2008 NFL Draft: Let's Get Ready

Okay, it's that time that the die-hard football fans to gear up and get ready for the NFL draft.  Time to think about our favorite team and its needs—or our needs.

Usually, it goes a little something like this: we want a new quarterback, but our team drafts a defensive end.  What?  How could they do that?  Are they blind?

Yes, it's time for all of the questions to be answered.

Only recently we began to be exposed to all the goings on of this draft phenomenon, as far as it being on televised and reported via web.  The Scouting Combine was once unknown to us, and now it's on hour after hour. 

But wait!  Shouldn't we be focused on baseball training camp?  NBA playoffs are coming! No, nothing.

NCAA basketball—the final four, the elite eight?  Hmmm...still nothing.

Some sports fans are satisfied with those events.  But not the hard-core football guys and gals!  We can't help but be consumed by these questions: Who will be the first overall pick?  What team is going to trade down?  Trade up?  Is my team going to get the best player?  Can they somehow trade up to get the very first pick?

The time is now and I'd like to provide you with a little information to get this obsession started—without further ado:

Here is the team draft order for 2008:

1          Miami Dolphins             

2          St. Louis Rams

3          Atlanta Falcons

4          Oakland Raiders           

5          Kansas City Chiefs       

6          New York Jets  

7          New England Patriots (from 49ers)                     

8          Baltimore Ravens          

9          Cincinnati Bengals        

10        New Orleans Saints       

11        Buffalo Bills      

12        Denver Broncos           

13        Carolina Panthers         

14        Chicago Bears             

15        Detroit Lions                 

16        Arizona Cardinals         

17        Minnesota Vikings         

18        Houston Texans            

19        Philadelphia Eagles       

20        Tampa Bay Buccaneers            

21        Washington Redskins   

22        Dallas Cowboys (from Browns)  

23        Pittsburgh Steelers        

24        Tennessee Titans          

25        Seattle Seahawks         

26        Jacksonville Jaguars     

27        San Diego Chargers     

28        Dallas Cowboys            

29        San Francisco 49ers (from Indiana)            

30        Green Bay Packers      

31        New York Giants           

Keep in mind that Atlanta, Oakland, and Kansas City will determine their draft order No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 with a coin flip.

Here are the top 50 ranked players in this year's draft—adapted from the list on Scout.com: 

Pos	Overall Rank	Rating	Name	Yr	Ht/Wt/40	College	Home
RB	1		Darren McFadden	JR	6-2/210/4.45	Arkansas	North Little Rock, AR
DT	2		Glenn Dorsey	SR	6-1.5/313/-	LSU	Gonzales, LA
QB	3		Matt Ryan	SR	6-5/224/4.90	Boston College	Philadelphia, PA
DT	4		Sedrick Ellis	SR	6-1/307/4.95	USC	Chino, CA
DE	5		Chris Long	SR	6-3.5/278/4.75	Virginia	Charlottesville, VA
DE	6		Calais Campbell	JR	6-7/280/4.75	Miami (FL)	Denver, CO
OT	7		Jake Long	SR	6-7/335/-	Michigan	Lapeer, MI
CB	8		Mike Jenkins	SR	5-11/200/4.45	South Florida	Bradenton, FL
OLB	9		Dan Connor	SR	6-3/230/-	Penn State	Wallingford, PA
S	10		Kenny Phillips	JR	6-2/210/4.50	Miami (FL)	Miami, FL
MLB	11		Keith Rivers	SR	6-3/237/4.60	USC	Lake Mary, FL
OT	12		Chris Williams	SR	6-6/317/5.30	Vanderbilt	Baton Rouge, LA
OT	13		Jeff Otah	SR	6-6.5/341/-	Pittsburgh	Wayne, PA
DE	14		Quentin Groves	SR	6-3/252/4.43	Auburn	Greenville, MS
CB	15		Aqib Talib	JR	6-1/195/4.50	Kansas	Richardson, TX
DE	16		Vernon Gholston	JR	6-3/260/4.75	Ohio State	Detroit, MI
OT	17		Ryan Clady	JR	6-6/320/-	Boise State	Rialto, CA
CB	18		Leodis McKelvin	SR	5-10.5/186/4.48	Troy	Waycross, GA
WR	19		Malcolm Kelly	JR	6-4/215/4.50	Oklahoma	Longview, TX
CB	20		Terrell Thomas	SR	6-1/200/4.50	USC	Rancho Cucamonga, CA
DE	21		Derrick Harvey	JR	6-4/260/4.75	Florida	Greenbelt, MD
TE	22		Fred Davis	SR	6-3.5/251/4.75	USC	Toledo, OH
RB	23		Felix Jones	JR	6-0/207/-	Arkansas	Tulsa, OK
WR	24		Devin Thomas	JR	6-2/215/4.50	Michigan State
RB	25		Jamaal Charles	JR	6-1/205/4.45	Texas	Port Arthur, TX
RB	26		Rashard Mendenhall	JR	5-10.5/215/4.55	Illinois	Skokie, IL
OT	27		Carl Nicks	SR	6-5/335/5.30	Nebraska	Salinas, CA
CB	28		Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie	SR	6-1.5/183/4.47	Tennessee State	Bradenton, FL
DT	29		Kentwan Balmer	SR	6-4/295/5.15	North Carolina	Weldon, NC
WR	30		Donnie Avery	SR	5-10/184/4.33	Houston	Alief, TX
WR	31		Mario Manningham	JR	6-0/187/-	Michigan	Warren, OH
TE	32		Martellus Bennett	JR	6-6/250/4.75	Texas A&M	Houston, TX
OG	33		Oniel Cousins	SR	6-4/302/5.04	UTEP	Fullerton, CA
RB	34		Jonathan Stewart	JR	5-11/230/-	Oregon	Olympia, WA
OT	35		Sam Baker	SR	6-5/314/5.10	USC	Tustin, CA
DE	36		Lawrence Jackson	SR	6-5/270/4.90	USC	Inglewood, CA
RB	37		Chris Johnson	SR	5-10/201/4.29	East Carolina	Orlando, FL
RB	38		Steve Slaton	JR	5-10/200/4.50	West Virginia	Fairless Hills, PA
WR	39		Earl Bennett	JR	6-1/202/-	Vanderbilt	Birmingham, AL
OLB	40		Tavares Gooden	SR	6-2/235/4.55	Miami (FL)	Fort Lauderdale, FL
QB	41		Joe Flacco	SR	6-6/237/5.00	Delaware	Audubon, NJ
OT	42		Anthony Collins	JR	6-6/315/5.20	Kansas	Beaumont, TX
QB	43		Chad Henne	SR	6-3/245/5.00	Michigan	West Lawn, PA
MLB	44		Beau Bell	SR	6-2/253/4.63	UNLV
DT	45		Pat Sims	JR	6-4/315/5.00	Auburn	Fort Lauderdale, FL
TE	46		Dustin Keller	SR	6-2/251/4.70	Purdue	Lafayette, IN
DE	47		Chris Ellis	SR	6-4/257/4.70	Virginia Tech	Hampton, VA
DT	48		Dre Moore	SR	6-3.5/308/-	Maryland	Charlotte, NC
WR	49		Andre Caldwell	SR	6-0/203/4.55	Florida	Tampa, FL
QB	50		Brian Brohm	SR	6-3/227/4.82	Louisville	Louisville, KY