Story Published:
Apr 27, 2009 at 11:34 AM CST
Story Updated:
Apr 27, 2009 at 8:39 PM CST
To no surprise, the Detroit Lions chose Matthew Stafford with their no.1 overall pick. The Lions posted the worst record in NFL history in 2008, going 0-16. Stafford, a 6’3 junior from Georgia, is perhaps the most NFL-ready quarterback in this year’s draft.
The players taken following Stafford went Jason Smith going to the Rams at #2, Tyson Jackson going to Kansas City at #3, Aaron Curry going to Seattle at #4, and rounding up the top five was Mark Sanchez going to the New York Jets.
Perhaps the most interesting story of the 2009 NFL draft is the number of wide receivers taken. Six wide outs, tied for the most taken in the first round of NFL history, are all considered controversial picks in this overly controversial class.
Wide receivers are always sought after in the first round, but the NFL has not seen a first year 1,000-yard receiver in a very long time. So will this year be different? Could Michael Crabtree, Darrius Heyward Bey, or perhaps even Jeremy Maclin change that trend?
Aside from the constant hope that a Jerry Rice will be found and be able to change the future of a ball club, the biggest fear of teams is that they will pass up the opportunity to get that one special player. This was shown in the first round this year when nine trades were made.
So which team had the best draft? Teams spend months trying to figure out what is missing, which position is needed to fill, what type of player would best fit in to the organization, what trades should or should not be made, and what the team needs to do in order to walk away from the draft with everything they wanted.
The few teams that were able to do that this year were Green Bay, the New York Jets, and Philadelphia. These teams best identified what was needed and went out and got those players that will change their team over the next few seasons.
The Packers, while having a good offense in 2008, had a very unstable and shaky defense. So they went out and picked two of the best defenders in the draft. They drafted B.J. Raji and Clay Matthews at defensive tackle and outside linebacker. They also got T.J. Lang, Quinn Johnson, and Brandon Underwood to help their organization.
The Jets had a big off-season. With Brett Favre needing to be replaced and having Rex Ryan as a new coach, the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets decided to focus on building a new offense. This was done by acquiring Mark Sanchez, QB out of USC, and running back Shonn Greene.
The Eagles had two choices, get rid of quarterback Donovan McNabb or get some offensive weapons to help him out. They chose door #2. With the first three picks the Eagles had, they took a wide receiver, a running back, and a tight end. Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, and Cornelius Ingram should help get that supercharged offense back on track.
