wide receiver was taken in the first round and several QBs had to wait much longer then expected for their name to be read out.
 
WINNER: The Draft Prospect Selection Committee – For inviting the right guys this year and not ending up with another Brady Quinn fiasco.
 
LOSER: The Sound Engineer – For piercing all our ears with feedback and distortion all evening. Pardon? No, I said feedback and distortion! NO, FEEEEDBACCKK ANNND DISTTTOOOORTION!!
 
And finally, on a less serious note:
 
WINNER: The Chiefs of one Kansas City – For having a simply superb draft. They replaced recently traded Jared Allen by picking up LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, who will be much cheaper, not too mention younger. Then they managed to score guard Brandon Albert and cornerback Brandon Flowers, both of who will start as rookies.
 
LOSER: The New England Patriots – No seriously, their first round pick, linebacker Jerod Mayo, was a huge reach even at tenth. And then they took quarterback Kevin O'Connell in the third round, which quite frankly, I do not understand at all. Very strange drafting this year from a usually sound unit.
 
But of course, we won't truly know who the winners and losers of the '08 draft are for some years yet. Most rookies don't fully develop for a good three years and there will always be that one guy who comes out of nowhere to stun the league and make the team who picked him look like geniuses.
 
Somewhere in this draft there is a rough diamond waiting to be polished. Somewhere there is a player who won't quite live up to expectations. Somewhere there is a goal-line hero who will score a Superbowl winning touchdown and forever enter folklore. And somewhere there is a guy who won't quite cut it and will unfortunately have to change tracks.
 
But we don't really know whom these guys will turn out to be. We can speculate on the winners and losers, or give grades to the different teams, but in the end, only time will tell.