NFC West thoughts on day one of the 2011 Draft

Once Patrick Peterson didn’t make it to the Niners at pick number seven, which a number of folks thought he wouldn’t (yours truly included) I was hoping, hoping, hoping, that they would pick a pass rusher, and that’s what they did. There might indeed might have been some more well known names on the board than Missouri’s Aldon Smith, but he is  the new type of NFL coveted hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker who can get after the passer. We’ll see in the next couple of years if he was the right guy.

Going into today’s second round I like how the Arizona Cardinals are sitting. They have P.Peterson on his way to Phoenix after eschewing a quarterback pick, which they sorely need, and TCU’s Andy Dalton is still on the board. Carolina and Denver won’t be QB shopping, and Buffalo has more pressing needs given the fact their incumbent, Ryan Fitzpatrick from Harvard, is still a young guy and passed for 3000 yards and 23 TD’s last year despite being sacked 24 times. That puts the Bengals between the Cardinals and Dalton. I guess it all will get down to how the Carson Palmer thing is going, or not. It would seem that Palmer might be very happy with Cincy’s number one pick, A.J. Green of Georgia.  Dalton could turn out to be as good as any QB in this draft, and the ‘Nals could be the benefactor.

The Rams could have walked away with a great player to be in North Carolina’s Robert Quinn who did not participate in the 2010 college season after being dismissed by the Tarheels for accepting “improper benefits.”  Quinn is a complete stud by all accounts and if the Rams really vetted his character, he could be a real defensive force for the Rams joining young players like  Chris Long and James Laurinaitis.

The Seahawks made a pretty pedestrian pick in Alabama Offensive Tackle James Carpenter who many pundits thought was a second rounder. However, Carpenter paired with last year’s number one, Russell Okung, might well give the ‘Hawks a great pair of bookend tackles for the next decade or more.

On the day two.

MN