| Anyong Bluth |
01-19-2007 08:43 AM |
I was looking around at various draft projections and one site had us taking Levi Brown, OT, Penn St. They had Okoye going to Miami and Jarrett going to the Packers. Here's the blurb on the 3:
Levi Brown
For years this franchise has been spoiled with outstanding offensive line play but those days have come to an end and with Willie Roaf retiring before last season and Will Shields set to ride into the sunset as well there are some major concerns up front. I would not be at all surprised if Levi Brown is off the board by this point considering the dearth of top offensive tackles in this draft but if he is still available the Chiefs would be wise to jump on him because it might be their last chance to add an immediate contributor outside. Levi Brown is a mountain of a man at 6-5 and 328 lbs. but he is also a pretty good athlete and has a ton of starting experience in the Big Ten. This move would provide a major upgrade over Jordan Black at left tackle and might even be a best-case scenario for them in round one. Defensive tackle and wide receiver will also garner serious consideration and there will likely still be some value on the board at both spots.
Okoye
This just might be the toughest pick to project in round one but in the end it came down to Amobi Okoye and Leon Hall, and the defensive tackle got the final nod. The Phins have plenty of needs but with Vonnie Holliday, Keith Traylor and Jeff Zgonina all slated to become unrestricted free agents there is a good chance Miami will be losing their top three interior linemen this offseason, which would make the position priority #1. The NFL Draft has rarely, if ever, seen a prospect like Okoye, who played in college as a 16-year-old true freshman and will still only be a 20-year-old rookie next fall despite having four years of Division I playing experience. Okoye is coming off a fantastic senior campaign and his upside is through the roof which is why he is one of the hottest names in the draft and soaring up the boards of most teams. Hall would be a possibility as well and the Dolphins need secondary help but Okoye and his potential are just too enticing.
Jarrett
A common phenomenon I have noticed in the NFL is teams with lackluster talent somehow finding a way to win a few more games than they probably should, thus taking them out of contention to land the type of elite player in the draft that they still need. Unfortunately for the Cheeseheads I'm afraid that might be the case with Green Bay this year because even though they finished with a .500 record at 8-8 they are still probably among the bottom 5-7 teams in the league when it comes to overall talent. That doesn't mean they can't land an impact player here though and Dwayne Jarrett would be a terrific addition to their young offense. When it comes to size, hands, ball skills and production Jarrett has few peers in this draft but he will most likely be pushed down draft boards due to his lack of top end timed speed and the inevitable comparisons to Mike Williams. Regardless Jarrett is simply a football player who will get the job done between the white lines and if he falls much further than this someone will have themselves quite a steal.
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