NFL Draft Day 1

All in all, Day 1 turned out to be pretty intriguing, with many surprises and trades.

First off, there were no receivers taken in the first round. Then, teams made up for this by picking receivers like crazy in the second round, though not in the order that ANYBODY predicted, starting with Donnie Avery from Houston, who was not even on most people's top 5 receiver list. Jerome Simpson, a receiver from Coastal Carolina, went before Desean Jackson, Malcolm Kelly, AND Limas Sweed.

The Steelers got two of the steals so far with Rashard Mendenhall at pick 23 and Limas Sweed at the bottom of the second round. Sweed was supposed to be a first round pick, and some say Mendenhall will turn out better than Darren McFadden. The Steelers got lucky by just sitting on their butts at their original draft spots.

On to the Cowboys: I was estatic when both Mendenhall and Mike Jenkins, one of the elite corners in the draft, were still there at the Cowboys' #22. It was a dream scenario. Imagine my dismay when the Cowboys took Felix Jones. I felt the same way I did when the Cowboys passed on Stephen Jackson a couple of years ago and ended up with... Julius Jones. However, Felix is no Julius. Although I'd rather have had Mendenhall, Felix will still be a good lightning to Marion the Barbarian's thunder. Plus, imagine our field position with Felix returning kickoffs and Pacman returning punts.

Our next pick was a steal: we traded up from pick 28 to 25 to get Mike Jenkins, who fell quite a bit. No complaints from me here. Jenkins should solidify our secondary, which will have to go against some of the big-play offensive threats that our division rivals ended up drafting: Devin Thomas (WR, Michigan St.), Malcolm Kelly (WR, Oklahoma), and Fred Davis (TE, USC) for the Redskins and Desean Jackson (WR, California) for the Eagles.

It should be noted that neither Felix Jones nor Mike Jenkins would have lasted much longer if we had not picked them. Tennessee would have taken Jones instead of reaching for Chris Johnson at pick 24, and San Diego would have taken Jenkins instead of Antoine Cason at #27.

The Cowboys' last pick of Day 1 might end up being the most controversial. Right after trading former 2nd round tight end Anthony Fasano and linebacker Akin Ayodele to the Dolphins for a fourth rounder, Dallas picked another tight end in the second round, Martellus Bennett from Texas A&M. Many people are screaming bloody murder at Jerry Jones for trading away a former 2nd round TE for a 4th rounder only to take another one in the 2nd round, but I sort of like this pick. Just because Fasano was drafted in the 2nd round doesn't mean he was playing like a 2nd rounder. Bennett is a big, athletic tight end who can also block. He reminds me a little of Antonio Gates, since Bennett also plays basketball, occasionally lines up in the slot as a receiver, and runs a faster 40 than Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly! In the end, none of the receivers left were worth taking in the 2nd round, so Bennett was a good choice to pair with Jason Witten.

I give the Cowboys an A- for their first-day efforts.