AND THE SEAHAWKS SELECT … OT JAMES CARPENTER, ALABAMA: And if you’ve never heard of him, you’re not alone. A very curious pick for the Seahawks, given the considerable amount of offensive and defensive line talent still on the board. We’ll have much more on Carpenter later, but for now we have to write a quick story on the selection.
No. 24, CAMERON JORDAN: Yet another D-line selection. Jordan’s a defensive end from California. Jimmy Smith sticking out like a sore thumb for the Seahawks right now. The moment of truth is here.
No. 23, DANNY WATKINS: Seahawks were reported to be high on the Baylor offensive guard, but he goes to the Philadelphia Eagles here. One more pick before Seattle. Jimmy Smith still available. Here we go.
No. 22, ANTHONY CASTONZO: There goes one of Seattle’s offensive line options. The Indianapolis Colts took the big tackle from Boston College. Still, plenty of talent on both sides of the line still on the board.
No. 21, PHIL TAYLOR: Another trade here, Kansas City dealing its pick at No. 21 to Cleveland for the Browns’ pick at No. 27, and a third-rounder at No. 70. Cleveland takes Taylor, a defensive tackle from Baylor.
No. 20, ADRIAN CLAYBORN: Another defensive lineman comes off the board as Tampa Bay takes Iowa’s Clayborn. Cam Jordan and Da’Quan Bowers are still out there, too. Seahawks are going to have a tough decision to make. But that’s a good thing, in this case.
No. 19, PRINCE AMUKAMARA: Nice pickup for the Giants, snagging perhaps the second-best cornerback in the draft. Five more picks before Seattle is on the clock, and Jimmy Smith, Muhammad Wilkerson, Marvin Austin, Andy Dalton, Gabe Carimi, Danny Watkins and Mark Ingram still remain available. All intriguing options.
No. 18, COREY LIUGET: He’d have been a good fit for the Seahawks, but not a big surprise that Illinois DT Liuget is gone from the board to the San Diego Chargers.
No. 17, NATE SOLDER: With Prince Amukamara still on the board, the Patriots go with Solder, an offensive tackle from Colorado. Seahawks are eight picks away with a bunch of talent still out there.
No. 16, RYAN KERRIGAN: The Redskins pick up a linebacker, taking Purdue’s Kerrigan. He’s another “leo” guy. Remember, Washington also has Jacksonville’s second-round pick at No. 49.
No. 15, MIKE POUNCEY: The second offensive lineman drafted, Pouncey goes to the Miami Dolphins. That means the University of Florida guard gets to stay in the same state where he attended college.
No. 14, ROBERT QUINN: The Rams are the third NFC West team to pick, and they take Quinn, another “leo” guy from North Carolina. Each NFC West team thus far has opted for defense.
No. 13, NICK FAIRLEY: Um, running the ball against the Detroit Lions next season isn’t going to be much fun. They just added Auburn DT Fairley to a defensive line that already includes sack master Ndamukong Suh.
No. 12, CHRISTIAN PONDER — I’d classify this as a bigger “wow” than the Locker pick. Ponder, a Florida State product, becomes the fourth quarterback drafted in the first round. Don’t know if I remember anyone placing Ponder this high in their mocks.
No. 11, J.J. WATT — The Texans go with defense, taking Wisconsin defensive end J.J. Watt.
No. 10, BLAINE GABBERT — Gabbert stays in the top 10, going to the Jacksonville Jaguars after they traded their first-round pick (No. 16) and a second-round pick (No. 49) to move up. Andy Dalton, Christian Ponder, Ryan Mallett and Colin Kaepernick are the remaining top-tier quarterbacks still on the board.
No. 9, TYRON SMITH — The Twitter fervor over Locker’s selection died down and the Dallas Cowboys took USC offensive tackle Tyron Smith.
No. 8 — Hey, I know this name — JAKE LOCKER: Well, how’s that for a surprise? Jake Locker is the second quarterback taken in the NFL Draft. Everyone already heralding this as the first shocker of the day. Hard to disagree.
Have to step away from the live chat for a second to write this one up.
UPDATE: Here’s the quick story I posted about Locker over on the Huskies blog.
No. 7, ALDON SMITH: San Francisco also chooses to pass on Gabbert, instead taking his teammate, Smith, a “leo” type pass-rusher. Gabbert and his flowing locks continue to wait.
TRADE DETAILS: Yikes. The Falcons just gave up a first-round pick (No. 27), a second-round pick (No. 59) and a fourth-round pick (No. 124) in this year’s draft, plus a first-rounder and a fourth-rounder in 2012 just for the chance to draft Jones at No. 6. Atlanta better hope the kid is as good as advertised.
WE’VE GOT A TRADE: Atlanta just traded up from No. 27 to grab the No. 6 pick from the Cleveland Browns. And the Falcons have taken Alabama WR Julio Jones with the No. 6 pick, creating a 1-2 punch of Roddy White and Jones as pass-catching options for quarterback Matt Ryan. The Falcons is gonna be real good.
No. 5, PATRICK PETERSON: This is the most important pick yet as far as the Seahawks are concerned. Peterson was thought by many to be the best player in the draft class, and he gives the Cardinals an immediate shut-down cornerback. Not going to be fun to throw the ball against that guy twice a year.
No. 4, A.J. GREEN: The first semi-interesting pick of the day. Lots of folks thought the Bengals might go with Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert, but they went with Green, the receiver from Georgia, instead. But only because Akili Smith was unavailable.
No. 3, MARCELL DAREUS: The Bills take the big defensive tackle from Alabama, an obvious choice. There was some thought they’d go quarterback, though.
No. 2, VON MILLER: The Texas A&M linebacker goes to Denver with the second pick. He and his family appear rather pleased.
NEWTON IS No. 1: No surprise as Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is the first player selected. He’s smiling, likely because he has enough money saved from his college days that he isn’t concerned about lockout ramifications.
GOODELL: “Let’s get back to some football.” After the league does everything it can to keep the lockout in place, of course.
WAR ROOM: Want to see inside the Seahawks’ draft room? Their official website has a live stream you can watch.
GETTING TECHNICAL: This is the title atop the very helpful official draft order sheet the Seahawks folks have supplied for us here: “2011 NFL Annual Selection Meeting.” That is indeed the official name of the NFL draft. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, though.
WHO’S No. 25?: In case you were wondering, these are the players selected with the No. 25 pick in the past 11 drafts, in descending order beginning with last season: QB Tim Tebow, DB Vontae Davis, DB Mike Jenkins, LB Jon Beason, WR Santonio Holmes, QB Jason Campbell, DB Ahmad Carroll, DT William Joseph, DE Charles Grant, WR Freddie Mitchell, DT Chris Hovan.
LOUD BOOS: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is booed loudly as he takes the podium to begin the draft festivities. He shrewdly initiates a moment of silence for those effected by the tornado that ravaged the south on Wednesday. That at least quieted the crowd for a while.
What do you think of NFL Draft?
