2014 Horn Sports Draft

[JTD79]

Never Shan!  Heck, I traded off Josh Gordon for C. Patterson and draft picks, but still that was one change I think would help the draft moving forward.  Of course if most people prefer full control of the roster and the ability to trade anyone and everyone, then Im fine with that game too.  Makes for some interesting results when it all shakes out even if it's not realistic.

 

[JTD79]

Another idea just occurred to me;  if we continue to allow full roster control for the draft, what if we also had to live with trades that we made last season for each team as well?  For example, if you traded off your first round pick last year, you must live with that in the draft this year.  Would make for much more interesting choices as people approached trades this year since there would be (semi) real repercussions.

BY THE WAY - SanFran would have been a better team this year if they had gotten Luck ;-)

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Another idea just occurred to me; if we continue to allow full roster control for the draft, what if we also had to live with trades that we made last season for each team as well? For example, if you traded off your first round pick last year, you must live with that in the draft this year. Would make for much more interesting choices as people approached trades this year since there would be (semi) real repercussions.

BY THE WAY - SanFran would have been a better team this year if they had gotten Luck ;-)

LOL. Luck would make any team better. SF go Super Bowling if we had him! World Champs baby!

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

I check out of live NFL Draft coverage after Round 1.

Y'all have fun!

 

[JTD79]

Cleveland Browns

TRADES

Trade: 1st Round, #4 Overall, 2nd Round, #35 Overall and 3rd Round, #83 Overall to Houston for 1st Round, #1 Overall, 3rd Round, #65 Overall and 7th Round, #195 Overall

Trade: 1st Round, #26 Overall to New York Jets for 2nd Round, #49 Overall and 3rd Round, #80 Overall

Trade: WR Josh Gordon to Minnesota Vikings for WR Cordarelle Patterson, Minnesota's 2015 1st Round Pick and 2015 2nd Round pick OR 3rd Round pick (the latter pick is conditional on Gordon making the 2014 1st Team All Pro or not)

PICKS

1st Round #1st = OLB34, JaDeveon Clowney, South Carolina

2nd Round #49th = OG, Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State

3rd Round #65th = WR, Davante Adams, Fresno State

3rd Round #71st = OT, Joel Bitonio, Nevada

3rd Round #80th = CB, Keith McGill, Utah

SUMMARY

With the Browns, I just did not believe that any of the QB's in this draft class were worth a 1st round pick and I did not want Wheedon part 2, so I opted to pass on them all and go up to get the once in a decade type talent that is Clowney. New Head Coach Pettine should be able to scheme Clowney and Mingo into a ferocious tandem that will plague the AFC North for years. We also added the versatile big CB/S McGill to help layer some depth in the secondary and allow us to move Skrine to the Nickel. On offense we loaded up with young, talented OL that can slot in next to the All Pro's Mack and Thomas to give any QB/RB some time to let plays develop. Finally we added a true #2 receiver to pair with Patterson that should free up Cameron over the middle.

In Rounds 4-7 (two #4's, a 5th, 6th and two #7's) and free agency, the Browns will address depth at S, ILB, WR(slot) and RB while looking for a veteran QB (Schaub) to hold down the job along with Hoyer for a season until the 2015 draft.

2015 - they will go into this draft with much better QB prospects armed with Minn's 1st and likely 3rd round draft picks in order to secure Marcus Mariotta, Jameis Winston or Brett Hundley, all of which project as much better suited to the NFL game than the 2014 crop.

Arizona Cardinals

TRADES

Trade: WR Michael Floyd to the New York Jets for the Jets' 3rd Round, #65th Overall and their 2015 1st Round pick

PICKS

1st Round, #20th Overall = OLB34, Kony Ealy, Missouri

2nd Round, #52nd Overall = OL, Morgan Moses, Virginia

3rd Round, #69th Overall = RB, Jeremy Hill , LSU

3rd Round, #84th Overall = SS, Dion Bailey , USC

SUMMARY

With Arizona, I went BPA to help what was a top 10 defense that struggled to generate a pass rush last season. Kony Ealy is every bit of the 3-4 rush LB and is athletic enough to drop into coverage. Moses give us a true LT to protect Palmer's blindside while we also get a healthy Jonathan Cooper back and Hill gives the Cards a big back to pair with Stephon Taylor. The safety help was needed and Bailey is a definite upgrade over Yeremiah Bell. Paired with the Honey Badger and Peterson, the secondary is shaping up nicely.

In Rounds 4-7 and free agency, the Cardinals will address depth at CB, ILB, DE and OG/OT.

Arizona also goes into 2015 armed with the Jets 1st round draft pick as they seek to secure one of the top franchise QB's in that draft.

Carolina Panthers

TRADES

None

PICKS

1st Round, #28th Overall = OT, Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama

2nd Round, #60th Overall = WR, Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt

3rd Round, #92nd Overall = CB, Jaylen Watkins , Florida

SUMMARY

I went straight forward with the Panthers and simply found the best possible replacement for LT after Jordan Gross' retirement then finally gave SuperCam a true #1 receiver in Matthews who might have been the steal of the draft at the end of round two. He doesn't have the speed of Hopkins, but he is not far off and is bigger. Matthews is the perfect West Coast catch and run WR much like his uncle Jerry Rice. The rest of the draft will be spent trying to rebuild the secondary (Watkins is a superb start) and trying to add another weapon or two at WR/TE

In Rounds 4-7 and free agency, the Panthers will address depth at CB, S, WR and OG.

2014 Rookie Season Review:

Cleveland Browns

PICKS

1st Round #1st = OLB34, JaDeveon Clowney, South Carolina - A sports hernia to start the season then season ending micro fracture knee surgery is starting to make this pick look like the NFL version of Greg Oden.  One can only hope that he recovers from it like Kobe Bryant and not like Oden, otherwise this was a huge waste of a pick and all world talent.

2nd Round #49th = OG, Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State - Gabe solidified RG for the Browns.  Starting every game and grading out positively over the season, he looks like a 10 year starter at the spot and while he was not as good as Bitonio, he was a definite solid pick in the second round with upside.

3rd Round #65th = WR, Davante Adams, Fresno State - Started every game this season and showed flashes throughout along with some rookie bumbles as well.  By the end of the season, Davante is emerging as a clear cut #1A/1B option in this offense if Patterson cannot grow as a true #1.

3rd Round #71st = OT, Joel Bitonio, Nevada - Made the PFF All Pro team as a rookie at Guard.  This write up from Pro Football Focus says it all:  While Zack Martin was an excellent performer all season at guard, Bitonio was consistently just a little further in front in the rankings all year. He suffered from his worst two games of the season in the final two weeks (much like most of the Browns), but even with those included he ended the year ahead of Martin.

Bitonio did surrender a sack, though only one and it took him until Week 16 against Carolina to be beaten, and he did allow a little more pressure than Martin (15 total pressures including the sack), but his run blocking was superior, showing some truly dominant traits over the season. Like Martin, Bitonio has the ability to become one of the league’s best with even a small improvement going into his second season.  

3rd Round #80th = CB, Keith McGill, Utah - Hurt to start the year, Mcgill was brought along slowly as a backup CB and ST ace before finally getting his chance late in the season when he stepped in and flashed some promise coming up with a fumble recovery for a TD in the last game of the year.

Summary - the loss of Clowney hurts for sure because there is no guarantee that he will ever play another down.  That said, locking down Jackson and Bitonio to go with LT Thomas and OC Mack gives the Browns 3 All Pro level linemen along with some you solid players at the other two spots making this an OL to rival the young OL in Dallas.  Paired with emerging RB's Crowell and West give this young team a very potent offense to go along with a solid defense.  If they can just find a QB that is better than Hoyer, then they are set for making some runs to the playoffs.  Going in to 2015, they are armed with a pair of 1st round picks (#'s 11 and 12) along with an extra 3rd round pick from Minn which should help as they continue to acquire talent.

Arizona Cardinals

PICKS

1st Round, #20th Overall = OLB34, Kony Ealy, Missouri - After failing to secure a starting spot in training camp, Ealy started to assert himself as a pass rushing specialist in the second half of the season as he notched 4 sacks on the season, with 3 coming in the last 3 games.  Going into next season, his role looks to expand.

2nd Round, #52nd Overall = OL, Morgan Moses, Virginia - Moses struggled at RT this year before going down with a  Lis Franc injury that ended his season.  He showed a tendency to bend at the waist instead of the knees which have his coaches worried about his long term viability as a starter if he can't get that corrected.  This may end up being a wasted pick.

3rd Round, #69th Overall = RB, Jeremy Hill , LSU - by far the gem of this draft class, Hill notched over 1100 yards rushing and 200+ yards receiving even though he was in a time share for most of the season.  When he got his chance as the starter, he shined.  The Cards have found their bell cow.

3rd Round, #84th Overall = SS, Dion Bailey , USC - never made an impact and has been relegated to the practice squad.  Wasted pick.

Summary - a bit more up and down with the Bailey pick being a waste and likely the Moses pick a waste in the 2nd round, these drag down the home run that was the Hill pick and the potential of the Ealy pick.  Going into the draft, the Cards have a study defense that still need help in the secondary but more than anything, they need an infusion of talent across the board on offense.  Armed with the #6 overall pick (Jets) and their own #24 pick, they should be able to get some immediate impact players to help the offense out.  Primarily they need OL help and a long term answer at WR/QB as they transition from Fitzgerald and Palmer over the next two seasons.

Carolina Panthers

PICKS

1st Round, #28th Overall = OT, Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama - played but never solidified a starters role which was a huge disappointment.  Needs to decide if he wants to be a football player, if not will have a short career and be a bust of a pick.

2nd Round, #60th Overall = WR, Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt - outstanding pick.  May not be a true #1 receiver but can easily be the possession receiver that keeps the chains moving for Carolina as a #1B option.

3rd Round, #92nd Overall = CB, Jaylen Watkins , Florida - came on late in the season and flashed promise.  Needs to continue to grow to lock down a starters role for this pick to have been worth it.

Summary - one bust, one good pick and one solid pick.  Not exactly a great draft here.  The scouting department needs to going back to the drawing board to help this playoff team out going into 2015.  They were saved by the emergence of some late round gems but they still have needs at OL and WR along with the secondary going into the 2015 draft.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

JTD, rate my draft from last year by production of rookies and trades too! I think I had 49ers, Giants, and Jets.

 

[JTD79]

San Francisco 49ers

TRADES

Trade: QB Colin Kaepernick, WR Michael Crabtree, OT Joe Staley, HB Marcus Lattimore, SF's 2014 #30th Overall Pick, SF's 2015 1st Round Pick and SF's 2015 4th Round pick to the Indianapolis Colts for QB Andrew Luck, HB Trent Richardson and WR Darius Heyward-Bey.

Trade: ILB Navarro Bowman to Baltimore Ravens for Baltimore’s 2014 #17 Overall Pick and 2015 2nd Round pick.

Trade: Second Round #56th and Third Round #94th pick to Seattle for Second Round #44th pick.

PICKS

1st Round #17th = WR, Marqise Lee, Southern California

2nd Round #44th = LB, Kyle Van Noy, BYU

2nd Round #61st = WR, Allen Robinson, Penn St

3rd Round 77th = WR, Mike Davis, Texas

SUMMARY

The 49ers organization are more than winners in the 2014 draft. They will be kings for many years to come. With a deep team, the 49ers leveraged their current pro-bowlers for possibly the best QB of all time and fresh new crop of players to contribute to their dynasty run for the next decade.

Andrew Luck is Mr. Everything. He replaces errant Kaepernick, especially during crunch time. Defenses now have to decide to defend 1) a QB with deceptive speed that can throw anywhere accurately or 2) a stout OL with a haus RB in Gore. They have no idea what’s coming. 49ers have a solid OL already and losing Staley does hurt, but drafting a couple more OL in rounds 4-7 and moving Iupati to LT could sure up one of the best YOUNG OLs in the NFL. Losing Crabtree isn’t a heartbreaker as he had an injury prone career and Marqise Lee is a younger, healthier version of Crabtree. Luck is a happy man: New weapons Allen Robinson and Mike Davis will complement Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin and speedy Darius Heyward-Bey quite nicely. As for Navarro Bowman (2010, 3rd Round Pick), the trade is essentially a steal for the 49ers. Having the best and deepest LB corp in the NFL, we were able to trade away a player coming off of a severe injury and load up with a pick for need. We drafted Kyle Van Noy to compete with Cory Lemonier (2013, 3rd Round Pick).

In 2013, the 49ers were 24th in Total Offense. I foresee this skyrocketing to the top 5 in 2014. The top 5 defense will remain strong and sound.

New York Giants

TRADES

Trade: WR Rueben Randle and 2015 2nd Round Pick to the New England Patriots for OL Logan Mankins and WR Aaron Dobson

PICKS

1st Round, #12 Overall = OL, Taylor Lewan, Michigan

2nd Round, #43rd Overall = OL, David Yankey, Stanford

3rd Round, #74th Overall = TE, CJ Fiedorowicz , Iowa

SUMMARY

Eli Manning had his worst career year last season due to an inept offensive line. To protect the franchise, we traded for an Pro-Bowler OL, Logan Mankins. He is 31 years old, but foresee another 5 good years in him. He is similar to a Jeff Saturday. To beef up the OL, we also drafted Taylor Lewan and David Yankey. This will solidify the OL for many years to come.

Since Jeremy Shockey left, the Giants haven’t had a solid play maker at TE. CJ Fiedorowicz will complement Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham, and Aaron Dobson.

The Giants will add more depth on defense by drafting CB/DE/LB in Rounds 4-7 and through free agency.

NEW YORK JETS

TRADES

Trade: 3rd Round, 69th Overall Pick and 2015 1st Round Pick to the Arizona Cardinals for WR, Michael Floyd.

Trade: 2nd Round, 49th Overall Pick and 3rd Round, 80th Overall Pick to the Cleveland Browns for 1st Round, #26th Overall Pick

PICKS

1st Round, #18 Overall = TE, Eric Ebron, North Carolina

1st Round, #26 Overall = WR, Kelvin Benjamin, Florida State University

SUMMARY

The NY Jets were 29th in points per game in 2013. Geno Smith had no weapons. We traded for Michael Floyd, one of the game’s best young wide receivers in the NFL. To add to a set of core weapons, we selected Eric Ebron. His skill set is similar to Vernon Davis. The trade for Kelvin Benjamin was worth it because of his length and size like Plaxico Burress.

Jets defense was one of the best in the league. In Rounds 4-7 and free agency, we will address depth at CB, RB, and DL/LB.

San Francisco 49ers

PICKS

1st Round #17th = WR, Marqise Lee, Southern California - Lee started off the season as the new #1 for Luck and showed promise but was sidelined for a few games with injury.  He came back with some solid performances in the second half of the season and looks to build on this strong season going into 2015.  Bottom line, he easily replaced Crabtree and has far more upside.

2nd Round #44th = LB, Kyle Van Noy, BYU - a sports hernia sideline him for the first 8 games of his rookie season, he has been worked slowly into the lineup and show promise as he works at LB and ST's.

2nd Round #61st = WR, Allen Robinson, Penn St - Stud pickup.  He and Lee have ushered in a new era for SF targets allowing the team to part ways with Bolden as well going into 2015.  If they can add a true deep threat like what Luck had in TY Hilton, this will be a truly dangerous offense.

3rd Round 77th = WR, Mike Davis, Texas - Davis was released after camp.  A busted pick at this point.

Summary - SF goes into 2015 armed with Luck, a promising pair of young receivers, V. Davis and Hyde as the heir apparent to Gore.  This alone paired with a still stout defense is enough for several years of playoff runs.  Actually, Luck alone is enough for a decade of playoff runs.  Going into the draft, they no longer have a a 1st round choice but they do have a pair of 2nd round picks that they need to make the most of as they rebuild their OL and DL.  If they can draft again in 2015 like they did in 2014, they should be primed for some deep runs into the post season.

New York Giants

PICKS

1st Round, #12 Overall = OL, Taylor Lewan, Michigan - Lewan is a stud.  He made the PFF all rookie team and graded out as the best rookie OT in the 2014 draft class.  Homer pick.

2nd Round, #43rd Overall = OL, David Yankey, Stanford - for as good as Lewan has been, Yankey has been quite the opposite.  Viewed by some as the best guard in the draft, 2015 saw him sitting on the sideline for 15 of 16 games even though he was healthy.  His coaches noted that he needs to get stronger and keep working on his technique if he ever wants to see the field.  This may be a wasted pick, especially so high.

3rd Round, #74th Overall = TE, CJ Fiedorowicz , Iowa - poor run blocking and not flashing enough in the receiving game to garner much interest from Eli, CJ has a lot of work to do going into the off season if he wants to even have a chance to unseat the unheralded FA pick up Lanny Donnel  who just turned in a monster year.

Summary - going 1 for 3 on picks while giving up a promising young receiver and your 2015 2nd rd pick for an aging OL and a much less promising young receiver is a good way to get yourself fired as GM.  The Giants need a lot of work this off season and this is made even harder knowing that they are self handicapped from giving up that 2nd rounder.

NEW YORK JETS

PICKS

1st Round, #18 Overall = TE, Eric Ebron, North Carolina - overshadowed by the WR's on the team and a coaching staff that seemed to not know how they wanted to use him, Ebron's rookie season has to be seen as a disappointment. 25 catches for 248 yards and 1TD is not what the Jets were hoping for when they drafted him in the 1st round.  He also continued a trend of dropping passes which plagued him in college, this is something he needs to correct going into 2015 if he wants to gain the trust of his QBs.

1st Round, #26 Overall = WR, Kelvin Benjamin, Florida State University - a homerun here!  70+ catches, 1000 yards and 9 TDs, you couldn't ask for more from the big red zone threat.  Paired with Decker and Floyd, this is a dangerous trio of receivers the Jet's have put together with Decker likely being the first one that will be let go after his big FA contract and being outshined by though younger WR's.

Summary - The Jet's mortgaged the farm to bring in talent last season and they hit on one but the jury is still out on Ebron.  At this point they have a very nice stable of pass catchers in Decker, Benjamin, Floyd and Ebron but they need a trigger man.  With a new coaching staff coming in 2015, they will have to decide quickly if Geno Smith can be that or if they need to draft his replacement along with retooling the OL and finding an RB.  Their job will be made much harder having shipped the #6 overall pick to the Cards.

 

[JTD79]

Alright Shan, they are finally done.  Let me know what you think.

 

[SFlonghorngirl]

Alright Shan, they are finally done. Let me know what you think.

LOL.... I should stick to my day job. Drafting and managing a team is much harder than expected!

Thanks for the summary JTD! Much appreciated.

 

[JTD79]

Well your SF draft and trades were magical in hindsight.  Had you hit on your 3rd round choice with an OL, that would have been hitting 1000%.

I look at it like this:  Luck for Kaep + Staley + a late 2014 1st rounder + a mid 2015 1st rounder + mid 2015 4th rounder.

That's a big haul to give up but realistically I would make the same trade as a GM today.  We've seen over the past two seasons what Luck can do with mediocre talent and a shoddy OL.  He is the cornerstone that is easily worth this trade.  Then you went an upgraded his weapons.  Go find the man some OL/DL help in the draft this season and they easily challenge Seattle for years to come.