Please see Yahoo for the updated standings after last night's game.
Now, a slight rewind to last year's draft. It has been about thirty weeks and it seems that things were a bit down last year compared to this year's electric group and 2009's solid core of top players. Regardless, good picks were there to be made and some squads made more of it than others. Let's take a look, class by class...
TMac- Ryan Mathews, Damian Williams, Brian Westbrook, Tony Moeaki, Greg Camarillo, Michael Jenkins, Tony Pike
TMac had few picks to work with but his top choice, Mathews, is a good metaphor for this class. Flashes of brilliance, occasional solid outings, but generally a lack of consistent production form the top pick has been essentially the rule for this entire draft class. Westbrook had one big game last year (not sure if TMac kept him around for it, though) and Moeaki is a promising talent who may be a year or two away thanks to his injury. The last three picks were all supplemental round- Jenkins was not a bad pick given that.
Grade: C
Malinn- Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Arrelious Benn, Jimmy Graham, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, Eddie Royal, Jason Avant, Lionell Hamilton, LeRon McClain
A solid group but both Bradford and McCoy have failed to deliver in Year Two. This draft did, however, lay the groundwork for my own QB-heavy second round in 2011 (more to come on that in the coming days) given that in such a bad class the QBs did show to retain value. Like TMac, Malinn found that his TE, Graham, was the best value selection at the bottom of round three.
Grade: B+
Curran- Jahvid Best, Jermaine Gresham, Rob Gronkowski, Jason Snelling, Byron Leftwich, Taylor Price, Brian Hoyer
Best may turn out to be a bit of a bust but his bursts when healthy have been very inspiring. Given what he was dealt for at auction this year he clearly holds value to some in the NFFL. Curran was headed for an all-time whiff by selecting arguably the worst of the vaunted TEs with Gresham in round two but he recovered to snag Gronk, perhaps football's hottest TE, in round three. Snelling contributed last year while Price and Hoyer remain projects with high upside.
Grade: A-
Thompson- C.J. Spiller, Toby Gerhart, Ed Dickson, Joe McKnight, Early Doucet, Dennis Dixon, Derek Anderson
An interesting trio of backs here that are all about to or just got their chances- Spiller, Gerhart, and McKnight. I suppose the jury is out but for now it seems that these three are all headed toward bust territory. Getting Dickson two picks before Gronk and five before Graham is a cruel twist.
Grade: C+
Nemo- Montario Hardesty, Dexter McCluster, Armanti Edwards, Jordan Shipley, LenDale White, Todd Heap, Brady Quinn
The Hardesty injury essentially wiped out this class before it could get rolling and given what Hillis was able to do last year it is reasonable to argue that Hardesty had some big games in him. The rest of the class has tanked, though, the Chiefs failing to turn McCluster into a Sproles-type being the big miss. Shipley had promise before he, too, suffered a bad injury.
Grade: D+
Lee- Dez Bryant, Ben Tate, Anthony Dixon, LeGarret Blount, Kerry Meier, John Carlson, Mike Thomas, Rashard Jennings, Ramses Barden
Bryant is probably the most overrated receiver in the league, a true world-class knucklehead and a perfect fit for the self-absorbed Lee. Tate has recovered admirably from injury but failed to put up an Arian Foster level of performance during his brief stint as the number one. Blount has been a big boost but needed to get cut first. Thomas, Jennings, Carlson were all solid but I am still trying to find out what position Meier plays.
Grade: B+
Tighe- Jimmy Clausen, Demariyous Thomas, Mike Williams, Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Vick, John Skelton, Antonio Bryant
Tighe had a decent haul- Thomas is going to be good once a real QB arrives in Denver and Williams had a solid rookie year- but Vick in round six?
Grade: A
Concannon- Golden Tate, Brandon LaFell, Jacoby Jones, Mardy Gilyard, Mike Kafka, Jon Kitna, Harry Douglas, Ryan Torain
A truly dreadful start with perhaps the four worst opening picks in league history were recovered nicely by a final four that, in this year or last, have contributed to NFL teams. Kitna and Torain, both axed by PBR, were very good performers last year.
Grade: D
DFlam- Jesus, Aaron Hernandez, Anthony Gonzalez, Eric Decker, Jabar Gaffney, Sage Rosenfels, Maurice Morris
A sneaky good draft here for Flam, who picked #15. Tebow has been OK, at times, but a cheap QB is a cheap QB and at the moment he is probably the best of this rookie class in the NFFL scoring system. Hernandez has been no TE slouch while Decker and Gaffney have shown flashes at WR.
Grade: B+
Brett- Jonathan Dwyer, James Starks, Fred Davis, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Deji Karim, John Conner, Joe Webb, Dan LeFevour
Another sneaky good draft as Brett began at #28. Starks has been OK, like Davis, while Joe Webb is more notable for the positional controversy he caused last year than for any on-field performance. Fitzpatrick was gold at his draft spot but has faded of late, making him perhaps a borderline keeper next year.
Grade: B
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