NFL Draft 2012 Results: Teams with the Most Surprising Picks

The 2012 NFL draft was full of surprising picks.

Some surprises are better than others. Certain teams made selections that were cheered, while others made choices that resulted in boos.

Let's take a look at the teams whose selections surprised us the most.

Seattle Seahawks (Surprisingly Bad)

The Seahawks' decision to select Bruce Irvin at No. 15 overall was a shocker. There's a chance Irvin could turn out to be phenomenal, but there's an equal chance he'll end up being Aaron Curry 2.0.

While I can understand taking a bold step like that to improve your pass rush, the Seahawks turned around and drafted another outside linebacker in the second round in Bobby Wagner who is essentially the same player as Irvin.

They also drafted Korey Toomer—another outside linebacker—in the fifth round.

This makes no sense to me at all considering that the Seahawks needed a middle linebacker far more than three outside linebackers.

Then, to top it all off, the Seahawks decided it'd be a good idea to draft Russell Wilson in the third round. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Wilson fan. I've written about him in the past, and I believe he'll be successful in the NFL. 

The thing is: The Seahawks already have two other quarterbacks with approximately the same value as Wilson in Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Flynn—the guy they just paid $10 million guaranteed to come over from Green Bay (h/t Rotoworld).

Craziness.

New England Patriots (Surprisingly Non-Belichick)

Everyone knows that the Patriots are going to trade down in the draft and collect extra picks so that they can maneuver in the middle of the draft. They always do it.

So when they traded up in the first round...twice...we all wondered if it might be a sign that the Mayan Apocalypse is truly coming at the end of this year.

I'll give them this: The guys they traded up to snag are going to be worth it.

Moving up to grab freak athlete and phenomenal prospect Chandler Jones will prove to be one of Belichick's more brilliant decisions. Jones—though a bit raw—has the explosive first step that makes for an elite pass-rusher.

He's going to become a dominant force playing next to Vince Wilfork and will make the Patriots forget all about Mark Anderson.

The Pats followed up that gem by moving up again to take Dont'a Hightower—my highest-rated middle linebacker. 

It's crazy how Belichick has quietly retooled his linebacking corps in the last three years. Hightower is going to be a starter this year, and he'll play next to either Brandon Spikes or Jerod Mayo—both quality linebackers in their own right.

Then, in the seventh round, Belichick made another surprising choice when he picked Alfonzo Dennard—the young man who was arrested recently on assault charges (h/t ESPN).

What is the world coming to?

San Francisco 49ers (Surprisingly Baalke)

When the 49ers make "questionable" draft picks again in the 2013 NFL draft, nobody will be surprised. General manager Trent Baalke made a number of picks in the 2011 version that caused fans to mumble under their breath.

Aldon Smith was one of those. He was the No. 7 overall pick last year and wasn't slated by most to be drafted in the top half of the draft. Chris Culliver—who most didn't have going until the fifth round—was drafted in the third round. 

Both players proved to be worthy of their selections. Both will be starting on defense for the 49ers.

Still, when the 49ers selected wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, I was shocked. I loved him but had him going to the 49ers in the second round in my final mock draft of the year.

Then they followed that up by selecting LaMichael James at the bottom of the second round, adding to their crowded backfield which now totals six running backs.

It doesn't make any sense from our perspective, but then again, we're not the ones in control of an NFL franchise.

They 49ers also made a couple of other draft choices that raised eyebrows with the selections of two offensive linemen most people had going far later in the draft: Joe Looney in the fourth round and Jason Slowey in the seventh round (most experts didn't have Slowey getting drafted).

I'm of the attitude that until Baalke starts getting these picks wrong I will support him. That being said, until we see the product on the field, it does seem like he did make some rather odd choices. 

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