Draft Day!

I'll try to cover things in more detail as time permits, but on a day that saw the New Jersey Devils end a short and disappointing playoff run, the Pirates lose 20-0,(No, that is not a misprint), the biggest and best news of the day was the NFL Draft.

We will have a detailed review of both Cleveland and Seattle next week after all the picks are in, but I like what both teams did yesterday.

The Browns and I wanted Eric Berry, but Kansas City took Berry two spots ahead for Cleveland.
A side note to people that root so hard for meaningless wins late in the season-those wins usually come at a high cost, which is the difference between impact players and very good players...
The Browns had a chance to take Texas safety Earl Thomas, who would have been a very nice consolation prize and fill the Browns huge void at safety.
Instead, the Browns selected the top overall corner in the draft in Florida's Joe Haden.
The same Joe Haden that most observers thought the Browns would take if Berry was unavailable-TWO MONTHS AGO before a poor combine showing.
Haden ran faster at Florida's pro day and that must have cinched the deal for the Browns.
The Browns now have three legitimate cover corners with Haden, Sheldon Brown, and Eric Wright, or the Browns could even shift Brown to safety and save some wear and tear.
In any event, Joe Haden was not a sexy pick, but a solid one, although I would have given Earl Thomas a slight edge, I cannot find fault here.

The Seahawks had two picks at 6 and 14 and slammed both of those picks into the excellent section.
I think Seattle did more to help themselves yesterday than any other team and if they hadn't foolishly shipped their third-rounder to San Diego for Charlie Whitehurst, I would be feeling really good about now.
Seattle nabbed the best tackle in the draft in Oklahoma State's Russell Okung at six even though Washington took Trent Williams, a tackle from Oklahoma ahead of Okung,I think Okung is the better player.
The Seahawks then grabbed Earl Thomas at 14 to be their play-making safety.
Seattle stayed where they were and addressed its two biggest needs and upgraded them significantly.

Both the Browns and Seahawks have their second-round picks tonight, although Seattle is at 60 instead of 40 overall as they flipped second-rounders with the Chargers, but Cleveland has three picks in round three, while Seattle does not have a third-rounder.
Cleveland is supposedly after Colt McCoy in Round 2 and I would be OK with that, but a pick that I would love to see for either Seattle in Round 2 or Cleveland with one of their thirds would be Stanford running back/fullback Toby Gerhart, who I think fits with either team.
Another personal favorite for Cleveland in the third would be Texas slot receiver Jordan Shipley, who you have to think would be a possibility if the Browns do pick McCoy.
Shipley in the third might be a slight overdraft, but remember no 4th rounder for Cleveland...

Did anyone catch the loud chants during Pittsburgh's selection of "She said NO!"?
Or "Tebow Sucks" when Denver overreached for Sarah Palin's favorite player?

Hang in there for promised posts, we are a bit behind, but the draft will be over soon and a Devil elimination means plenty of time for catching up...

Photo Credits
Haden: Unknown
Thomas: Bob Rosato: SI