SI.com At The Draft Blog (cont.)

Seattle, 9:51 p.m.

The 'Skins wasted no time turning in their pick when Brian Orakpo fell into their lap at No. 13. David Bergman/SI

Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell put on a draft clinic today. He not only got Wake Forrest linebacker Aaron Curry, the player at the top of his board, with the fourth pick, but also Oregon center Max Unger, the player Ruskell wanted to select with the 37th pick, 12 slots later and walked away with an extra first round pick next season.

Ruskell figured that Unger might still be available later in the second round, so he traded the 37th pick in the draft to the Denver Broncos for their first round pick in 2010. It was quite a coup when you consider the Broncos haven't made the playoffs since 2005 and are breaking in a new coach and quarterback this season. That could easily be a Top 10 pick next year.

After speaking with reporters, Ruskell returned to the "war room" and traded the Seahawks' 68th overall pick in the third round and the 105th overall pick in the fourth round to the Bears for the 49th pick overall and selected Unger. So basically he had to give up a third and fourth round pick this year for the Broncos' first round pick. That's called working the draft, folks.

"That kind of came out the blue," said Ruskell about acquiring the Broncos' first round pick next year. "We had talked to them earlier in the day because they had the two (first round) picks and maybe the possibility would come up if our guy wasn't there (Aaron Curry) of going down but not this."
--Arash Markazi (Follow on Twitter.)

East Rutherford, N.J., 9:46 p.m.

The Giants already bolstered their linebacking corps by signing former Falcon Michael Boley to a 5-year, $25 million contract in the off-season, but with the first of their two second-round picks, the team chose linebacker Clint Sintim of Virginia.

While Sintim played strong-side linebacker in a 3-4 defense in Charlottesville, he'll be asked to fit into the Giants' 4-3 scheme right away. "[The system] is a little different, but the game of football remains constant, " said Sintim, who spoke to us from his home in Woodbridge, Va., where 20 to 30 of his friends and family members were assembled. And does he think he's better rushing the quarterback or better in coverage? "Man, I'm just a linebacker."

Sintim visited Buffalo, New Orleans and Kansas City and ended up visiting the Giants a couple weeks ago along with about 15 other prospects. And did Sintim have any inkling about which of those teams might end up selecting him? "Everybody kind of keeps their poker face throughout this whole ordeal," he said. "For me, it was just watching and waiting, man. Watching and waiting."
--Elizabeth McGarr

Foxboro, Mass., 9:37 p.m.

File Ron Brace under "local boy makes good."

New England's second pick in the second round played schoolboy ball at Burncoat High in Springfield, Mass. before moving on to Boston College, where he created a formidable front wall as a defensive tackle playing next to B.J. Raji, who went to Green Bay with the No. 9 overall pick. Brace said he never imagined playing for the Patriots.

"I just know it was a dream of mine," he said in his media conference call a few moments ago. "I hope I'm not dreaming right now. This is a really good feeling."

When he steps on the field for the Patriots in September, it will be a first for him in many ways.

"I've never been to a pro football game," said Brace.
-- Kerry J. Byrne

Eden Prairie, Minn, 9:29 p.m.

Vikings head coach Brad Childress got a lot of attention for his travel itinerary this week, heading to Gainesville to spend more time with, and personally address, character issues the organization had with Percy Harvin. Sounds like he wasn't the only one racking up the frequent-flyer miles. Someone from Foxboro squeezed in a quickie trip to Florida as well.

In explaining why Minnesota passed up Mississippi lineman Michael Oher -- the Vikings made up for that by grabbing Oklahoma's Phil Loadholt in the second round, with the 52nd overall pick -- Childress made it clear the competition for Harvin's services had heated up. "When you've got the New Englands of the world sitting right behind you, that contacted him and, really, I think, got in there after I got in there ...,'' Childress said. "He wasn't supposed to give that up. I got him to give that up to me, being a good soldier, now that he's one of us. You come to find out those things.''

Presumably, the Patriots wanted the same thing Childress did -- to "rhythm up'' to him, as the Vikings coach put it, so as to get a feel for what sort of fellow he is, now and going forward. Childress met on campus with the Harvin and Gators coach Urban Meyer, and sprung it on the player that he wanted to meet his family in Jacksonville.

"I mentioned to he and his family, 'Does this remind you of recruiting?' '' Childress said. "They said it did, and I told them, 'Here's the difference: You're not picking. We're picking.' Which kind of hit grandma and mom and stepdad and sister, oh yeah, that's right. It was a little illuminating when you look at it that way.''

At one point, Childress was sitting in the living room with Harvin's family "with the shih tzu and bouncing a baby on my knee. Literally.''
-- Steve Aschburner

Seattle, 9:17 p.m.

If teams simply drafted on talent alone, Rey Maualuga would have gone in the first round. He probably would have been the first of the celebrated USC linebacker trio to get selected. As it was, not only was he the last to be selected, he also fell all the way to the second round before Cincinnati picked him and reunited him with former Trojan teammate Keith Rivers.

The problem with Maulauga is that as much of a wrecking ball as he is on the field, he's a bit of a space cadet. I'm not just talking off the field, where he reportedly scored a 15 on the Wonderlic and didn't know who Vice President Joe Biden was, but on it as well. No one frustrated USC coaches more than Maualuga. He looked like he was running around with his head cut off and looking to hit anything that moved. The more tape pro coaches watched on Maualuga, the more times they probably saw him being saved by his teammates on missed assignments.

Huge hits might make for great highlights in college but if you can't play within the confines of a structured defense in the NFL, you might end up on the other end of those highlights.
--Arash Markazi (Follow on Twitter.)

Kansas City, 9:05 p.m.

Hey wait: The Cowboys just traded out of the second round, to Buffalo.

That means the Dallas Cowboys don't have a pick on day one of the draft!

What will the headline be in the Dallas Morning News tomorrow? "Cowboys Join Romo in Cabo on Day One of the Draft?''

That is one interesting trade.
--Peter King (Follow on Twitter.)

Foxboro, Mass., 9 p.m.

"In Belichick We Trust" is a common sentiment -- sometimes even a greeting -- among Boston sports fans. So I checked in with some of them at various draft parties to get their take on things after a day in which Patriots coach Bill Belichick has made more deals than Monty Hall.

"I'm psyched by what they did," said Frank Capobianco, who's watching the draft at a downtown Boston bar called The Times. "They're totally kicking it right now."

But "MikieMo," a member of "Patriots Planet," a popular a fan site that's hosting a party (and a rather rowdy sounding one at that) at the Commonwealth Restaurant in Quincy, Mass., wasn't quite ready to hail the chief after he traded away New England's only No. 1 pick.

"I'm in total amazement with everything that went down," he said. "Nobody here can figure out why they kept trading down."

Jim Maher, a 20-year season ticket holder watching the draft at CBS Scene outside Gillette Stadium, said only, "You gotta trust (Belichick). He knows what he's doing."

So far what he's doing is rebuilding the defense: CB Patrick Chung with the 34th overall pick, DT Ron Brace (No. 40) and versatile CB/KR Darius Butler (No. 41). The Patriots still have one more second-round pick on the slate (No. 58 overall).
-- Kerry J. Byrne

Englewood, Colo., 8:53 p.m.

Love the Dolphins' selection of West Virginia QB Pat White -- if they're going to allow him to play the position. Speculation is that Miami will use him as a specialist, a "slash" type player, and maybe even convert him to receiver. But I've had multiple head coaches tell me that White should fight to remain at quarterback. They say he has all the tools to be successful at the position. The problem for White is that if he stands up for himself, he'll run the risk of being portrayed as a problem player.
--Jim Trotter (Follow on Twitter.)

Eden Prairie, Minn., 8:48 p.m.

As soon as Cal center Alex Mack went to Cleveland at No. 21, one longtime Vikings beat writer looked at the big screen in the team's "draft party'' and said to no one in particular: ``It's gotta be Oher,'' as in Mississippi tackle Michael Oher. An instant later, a reporter from the second of the Twin Cities rushed by, saying "Gotta be Oher.''

Oher, yeah? Oher, no!

The Vikings' first-round pick at No. 22, despite their need at right tackle and Oher's availability at their slot, was Percy Harvin, the Florida wide receiver Minnesota had done a relatively poor job of keeping under wraps while doing an especially thorough job of due diligence. The folks clad in purple, with several hours worth of beverages in them, boisterously celebrated the choice, despite reports of Harvin's character issues. His skills as a receiver and a ball carrier for the Gators, and his potential in those roles plus some anticipated Devin Hester-like return opportunities, carried the moment.

Oh, some of the fans still booed head coach Brad Childress when he appeared a short while later -- that's a year-round pastime in the Land of 10,000 Lakes -- but they liked that Childress had traveled to Gainesville last week and personally signed off on Harvin as his team's pick.

"It helped to spend a day on his turf, ask a bunch of questions and get a bunch of answers,'' Childress said. "I was able to get a feel for the guy. We really meet [draft prospects] in sound bites, if you will. Fifteen minute interviews. Meetings in the office for 20 minutes.''

As for Harvin the player, as a wide receiver to complement Bernard Berrian, Childress said: "I think the X's and O's speak for themselves."
--Steve Aschburner

East Rutherford, N.J., 8:37 p.m.

We just had a conference call with the Giants first-round pick (29th overall), Hakeem Nicks, who spoke from his hometown of Charlotte. Nicks said he's used to being compared to Anquan Boldin and that his former coach at North Carolina, Butch Davis, compared him to Michael Irvin quite a bit. And what about playing for Giants coach Tom Coughlin? "He seems like a pretty cool coach," Nicks said, which elicited a great deal of snickering from the assembled New York media.

A self-described "great physical receiver that has a motor," Nicks said the hamstring injury he suffered at the combine in February is no longer an issue and that he'll be ready when the Giants rookie minicamp begins May 8. "Once I get up there, I'm full go," he said. "It's football time. I'm back to 100 percent, I've got my weight back down, and I'm ready to play football."

The Giants have had some success with their first-round picks over the past few years. Mathias Kiwanuka of Boston College (2006), Aaron Ross of Texas ('07) and Kenny Phillips of Miami ('08) all started during their rookie seasons and made immediate impacts. Kiwanuka started all 16 games at defensive end in '08 after Osi Umenyiora suffered a knee injury during the pre-season. Ross is currently a starting cornerback and Phillips, after making three starts in '08, could be the starting free safety in '09.
--Elizabeth McGarr

Seattle, 8:19 p.m.

It might not seem like a surprise that Aaron Curry was taken by the Seattle Seahawks with the fourth pick in the draft, but Curry never thought he'd be a Seahawk. He had never talked to Seahawks coach Jim Mora before today and he will visit Seattle for the first time tonight when he arrives from New York.

"I was a little surprised being that I didn't make a visit and hadn't talked to the coach," said Curry, who got a call from the Seahawks about a minute after they were on the clock. "I knew they were interested because they had just let go of Mr. [Julian] Peterson."

The Seahawks' lack of contact with Curry was by design as they were hoping to trade down with a team by making it seem they were interesting in selecting Mark Sanchez or Michael Crabtree. If Curry was gone, they would have actively pursued trading down with a team that wanted either Sanchez or Crabtree.

"There was a little bit of (masking our interest)," said Seahawks general manager Tim Ruskell. "We had him scheduled to come in and then we said we're good and I think that played to our advantage."

Curry, who got engaged last month, quickly won over the media here in Seattle with his witty answers and referencing Seattle's "12th Man," which raised a couple of eyebrows during the conference call. Ruskell mentioned the combination of Curry's talent and character "were off the charts," which was evident as Curry invited Bryson Merriweather, a 12-year-old Leukemia patient from Alabama with him to the draft.

Curry, a self described mama's boy, hugged his mother and cried after being selected and laughed when he was asked if his mother would be moving with him to Seattle.

"She looked at me and said, 'If you end up in Seattle, there better be a room for me in your house, if there isn't a room there better be an apartment that is within walking distance,'" said Curry.
--Arash Markazi (Follow on Twitter.)

New York City, 8:03 p.m.

I think I am going to lose my mind if I hear one more executive or pundit talk about the "best available player." My gut tells me that is a crutch that most people lean on, but is hardly common practice in reality. How often do teams take a player at the same position in both rounds one and two? Are you trying to tell me it never happens to be the case that the best guy on the board happens to play the same position as the player that the franchise selected in the first round? And for that matter, that a team picking in the first round would necessarily take their highest rated player even if they have an abundance of talent at that position already?

I am not saying it doesn't happen. The Lions under Matt Millen selected receivers in the first round even though they had done so in prior years. The Packers probably had Aaron Rodgers the highest on their board when they picked him with the 24th selection in the 2004 draft even though they still had Brett Favre under center. Most teams don't take the best available player when they select, they take the best player available for them. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren't going to take the best player yet to be selected if he happens to be a 3-4 nose guard because they don't run the 3-4 just like a team likely isn't going to take a high pick at a position where they are already loaded.
--Ross Tucker (Follow on Twitter.)