2012 Draft

The draft is finally upon us! There will be no surprises at numbers 1 and 2, but the rest of the top 5/10 is looking interesting, and rumours of various trades are mounting rapidly.

From a Bucs perspective, I'm getting a little nervous. It was long assumed that the Vikings would go with Kalil at #3, which would mean that either Richardson or Claiborne would still be on the board for the Bucs by the time the Browns had picked at #4. But the Vikings seem to be touting trading down which would open the gates for both Claiborne and Richardson to be drafted before the Bucs get there. There is also speculation that the Bucs may trade up to the Vikings spot in order to take Richardson ahead of the Browns, which hopefully wouldn't result in us giving up too much. Having to play against Brees, Newton and Ryan twice a year means we probably need a shut down CB more than anything, but a big part of me hopes we get Richardson, as Blount was really inconsistent last year and doesn't really offer much by way of catching.

For all the hype about trades, I still think the top 5 will be:

1: Luck
2: RG3
3: Kalil
4: Richardson
5: Claiborne

It's likely the Chargers will draft DeCastro in the first round to offer up Rivers the protection he was lacking last year, but I really hope they get LaMichael James in the later rounds. He is explosive and last year proves how much they missed Sproles. They let Tolbert go in free agency and haven't replaced him, so I'm assuming they'll be drafting a RB at some stage anyway.

The Bills have a few options - perhaps another pass option for Fitzgerald (Floyd, if he's still on the board, which I think he will be) or maybe a MLB to help the New England TE threat (Kuechly).

That covers off my teams of interest. Anybody else got any thoughts / hopes? I'm sure there will be at least one big surprise with a team coming up the board. The Falcons did it last year to get Jones.

Interesting - http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8289d0f6/article/bills-looking-to-make-move-up-for-matt-kalil?module=HP11_headline_stack

Well there was a good bit of trading p in this years draft. No real surprises in the early picks, Tannehill to the dolphins to me was the hmmmm moment. Don't think he's good enough to step in and play starter and in the competitive AFC East I think he will spend a lot of time on his backside.

It was a shame that Kalil was gne by the time my Bills picked, we could have really done with him, but Gilmore has the ability to be a starter in our secondary and will make the Bills D something to fear.

There was quite the trading frenzy. I was initially pretty hacked off that the Bucs traded down for only a fourth round pick, and lost Claiborne as a result, but now the dust has settled, I'm happy they got Barron. I thought the Cowboys had traded up to get Barron, so was surprised when they took Claiborne from under our noses instead.

I'm really glad they traded up to get Doug Martin - the second rated RB. I was sure the Giants were going to take him off the board with the 32nd overall pick, so I think that was a good move on our part. I think they'll go LB or DT in the third and fourth round, and we'll be sitting okay.

Ingram should lift the Chargers pass rush / defense. They still really need a center though, so think that's where they'll go in the second round.

It was strange to see the Patriots trading up the board for once, but I think they have 2 solid pass rushers with those picks, unfortunately!

I still can't believe the Vikings got 3 picks off the Browns for trading one spot. The Vikings still got Kalil too - so they came out of that trade very well indeed.

Yeah the Vikings were the real winners with that deal.

Quite impressed with the fins draft this year. To some extent the draft is always a shot in the dark but on paper our draft seems pretty solid and we have managed to address a lot of areas of need.

Will have to see how Tannehill pans out, but i reckon so long as we dont cave in to pressure and start him to soon he should pan out.............fingers crossed