now that the draft is over, grade your team.

[SmarterthanYou]

For the Bears, i'm going B+. Losing the first round pick to pick up Cutler didn't make me happy, but i'm not going to lose sleep over it because he is good.

This was typical top notch sleeper drafting by the Bears, again.
Jarron Gilbert as a first pick was a shocker, for everyone. Who knew he'd still be there. Iglesias was also a surprise to me because I thought he'd be picked alot sooner. This was probably the only reason Melton didn't get picked until 105.

CB D.J. Moore should make peanut and vasher work a little harder as well as provide good backup if either of them are injured. I'm a little skeptical about Knox, but seeing the speed factor makes me think that the TE game is going to pick up.....alot as they open the middle of the field.

Marcus Freeman is going to fit right in as backup for both Briggs and Hillenmeyer while he learns enough to start. Louis was a bit of odd decision, but considering his college career and experience at FB, it starts to make sense as we're going to see the Bears with a whole array of offensive weapons this year.

Forte shocked alot of people with his skills last year and teams will look to bury that. What usually happens to Bears runners their second year? injuries, so a big FB to block should go far in reducing that possibility.

Plus, alot of speed in receivers is going to force safeties to stay back a bit further, keep CBs on tighter coverage, and force LB's to expand their area of responsibility to cover both runs and midfield areas with Clark and Olsen.

We're going to see a dynamic and exciting Chicago offense this year and I'm looking forward to it.

[Mott the Hoople]

I think my Bengals had an excellent draft. We not only took the best athletes available for the most part but we took care of some needs too. I'd say a solid "A" though we won't know for sure for 2 or 3 years.

Andre Smith, and the talking heads on radio are idiots, is arguably the best talent in the draft. The knocks on his character are mostly unwaranted.

Ray Maualuga was a steal. We got a first round talent with a second round pick and we can book end him with Rivers his USC team mate nicely. This gives the Bengals a lot of depth at linebacker.

Michael Johnson was a bit of a steal too. He can dual as pass rusher or drop back as an outside linebacker. He'll have to step up his game to play in the NFL but lots of upside with this guys athleticism.

Coffman as a TE is a great fit for the team that originated the west coast offense. He'll be a nice addition. If he can learn to block he's gonna have a long career.

Luigs is definately an NFL caliber center and could have a shot at starting and certainly adds depth to a shaky offensive line and Huber was also a steal as he's a remarkably gifted punter. He can get the hang time, keep the ball between the lines and is an excellent directional kicker. At the NFL level he'll need to get the ball off quicker but I doubt that will be a problem.

The Bengals also made some interesting free agent rookie signings. They picked up Texas Quan Cosby who has special teams and 4th down receiver written all over him. The Bengals also signed Todd Boeckman who should be able to compete for the 2nd or 3rd team QB. Not many Bengal fans are comfortable with Jordan Palmer as the 3rd string QB as it smacks of nepotism and Boeckman has a better track record than Palmer.

Looks like a rare good draft for the Bungles (oh how I miss Paul Brown the greatest coach in football history, as he never had a bad draft).