Pick 6 Cleveland

Pick 6 for Cle. caused by Jake Delhomme, words you hear a lot.  Thankfully they've decided to turn it over to Colt McCoy and the pain can end.  This would have been a perfect spot for A.J. Green, but he's gone, so they must regroup.  There are no other offensive needs that can addressed here, because the talent just isn't there, so the Browns will have to go Defense.  Robert Quinn or Vonn Miller would have been slam dunks here if they stuck in the 3-4, but they've gone to Dick Jauron's defense which means 4-3 with big run stopping ends.  I'd still consider Miller here, he could play Will or Sam on running downs and end on passing downs, and I'd also think that Adrian Clayborn would interest Jauron, but not this high.

So the choice has to be uber talented cornerback Patrick Peterson.  He's too good not to take, and if he doesn't work out at corner he'll be a Sean Taylor (R.I.P) type Safety

Pick 5 - Arizona Cardinal

The Pick - Cam Newton

The Cardinals are in dire need of a quarterback.  If the Bengals pick Gabbert then the Cardinals are left to either draft a prospect or resort to free agency.  Perhaps the Cardinals attempt to sign Carson Palmer in the offseason and spend this pick on a 3-4 outside linebacker like the versatile Von Miller.

I've got the Cardinals picking Newton because the coaching staff is familiar with the play of Big Ben.  Whisenhunt could look for Newton make plays outside the pocket and extend plays with his size and speed just like Ben does in Pittsburgh.

The quarterback position is evolving.  In the 90s and even the early 2000 everyone was looking for a drop back quarterback to get the ball out on time and spread the field with a powerful arm.  Now a days there is more than one way to get the job done.  Quarterbacks that move around and make something out of nothing can save drives and cover up a lot of weaknesses on your football team.

This is a lot earlier that most people have Newton coming off the board.  Some of that is certainly justified with Newton's troubles at Florida and Auburn.  It takes a fairly idiotic man to get caught taking money in the SEC.  They have protocols for these type of things and it's pretty simple.  However, I think his ability to move and throw the ball will keep Larry Fitzgerald from sitting down in the middle of the locker room, dousing himself in gasoline and lighting himself on fire like a Buddhist Monk.

If I was running Arizona that would be priority number one with me.  No Larry Fitzgerald fiery martyr moments this year.  He's probably the most talented wide receiver playing today and currently his best chance to get a catch is to set up a jugs machine behind center.  Simply tragic.

End of an Era in Utah

A sad day to see Jerry Sloan resign in Utah. How did it come to this. We may never know what was said between Sloan and general manager Kevin O'Conner. I hope he truly did try and talk him out of it. Seems like it should have ended differently, maybe with a gritty playoff loss, or maybe Karl Malone cheap shoting him and ending his career, or maybe like we all hoped another shot at the title without Jordan there to crush his dreams at the last gasp. Farewell Jerry Sloan, you made the idea of playing basketball in Utah more than just a joke, hopefully it stays that way.

Pick 4 - Bungles

After spending years trying to fill the void of Boomer Esiason (and think how sad it was that they were pining for the days of Boomer) they Bengals finally hit the jackpot, the prototype NFL quarterback, mechanically sound, the man who if you were going to sculpt a statue of a quarterback would be the man you had pose for it (easier now that he is a statue after they destroyed his leg), was the consensus number 1 pick by all the experts.  Cinci's inept scouting department could just sit back and do what the world told them, and despite our expectations they actually took him.

For years Palmer has probably regretted that, if only he could have come down with the flu, or been photographed with communist terrorist strippers (or started a dog fighting cockfighting Mike Tyson fighting ring) and fell because of character concerns he could have played for a real team and had the career he deserved.

Now he's had enough and wants to play for a real team (I hear Arizona is nice this time of year), and it's the time for the Bengals to show it wasn't a fluke when they got Palmer and they can in fact draft a reasonable quarterback.  Here are their choices

Blaine Gabbert:                I've never seen him, know nothing about him other than people love him

Cam Newton: Would probably steal Marv Lewis' laptop and write "Cam's" in glitter on it, also not the most accurate, has no prostyle experience, afraid to compete (left Fla. because he didn't want to sit a year instead played Juco against scrubs for a year).  Basically a more athletic Jamarcus Russell (without the arm strength).  No Thanks

Jake Locker:  A four year starter who still needs lots of learning, is it his coach from his first 2 years fault?  Don't know, but he should have ironed out the wrinkles by now, needs some time (2 years?) to get ready.  Bengals won't wait.

Ryan Mallet: Great arm, his feet will determine his future, if he can get his footwork down could be another great big quarterback, if not, he could take up a lot of room on the bus.

Christian Ponder: Just mediocre enough that he matches the Bengals draft strategy?  He'll be okay, but not here.

So Blaine Gabbert it is, the experts had it right with Palmer, and god knows the Bengals don't know what to do, so go with Gabbert, throw him to the wolves, and see if he brings home wolf pelts.