NFL Draft 2011: Winners and Losers of Day Two

The first three rounds are in for the 2011 NFL Draft. As always, there were some unexpected moves, and undoubtedly, many of these players will continue to surprise us with their career trajectories. But for now, here are the winners and losers of the second day of the draft, which covered rounds two and three.

Winners

Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Castonzo was a great pickup in the first round, and Bill Polian lived up to his vow to keep Peyton Manning protected.

He wasn’t done.

With the 17th pick of the second round, the Colts took their second offensive tackle, Benjamin Ijalana. Considering Ijalana was considered a borderline first rounder, this is a real steal for Indianapolis. More importantly, the team’s pass protection has been greatly improved, and defensive coordinators around the league are now losing sleep over the thought of trying to stop Manning with more time on his hands.

On top of that, the Colts addressed defensive tackle, arguably their biggest weakness, by taking Drake Nevis in the third. Nevis is undersized, but plays much stronger than he looks and provides a disruptive presence in the middle of the line to complement Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. After a relative down year for them, Indianapolis looks poised to return to championship caliber form.

Houston Texans: It’s no secret that Houston’s defense in 2010 was an embarrassment. Compounding matters was the move to a 3-4 front under new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and the need to find the proper personnel. They picked up a very good player in the first round in J.J. Watt, but the porous pass defense was still left in question.

The answers, as it turned out, came in the second round. Houston picked up the explosive Brooks Reed to rush the passer out of the outside linebacker spot. Reed was one of the stars of the combine, as his incredible short burst speed (and let’s face it, his hair) invited comparisons to Clay Matthews. That’s probably an unrealistic expectation, but if Reed is even half as good as Matthews, he’ll be a great piece of Houston’s new defense.

The secondary was also upgraded, as Houston traded up into the late second and landed Brandon Harris, one of the top cornerbacks in the draft. Young cornerbacks typically need some time to learn, so Harris probably won’t turn into the lockdown corner they need overnight, but all the same, the position had to be addressed. Harris was the best option.

Cleveland Browns: Cleveland followed up its stickup of the Falcons in the first by adding two very important pieces in the second. The Browns had no viable pass rushers for their new 4-3 defense, and they picked up one in Jabaal Sheard. Later in the round, they got their promising young quarterback, a new weapon in receiver Greg Little. Little has tremendous ability to create big plays after the catch and should provide a big boost to this Cleveland offense.

The knocks on both of these picks were the character concerns, and that’s certainly something the Browns coaching staff will have to monitor. But for now, the front office deserves credit for snagging two very talented players who fell into their laps.

Kansas City Chiefs: General manager Scott Pioli continued his upgrade of the offense by selecting guard Rodney Hudson. Anybody who saw Matt Cassel get roughed up by the Ravens in the playoff loss knows how important it was for the team to fix its pass protection, and they did so by taking one of the best guards available.

He turned his attention to the defense in the third round and came away with arguably the draft’s biggest steal in pass rusher Justin Houston. Not so long ago, Houston was considered a viable option to go as high as 20th overall, but a failed drug test caused his stock to drop, allowing the Chiefs to swoop in and land a great complement for Tamba Hali.

They also came away with defensive end Allen Bailey, who is physically gifted but somewhat of an underachiever. Nevertheless, he’s a good project to take on in the third round.

Pittsburgh Steelers: The defending AFC champions took an extremely conservative approach to the draft, staying put near the end of each round and taking the best prospects that came to them. The strategy paid off handsome dividends in the form of OT Marcus Gilbert in the second and CB Curtis Brown in the third, two very good players who address major needs for the Steelers. Maybe this is why they’ve won six Super Bowls.  

Losers

New England Patriots: No, I can’t believe I’m saying this either. Bill Belichick is the master of the draft, but this one has everybody scratching their heads. He kicked off the second round by taking cornerback Ras-I Dowling—a somewhat surprising pick given that CB wasn’t their biggest need and Dowling has an injury history. Still, he’s a very talented player and could wind up surprising everybody, as Devin McCourty did last year.

After that, things got questionable.

Belichick followed that up by taking running back Shane Vereen, a good player who fills somewhat of a need. The problem is that he was a major reach in the second, and the Patriots could have easily come away with him or a comparable player later in the draft. To make things crazier, he took a second running back, Stevan Ridley, and quarterback Ryan Mallett in the third.

While Mallett is a talented QB to groom as Tom Brady’s successor, the dual running back picks make no sense. Some will probably compare it to taking two tight ends last year, but it’s important to remember that those two players were selected within a reasonable range. Vereen and Ridley were not.

The Patriots do get credit for acquiring several more draft picks, including Oakland’s second rounder next year. But who’s going to play DE and OLB for them? Belichick is a phenomenal coach and GM, but at the moment, he’s not showing any interest in putting him team over the top to win another Super Bowl.

Arizona Cardinals: Arizona came into this draft with their greatest needs being quarterback, outside linebacker and offensive tackle. So far they’ve taken a cornerback (Patrick Peterson), a running back (Ryan Williams) and a tight end (Rob Housler).

Peterson is a fantastic player, and nobody faults them for taking him. They also seem more inclined to go the veteran route at quarterback, so that’s forgivable as well. But how is this team going to win any games when their QB gets constantly harassed and they’re incapable of returning the favor? Taking players at positions of lesser need is forgivable if the player is truly special, as Peterson is, but there were several other backs and tight ends of Williams’ and Housler’s caliber, respectively, strewn throughout the draft.