Draft Day Two Wrap Up

The Good

St. Louis Rams - On offense the Rams are clearly building a run-first, smash-mouth outfit. If the choice of Greg Robinson wasn't a clear enough signal, the choice of Tre Mason made it clear. This pick surprised many. More secondary help was the consensus, but if you are going run-first, you need some ponies in the stable. About that secondary...They got that help, a la LaMarcus Joyner; a versatile and fiery defensive back after a small trade up to beat the Titans.

Houston Texans - J.J. Watts gets some serious new playmates in Jadevon Clowney, and now Louis Nix. Despite their quarterback travails, I like this unit building. If Clowney lives up to the hype, this will be a harsh defensive line in the years to come.

The Bad

Carolina Panthers - Losing all of their wideouts due to free agency, the Panthers took Kelvin Benjamin in the first round. Fair enough, even though he has graded out poorly. But their next two picks were a bit mystifying: Guard Trai Turner and DE Kony Ealy. There is a lot here that just doesn't make sense. While Ealy is a top player who slipped, Trai Turner is a reach at this point, and neither position could be considered a glaring need.

Quarterbacks - Only Blake Bortles was accorded the respect of a high pick. Johnny Manziel was used as a whipping boy by several teams, before being chosen by his primary tormentor. Teddy Bridgewater benefited from a panic attack by Minnesota in the closing moments of the first round. Derek Carr was smugly picked up by Oakland - very safely in the second round - and Garoppolo will be holding a clipboard for a season or two, pending Tom Brady's retirement. The rest still wait.

The Ugly

Cleveland Browns - It is not that there picks have been bad, just confusing. Why would you trade up one spot with Minnesota? If the Vikings wanted Justin Gilbert, they would just stick and take him. Then again,  why would you trade up four spots for Johnny Manziel, when he clearly wouldn't be picked before you were back on the clock at #26? At this point, Josh Gordon allegedly failed a drug test, and is facing a year long suspension. So what does Cleveland do? They pick an offensive tackle and a linebacker...

Seattle Seahawks - Seattle lost some core, if not franchise players, in free agency. Further, they started this draft with only six draft picks; almost all of them at the very end of their respective rounds. No matter, this is a deep draft and finding replacements should be a fairly simple exercise. Maybe not? They have traded back twice now, once with Minnesota and then back again with Detroit. OK, they only had six picks, and maybe they felt that wasn't enough. I could buy that. Then they actually picked some players...WR Paul Richardson and OT Justin Britt? To put that in perspective, Richardson was considered a round three guy, and Britt a round five.

What has stood out to you?