Cultural Cuisinart

So the 2008 NFL Draft has come and gone. I am not going to review the whole thing here, as there are already countless blogs and sites rehashing every pick. Instead, I'll just highlight a few interesting things I saw.

I noticed several sites like SI.com ranking the drafts and evaluating who did the best job. However, that's not a great systems, as there are several apples vs oranges situations here. There were two types of teams drafting this year. There were the epic disaster franchises like the Falcons and Dolphins, who had lots and lots of holes to fill. There were also the luxury pick franchises, like the Cowboys and Steelers, who have a great core, and could afford to select players who might be long term projects. Luxury pick franchises are already solid teams - they don't need to have 7 fantastic picks. They can trade bunches of picks, they can take risks, etc. The disaster franchises need to be a lot more balanced. Yes, the Chiefs had a great draft, but they're so terrible, they need to. If the Steelers only get one good player out of the draft (and believe me, I think Rashard Mendenhall is going to be amazing paired with Fast Willie Parker), they are still in a better overall position than the Chiefs.

Anyhoo, here are some of my thoughts:

1. Colt Brennan to the Redskins. I hope Colt gets a chance to prove critics wrong at some point in his career. I really think the kid has what it takes to be a good NFL QB. Jason Campbell is the starter right now, but he's not a total superstar, which means Colt might get a chance one of these days to compete for the starting position.
2. Miami had a great first couple rounds. Stealing Chad Henne so late in the 2nd round was great stuff. Look for him to start at some point this season. As a bonus, he's a former teammate of the Dolphins first overall pick, Jake Long, so they should have a good chemistry from the get-go.
3. Miami also had two key acquisitions that flew under the radar a little - they picked up former Dallas players (Parcells is going to drain that well dry, man) Anthony Fasano and Akin Ayodele who will be solid additions to the roster next year.
   
4. The Redskins had a good draft. They're still stuck in a brutal division, so I'm not sure how great their record will be next year, but they certainly added some key players, especially at WR.
5. The Bears are just terrible. When will they pull the plug on Rex Grossman already? Why pass on both Brohm and Henne? Even if they want to start Rex this season, having such talent on the bench, learning the system, would have been great for the franchise.
6. McFadden to the Raiders. You know my feelings on that one.
   
7. I think the Bills had a good free agency period and a pretty solid draft. I think they have a good chance of going #2 in their division (though they'll never beat the Pats, barring a major Tom Brady injury), and making a run for the playoffs. If they were an NFC team, I'd say they were a lock for the post season.