2011 NFL Draft Recap: From Cam Newton To Mr. Irrelevant

We’ve been following the 2011 NFL draft for quite some time so then last Thursday night came there weren’t any surprising names coming out in the first round. One, though, was much less known than the others -- OT James Carpenter.

This is a good example of a team sticking to their draft board and not listening to what others have said. If Carpenter ends up churning out a couple of Pro Bowls, folks will perk their ears next time the Seahawks go against the common thought. And if Carpenter busts, those same folks will be standing there saying, ‘I told you so.’

According to the Detroit Free-Press, the Lions offered the Cards the 13th overall pick, as well as their second and fourth round picks, to move up to the Cardinals fifth pick and select LSU CB Patrick Peterson.

While the move would have given the Lions the top cornerback in the draft -- and cornerback is one of those premium positions so it may have been worth it -- they ended up coming out fine in the draft.

If you didn’t catch it, ESPN had a series before the draft called the “Year of the Quarterback” and profiled some of the quarterback prospects as they prepared for the 2011 NFL draft. One of those signal-callers was Virginia Tech QB Tyrod Taylor.

So while Taylor may seem like another sixth round pick fighting for a roster spot, where he stands with the Ravens could be rather important to the rest of the league.

The Broncos, though, want to make one thing clear: no real offer was made to them. Mike Klis of the Denver Post, citing an unnamed source, has the story:

OK. If I have the second pick in this draft, and someone offers me close to the right value, I’m pulling the trigger. The Broncos aren’t one player away -- they’re multiple players away. I think many fans would agree with that. So you have to take that into account when looking at why the Broncos are leaking this. They don’t want the fans upset that they didn’t trade down so they’re saying that there never really was an opportunity to trade down (and it’s also possible that they’re telling the truth and, in reality, there wasn’t a real offer made).

One thing that stood out to me regarding the Broncos draft was the lack of a defensive tackle and Xanders hinted to Bena that there’s still work to be done saying there’s still a full free agency board of defensive linemen. Xanders also addressed the run on defensive linemen and how it may have affected Denver.

So this tells you that defensive tackle is on the Broncos’ radar -- you just can’t fill every need in every draft.

The 2011 NFL draft is now over which means we can go back and look at what we thought was conventional wisdom entering the draft. Here are some of the most popular mock draft picks that ended up being right.

Those are the mock draft picks that I saw popping up pretty often that ended up being right. The best of the experts was Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock, who hit on nine first round picks.

While writing some 2011 NFL draft stuff last week I noticed at one point in the draft that there was a unique set of names: Cameron Jordan and Jordan Cameron.

The Browns drafted Jordan Cameron -- not Cameron Jordan -- but had some trouble getting in touch with him because...they called the wrong person.

With the 2011 NFL Draft officially in the books, it’s time to hand out those ultra-important grades that almost always look foolish years down the line, but serve as a reminder of the general feeling of a draft class exiting draft weekend. In the NFC, the New Orleans Saints were the clear winners, but fans in Detroit and Tampa Bay should be quite thrilled, as well.

(Read the 2011 NFL Draft grades for the AFC.)

SB Nation’s Silver and Black Pride has taken a look at Mel Kiper’s NFL draft grades for the Raiders and, surprisingly, likes what he had to say.

As Kiper noted in his write-up, the Raiders don’t care so much about value. They identify the guys they like, and pick them where they feel they need to. Value isn’t as important for them as other teams.

In all, the Patriots added a first and second round pick meaning they once again are sitting pretty for next year’s draft. Reactions to the draft from Patriots fans vary.

In a poll at Pats Pulpit, 29 percent of readers say they’re happy with the draft, 34 percent are 50-50 on their reaction, 27 percent are kind of disappointed and nine percent say the draft was terrible.

It’s the first three picks that are getting a lot of attention: DT Nick Fairley in round one, and WR Titus Young and RB Mikel Leshoure in round two.

Readers at SB Nation’s Pride Of Detroit have their NFL draft grades in and the Lions pass the test. 64 percent of readers give them an A and 29 percent say it’s a B. With nearly 2,000 votes, only nine people voted it an F.

We can learn a lot about the 2011 NFL Draft by looking at the breakdown of picks by position. It was clear on Thursday just how deep and talented the defensive line spot was in the draft as a record 12 linemen were taken in the first round. The pace wasn’t sustainable, but it was clear where the focus was in this draft as linemen on both sides of the ball came flying off the board.

As the draft wore on, cornerbacks became the position of the day, with 48 taken over the seven rounds. The versatility of college corners makes them appealing, with teams able to plug the players in on special teams for immediate playing time. The quarterback spot, however, wasn’t as deep and only 12 were taken in the draft.