2011 NFL Draft Results: "Cheddar" and the 15 Biggest Blunders of the NFL Draft
With the 2011 NFL Draft in the bag, it becomes time to criticize and scrutinize every selection from this weekend's NFL Draft, from Cam Newton to Cheta Ozougwu there were a lot of questionable picks.
The criticism started early with the No. 1 overall pick, and it certainly did not stop there.
Not only were there some blunders of a draft choice, but Jon Gruden's announcing was in rare form, and the Baltimore Ravens took us back to 2003 when the Chicago Bears forgot to call in a trade.
Draft weekend is always one of the most entertaining weekends of the year, not just for the sheer excitement of seeing who your team picks, but also for the craziness that seems to erupt year in and year out.
Luckily, Bleacher Report has it covered, as these were the 15 biggest blunders of this year's NFL Draft:
15. Paul Salata Announcing Mr. Irrelevant
1 of 15Paul Salata deserves some credit for just being out there at age 84, but Mr. Salata was in rare form at this year's NFL Draft.
Salata likely needs to bring his reading glasses next year, as he appeared to stumble over his words after announcing the selection of Cheta Ozougwu to the Houston Texans.
Not only did he stumble over his words, he might have actually said "Cheddar" instead of Cheta.
Even so, Salata is a legend and it is always great to see Mr. Salata out there, even if he does tend to stutter a bit.
14. Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots Trade Streak
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The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles opted to swap the 193rd and 194th overall picks to keep a trade streak alive.
The Eagles and Patriots have now made a draft day deal every year since 2000. When teams decide to swap No. 193 and No. 194 that is when you know your streak is getting way too out of hand.
This streak should be over, and while it is not necessarily a blunder for each team, it is a blunder that fans had to listen to Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen break the news.
When the ESPN analysts came on for "breaking news" you would have thought something drastic happened, like the NFL Lockout was again lifted and the league year had begun.
Nope. It was just a meaningless trade between the Eagles and Patriots.
13. Da'Quan Bowers Slipping to No. 51
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Da'Quan Bowers was once considered a No. 1 overall prospect, but found himself in an absolute free-fall of epic proportions on Day 2 of the NFL Draft.
While many people thought Bowers could go off the board at No. 20, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers opted to select Adrian Clayborn instead, and Bowers' slide began.
It ended nearly halfway through Day Two of the draft, where many people thought it would end in the first round, with the Buccaneers.
Teams were obviously scared off by a knee injury, but this kid has more talent than nearly every defensive lineman selected ahead of him, and every NFL team added to that by putting a chip on his shoulder. Bowers will be a star in this league as long as he can stay on the field, and if he does, everyone better watch out.
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12. Suzy Kolber Springing an E-Mail on Mark Ingram
4 of 15ESPN somehow came up with a brilliant idea to let Suzy Kolber read an e-mail from Mark Ingram Sr. to his son after being selected by the New Orleans' Saints.
Ingram Sr. who is in jail for money laundering and fraud was obviously not there to witness one of the biggest moments in his son's life, so Kolber decided to nonchalantly read off an e-mail from Ingram Sr.
The younger Ingram then broke down into tears and couldn't even finish the interview.
It was a heart felt moment and it likely made everyone appreciate Ingram Jr's achievements that much more, but it seemed to be a bit unfair to the kid.
Not only that, but when he starts crying she says "you can only imagine the emotion that the two of them have shared."
With all due respect, she known nothing about that Ingram Jr went through or what the elder Ingram is going through by missing his son's big night.
That sort of thing shouldn't have been sprung on the kid, but he seemed to take it well, and it is easy to applaud him for that.
11. Ryan Mallett Slipping to the 3rd Round
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No matter what you think about Ryan Mallett, there were a lot of QB needy teams this year, and they all opted to pass on Mallett.
The Redskins, whose only QB under contract is John Beck, passed on Mallett a total of six times! While Mallett may have some concerns about his drug use and his character, there is no question that he a first round talent.
Forget the concerns about him being a statue, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were both statues coming out of college as well.
Mallett is a gun slinger and every team in the NFL will be kicking themselves when he takes the Patriots to the Super Bowl.
10. Philadelphia Eagles Selcting Alex Henery in the Fourth Round
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Okay, so this wasn't as bad as the Sebastian Janikowski pick, but the Eagles opted to use their fourth round pick on Nebraska kicker Alex Henery.
The best part about the selection was the rant that Trent Dilfer went on, if only Gruden were still on the set to talk about how he would have pulled the trigger three rounds earlier.
Drafting a kicker before round six is like being the first guy to take a kicker in an annual fantasy football draft. No one ever wants to be that guy, and this year the Eagles are that team.
The Eagles appear ready to move on from David Akers, but pulling the trigger so soon didn't appear to be necessary.
9. Shane Vereen Being Selected Ahead of Mikel Leshoure
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Shane Vereen was a solid player in his three years at the University of California, but was not considered to be a second-round selection on anyone's board, except for the New England Patriots.
With Mikel Leshoure still on the board, it seemed to be a lock for the Patriots to select him, but they didn't, they reached for Vereen.
Leshoure averaged a yard per carry more than Vereen during the last two seasons, and Vereen carried the ball much more. Vereen is more of a third-down back in the NFL, while Leshoure can carry the load.
What made this pick even more mind-blowing, was that the Patriots selected LSU RB Steven Ridley with their next pick. Maybe they realized they messed up?
8. Jake Locker Being Selected at No. 8 by the Tennessee Titans
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Jake Locker was long regarded as the wild card in this year's NFL Draft, and the wild card came off the board way earlier than expected.
It wasn't necessarily a surprise to see Jake Locker selected in the Top Ten, but it was a shock to see him go two picks ahead of consensus No. 1 QB Blaine Gabbert.
It appeared that every team outside of the Carolina Panthers, and every analyst had Blaine Gabbert as the top QB on their draft board, but that theory was debunked when the Tennessee Titans pulled the trigger on the Washington QB.
Only time will tell how much of a blunder this pick really was, but with Gabbert getting the chance to sit and learn before heading under center, the chances of him having a successful career and becoming the next Aaron Rodgers is much greater than Locker's chances.
7. Christian Ponder Being Selected at No. 12 by the Minnesota Vikings
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Christian Ponder was regarded as a second round talent throughout the draft process, however, the Minnesota Vikings decided to pull the trigger on him with the 11th overall pick.
It wold be crazy to think that Ponder was worthy of the No. 12 pick, as he was an underachiever for much of his college career at Florida State.
There is no question that Ponder has the talent to eventually become a successful NFL QB, but he has a lot to learn and will likely be a failure if he is thrown into the starting role immediately.
There was still a lot of value of the board at No. 12, but Minnesota opted to make the biggest reach on Day 1 by selecting Ponder over players such as Robert Quinn, Nick Fairley, and Anthony Castonzo.
6. Roger Goodell Becoming Annoyed with Fans
10 of 15Roger Goodell made a great impression on fans around the country Thursday night, as he responded "I hear you" and "me too" to chants of "We Want Football."
Goodell seemingly became annoyed and tried to cut fans off less than a minute into their booing and chanting, as he introduced a moment of silence.
The NFL Commissioner didn't seem to want anything to do with chants and appeared a bit flustered and didn't really know what to say to fans.
At one point, it would not have been shocking if he started tearing up and crying, but he was able to contain himself.
Goodell may want football, but to this point he has done nothing to indicate that to the country.
5. Jon Gruden Suggesting the Browns Traded Up for Andy Dalton
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Jon Gruden was in rare form for the first night of the NFL Draft.
After trading down with the Atlanta Falcons, the Cleveland Browns opted to trade back up to acquire Baylor DT Phil Taylor.
When the trade was announced Gruden started showing off his throwing motion and said "they must be trading up for a quarterback."
Thankfully, Chris Berman was around to save the day as he responded, "they have Colt McCoy."
Maybe Gruden thought the other team from the state of Ohio was trading up, but either way Gruden made a bit of an error in judgement and he sat there quietly the rest of the pick.
4. Baltimore Ravens Skipping Their Pick
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The Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears apparently dropped the ball on completing a trade, as the Ravens let time expire on their first pick, and the Chiefs jumped in to select WR Jonathan Baldwin.
Chicago and Baltimore apparently had a deal in place to swap first round picks and the Ravens would acquire an additional fourth round pick.
However, the Bears forgot to phone the trade in, and the clock expired on the Ravens.
The Ravens eventually selected their man in CB Jimmy Smith, but not until after they brought back memories of the Minnesota Vikings forgetting to pick in 2003.
3. The Seattle Seahawks Entire Draft
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Did the Seattle Seahawks decide to draw names out of a hat instead of actually selecting for value and needs?
Seattle opted to use their first round pick on second round talent OT James Carpenter, with players like QB Andy Dalton, OT Gabe Carimi, and OT Derek Sherrod all on the board.
However, Seattle opted to go way down their draft board to select an OT that no one had as a first round talent.
The Seahawks addressed the interior of the offensive line in the third round, rather than attempting to bring in a pass rusher, then followed that up with overdrafting two more player in K.J. Wright and Kris Durham.
If Seattle put 20 names in a hat and drew a name this draft makes perfect sense, but if the Seahawks were actually trying to make their team better, they failed miserably.
2. Cam Newton Going No. 1 Overall to the Carolina Panthers
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Cam Newton being the No. 1 overall pick still seems a bit surreal. Newton definitely has talent, but the kid has never called a play and doesn't know how to call an audible.
He ran a one-read spread offense and relied on his athletic ability to be successful at Auburn. He definitely has the arm and physical tools to be successful, but has no idea what it is like to run a pro-style offense.
Carolina is going to expect Newton to come in and start from Day One. There is absolutely no chance that he is going to be ready to go, and no chance that he is going to be the leader of this team so early in his career.
Selecting someone based strictly on upside at No. 1 is a huge gamble, and as of right now there is no reason to believe that this is anything but a blunder.
1. NFL Lockout Ending and Then Being Reinstated
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The biggest blunder of this year's draft actually took place in a courtroom in St. Louis where the courts ordered a temporary stay of Judge Nelson's order to lift the lockout.
The NFL Lockout was lifted by the NFL following Judge Nelson's order and later reinstated in the middle of this year's NFL Draft.
Players like Cam Newton, Christian Ponder, and Jake Locker were all given access to the coaching staff and playbooks, while players like Andy Dalton were left out on getting a playbook.
There is no winner in the lockout being reinstated, the fans lose, the players lose, and the NFL loses. Roger Goodell apparently didn't get the hint when he was booed and chants of "We Want Football" rang out from the rafters.
The NFL opted to reinstate the lockout, and prevented both the start of the league year and prevented the coaching staff from being able to get acquainted with their new talent.
Fans may have been split on which side the were on before, but now there is no question that no fan is happy about the lockout being reinstated.
The lockout needs to be over, and the league year needs to begin as soon as possible. As soon as Roger Goodell and the owners realize that, the sooner this whole thing will go away.
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