Best and Worst Picks of Day 1

What a Day 1! Tons of trades, lots of intrigue. The top quarterbacks went off the board, but a lot later than most had expected. Receivers and defensive backs flew off the shelves like hot cakes.

Here is my breakdown of the best and worst picks of the day:


BEST:

1. The Browns making moves like stock brokers.
Say what you want about the way the Browns strangely moved around the board, but they clearly got the two players that they wanted and still netted the Bills' first round pick in 2015 (which we all can assume will be a very high pick). That is a major haul for a team with a lot of needs, but maybe not as many as people think. Brian Hoyer will get every opportunity to start in 2014 and allow Johnny Manziel to develop. This team is looking for a quicker turn around than most expect.

2. In two years, the Vikings added five first round players.
They netted an extra pick to move down one spot with their first pick pick to still land the only remaining elite pass rusher in this draft, Anthony Barr (that's pretty sad considering it was only the ninth pick). Then at the end of the night, they took the Seahawks' pick and the last pick of the night to steal Teddy Bridgewater away from the Texans, who most likely would have taken him with the first pick tomorrow night. In a passing league, they added a guy to hit the quarterback and a franchise caliber quarterback only one year after adding a receiver, a corner, and a pass rushing defensive tackle. That's a lot of firepower.

2014 NFL Mock Draft ACE Style

Well it is less than 24 hours before the 2014 NFL draft. This is the time when people should start making mock drafts, not February. Either way, here are my thoughts on where the top 32 rookies will land.

Jadeveon Clowney will be the first overall pick, but
what team will have the pick when the card is turned in?

1. TEXANS: DE Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina

The Texans might not make this pick with both the Falcons and Bills rumored to be interested in securing Clowney, but the defensive end will be the first pick in this draft. There are simply too many questions surrounding the quarterbacks to pass on an athletic freak like Clowney. It might not be the right pick for whatever team takes him, but he will be the pick.

2. RAMS: OT Greg Robinson, Auburn

St. Louis is waiting around for Sam Bradford to become a franchise quarterback and their stable of wide receivers to turn into playmakers, so they will pass on both positions and take the best tackle in the draft to attempt to help Bradford stay heathy (good luck). This draft is very top heavy when it comes to offensive tackles so the Rams will not wait until the 13th overall pick to address the issue.

3. JAGUARS: WR Sammy Watkins, Clemson

With MJD in Oakland and Justin Blackmon suspended indefinitely, the Jags are in desperate need of offensive playmakers. Watkins might be the best player in this draft when everything is all said and done, and he will immediately make whatever quarterback the Jags start better on day one of 2014.

4. BROWNS: QB Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M

The signings of Vince Young and Tyler Thigpen were a sign of just how desperate the Browns organization is to simply find bodies to add to their quarterback room. The Browns have the best offensive tackle in football and the second best receiver in the league, so I'd be shocked if they took one of the tackles to play on the right side or reached for Mike Evans at this point. Khalil Mack will get a long look, but they took Barkevious Mingo with the sixth overall pick in last year's draft and paid over $40 million to Paul Kruger last season, so I have a hard time believing they would spend a top five pick on a player they wouldn't play all three downs. Manziel might not be the polished passer you want in a top 10 quarterback, but he has all the skills you need to be an elite quarterback and gives the Browns some optimism for their franchise.

Free Agency Breakdown 2014

Well it sure has been quiet some time since I have written anything about football, but truthfully I did not want to get caught up in the hype of offseason madness that always gets overblown. I have been waiting for the big chips to fall before I made any sort of reaction on how each team came out.

Here are my thoughts on the winners and loser of the 2014 Free Agency thus far:

WINNERS:

Guards might not be the sexiest human beings,
but Matt Slauson and Eben Britton were a big
reason the Bears offense made a jump in 2013.

Chicago Bears: There was not a team in the NFL that did a better job of addressing their biggest needs in free agency. The Bears' offense was fantastic in 2013. They managed to keep guards Matt Slauson and Eben Britton with low level contracts for at least 2014 and signed Jay Cutler to a mega deal to keep him in Chicago for the rest of his career, hopefully.

Their defense was a total mess and they jumped right out of the gate to lock up defensive tackle Lamarr Houston, who is one of the more underrated interior linemen in the NFL. They also resigned Jay Ratliff to further strengthen that interior. Even if he is never the player he once was with the Cowboys, he is at worst a solid rotational lineman, which is still very valuable. After cutting ties with Julius Peppers to save an astronomical amount of cap space, they signed Jared Allen to replace Peppers and Willie Young to be a rotational lineman on the outside.

All in all, they kept their offense in check and they massively upgraded their biggest need in the middle of their defense. With some young linebackers hopefully making progress, these defense could take a big step forward. Look out for the Bears in 2014.

Tampa Bay Bucaneers: Alterraun Verner and Michael Johnson might not be household names for the average NFL fan, but they are young players who have yet to play their best football. Verner is undersized, but he plays bigger than he is. He was one of the best corners in football last year and his physical play matches what new coach Lovie Smith likes out of his corners. Johnson is an athletic freak at 6'7 and I am sure reminds Lovie of a young Julius Peppers. They do not make many human beings like Johnson and he should be the pass rusher that the Bucs' have sorely needed since the Jon Gruden era.