NFL Draft 2012: Lamar Miller and Most Valuable Steals

The NFL draft exposes all.

Poorly run teams reach for prospects who don’t pan out. That then results in well-run franchises cashing in on their mistakes.

Here are the most valuable steals that somehow, someway fell into the laps of these lucky teams.

5. Lamar Miller (RB, Miami); Fourth Round to Miami Dolphins

How often do 5’11”, 212-pound 1,200-yard backs with sub-4.4 speed fall to the fourth round? Answer: never, at least until this year.

Miami doesn’t fit into that well-run franchise category, but they got plenty of value by trading up for the borderline first-round prospect.

4. Bobby Massie (OT, Ole Miss); Fourth Round to Arizona Cardinals

Scouts projected Massie as a borderline prospect as well. But the Ole Miss O-lineman managed to slip through the cracks and fall all the way to the third day of the draft. Arizona’s most pressing need just happened to be finding a blindside-protector for Kevin Kolb too.

3. Stephen Hill (WR, Georgia Tech); Rueben Randle (WR, LSU); Mohamed Sanu (WR, Rutgers)

So many wideouts ended up being major steals that I just grouped them all together.

Hill fell to the New York Jets in the second, Randle to the New York Giants in the second and Sanu to the Cincinnati Bengals in the third.

Hill was a first-round lock, Randle a borderline first-round pick and Sanu a second-round lock.

2. Melvin Ingram (DE, South Carolina); First Round to San Diego Chargers

After the first-round concluded, A.J. Smith drove to the closest Hallmark and brought a thank you card for the Seattle Seahawks.

Pete Carroll and company’s gaffe selecting Bruce Irvin allowed Ingram to slide all the way to the Chargers.

San Diego needed an outside linebacker more than anything, and Ingram is the best pass-rusher in the draft.

1. David DeCastro (G, Stanford); Mike Adams (OT, Ohio State)

Kevin Colbert makes it look easy. Pittsburgh always drafts the best player available, and in the first two rounds, those players just happened to fill major needs.

DeCastro and Adams will start next to Maurkice Pouncey forming one of the most talented offensive lines for years to  come.

David Daniels is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels