2012 NFL Draft Grades: Which Teams Failed to Address Their Most Pressing Needs?

It happens every year. As the NFL draft reaches its climax with the selection of Mr. Irrelevant, experts and fans alike begin to fully digest the event for each team.

For some teams, the sight isn’t pretty.

While many teams hit home runs and fill plenty of needs with promising young talent, others completely whiff on addressing their biggest needs.

It’s hard to tell why this happens, but it can cripple a franchise for years. Some teams simply don’t value players as other teams do. Some teams seem to be confident in the players they have despite the rest of the nation telling them otherwise.

The 2012 NFL draft was no different. Several teams failed to address some of their most pressing needs. The majority are, of course, repeat offenders. So much for learning from past mistakes.

Here are the teams that failed to address their most pressing needs in the 2012 NFL draft.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Just because a team hit a need doesn’t mean they addressed it properly. A perfect example would be taking a gander at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2012 draft class.

Wide receiver was a need, so the front office decided to trade up for Justin Blackmon. He’s slow, short and thrived in a pass-happy offense in college. Blackmon will have trouble standing out in Jacksonville when he is the only viable offensive receiving threat and Blaine Gabbert is the one throwing him passes.

The smarter option would have been taking a more dynamic receiver like Michael Floyd or taking the best defensive player on the board. Instead, the Jags managed to whiff on two of their most pressing needs at once.

Grade: C

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks needed to add a dynamic pass-rusher with the No. 15 pick. Instead, they reached for Bruce Irvin out of West Virginia.

Irvin isn’t a bad player by any means, but he’s not a first-round talent. Instead of truly addressing the need with some of the elite prospects left on the board such as Melvin Ingram, Quinton Coples, Shea McClellin and Nick Perry, the Seahawks made Irvin the pick.

The Seahawks landed a guy that should have made it to the second round. A team should be looking for an every-down starter in the first round, not a situational player. The Seahawks managed to address their most pressing need, but not really.

Despite signing Matt Flynn in free agency, they also chose to take another quarterback instead of filling other needs such as offensive linemen.

Grade: C-

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans added receiver Kendall Wright in the first round, but the position wasn’t that big of a need when compared to defensive end, cornerback and offensive line.

Tennessee picked up some defensive ends in the later rounds, but that’s not a good way of adequately filling pressing needs. The Titans failed to select a center and didn’t address the massive gap at cornerback left by Cortland Finnegan until Round 4.

It wasn’t a horrid draft for the Titans by any means, but they did fail to fill some of their primary needs.

Grade: C+

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns did a good job of addressing the running back position with Trent Richardson and the offensive tackle position with Mitchell Schwartz. But it was all downhill from there.

For a team with so many needs, the Browns did little to actually address them. Finding a legit wide receiver would have been ideal, as fourth-rounder Travis Benjamin doesn’t fit the bill. Not addressing the cornerback position until Round 7 was a major mistake as was failing to take a safety at all.

Instead of wasting picks on a 28-year-old rookie like Brandon Weeden and a defensive tackle like John Hughes who likely would have gone undrafted, the team could have addressed bigger needs.

Grade: D-

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a good move by addressing the running back position with Doug Martin. Instead of grabbing an elite cornerback like the roster so desperately needed, they elected to take an oft-injured safety in Mark Barron instead.

That decision is mind-boggling with corners Stephon Gilmore and Dre Kirkpatrick still on the board. The team also decided to not take a wide receiver at all, even though the depth chart at the position could have used an upgrade.

For a team looking to bounce back from a horrendous season, it did little in the way of changing the roster. Most of the pressing needs will now roll over until the next draft.  

Grade: C

New Orleans Saints

It’s hard to bash the New Orleans Saints too much for a mediocre draft considering they didn’t have a pick until the third round. However, they failed to do much of anything in the way of needs with the picks they did have.

The Saints decided to completely neglect the cornerback position and offensive line for the most part. They did take guard Andrew Tiller in the sixth round, but that’s not exactly going to help in the long run. Receiver Nick Toon was a smart pick but not a massive need.

New Orleans is in a downward spiral right now thanks to Bountygate, and the last thing it needed was a mediocre draft. Like they say, there’s always next year.

Grade: D

Indianapolis Colts

Yes, the Indianapolis Colts met their biggest need head-on with the once-in-a-generation quarterback prospect, Andrew Luck. After that, they failed to do much of anything.

For a team littered with holes throughout the roster, the Colts did an exceptionally bad job of draft management. Instead of hitting the massive needs at offensive tackle, wide receiver, running back and defensive line in the early rounds, they took tight ends in both the second and third rounds.

The idea is admirable. Tight ends are a rookie quarterback’s best friend; that’s fine. A better option would have been to bring some veterans in via free agency and address bigger holes on the roster through the draft.

It’s going to be a long rebuilding process in Indianapolis if this trend continues.

Grade: D

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears were in a good position to knock out a few major needs heading into the draft. They came away with lesser options at each pick compared to what could have been.

In the first round, Chicago decided to take Shea McClellin instead of Whitney Mercilus, Nick Perry and Chandler Jones. That’s forgivable; taking Alshon Jeffery in the second round isn’t. There were better receivers on the board who have displayed consistency throughout their collegiate careers and go better across from Brandon Marshall.

The Bears hit their needs, but not properly. Not alleviating needs in a good manner is the same as not hitting them at all. The Bears better rethink their draft strategy going forward.  

Grade: C-

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