Despite the fact that the Ravens reached a bit for Joe Flacco, they got what they wanted on both sides of the ball. The only reason Baltimore makes this list is how they ripped off Jacksonville by trading out of the Top 10 to stockpile picks.
Even if they did end up moving back up to get Flacco, the Ravens got a package of picks (#26, 2 3rd rounders and a 4th rounder) In exchange for the pick that ended up being Derrick Harvey.
This was similar to what the Chiefs got from Minnesota for NFL sack leader Jared Allen.
Flacco may have been a reach at No. 18, but he has everything the Ravens look for in a franchise quarterback: arm strength, character, size, and (surprisingly enough) mobility. In the wake of the Kyle Boller debacle, the Ravens needed to get their man, no matter what the price.
With the pick they got from a trade with Seattle, the Ravens took Rutgers running back Ray Rice, who was a workhorse in the college ranks and can dole out some serious punishment despite his size.
Willis McGahee may be the starter for the time being, but he will be 28 when next year rolls around and most running backs begin to decline around age 30, so finding a replacement here was vital.
One round later, Baltimore picked up playmaking Miami linebacker Tavares Gooden, who is similar from an athletic standpoint to what Ray Lewis was at this point at his career.
While Gooden may never be a Ray Lewis-type player, he definitely has the potential to start from Day One over incumbent starter Bart Scott.
Baltimore will have three free agent linebackers in 2009, including Lewis and Terrell Suggs, so finding some youth at the linebacker position at this point in the draft was necessary.
What makes Baltimore's moves during the draft so impressive is not who they selected, but how they got in position to select these players and other that I didn't mention.
The Losers
Sure, Darren McFadden is a special talent, and yes he may be the best player in this draft, but the Raiders have two proven veterans at running back in Dominic Rhodes and Justin Fargas, and a stud in Michael Bush.
No matter what they did in free agency, the Raiders still went 4-12 last year and a team in the Top Five can't afford to make a luxury pick, no matter who the player is.
What makes this pick even more surprising is the fact that DT Glenn Dorsey, who was thought to be even better than McFadden by some teams, could have filled a much bigger need at defensive tackle than McFadden did at running back.
Also, Dorsey was allowed to fall to division rival Kansas City, who took him almost immediately.
Normally, I wouldn't have had such a big problem with taking McFadden, even in light of what I said, but Oakland didn't make another pick until the fourth round. William Joseph and Kalimba Edwards aren't the answer, people.
A defensive player was a must at that position in the draft even, if Chris Long wasn't available and Dorsey falling to No. 4 was an absolute gift. Leave it to Al Davis to burn a pick like this.
However, I have seen some pretty convincing arguments in favor of McFadden going to Oakland on this site and his playmaking skill is undeniable, I think they made a costly mistake here, but the jury is out on this one.
2: Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jaguars at this point are one solid pass rusher away from being a bonafide Super Bowl contender. Unfortunately for the Jags, neither Derrick Harvey nor Quentin Groves will be that pass rusher, at least not immediately.
Trading up is one thing, but mortgaging your draft to reach for a guy who wouldn't have gone in the Top 15 is another thing entirely.
As I mentioned earlier, the Jags traded all of their picks in the third and fourth rounds, along with the 26th overall pick, to move up to No. 8 to pick up Florida defensive end Derrick Harvey.
This would have been fine had Harvey been a "can't miss" prospect. However, Harvey has been known to disappear at times, and there are a lot of questions surrounding his explosiveness and ability to shed blocks at the next level.
The Jags ended up taking yet another defensive end, Auburn's Quentin Groves, with their second-round pick, which again would have been fine if the need were truly dire and Groves had fallen from where he was expected to go.
Groves was not even a second-round pick on some teams' draft boards and he, like Harvey, has issues in the consistency department.
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