Day 3

It seems like the whole football community loses interest in the draft by Day 3. Only very enthusiastic fans watch. The draft is in the middle of the day, not primetime or even the late afternoon. Most sports fans devote their attentions to the end of the NBA season, or hockey, or NASCAR, whatever. Even the commentators often seem to ignore picks to talk about storylines from earlier rounds. In fact, only the actual NFL teams seem to take an interest, and even then, general managers will take "flyers" on high-risk players in the later rounds. With that in mind, we begin our coverage of the fourth round.

Because of the nature of the last few rounds, there aren't quite as many notable picks. The Eagles took Matt Barkley after trading up to the top pick of the round, introducing another questionable quarterback into the competition. This induced a run on quarterbacks, with the Giants taking Ryan Nassib (possibly Eli's successor?), the Raiders taking Tyler Wilson (he's been impressive in minicamps so far), and the Steelers taking Landry Jones (he was once regarded as a first round pick.)

Green Bay also surprised by taking Johnathan Franklin, their second running back of the draft, and perhaps the second best running back in the draft as well. With more smart drafting by Ted Thompson and the rest of the organization, the Packers continue to cement their place atop the NFC North division. They are assembling a rather intimidating running back-by-committee system to complement their excellent passing game.

Another pick I appreciated was the last pick of the fourth round, made by Atlanta using a compensatory selection. They took Levine Toilolo, tight end from Stanford and former target of Andrew Luck during his time there. Toilolo will be a great successor for Tony Gonzalez. (Also, he has a cool name.)

In the fifth round, Denard "Shoelace" Robinson was taken by the Jaguars. (He earned this nickname for playing with shoelaces untied. Seems like too much of a risk when one false step can cost you millions of dollars.) From what the media have said, he's the reincarnation of Kordell Stewart (who isn't even dead), a player capable of playing basically every skill position. I don't quite understand the NFL's tendency to convert mobile quarterbacks to other positions, (Antwaan Randle El, Matt Jones, Josh Cribbs, Josh Nesbitt, Armanti Edwards, Marcus Vick...the list goes on and on), but Robinson will likely fit in anywhere the Jaguars put him.

The Seahawks drafted a player who was arrested right before the draft. Character concerns, maybe? I guess taking anyone in the fifth round isn't too much of a risk, but still...

The Vikings said goodbye to the NFL's most vocal punter, Chris Kluwe, and replaced him with Jeff Locke from UCLA. (Postscript: Weeks after the draft, in need of a replacement for Shane Lechler, Oakland signed Kluwe.)

There were some more advances on the running back front as Arizona selected Stanford runner Stepfan Taylor to bolster an inconsistent, no-name backfield, while Miami chose Mike Gillislee from Florida to replace Reggie Bush (hopefully).

(Speaking of fifth round picks, the Chiefs released their fifth round pick from last year, cornerback DaQuan Menzie. Don't you give a mid-round pick more than one year to develop and improve? Yeah, I thought so too.)

Oddly, players who called out the NFL were selected early in the sixth round. Nick Kasa alleged that he was asked about his sexual orientation at the combine, and Ryan Swope complained about being compared only to white receivers.

It was another running back-heavy round, and teams were digging deep to find hidden talent. The Panthers added Kenjon Barner, another Oregon running back, while the Cardinals doubled up with Andre Ellington, the Raiders took little-known Latavius Murray, and the Buccaneers took Miami's Mike James. Running backs made up over 18% of the round's picks.

Not many notable prospects fell to the seventh round. Several quarterbacks were chosen, however. The Chargers made an interesting move by selecting Southern Utah quarterback Brad Sorensen to develop under Rivers, although he hasn't played against much high-level competition. The Broncos got VERY lucky when highly touted quarterback Zac Dysert, who shares an alma mater with Ben Roethlisberger, dropped to them at #234. The final quarterback chosen in the draft, Sean Renfree, will definitely help the Falcons, who have serious backup quarterback issues.

Mike Mayock praised the Ravens for their choice of Elon wideout Aaron Mellette four picks later. Perhaps he'll help them fill the hole left by Anquan Boldin.

The last drama of the draft was saved for the Colts' choice of Mr. Irrelevant, tight end Justice Cunningham from South Carolina, making him the second Colt in a row to be chosen as Mr. Irrelevant, and the second South Carolina player in recent years.

However, the drama was not over with the final pick of the draft. In some ways, the UDFA signings are even more exciting than the draft's later rounds. Local heroes, injury risks, boom-or-bust and one-year wonders will all find new homes. Numerous undrafted free agents, including a British discus thrower, a Heisman Trophy finalist, a YouTube sensation from Europe, and a dynamic, troubled wideout, were sent onto the open market, where teams would bid for their services.