It’s time to look back on the 2007 NFL draft. What were the stories, who were the big winners and what were the bonehead moves.

Top stories
Brady Quinn is definitely a huge story in this draft. Up until a few weeks ago it was a 2 horse race for the top pick between Quinn and eventual number 1 pick JaMarcus Russell. As it turned out Quinn dropped all the way to 22 where the Cleveland Browns selected him.

Also a top story was the selection of Ted Ginn Jr. at the ninth pick by the Miami Dolphins. Of course every team could use the potentially game-changing Ginn. The question is, was this too high. He’s coming off a major ankle injury that will likely slow him down (at least at first). Receivers that were rated higher than Ginn (Meachem, Jarrett, Davis) weren’t selected until the late first round to mid second round. I think Ginn will probably be a pretty good receiver (think Joey Porter), but not at the 9th pick in the draft. They could have got more value.

Big winners
The Cleveland Browns have to be the biggest winners in the 2007 NFL draft. They landed the best offensive lineman, Joe Thomas (T from Wisconsin), and arguably the best quarterback, Brady Quinn. If that was all they did in the draft it would have been a wild success, but they also got depth at cornerback and defensive end. It won’t be next year, but a few years down the line the NFL will look back at this draft as when the Browns turned the corner.

Bonehead moves
Anyone trading to get Randy Moss is in my mind a bonehead move. This guy is a cancer to whatever team he is on. It will be interesting to see how long Bill Belichek and Tom Brady put up with Moss.

The Dolphins reaching for Ginn is also a bonehead move. I think that all of the teams, in need of a quarterback, that passed on Brady Quinn will be kicking themselves. I definitely don’t think that Quinn in the next Peyton Manning, but if he’s the next Tom Brady, there are going to be some teams that will have some ’splaining to do.

With the 31st pick in the 2007 NFL draft the Bears picked up a pass receiving tight end Greg Olsen. From the scouting report it seems like this guy is similar to Jeremy Shockey, another Hurricane tight end. Let’s hope so. The scouting report gave him rave reviews for his pass catching, but failed to mention anything about blocking in his strengths. Hopefully we have some others on the line for that.

Seeing how Rex Grossman used Desmond Clark at times, this could be a fantastic pick. If Olsen has the talent that Shockey has, the Bears will add an important dimension to their passing attack, an underneath receiver.  What do you think of this pick by Jerry Angelo and the Bears?

Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa are tearing it up over the past week. Did I slip and fall into 2000? Aren’t these guys old, and broken down? I mean I know they’ve had some help staying “healthy” but that stuff is supposed to make it easier for their bodies to break down.

As much as I don’t like A-Rod, I’m glad he’s pulling some press away from those dopes.

So the questions about who you would draft can get a little silly. Of course each team has to take into consideration their own needs and who is available. Of course every team would like to take Calvin Johnson. He’s going to be a star in the league for years to come. In my mind he’s the best player in this draft. Does that mean that he’s should be the first pick. Hell no. The Raiders are picking first and they have much bigger needs than a WR. That kind of makes me think… trade the pick. But word is that they really like JaMarcus Russell, QB out of LSU. I’m not convinced about Russell, but drafting a QB makes a lot more sense than a WR.

I could try and put together a mock draft, but it would only end up looking a lot like someone else’s, so I’ll spare us both that indignity. What I do want to talk about is what should the Bears be looking for at the 31st pick? Conventional wisdom says, at that position, take the best available player. But, like I said earlier, I think you need to make an opinionated pick. Select a player you need.

Where do the Bears need? I think they have some holes on defense. The 2 most important positions in Lovie’s Tampa Two defense are defensive tackle and strong safety. Now the Bears have a lot of potential at those positions. Tommie Harris and Mike Brown fill those spots to a T. The problem comes in the 4th game of the season when Mike Brown blows out his __________ and/or Tommie Harris suffers a broken _________. No depth. The Bears defense was exposed at the end of last year when both of those players were not on the field. Before they both succumbed the Bears were by far the best defense in the league. Those are holes that need to be filled. With the loss of Ian Scott and the legal trouble of Tank Johnson, the depth that the Bears did have at DT has disappeared. My vote. Grab the best DT in the first round and fill in the other blanks as the draft moves along.

What do you want your favorite team to do in the draft?

With the announcement that Alfonso Soriano will comeback and play left field, Felix Pie will most likely stay in center. Jacque Jones is currently the Cubs right fielder so he probably wouldn’t lose his job. That leaves a few people (Matt Murton and Cliff Floyd) without a place to play. Murton is one of my favorite Cubs and unfortunately this leaves him without a job. Murton led the Cubs in batting average last year. He’s not Joe DiMaggio, but he puts the ball in play.

My question is, how do the Cubs deal with their glut of outfielders? Is now the time to trade Jacque Jones (would there be any takers?) or Matt Murton? Carrying Floyd as a pinch hitter/spot player is fine with me, but keeping Murton around to rot on the bench doesn’t seem like a good call. I have similar feelings about Ronny Cedeno, and now Ryan Theriot. These kids need to play. They’ve shown themselves capable.

What should the Cubs do with their outfield? Trade guys away, keep it as is in case of injuries?

In his, much ballyhooed, spring training banter, Carlos Zambrano made the claim that he was going to win the Cy Young award this year and the Cubs would win the World Series. As it stands right now, it doesn’t look like either one of those is going to happen. Of course Zambrano could turn it around yet, but it looks like Rich Hill might be a better bet for NL Cy Young. Hill, through 22 innings has given up a grand total of one run. On a completely unrelated, and sad, note, Alfonso Soriano has only driven in one run all season. I digress. Rich Hill. I know that 3 games does not a season make, but his ERA is 0.41 after 3 games. When the guy who is supposed to be leading this rotation is getting bounced around, it’s good to see Hill stepping up and being a stopper. What’s not to like, he’s a tall, lanky lefty who is also a Michigan man. Go Blue! and Go Cubs.

We hadn’t even gotten into the stadium, and Felix was already on his way out. He tweaked his elbow and removed himself from the game. I never wanted to say this, but is “King” Felix, the next Mark Prior? I sure hope not, but it  kind of feels the same.

I was at the Mariners game tuesday night against the Twins and a few things stuck out to me.

While jeff weaver pitched pretty well through 4 innings, Mike Hargrove was too slow with the hook. With the bases loaded he let Weaver pitch to Torii Hunter. Just so we’re clear, there wasn’t anyone even up in the bullpen. I’m not a seasoned Mariners fan yet, is this normal?

The second thing I’ve come to know is that Raul Ibanez is the laziest outfielder I’ve ever seen. In the 7th when Joe Mauer hit a “double” to left center, Ibanez lazily strided to his left, and pulled up before he reached the ball. I think Ichiro was shocked. Ichiro could have made the play but it looked like he pulled up too because ibanez was going to “make” the play. This guy’s a butcher in left. And this year his bat isn’t making up for it.

What I’ve so far about the Mariners

• Mariners games are really fun, and the bleachers are some of the best seats in the house.
• Mike Hargrove doesn’t handle his pitching staff very well (even if it is Jeff Weaver)
• Raul Ibanez sucks

On a day the commemorates Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League baseball, players from each team wear the number 42 on their backs as a tribute to Jackie Robinson.

As my wife and I had a sushi date here in Seattle, the Battle of Japan was going on at Fenway Park in Boston. Ichiro and Dice-K meeting up for the first time in the majors. There was a lot of hype going into this game. The whole Ichiro-Dice-K angle, Felix Hernandez vs. Dice-K angle, and of course Dice-K vs. Kenji Jojhima (well maybe not the last one).

It turns out that the biggest story of the night was King Felix tossing a complete game one-hitter. His bid no-hitter was broken up in the 8th inning when J.D. Drew singled softly to center. This would have been the first no-hitter for the Mariners since the great Chris Bosio’s no-no on April 22, 1993, against these same Boston Red Sox in Boston.
Felix Hernandez has definitely had his share of hype. Well, I guess his nickname (King Felix) should give you a hint as to the expectations placed on this guy. After a promising rookie campaign, he came into last season overweight and struggled. He went 12-14 last year with a 4.52 ERA. This year, he has slimmed down, hit the weights and come out of the gates with a bang. If only the rest of the Mariners pitching staff could follow that same regimen, the M’s would be in good shape.