Dr. Z's Draft Report Card

You will notice the generally low level of the grades for the 2007 draft. This does not reflect, I believe, the teams' drafting skill, just the overall level of talent. At one time you could find three or four genuinely exciting players on a team's list. Now there are many one-player drafts, and a few of those "one's" aren't even that scintillating.

One team receives no grade and that's the Patriots. Sorry, but I'm one of the few analysts who has not collapsed in a kind of delirium at the Randy Moss acquisition, but the hordes of TV folks who viewed this as a religious experience have more than counter-balanced my skepticism

I'll believe it when I see it. Belichick's magic wand is now about to transform one of the NFL's biggest dogs into America's sweetheart. Oh, I know the argument. The Raiders stunk, therefore Randy wasn't happy, therefore why should he give it much effort? I wonder how coach Belichick and personnel director Scott Pioli would have reacted to that argument before they heard the angel music.

Since all NFL people believe in reincarnation, Moss is now being portrayed as an incarnation of Corey Dillon, who had a bit of a reputation before he joined New England and performed heroically. Sorry, the argument doesn't wash. Dillon never quit in games, walked off the field before a contest was over and admitted that he played hard only when he felt like it. If I'm wrong and New England cakewalks into the Super Bowl on Brady to Moss fireworks, OK, I'll be the first to tell you. But not yet.

The rest of the Patriots' draft? Oh, one first-day choice, safetyman, Brandon Meriweather, whom they like to say has "character issues," a common NFL euphemism that's kind of like Adult Entertainment.

Ah, the never-ending mysteries of draft day. They get both Brady Quinn and the draft's most highly regarded blocker, tackle Joe Thomas. After that it gets a bit murky. Second-round CB Eric Wright ... great talent but here we go again, character issues. Hey, I thought Roger Goodell outlawed that stuff. Only one thing can dull the euphoria that Browns fans are feeling at this moment, and that is if Quinn turns out to be, as some have predicted, not a franchise player but a meticulously schooled system QB with a tendency toward occasional wildness.

If you believe JaMarcus Russell is that good, then your grade must reflect it. Or let's put it this way. This is a good conduct medal for Oakland for not getting exotic and going away from the QB pick, just to show everyone that they don't have to do what's expected. The rest of their board is saturation bombing, with 11 picks. Seven of the picks, including Russell, are for offense, which makes sense, and the most interesting is second round TE Zach Miller

They only had four picks, and two of them don't really move me, but look what dedicated individuals can accomplish when they set their minds to it. They landed Darrelle Revis, the closest thing to a shutdown corner the draft had to offer ... a guy whose star was shooting up so fast that they had to trade up to get him. They drafted one of the toughest LBs, David Harris, from Michigan, one of the country's toughest defenses. And don't forget that the extra second-round pick they used for the Revis trade-up came from swapping choices with the Bears for Thomas Jones, who is now New York's premier runner.

Another trade-up, this one involving their No. 1 next year, but it brought them Joe Staley, an LT type. I assume this means that Jonas Jennings or somebody will move to the right side, currently manned by Kwame Harris, who is a WGSK (Will Get Somebody Killed) tackle. On the first pick they got Patrick Willis, a LB who can laser in on the ball carrier with 4.51 speed. The third round brought them their fastest player (Jason Hill -- 4.32) since Skeets Nehemiah, remember him? And I like their other third rounder, Ray McDonald, a defensive end-tackle tweener, relegated to this level in the draft because of two ACL operations, but a real battler. Don't forget that former Seahawks WR Darrell Jackson is part of the draft. Cost 'em a No. 4 he did.

It all hinges on second round choice Alan Branch, a DT with rare talent that sometimes comes out of the kitchen medium rare. If he can play up to ... you know how the rest goes. No such rejoinder about No. 1 pick, T Levi Brown, who might finally be the tough, mauling type of O-lineman the Cards have searched for all these years. Undersized, explosive Buster Davis will be a fine NFL middle backer, and fifth rounder, WR Steve Breaston, could be a steal as a returner. And way down in the mines, where the sun never shines, we find TE Ben Patrick standing next to the marker that says Round No. 7. Hey, what's he doing down here? He was rated top three at the position.