2008 NFL Post-Draft Yin and Yang: AFC and NFC North

Though Pittsburgh did very little to improve their bad offensive line, they did manage to have RB Rashard Mendenhall and WR Limas Sweed fall into their laps. Instead of bypassing them and taking any old lineman, they were smart and took some genuine playmakers.

No, I'm not criticizing Cleveland because they didn't have any picks until round 4. Well, ok, yeah I am. You build through the draft, not free agency. It is a tried and true rule of the NFL. Some of Cleveland's trades made sense (Corey Williams), but they simply traded away too many picks and have too many needs unanswered at RB, CB, S, and LB.

The Bengals are preparing themselves for a very hard off-season, dealing with the childish antics of their star WR Chad Johnson. You cannot ignore this when evaluating their draft. That said, getting LB Keith Rivers and DT Pat Sims will go a long way to repairing their porous defense. I also like WR Jerome Simpson, a possible insurance policy should the Bengals deactivate Chad Johnson.

I very much like the trade to get QB Joe Flacco, but what did Baltimore do to address their aging and highly over-rated defense? By taking Flacco, Baltimore is admitting to a re-building year. RB Ray Rice was a nice pick as well, but in the first 5 rounds they drafted only one defensive player. Baltimore's LBers and secondary are old and needed an infusion of youth.

Trading for DE Jared Allen just before the draft was huge. The Vikes now have a pass rush, or at least should have one. They addressed their weak safety play by taking Tyrell Johnson. Drafting QB John David Booty is interesting because Vikings fans seem to think this is a Super Bowl team with QB Tavaris Jackson as the QB. I'm not convinced, and I don't think the Vikes are either. Thus, the smart play was to take some Booty (sorry, couldn't resist).

If I'm Aaron Rodgers, I'm livid. Rodgers could start on several NFL team starved for a QB, but instead spent his first 3 seasons holding a clipboard behind Brett Favre. With Favre gone, Rogers now has QB Brian Brohm to contend with. GB did some nice things, like picking up TE Jermichael Finley, but the Packers need some youth in that secondary big time, but opted to take a second round QB. Dumb.

I like them getting RB Kevin Smith in round 2 and DE Cliff Avril in round 3. Detroit must generate some pass rush this year to survive in the AFC North, and getting Avril and DT Andre Fluellen will help them with that. OT Gosder Cherilus might have been a reach, but Detroit needed o-line help big time.

I don't care what GM Jerry Angelo's excuse is, but Chicago had to take either Brohm or QB Chad Henne in round 2, but instead opted for a running back, Matt Forte'. And don't give me this "Chad Henne isn't any good" crap. Bill Parcells drafted Henne, and he's got a helluva lot better draft track record than Angelo. This move confirmed two things: RB Cedric Benson (drafted #4 overall by Angelo in 2005) is a complete bust, and Chicago is not interested in winning right now. Rex Grossman is still the team's QB, which means 6 or 7 wins in 2008, tops. I agree with them taking OT Chris Williams, WR Earl Bennett, and I am a big Matt Forte' fan. But, you win in this league with great QB play. Since Chicago has no effective QBs on their roster, 2008 will be a long season for Bears fans.