Going into the draft we knew the first two picks and have known them for quite some time. That left many people wondering, did this draft really get you excited? Based on what happened tonight, it is pretty safe to say that most are excited. Fueled by eight trades, round one of the NFL Draft was exciting if not downright frantic at times.
Once Andrew Luck went to the Indianapolis Colts and Robert Griffin III to the Washington Redskins, we knew things could get interesting. We actually knew before they officially got selected because thirty minutes before the draft, the Minnesota Vikings traded the 3rd pick in the draft to Cleveland for the 4th pick in the draft. In addition the Vikings got a fourth, fifth, and seventh round choice in this years draft. We found out that Cleveland made that move to get the RB out of Alabama, Trent Richardson. So before the draft really got started we knew the first three picks.
After that we got two predictable picks with the Vikings taking Matt Kalil and four and once Jacksonville traded up to five to get Justin Blackmon. Enter Jerry Jones. The Cowboys then traded up to six so they could get Morris Claiborne, the talented CB from LSU. Shortly after that we got into our normal reaches and picks with high bust potential.
We had four players from Alabama taken in the first round which is no surprise but a surprising 2 players each came from Illinois, Boise State, and Notre Dame. Below is the full list of first rounders:
1: Colts Andrew Luck, QB Stanford
2: Redskins (T) Robert Griffin III, Baylor
3: Browns (T) Trent Richardson, RB Alabama
4: Vikings (T) Matt Kalil, OT USC
5: Jaguars (T) Justin Blackmon, WR Oklahoma St.
6: Cowboys (T) Morris Claiborne, CB LSU
7: Buccaneers (T) Mark Barron, SS Alabama
8: Dolphins Ryan Tannehill, QB Texas A&M
9: Panthers Luke Kuechly, ILB Boston College
10: Bills Stephon Gilmore, CB South Carolina
11: Chiefs Dontari Poe, DT Memphis
12: Eagles Fletcher Cox, DT Mississippi St.
13: Cardinals Michael Floyd, WR Notre Dame
14: Rams (T) Michael Brockers, DT LSU
15: Seahawks (T) Bruce Irvin, DE West Virginia
16: Jets Quinton Coples, DE North Carolina
17: Bengals (T) Dre Kirkpatrick, CB Alabama
18: Chargers Melvin Ingram, DE South Carolina
19: Bears Shea McClellin, DE Boise St.
20: Titans Kendall Wright, WR Baylor
21: Patriots (T) Chandler Jones, DE Syracuse
22: Browns (T) Brandon Weeden, QB Oklahoma St.
23: Lions Riley Reiff, OT Iowa
24: Steelers David DeCastro, G Stanford
25: Patriots (T) Dont’a Hightower, ILB Alabama
26: Texans Whitney Mercilus, DE Illinois
27: Bengals (T) Kevin Zeitler, G Wisconsin
28: Packers Nick Perry, DE USC
29: Vikings (T) Harrison Smith, FS Notre Dame
30: 49ers A.J. Jenkins, WR Illinois
31: Buccaneers (T)Doug Martin, RB Boise St.
32: Giants David Wilson, RB Virginia Tech
