17. New York Jets – S William Moore, Missouri
Kerry Rhodes is a good safety, but on his opposite side, Abram Elam and Eric Wright aren’t starting material. Moore will give the Jets the missing piece to complete their young talented defensive backfield, he is a sure tackler and if needed he can defend the pass.
18. Chicago Bears – DT Peria Jerry, Ole Miss
Season after season, Tommie Harris always depends on Dusty Dvoracek's health to not be triple teamed, and the Bears have seen enough of that.
With Jerry the Bears will have the perfect complement for Harris, and a great pressure in the interior of the line that will allow the Des to play with more freedom.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – RB Chris Wells, Ohio State*
Cadillac Williams, Warrick Dunn, and Earnest Graham are the RBs of the Buccaneers, and the coach shouldn’t trust in this depth. “Beanie” will give Tampa a good and reliable running back that will come to change the whole offense.
20. Detroit Lions (From Dallas) – G Duke Robinson, Oklahoma
They already drafted Stafford and one way to protect the QB is improving the running game. Robinson should be dominant in the NFL, protecting the QB and opening holes for the rush game.
Kevin Smith will be very thankful about this pick.
21. Arizona Cardinals – RB Knowshon Moreno, Georgia*
The Cardinals have a great passing game but their running game have struggle the whole year. Moreno will give the Cardinals a great weapon; he will be a top rusher and also will cause some problems in the passing game.
With him Arizona will take some pressure off to Kurt Warner and take some coverage form Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.
22. Philadelphia Eagles – TE Brando Pettigrew, Oklahoma State
L.J. Smith was franchise tagged by the Eagles this season, only to play at a mediocre level. With the addition of Pettigrew, the Eagles will have the missing offensive weapon they need, even if McNabb isn’t around next season.
23. Minnesota Vikings – OT Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma
The Vikings need a defensive back or a offensive tackle, and they could pick Loadholt at this point because he is a true ROT and will complete the great Minnesota offensive line.
24. New England Patriots – CB Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest
New England have struggle at the position this year. They let go Asante Samuel and didn’t find a good replacement in last year's draft or FA. Alphonso Smith should be an improvement over Deltha O’Neal.
Smith will become a Pro Bowler under the tuition of Bill Bellichick, just like Samuel.
25. Atlanta Falcons – CB Darius Butler, Connecticut
The Falcons need to improve a lot their coverage (just see the wild-card game vs. Arizona) and Butler could play the 2009 season as CB3; also, he can be the starting kick/punt returner of the team and gaining experience during the season.
26. Miami Dolphins – DE/OLB Greg Hardy, Mississippi
Hardy looks like the prototypical Bill Parcells pick, a great pass rusher and solid tackler. Hardy should start right away in the opposite side of Joey Porter, even he could be better than the second best sacker of the league and is an obvious improvement over Matt Roth.
27. Baltimore Ravens – WR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
Baltimore already have Joe Flacco, now is time to give him weapons. Derrick Mason is almost 34 years old and he should have a couple of good seasons ahead, but the Ravens need to develop a WR for the future.
With some of Mason's tuition and playing time, Maclin will be a great receiver, and with his blazing speed, he will cause some problems going deep.
28. Indianapolis Colts – CB DJ Moore, Vanderbilt
Indy needs to add some depth at CB, an Moore will be the perfect fit for the Colts. At the beginning, he will need to battle to earn the starting spot and maybe he will be a backup his rookie season but under Dungy scheme he will become a starter and a very solid CB.
29. Philadelphia Eagles – OT Jerome Merideth, South Carolina
Both Philadelphia tackles are free agents and old. Merideth will be the perfect pick for the Eagles offense and could be a future Pro Bowler with all the talent he haves.
30. Pittsburgh Steelers – G Herman Johnson, LSU
Pittsburgh has huge needs at the offensive line, and with all the “elite” tacklers already gone they should go for Johnson. He is a one of the best Gs in the game and with some experience and development he will dominate the rivals.
31. New York Giants – TE Jermain Gresham, Oklahoma*
New York did the right thing trading away Jeremy Shockey, but Kevin Boss hasn’t been the player they expect. Greshman will give Eli Manning a great weapon at the offense, being a receiving TE he will fit into the Giants right away and letting Boss to stay as a blocking TE.
32. Tennessee Titans – WR Juaquin Iglesias, Oklahoma
The Titans need a true WR1 and Iglesias is their man. With some playing time and development he could become a top receiver, and from Day One he will be an improvement over the whole Titans receiving corp.
A very interesting first round, as you see only one QB was drafted but I think that position will be very solicited in the second round. In the second part, I will continue with the draft second round and some late-rounds sleepers.
[*] = Denotes an underclassman that hasn't declared for the Draft yet.
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