2011 NFL Draft Results: Jake Locker and the Worst Selections of Round 1
Take a look at NFL draft results over the years and you'll notice a trend very quickly. There are teams that always seem to pick toward the end of the rounds and teams that always seem to be right up near the top.
The biggest difference?
The teams drafting late year-in and year-out know how to draft. They'll consistently get better value with the 20th pick than a poorly managed team will get with the 10th.
It's the same every year and generally it's the same players involved.
So who muffed their first-round selection this year? A couple may surprise you, but the others simply seem to fit the bill.
5. Aldon Smith, DE, San Francisco
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Aldon Smith at No. 7 was the first real eyebrow raising selection of Round 1. Sure it was shocking to see what Atlanta gave up for Julio Jones, but Jones was worthy of the selection, if not the price tag of the trade.
Smith, however, was the first defensive end taken in a draft class stacked at the position. With Robert Quinn, Cameron Jordan, Ryan Kerrigan, Da'Quan Bowers and J.J. Watt all on the board, that's a pick the 49ers could take heat over for years.
What they should have done was accept the fact that Alex Smith isn't the answer at quarterback and draft Blaine Gabbert. Success or failure, that's a pick you can live with.
4. Mike Pouncey, C, Miami
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Nothing necessarily against Pouncey; he should prove to be a welcome addition to an offensive line that struggled mightily in the middle last season.
Not quite the same product as his All-Pro twin brother Maurkice Pouncey with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but a player who should be able to step in from day one and start.
Of course for a team with no running backs and serious question marks at the quarterback position drafting a center with the 15th overall pick doesn't really solve your biggest problems.
3. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta
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We have to admit that the prospect of Matt Ryan under center, Michael Turner in the backfield and Roddy White and Julio Jones lining up on the outside is simply scary.
We're excited just to see the show, but the production costs on this one where through the roof.
The Falcons gave up their first-, second- and fourth-round picks in 2011 as well as their first- and fourth-round picks in 2012. When's the last time you saw a player, any player, go for a such a high price?
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2. Christian Ponder, QB, Minnesota
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There was more and more talk as we approached the draft that Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder would squeeze his way into the first round, but up until Minnesota was on the clock it was just that. Talk.
The reality is that the Vikings desperately wanted to trade down from the 12th pick and couldn't find a trade partner in time.
So rather than take the best possible player, a strategy employed by franchises who consistently succeed, Minnesota reached big time for a player they could have had on Friday at a fifth of the cost financially; not to mention the added talent a proper selection would have brought to the table.
1. Jake Locker, QB, Tennessee
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Jake Locker's stock had been in free fall since the start of the 2010 season and only plummeted further after the combine and Washington's pro day.
Yet somehow, with a nearly universally higher-rated passer in Blaine Gabbert still on the board Tennessee decided to pull the trigger on Locker.
A player with a career 55 percent completion rate and a record of 14-25 throughout his four years with the Huskies.
That's one the Titans will live to regret.
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.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
