New England Patriots B Nate Solder has a ton of upside, and he'll develop on the bench under assistant offensive coach/offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia who is one of the best in the league's history. Ras-I Dowling is a physical corner with good length who fits the Pats' system. He'll most likely start right off as a nickel corner, and he can match-up against the tall receivers of the NFL too. Shane Vereen was a poor pick, but the Stevan Ridley choice was a pretty good one. He's the power back they need, and while he was somewhat of a reach, I think the Pats have something special worked up for him.

Ryan Mallet's character concerns are somewhat overblown. There really was none of that when he was at Arkansas, and he showed he could lead in college. While there are concerns, he can't really do anything stupid under Belichick. Marcus Cannon was my favorite pick by the Patriots, and I thought it was the best value pick in the draft. He will start right away if Matt Light is not re-signed, and he is a versatile lineman that was worth a second rounder. He only fell because he has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but he'll make a full recovery. The trade with the Saints was a nice one at the end of round one.

New Orleans Saints C plus- Cameron Jordan was a much needed choice because the Saints really needed a pass rusher. Jordan will give Gregg Williams even more options in his defensive schemes, and Jordan is a great player that should never have fell that far. My problem was the trade at the end of round one. It wasn't the picks they gave up. It was the fact that they traded up for a running back. Although Mark Ingram won the Heisman once, you should never trade up for a running back.

If you look at last year's draft, the Chargers dealt a crazy amount of picks for Ryan Mathews, and he was disappointing in his rookie year. Running backs are easily replaceable in this league, and it's so easy to find a starting-caliber back. The Saints could have waited and been like the Eagles and picked a guy like Dion Lewis where the value was good. Linebacker Martez Wilson is a leader, but he's going to need some seasoning before he can play. It was a solid choice though.

New York Giants B plus- I liked what the Giants did in the draft. They desperately needed a cover corner. Terrell Thomas is a physical corner, but he doesn't really cover and the other corners are terrible. The Giants went ahead and picked Prince Amukamara, who fell to the 20th pick because of character issues. I love his speed, and he is the most instinctive corner in the draft- even better at that than Patrick Peterson.

Marvin Austin will add another guy into an already very good defensive tackle unit, but he is a great one-gap tackle. Although D-Tackle wasn't a need, the Giants took a good player. I almost never doubt their scouting. Jerry Reese and his guys are among the best in the business. Jerrel Jernigan was the best slot receiver in the draft, and the Giants are preparing for Steve Smith to walk. I loved that 6th round pick to get Greg Jones. He was a great leader in the middle for Michigan State, and he'll bring his solid talents to the pros. The Giants do have good LBs, but they know that he was incredible value in the 6th.

Oakland Raiders D This was another poor draft by Al Davis. Stefen Wisniewski is the son of their offensive line coach, and he will finally give the Raiders a solid player in the interior. He's a smart player that is a true leader. The Raiders traded up to get everyone's sleeper Taiwan Jones. It wasn't a position of need, so the only way to justify trading up for him is for Jones- and his Al Davis like speed- to fulfill his super-sleeper expectations loaded onto him by all of us.

Next Project: Nate Solder

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3/5 NFL News: Discussions and Mike McCarthy Extended

March 5th 2011 15:30

Well, we all know that the discussions for a new CBA have been extended for seven days. Free agency is still frozen and teams cannot re-sign their own players. They can only talk to the agents of their own players, but no deals can be done. However, at least both sides are willing to talk and want to come to an agreement. The extension of talks actually happened because the owners were scared and didn't want the Players' Association to decertify, so they caved into the demands of at least extending talks.

Mike McCarthy was given an extended deal, which comes as no surprise after he led his team to Super Bowl victory in the midst of injuries to several key players. McCarthy did a nice job this year, and he was a better coach in 2010 than Bill Belichick. The AP can say whatever they want. Zach Miller and Michael Bush were tendered by Oakland. Miller is a mainstay for the Raiders, and he is pretty much their entire passing game. Although it wouldn't be big news if Reggae Bush wasn't retained, he still is important if Darren McFadden- who has an injury history- was to be injured. Bush is a capable backup.

Kevin Smith and Julian Peterson are two poor players that don't give the Lions much these days, and it's no surprise that they were not re-signed. Smith had a decent rookie year, but he has been terrible of late. Julian Peterson was one of the best pass rushing outside linebackers in his prime. Nowadays, he is just some old JAG.

Plaxico Burress' time in prison was decreased due to good behavior, and he will be released in early June. Burress was actually a hard worker, but the media just never cared to look at him in that way. He made one very stupid decision, and he has paid for it. I would take a chance on him because another Michael Vick like redemption story could blossom.

As expected, teams wanted AJ Hawk right after he was released by the Packers; but they didn't know that he was going to be re-signed again. Hawk and the Packers were never going to part ways. Hawk loves the team, and he was a huge leader for them last year. Hawk would have made 10 million dollars extra had he not been released, but Hawk doesn't care about the money. It has to do with him helping the team win another one. Unlike quite a few players out there, Hawk isn't narrow-minded. He cares about his organization. The only reason why the Pack released him was to save cash. Hawk just wants to play, money or not.

Anyway, there are rumblings that Nick Barnett is now expendable. The top run-stuffing interior linebacker missed a huge chunk of the season with a wrist injury last year. Barnett could get traded because of the emergence- and extension- of fellow ILB Desmond Bishop. Barnett could also be released if nobody wants to trade for him. I really think a team like the Lions should go hard after Barnett. That would be a huge addition for a team with their horrible core of LBs.