First day draft summary

I am one disappointed NY football fan.

Now not for the reasons that you may be thinking. I'm going to start with the Jets. As soon as I realized Mario Williams was unobtainable, D'Brickashaw Ferguson seemed to be the smartest move. And they got the offensive tackle they needed. I know they needed to fortify that area. But hang on. They then selected Nick Mangold, a center with the No. 29 pick. Remember I talked about Eric Winston? He lasted until the beginning of the third round. Another position could have been addressed or they could have traded down to the middle of the first round and still got a very solid player.

Then they got Kellen Clemens, a QB from Oregon. Some people like Ron Jaworski, love this guy. Some people projected him as a 7th rounder. So he could be anything.

Then things get hairy. They pick Anthony Schlegel, a linebacker from Ohio St. Don't we have linebackers between, Barton, Chatham, Hobson, McClover, and a guy named Vilma? This guy could have been had in the 5th round. And even sadder, they traded up to get him!

This pick makes no sense to me at all. With the final pick of the first day, they take Eric Smith, a safety. A safety. That is about the last area that needed to be addressed. Erik Coleman and Kerry Rhodes are very good and were both drafted in the last three years. With DT, WR, HB, and DE all needs, they get a safety on Day 1! Terrible choice.

So for me this draft started well and got progressively worse. To me, the Jets are reaching for players they could have gotten later. They have 4 picks tomorrow, including 2 in the 4th round.
Right now, I grade this a C+.

As for the Giants, if this is Ernie Accorsi's swan song, well Ernie, you're getting out at the right time! The Giants trade down first. That's fine. They go from 25 to 32 and get 2 additional picks. I thought they would address defensive tackle or wide receiver with the very highly touted Chad Jackson out of Florida. And what do they do? They draft a defensive end! This with a team with Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck on the roster! Accorsi's response, you can never have enough pass rushers. Yes you can, particularly if you can't get them on the field because there's no spot available!

Oh and Chad Jackson goes to where? New England?! I can watch him kill the Jets now! Oh joy!

Then the Giants get Sinorice Moss, a receiver from Miami. Fine. The Giants need speed, and a replacement for Amani Toomer, who's aging a little bit. And we have a lot of good receivers in Tim Carter and Jamaar Taylor, but they're injured every year. Let's see what Moss can do.

With their third and final pick of the day, they take an inside linebacker named Gerris Wilkinson. With Antonio Pierce already there. Go figure.

The one area in the Giants starting lineup where they look vulnerable to me is defensive tackle. And they are yet to address it. And 25 picks will be made before they select on Sunday. I'd rate this day around a C for the Giants.

But Gabe Watson is on the board still... But probably not for much longer.