Longhorns in the Draft

It was a great weekend for the Texas Longhorns at the NFL Draft. Seven Horns were drafted, including two in each of the first two rounds, and one in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. Interestingly, 12 starters (plus Aaron Ross) from the 2005 National Championship team have now been drafted with five more still in school. Below is a list of Longhorns, their new professional teams and where they went in the draft:

Michael Griffin -- Tennessee (1)
Aaron Ross -- New York Giants (1)
Tim Crowder -- Denver Broncos (2)
Justin Blalock -- Atlanta Falcons (2)
Brian Robison -- Minnesotta Vikings (4)
Tarell Brown -- San Francisco 49ers (5)
Kasey Studdard -- Houston Texans (6)

In addition, the following Horns went undrafted but have signed on with teams as free agents:
Selvin Young -- Broncos
Lyle Sendlein -- Cardinals

Tully Janzen and Greg Johnson may very well be invited to some NFL training camp for special teams work. Ramonce Taylor probably would have been drafted but reports are he came in about five pounds too heavy.

Post-Draft Boredom

We are now entering that period between the NFL Draft and the start of football season with few real distractions to hold our fancy. There's the college baseball post season, but that doesn't really get going until the beginning of June. There's the NBA Playoffs, but they seem...empty without KD. The NBA draft is sometime in June, but we won't have that much interest beyond the second pick. NFL training camp gets going in July, and Texas football practices around the same time, but they aren't quite the real thing. MLB is fun and all, but the baseball regular season is a bit too low key for the hardcore sports fan craving the intense action only football and college basketball can bring.

Offseason activity possibility #214

Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, life begins anew September 1st against Arkansas State. With that in mind, feel free to use the comments feature on this post as a suggestion box for offseason 40 Acre Sports features you'd like to see.

Baseball Round Up -- History in Stillwater

In 26 years of play at Allie P Reynolds Stadium, Oklahoma State had never been swept. That was until this weekend. Oklahoma State came in averaging nearly 9 runs per game, but only scored 4 runs the entire series (3-2, 7-2, 7-0). Longhorn batters flashed their power, hitting 5 HRs in the series. The pitching staff saw great relief appearances from Randy Boone and Joseph Krebs. Austin Wood was solid in a Sunday start, to go with a solid 5 innings from James Russell and 6 1/3 from Adrian Alaniz. Jordan Danks struggled mightily at the plate but Chais Fuller had a solid weekend of defense and hitting from the shortstop position.

The sweep gives Texas a 3.5 lead in the Big XII standings. Taking two of three from Missouri next weekend would clinch the Big XII regular season title for the Horns. Texas returns to action next Friday night in Austin against Mizzou.

Offseason Caption Contest #5

Caption RB Chris Ogbonnaya or DT Frank Okam gawking as Godzillatron comes to life at night. This contest will run until Wednesday. Note: click on the picture to see a larger image.

We'd like to acknowledge tremendous efforts from Benji Orlansky and Ben Dorfman with caption contest #4. There were some great entries but Jonathan Brater's took the cake.

Caption Contest Standings:
Jonathan Brater -- 1
Scott Price -- 1
Ben Dorfman -- 1
Greg Kelminson -- 1

NFL Draft Day 2

11:15 PM EST: Brian Robison goes to Minnesota with the 3rd pick in the 4th round. We'll count that as a successful prediction (we said mid-late 3rd round, close enough). We're now 5 of 6 on Horns with Tarell Brown being the exception.

12:00 PM EST: The Saints trade up to take Antonio Pittman with their first pick in the 4th round. Interesting to say the least. The thinking is that if/when Deuce gets hurt, they'll need another running back to take his role in the offense. It's a weak group of RB prospects but Pittman is one of the top RBs in the draft. At best, the Saints may have found Deuce's heir in a few years. At worst, the Saints got a solid running back that can fill in for Deuce when needed.

12:33 PM EST: With their second pick in the 4th round the Saints take Jermon Bushrod, OT from Towson...no idea. Next pick is 154

2:57 PM EST: Kasey Studdard goes #183 to the Texans. Tarell Brown went #147 to San Fran, who is having a nice draft so far. Saints have one more pick in the 7th round. They went CB with the 5th round pick, some guy from Wingate. Would like to see them go DT, LB or QB with the final pick, don't count on it though. Texas baseball up 3-0 on Oklahoma State in the bottom of the 3rd.

NFL Draft Day 1 Round Up

As day one of the NFL Draft winds up, we too wind up our coverage at 40 Acre Sports. Below are a few awards for the day. It's been fun folks, enjoy the rest of the third round.

Best Pick: Adrian Peterson -- The best player in the draft and possibly the second best player in the draft. Maybe it's the memories of AP trouncing the Texas defense in 2004, but we'd take Peterson over Quinn any day of the week.

Best Value Pick: Leon Hall -- Brady Quinn may be the obvious choice but we'll hold off because of the uncertainty of what they gave up to grab him. Leon Hall was a top-10 talent and a great pick by Cincy.

Worst Pick: Ted Ginn Jr. -- It wasn't all that suprising when Miami passed on Quinn, but it was suprising that they took Ginn. Teddy could be a good player down the line but they passed up some serious talent to take him. They also probably bcould've traded down and still gotten Ginn.

Biggest Winner: Vikings -- Lots of teams had really solid drafts, but adding Peterson and Sydney Rice in the second round gives the Vikings a slight edge. Arizona, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and Atlanta also did extremely well.

Biggest Loser: Eagles -- Obvious choice would probably be the Dolphins but they were redeemed in the second round with John Beck. The Eagles had no first round picks, deciding instead to trade down and pick up Houston QB Kevin Kolb. Miami, Washington, and Tennessee were not all that impressive on day 1.

Your thoughts?

NFL Draft Day Thread #2

6:20 PM EST: The first round ends with the Colts taking Anthony Gonzales. More news and analysis will come in a bit. Meanwhile, the Cardinals take Alan Branch with the first pick of round 2. You don't usually get top-10 talent in the second round. We're now into the second round, Saints pick at 58. Meanwhile, Texas has beaten Oklahoma State in baseball 7-2 giving the Horns another series win.

6:39 PM EST: Robert Meachem. Obviously defense was a need, but WR was a need as well after losing Joe Horn. Our source with the Vols loves the pick, so we'll defer to that. Chris Houston might have been a reach, the run on corners came too soon (starting at #14 with Revis), and they clearly liked Meachem over Greg Olsen. The pick really solidifies the Saints as one of the top offenses in the NFL.

7:03 PM EST: Justin Blalock goes to the Falcons at #39. A solid pick there for the hated dirty birds. 3-for-3 on where we thought the Horns would go. Meanwhile, the Dolphins take BYU QB John Beck with the 40th pick. It's a great pick for Miami as we're not really sold on Quinn, and it's also certainly possible to get a solid QB in later rounds.

7:40 PM EST: We've settled into a good draft rhythm as we hit the midway point of the second round. So far the highlight of the round (and perhaps the draft) was a Keyshawn Johnson interview with Dwayne Jarrett minutes after Jarrett was drafted. The two minute interview contained at least a minute and a half of silence between the two. The Saints pick in ten spots.

8:04 PM EST: Maybe the best moment of the draft. The Jaguars pick Justin Durant. Shortly thereafter appearing on the Jags website is:

(7:56 pm)--The Jags have picked Justin Durant, a LB from Hampton. Sorry, folks, I don't know this guy.

That, folks, is expert analysis.

8:21 PM EST: Apparently the Mike Williams trade to Tennessee didn't happen. The Lions have officially shipped Williams and Josh McCown to Oakland for a 4th rounder. Randy Moss can only be a good influence on Williams. Saints up in just five more.

8:36 PM EST: We're now to pick 55. The Saints pick 58. Would love to see the Saints pick up one of: Rufus Alexander, Marcus McCauley, Daymeion Hughes, Tank Tyler or Ryan Kalil. The Saints should be picking around the top of the hour.

8:41 PM EST: Denver takes Tim Crowder. We're now 4-4 for Longhorns. The Saints pick after Philly. The guess is Marcus McCauley to the Saints.

8:47 PM EST: Philly takes Victor Abiamiri, a DE from Notre Dame, the Saints are on the clock.

8:54 PM EST: The pick is in, and...it's a trade, to the Lions. The Saints give up the 58th pick in exchange for the 66th pick and the 145th pick in the 5th round.

9:31 PM EST: We're through round 2 after 9 1/2 hours. Only one more round to go, and the Saints have two picks in this round.

9: 34 PM EST: The Saints are on the clock and should go defense. Several good players available. The guess remains Marcus McCauley, CB from Fresno State.

9:37 PM EST: The Saints pick is in, and...it is Usama Young. The good news is they went CB, the bad news is we don't know who that is. Apparently he had good workouts. Filled a position of need, and he immediately is better than Fred Thomas, which isn't saying a whole lot. The last Saints pick today is #88.

NFL Draft Day Thread

And we're off and running for the 2007 NFL Draft. The Raiders are on the clock with nine minutes remaining.

12:19 PM EST: Raiders have their pick in, and...it's JaMarcus Russell from LSU. Lions are on the clock, and this pick should go a long way towards determining the entertainment value of the first round. Roger Goodell with a little more chit chat then I'd like to see from the Commish. Just stick to the picks, Rog. I'm missing Paul Tagliabue already.

12:32 PM EST: The Lions are still on the clock, will they go WR for the fourth time in the last five years? Will they trade the pick? Here comes the Commish for more chatting...and the pick is...Calvin Johnson. Will they trade him today? Will he be a Lion at the end of the day? Who will throw to him? Either way, the Lions get the best player in the draft. Now hopefully we'll get to see Brady Quinn's slide begin.

12:36 PM EST: With the Lions taking Calvin Johnson, there's no suprise that they have allegedly traded Mike Williams to the Titans for an undisclosed draft choice. We're now halfway to Cleveland's pick, the guess is Brady Quinn, the smart move is Adrian Peterson.

12:41 PM EST: With the third pick, Cleveland selects Joe Thomas from Wisconsin. Here comes the slide for Quinn. He could fall to either the Vikings at 7 or Dolphins at 9.

12:45 PM EST: Pete Prisco update...about JaMarcus -- "They need a quarterback, but they took the wrong one." Shocking. A solid pick by the Browns, not flashy but it'll definitely improve the team. The Bucs are on the clock now.

12:54 PM EST: Tampa Bay's pick is in, the guess is Gaines Adams...and the pick is...Gaines Adams. A smart pick from Tampa. We could all probably do without the "Ok, Buc fans" from the Commish...just the picks, please.

1:03 PM EST: Interesting pick here for the Cardinals. They don't really have a need for RB or QB. The pick is in, and it is...Levi Brown. Another smart pick, gives their offensive line added support. Washington is on the clock. LaRon Landry, Adrian Peterson, and Jamaal Anderson are all possibilities. The winner of this draft so far seems to be the Minnesota Vikings. They may have the chance to choose between Brady Quinn and Adrian Peterson.

1:12 PM EST: We are rolling through the first round. Redskins are on the clock and it looks like the pick is going to be LaRon Landry. Another solid pick. Nothing spectacular but adding a good player from the bayou. Vikings are now on the clock. This is a pick that could determine the fate of Brady Quinn. He could conceivably fall into the middle of the first round if the Vikings pass.

1:25 PM EST: The Vikings are still on the clock, so it makes sense to post a link to VY freestyle rapping. Enjoy.

1:27 PM EST: The Vikings take Adrian Peterson, a fantastic pick. He could be the second best prospect in the draft. The Falcons are now on the clock. Does Quinn fall past the Dolphins at 9? This could be an Aaron Rodgers situation developing.

1:37 PM EST: Falcons still on the clock, the pick has to be Jamaal Anderson or Amobi Okoye. Here come's the pick, and...it's Jamaal Anderson. Another smart pick, although he'll never get a whiff of Drew Brees.

1:41 PM EST: Miami Dolphins on the clock. If they don't take Quinn, he could fall all the way to Kansas City at 23. Jacksonville could take him at 17, or somebody could trade up.

1:50 PM EST: The Dolphins pick is in, and...it is Tedd Ginn. Wow, let Brady's fall begin. An interesting pick to say the least. Didn't see that pick coming, to say the least. A risky pick for the Dolphins, could work out in the long run.

1:55 PM EST: The Texans are on the clock, and how they'll screw this up is anyone's guess. The guess is Amobi Okoye, but who knows?

2:04 PM EST: We're two hours into an exciting NFL Draft. We're going to slow down the live blogging, click over to Pete Prisco if you want accurate, unbiased draft coverage. Some highlights of the first round -- the Steve Spurrier Under Armour commercial sucking worse each time, the VY and Reggie Bush Madden commercials, Brady Quinn's slide, and the run on CBs hasn't begun yet. Hopefully one will fall to the Saints. Not to say we told you so, but nine picks in and Prisco has criticized four teams for passing on Quinn. Anyhow, the Texans take...Amobi Okoye. A solid pick for the Texans, their defense could be markedly improved from a year ago. Key questions for the rest of the first round: when will the run on CBs start? How far will Brady slide? Will Greg Olsen last until #27?

2:59 PM EST: We're back after pick 14. The Jets gave up a lot to take Darrelle Revis. Brady's slide continues, the guess is that it'll be #17 or #23. The Steelers are on the clock, and they could go a number of directions...The Steelers take Lawrence Timmons, a pretty solid pick for them. The Packers are now on the clock.

3:46 PM EST: The Titans are now on the clock...could reunite Aaron Ross with Vince Young. Jarvis Moss, Leon Hall, Justin Harrell gone...the Titans instead go with Michael Griffin. The first Horn is off the board and it's not Aaron Ross.

3:58 PM EST: For absolutely no reason whatsoever, below is the greatest commercial...ever. Also, the Giants pick is in and...it's Aaron Ross! The run on CBs is officially on.

4:04 PM EST: Jaguars are now on the clock, the guess is Brady Quinn's slide ends here...The pick is in and...it's Reggie Nelson. Not a shocker, the Cowboys could take Quinn or he could fall to the second round. The DB run continues, can Tarell Brown be far behind?

4:16 PM EST: The Cowboys have traded their pick to the Browns, a terrific move by the Browns. Quinn is the obvious pick. Be prepared for major praise from Pete Prisco. The Browns gave up pick 36 this year and their #1 next year.

4:30 PM EST: "This is the best pick of the entire draft. They get a franchise passer in the back end of the first round? Are you kidding me? Good job by Phil Savage to go up and get Quinn. He will be a star." Praise from Caesar himself. The Chiefs are still on the clock, and allegedly they were looking at Quinn as we called. Joe Staley is the guess here.

4:32 PM EST: It's Dwayne Bowe, another guy the Saints were likely looking at. New England, Carolina and Philly are all up before the Saints pick.

4:43 PM EST: Patriots are almost done with their pick. The guess, just going by the gut, is Paul Posluszny. They have two of the next five picks. The pick is in, and...it's Brandon Meriweather. That's not really a Bill Belichick player.

5:02 PM EST: Dallas has traded up to #26, giving up their 2nd rounder from Cleveland, a 3rd and a 5th. One of Greg Olsen, Robert Meachem, Paul Posluszny or Chris Houston will be available to the Saints.

5:06 PM EST: The Cowboys pick is in, it's probably whoever the Saints wanted. And...it's Anthony Spencer...Saints didn't want him.

5:09 PM EST: THE SAINTS ARE ON THE CLOCK! It's been five hours but it's finally here! Our preferred players are, in no particular order -- Paul Posluszny, Chris Houston, Robert Meachem, Dwayne Jarrett and Greg Olsen. David Harris or Joe Staley would be less attractive but also acceptable. Expect to see somebody not on this list in the black and gold next season.

5:13 PM EST: Quick update, Texas baseball up 7-2 on Oklahoma State. Back to back HRs by Moldenhauer (grand slam) and Peoples went yard back-to-back to give the Horns the lead.

5:20 PM EST: The pick is in, and...it's Meachem! Good pick, making a good offense even better.

5:21 PM EST: We'll be back in a bit with first round wrap-up and analysis.

Favorite Draft Moment #1

It's draft day which means it's time to reveal our favorite NFL Draft moment. Before the 2006 Rose Bowl, it seemed destined that the Houston Texans would take Reggie Bush with their hard won first overall pick. After the Rose Bowl it seemed like they faced a difficult decision with really no wrong answer, Reggie Bush or Vince Young. The Texans choose wrong.

By selecting Mario Williams, the Texans opened the door for the first three picks of the 2006 NFL Draft to end up as our favorite draft moment. First, the Texans did the unthinkable, then the Saints followed suit by drafting Reggie Bush. Reggie is the type of exciting, transcendent, game-changing player that has NEVER gone to the Saints.

At the time, New Orleans was still reeling from Hurricane Katrina, looking for a good story wherever it could be found. Along with the signing of Drew Brees a few weeks earlier, the drafting of Reggie Bush gave New Orleanians something fresh to talk about. As famed New Orleans columnist Chris Rose wrote, "Levee failures, looting, death, destruction, murder, corruption, depression, suicide, bankruptcy -- that we can handle.
But another losing season? Oh, the horror."

Reggie arrived in New Orleans during Jazz Fest and the Zurich Classic golf tournament. During one of his first media appearances at the golf tournament, Reggie got a call from Bruce Springstein asking if he'd be able to join him on stage at Jazz Fest. That night, Reggie walked into Emeril's restaurant and received a standing ovation. For Saints fans, it was a great moment. Watch this video, you can almost make out the "doh!" coming from Houston around the 22 second mark.

NFL Draft Day -- It's a Boy!

You've been expecting this day for several months, and it's finally here! Your team is about to bring a new life into this world that is the NFL. It's an exciting time in your life. Each time your rookie does something it will be for the first time, and you really don't want to miss a single thing. His first rookie mini-camp, his contract signing, his first day at training camp...they grow up so fast.

No matter what anybody says, your new rookie is perfect. He has suprising quickness, strong as a bull, athletic, fills an important need, will be make great contributions to the community, and you wouldn't change a thing about him even if you could. That's what's so wonderful about the draft. It's a day dedicated to football in the middle of the offseason. Moreover, it's a day of hope, improvement, and achievement. A day where the worse your team is, the better your team does.

Some will say that you should be paying attention to more important things like the NBA playoffs or Mike Vick blowing his chance at PETA membership, but they are wrong. Anything associated with the NFL blows the NBA out of the water, especially the first round in a 3 month playoff (at least until KD is dominating). Mike Vick will be there on Monday, the Draft only comes once a year. By the third game of the season you'll realize what a mistake your draft choice was, or much sooner if you're a Texans fan, but today is perfect.

Check back to 40 Acre Sports for news and notes throughout the draft. Happy drafting everyone!