Draft grades... sayonara, #17... CAPitulation...

No sooner had the NFL draft ended was I able to check out 317 different evaluations and grades of every team's picks... and I don't know how Cleveland got a B+ while Cincinnati got a B-. What are you thinking, NBC?

Premature Evaluation-- don't even try to grade your team's picks until somebody gets cut or makes the Pro Bowl. It's a long way from August. And a long way from December. GM's say it takes 2 to 3 years to get a complete gage on a draft class... by which times many of those GM's are gone.

First picks first-- one year after Detroit drafted the guy who looked like Sandra Bullock's husband in Hope Floats (Matthew Stafford) first overall, St Louis selects Sam Bradford-- who just happens to be a dead ringer for Sandra's Proposal co-star Ryan Reynolds. This bookends Sandra getting an Oscar for starring as Michael Oher's adoptive mom in the Blind Side. Are there any Keanu Reeves lookalikes playing college football now? Because your odds at getting drafted early have just gone up.


Skins tackle a need-- the drafting of Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams was a long time coming... perhaps about three or four years. The 6 foot 5, 315 pounder should be the cornerstone of coach Mike Shanahan's revamping of the offensive line. Williams should start. Williams should shine.

Jason, we hardly knew ye-- I was surprised the Saturday trade of Jason Campbell didn't happen sooner... and I was surprised it didn't yield a pick any sooner than 2012. Was he a great quarterback? No, but he was never in an ideal situation in Ashburn. Now he leaves an organization apparently finally on the right track for the Ottoman Empire of the AFC West. Ouch. And the Skins only got a fourth rounder in return.

Saturday Selections-- With Donovan McNabb coming to Washington in exchange for a second rounder and the third round selection vacated for the choice of defensive lineman Jerome Jarmon (both good moves, by the way) the next Skins pick came in round four-- and the selection of LSU LB Perry Riley gives the going to the 3-4 defense another body to plug in the inside. The rest of the draft yielded four offensive players: sixth rounder Louisiana Tech TE/FB Dennis Morris may be the Mike Sellers of the future; seventh round selection UCLA WR Terrence Austin doesn't have a lot of size but can turn into this year's Marko Mitchell (August MVP), while seventh rounders New Mexico center Erik Cook and West Virginia tackle Selvish Capers will provide training camp depth and in an ideal situation keep the incumbents on their toes.


Handing out grades: as mentioned, the three year gage can be tricky-- especially when the coach (Joe Gibbs) and personnel man (Vinny Cerrato) are no longer around. How'd the dynamic duo do in 2007?:

1--(pick 6) LaRon Landry was chosen after many thought the Skins would pick an offensive or defensive lineman . Landry's started 47 games and has averaged 83 tackles during his career- although his big play stats of 3 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions are somewhat lacking.
5--(pick 143) USC LB Dallas Sartz spent just one year in the NFL...notching one tackle over three preseason games.

6--(pick 179) Pitt LB H.B. Blades did stick with the team... averaging 40 tackles a season while becoming a special teams standout and starting six games over three years.

6--(pick 205) UTEP QB Jordan Palmer's tenure in Ashburn was two completions in eight attempts in the preseason finale with Jacksonville. He's played the last two years with Cincinnati.
7--(pick 216) Michigan TE Tyler Ecker played two preseason games with the Skins in his only NFL season.

So-- minus second, third and fourth round picks the Skins still find one starter and one special teamer with three washouts... not a lot of quality or quantity-- and not one offensive lineman taken by a team whose trenches were beginning to dissolve. The bigger issue of that era, though was the spending of draft picks for the likes of TJ Duckett and Brandon Lloyd robbed this team of top-100 prospects that could have provided depth or the opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.


CAPS playing like lowercase-- one week ago the Capitals were flying high after three straight wins (two in Montreal)... now they're fighting for their postseason lives against the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference. This is the fourth game seven in four postseason series for coach Bruce Boudreau-- don't say the Caps aren't giving fans maximum opportunities to see their team play.