NFL Draft 2011 Losers: 5 Teams Who Flunked
The 2011 NFL draft has come and gone, and now we can start to analyze this year's draft until our faces turn blue.
I really enjoyed the draft his year, as it was probably the lone high of the locked out NFL offseason. When I take a look at all 32 teams, overall, the majority of them did a fine job drafting in an offseason with free agency at the moment.
As I took deeper and much closer look at each team's draft process, there were a few that stuck out to me as kind of negative.
Out of the 32 teams, it was a real struggle to find fault with five teams that didn't draft so well or made some poor decisions.
But, without a further adieu, I give to you the five teams that flunked during the 2011 NFL draft.
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Seattle Seahawks
1 of 5
Out of all the 32 teams, the Seattle Seahawks are the lone team that I can say were complete and utter failures during the 2011 NFL draft.
Sure, the Seahawks stocked up on offensive linemen as they have major holes along their offensive line, but some of their selections were just mind-boggling.
Their first-round draft selection was James Carpenter, an offensive tackle out of Alabama. I really hope that they love this guy and feel like he's the next great offensive linemen, as he was a huge reach for the Seahawks.
Many draft analysts speculated that Carpenter was a middle to later second-round draft choice—couldn't have Seattle just waited until then to draft him? I think so.
The only real pick that I like out of Seattle's draft class is John Moffitt, an offensive guard out of Wisconsin. He's a nasty offensive linemen that plays with a mean-streak; however, at 75th overall, I feel like he was a reach.
All in all, I really hope the Seahawks love the guys they got, as they could have drafted many of them much later than they did.
Atlanta Falcons
2 of 5
Atlanta Falcons draft team, led by general manager Thomas Dimitroff, must be in love with wide receiver Julio Jones as they practically salvaged their future away for the sixth overall pick.
The Falcons traded away their No. 27 overall selection and second and fourth-round picks in addition to next year's first-round draft selection to the Cleveland Browns for the sixth overall pick—just imagine the pressure being put on Jones to excel now.
I do like Jones as a prospect and a future productive wide receiver, but Atlanta gave up a lot to grab him.
Along with the Jones pick, the only other selection that I really liked was running back Jacquizz Rodgers out of Oregon State with the 145th overall pick.
Besides those two picks, the Falcons just did mediocre as they sent away a ton of draft picks, including their future 2012 first-round pick.
I hope Jones is the guy that they've envisioned.
New England Patriots
3 of 5
First off, allow me to state that I do like New England's draft class, but I feel that Bill Belichick and New England's draft team passed on a few prospects that could have been great additions.
Cameron Jordan, Cameron Heyward, Mark Ingram, Da'Quan Bowers, Prince Amukamara and Ryan Williams were all very highly rated prospects that fell to the Patriots when they were selecting, but seemed to pass on.
Not only did New England pass on solid prospects, but they didn't really address their biggest need: pass rushing.
The Patriots had a real hard time getting off of the field on third down last season, ranking only 14th in the league.
Also, taking a look at how Belichick selected two running backs back-to-back in the third round: Shane Vereen (60th overall) and Stevan Ridley (73rd overall). That was very "un-Belichick" like, and in my opinion, both prospects were reaches.
However, New England did not fail the 2011 NFL draft, as they brought in solid players like Nate Solder, Ryan Mallett, Ras-I Dowling and Marcus Cannon.
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Tennessee Titans
4 of 5
The Tennessee Titans passed on Blaine Gabbert with their eighth overall selection for Washington quarterback Jake Locker.
If I were apart of the Titans draft team, I would be praying that Gabbert doesn't turn out to be a better quarterback than Locker. Gabbert was projected as the draft's top quarterback, but Tennessee felt that Locker fit their system better—they'd better be right.
The Titans also passed on a few players that could have helped their team tremendously as their in need of help along the defensive line. Marvin Austin and Stephen Paea both would have been great additions to their weak defensive front, but Tennessee felt to pass on their upside.
Carolina Panthers
5 of 5
You can't really blame the Carolina Panthers for selecting the player with the biggest upside with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft.
I mean, let's just hope that Cam Newton isn't a bust.
Newton certainly wasn't the best player in the 2011 draft class and he certainly wasn't the best quarterback available, but Carolina felt like he was the best fit at first overall.
As of right now, Cam Newton does not make the Panthers better, but Marcell Dareus or Patrick Peterson would have made the Panthers better.
However, they didn't fail completely, as Newton may turn out to be one of the best quarterbacks of our time.
One pick that I really liked out of Carolina was South Florida's Terrell McClain—he is a massive defensive tackle with a ton of potential.
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