You know about how the first round is going to go in these drafts, so the only real question is where you wind up in the draft*draft. I was happy to go 7th this year, because I went 11th last year and there are few “options” left at that point. It’s really just the leftovers. It’s not my favorite going first or second because then you wind up picking very low down in the 2nd and 4th rounds, which can be difficult. I chose to draft 5th because I wanted to ensure I would get one of LT, Priest, Alexander, McAllister, or Edge while retaining as early a pick as possible in the 2nd and 4th rounds. I could have gone 4th but I like James and McAllister equally, so why not elect the earlier choice in round 2?

First off, the reasoning for me taking the 8th pick was simple. I wanted a top 4 spot, or a mid level spot. I had no interest in some of the top RB’s, so I thought at 8, I could avoid being in a position where I had to take them, where I could still take a top flight RB. It also allowed me to avoid the drop off that I thought would come with RB’s in the mid 2nd round.

First, I took the 9 hole based on I felt it was the best of what was left. It gives me a little bit better option toward the middle of the group. Knew I would still get a top 10 if not a top 7 or 8 running back and then get a second RB still being in the top 20 or better.

Portis was the best RB on my list at the time and fulfilled my wishes for the best RB. Gives me a good base to build on. Actually am looking for him to have a better season than last year.

This pick was a painted into the corner pick. With the 13th choice of draft slots, I chose 10th picking slot over 12th. With the continuation of the run on RB, the choice became a beauty contest between the Lewis (off season felony sentance distraction), the Jones boys (both unproven), Dillion (good NE citizen/proven/great Offensive line/consistent) and Barber(probably loses red zone carries to Jacobs).

I went with the offensive line/citizenship/consistent guy. Dillion stands out stat for 2004, (besides career high touches/yards/TD/fumbles per touch) his worst yardage from scrimmage day was 86, although he averaged just 116/game. Consistent + player each week. Another tease, Dillion suffered career low (throw out 2003 in CIN) in receptions + rec. yrds.

I took the 11th pick because I didn't see a huge difference between my 4th-13th ranked RB's. As my pick got closer, I started drooling over the prospect of getting Jamal...this guy is only one season removed from 2000 yards, and last year, he put up over 1000 rushing yards in only 12 games. I expect the Ravens passing offense to be improved (not great, but improved), and with that, Jamal's numbers should remain solid. I would not be surprised to see Jamal lead the league in rushing yards this season, and as a Steelers fan, it pains me to say that.

One thought stuck in my mind, and I have no idea how it will play out during the season: Remember that LB that got in trouble with the law on murder charges/obstruction of justice and how well he played once those charges were behind him? Well, Jamal has to feel like a huge burden has been lifted off his shoulders, and should want to get his jail time/drug charge off peoples minds. Will he play as well as that LB with a huge chip on his shoulder...let's hope he does.

Other considerations at this pick: Julius Jones, Kevin Jones (decided to stick with a safer pick)

1st round thoughts:
Biggest reach - None. Only player that went in the 1st round that I thought would fall into the early 2nd round was Rudi Johnson, but by no means was he a stretch pick at 1.13.

I had two very different drafts last year and both resulted in first place finishes. In the RQL #3, Tiki was a big part of it. Just hoping for a solid season like last year.

Well, based on my top-25 overall I had a pretty good feeling that I'd be forced to go with an elite WR at my 2.11 pick, unless Lamont Jordan fell. He went at 2.04! From there on out, any RB would be a reach... at least in terms of value-based drafting. So the chance to secure a 2nd RB without having to reach was too good to pass up. I'll evaluate the price I paid in my 3.14 and 5.14 rationales.

Yikes. I took the 11th pick thinking that Culpepper would go between 1.12 and 2.03 and that one of these six players would fall to me: Barber, Rudi, Julius Jones, Kevin Jones, Ahman, Moss. None fell, and all of a sudden my draft strategy changed...should I trade down, should I take Culpepper, which RB should I take that I feel is a tier down after the aforementioned RB's, is any WR worth it here?

I pondered Culepper for a while, and just couldn't bring myself to do it. I thought that everyone would have two RB's by the time I got to 3.11, and looking at the group of RB's that would fall to me, I didn't think I could make Culpepper my pick ("un"fortunately, 3 RB's fell to me in the 3rd round that would of made taking Culpepper that right choice...ah, hindsight).

No WR's worth it for me here, and I didn't want to spend Friday night/Saturday morning trying to make a trade, so, I looked at the best RB's available:

1. CuMar: solid and reliable, but his age scared me.
2. Steven Jackson: Huge upside, but the backfield situation in St. Louis made me wary.
3. Westbrook: Thought about him seriously for a while. Even if he splits carries, he will play a prominent role in receiving for the Eagles.

4. LaMont Jordan: I decided on him. With my safe pick of Lewis, I thought I could take a pick with upside. Everything points to a solid season: good O-line, great coach for RB's (Norv), a great WR to take men out of the box, and little to no competition for carries. I believe he will do well, but I think I shored up my RB corps by taking Bennett in the 3rd round, so, I am not so worried about this pick anymore.

2nd Round thoughts (BTW, not trying to bust anyone's chops here, just my opinions before the games count):

Biggest Reach- LaMont Jordan at 2.04. Hate putting myself here, but I think it was a pick people thought would go later. I also think Dunn going at 2.09 was a little surprising. I think he may have lasted until the 3rd round.

Last year my RIBC success was driven almost entirely by Manning. Although a precipitous drop occurs after Manning, Culpepper and McNabb form the next ledge before dropping to QB's who can have a great game this week, but be shut down the following week.

McNabb has too many warts. #1 receiver, TO'$ history has been "pay me what I want or I will destroy your team" (didn't work for Duce either), #2 receiver gone for the year, zippo at tight end, etc etc.

By default Culpepper is the man ("painted in a corner" seems to apply again). His 2004 numbers were generated with Moss more of a decoy than threat (still, there IS only one Randy Moss) after 5th game. With the departure of Moss goes also the Moss circus...addition by subtraction. BTW, 2004 numbers were career bests for completions, attempts, yards, % completed, QB rating (110.9), TD's and tied his interception low butthrew 100 passes more.

I know I'm set in my ways, but really felt going in that I was going to take the two best RBs I could get.

I was really hoping Culpepper would drop to me here, but going at 2.05 it looks like that would never have happened. Once I saw him gone, I had my eyes on Westbrook until he was taken right infront of me. I was really stuck on what to do with this pick after that. Basically all of the remaining backs I had questions about, which varied from playing time to health issues to how they'd fair as a rookie. I also could have gone with a top WR, but didn't want to be stuck with an even worse RB option than what I could get with this pick.

I was all set to take a RB or Culpepper here, but it didn't work out that way. The last RB I likely would have considered here was Dunn and he went to Bonka right before me.

I decided to switch gears and get the safest WR stud available. TO is doing to much pissing and moaning to be a very safe pick, for my taste. So Holt gets the nod. He's studly year in and out, and in my opinion this could be his best year ever. Bulger is healthy, knows the offense, and has a solid set of skill players surrounding him, so he's up for a big year. Holt ought to reap the benefits as the #1 receiving option on that team.

I figured there would be a WR run infront of me, but sheesh, not one of my long list of WR's made it back to me at 3.11. I honestly thought I had a shot at Andre Johnson, Darrell Jackson, Gonzo, or Wayne. I checked in at 3.08 and they were all gone already! So, then I told myself I would "settle" for Burleson, and that he would definitely make it to me. He went at 3.10. Three teams went through the 3rd round without taking their 2nd back, so, that's what threw me for a loop.

So, I had to change gears. Do I go QB? I thought that I could get either Vick or Green on the way back up, so, I decide that wasn't the play. Do I go TE and get Gates? I would of if Gates showed up Saturday to practice. Then, I thought, "well, if 3 WR's went before I thought they would, what 3 players fell to me?" It was Fred Taylor, Michael Bennett, and Deshaun Foster.

I don't like adding a bench player (3rd RB) as early as the 3rd round, but I couldn't justify any other pick. I took Bennett as a huge upside pick, because if he can play to his "potential" I have good trade value at RB, and can possibly get one of the WR's I targeted that didn't fall to me in the 3rd round. I didn't think I had that same upside with Taylor or Foster, although I thought long and hard on Foster because he certainly has upside. If I only had RB at this pick, I probably would of drafted Taylor because he is the safest.

Looking back at it, I wish I drafted Jamal Lewis, Culpepper, then Taylor. But I really didn't think I would have the RB's available at 3.11.

3rd round thoughts:

Best value picks - Arrington, Bennett, and Taylor towards the back of the 3rd round. I targeted at least two of those going before 3.07.

This was a pick by phone call with Doug, and 5 minutes after I made it, I prayed that it wasn't a mistake and wouldn't mess up my 6th round pick.

I wanted a WR here, and my short list was Driver, Branch, Fitgerald, and Bruce. All four went right before my pick. I had no WR's on my team, but couldn't think of what other WR I wanted at this spot (I also didn't have time to steal away from the inlaws and look at my draft sheets). I knew I wanted a TE with my 6th round pick, and I knew I could wait for Crumpler, Heap, or Dallas Clark to come back around to me. I instead just took Crumpler, and then once I realized I could miss out on my next set of WR's (primarily Jimmy Smith and Chambers), I hoped one of them would fall to me. Luckily, Chambers fell, so, I am not stressed any more about it.

So, about Crumpler. He's Vick's favorite target and is just a beast of a man. I expect around 50 yards/game and 8 TD's. Not Gates/Gonzo numbers, but he shouldn't be behind many other TE's.

5th round thoughts:

Best Values: Barlow at 5.02, Thomas Jones at 5.05

I went into this draft knowing I wanted to get a top-4 LB and a top-8 TE. I was figuring to get one or both of them in round 5 or 6 if I somehow didn't get Gates or Gonzo (which I didn't)... and moving from 5.04 to 5.14 didn’t seem like it was going to change my choices very much (not a lot of focus on LB or TE at this point)... so the price I paid for Julius was essentially nothing. As it turns out, I made the first defensive pick of the draft, and got the pick of the litter. Nothing more needs to be said than “Ray Lewis”.

Like I said in my Crumpler rationale, if Chambers didn't fall to me here, I would of been upset with my drafting.

Through 5 rounds, I still didn't have a WR; it seemed like the WR's I targeted each round would go right before my pick, so, I just kept holding off. Well, I figured I needed to start with a solid WR by round 6: and took Chambers. He never has a good QB throwing him the ball, but he always puts up good numbers. In 2004, Chambers was good for 900 yds and 7 TD's, and he had no running game.

In 2003, when he had a running game, he put up 960 yards and 11 TD's. With the running game improved in 2005, I expect over 1000 yards and 10 TD's. Not bad for a 6th round pick.

Other people I debated on taking: Muhammed, Mason, Burress (who I got 20 picks later)

6th round thoughts:

Best Values: Jimmy Smith, Mason, Muhammed, and Chambers. All are the un-questioned, good #1 WR's for their teams and should not suffer too much just because of lack of solid QB's.

Did I just draft Denver’s starting tailback in the 6th round? Everyone knows that the Broncos churn out 1,000-yard-backs like Ben Affleck does expensive Hollywood clunkers. If Anderson, who is #1 on the Denver depth chart, stays there for at least half the season, this pick is worth the price. I honestly wanted to wait until the 9th round or so to take him, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized
A. Tatum Bell has demonstrated a slight history of injury.
B. Mike Anderson has demonstrated a strong history of success.
And yes, I backed myself into a corner by not taking a second RB until round 5. Guru and I have similar plans obviously.

I’m the President of his fan club; I had to take him.

You know he is a good RB. I don’t need to convince you. How healthy will Chris Brown be this season? That’s the only issue with Henry. If Brown starts 16 games, I have a third down back with little to no upside. If Chris Brown gets injured again, as he has throughout college and his pro career, I have another starting RB. And I’ll remind everyone of Henry’s heroic 2003 campaign in which he rushed for 1356 yards and 10 TD’s, despite having a broken leg for half the season.

I almost took Rod Smith here, but there still seems to be ample depth for a 3rd starter at WR. Maybe next round.

I really expect him to explode this season. When Hasselbeck went 2 choices in front of me, I decided it was time to go with a QB even though I initially had wanted to wait until the 8th round. I see him throwing the ball to what I have ranked as the #4 and #33 WRs in this draft. Think that he a good mix and also expect Rudi Johnson to catch his share of passes.

I knew I had to focus on WR's since I just got my 1st one in round 6. Since I was contemplating Burress in round 5, it was pretty easy for me to choose him here without looking at other options. I had Moulds as #2 on my queue, but it wasn't yet known if his ribs were okay (which they were). With an offense that should throw the ball more than the Steelers have in recent years. I expect something around 1000 yds and 8 TD's for Burress, especially since he is such a good target in the red zone. I hope the change in scenery does him well.

7th round thoughts:

Best value: Jerry Porter at 7.04. I thought he would go 5th round, and the only reason I didn't take him earlier was because I had the Oakland RB.