NFL Drafka, 4/23

First round happened last night, and as anybody with a little bit of common sense mighta guessed, nobody from Northwestern got drafted. That's cool. Neither did eight of 11 Big Ten teams. I wasn't really expecting it, and neither was Corey Wootton, apparently.  Let's do this, because it's likely two of these dudes will be on NFL teams in the next 48 hours. We ain't got time to waste.

Corey Wootton

• Protocol for player you like going to team you hate, anybody? The team that's consistently popped up the most in articles I've found with regards to Mr. Woot is the New England Patriots. And as a Jets fan, I was hoping at first it was just overzealous coverage, or maybe something that happens to every player with a lot of teams, but, well, it's draft day, and it keeps happening. The Pats took Devin McCourty, a cornerback from Rutgers, so they're still going to be on the market for a Wootton-esque pick when they hit the clock with the 44th, 47th, and 53rd picks - another reason Wootton seems so likely to end up there is because they have not one, not two, but that many picks in that area. 
• Then again, my team is also in the mix, so, we're good. 
• Five defensive ends got picked in the first round. Considering Wootton is considered to be the sixth or seventh best defensive end in the draft - even with all the OLB in a 3-4 system talk, he's still a defensive end to most people - he's next up. The three-day draft thing really draws out the suspense on this one, but, it's kind of cool. I definitely like this 24-hour period of Corey Wootton on deck, about to be followed by a 24-hour period of the same nature for Mike Kafka.
• Oh, and you can probably cross out the Colts, Titans, Giants, Jaguars, and Eagles as potential destinations, having drafted defensive ends.
• My prediction: Wootton goes to New England, 47th overall.

Mike Kafka

• If I was a quarterback with my name in the NFL draft, I'd like there to be articles written by draft website the day before the draft entitled "Who's Hot", and the first person would be the guy widely regarded to be No. 1 who eventually ends up getting drafted No.1, and the second guy is me. That's pretty good. (Alternately, I'd like to be that No. 1 guy. But that's it's whole own issue.)
• The only real news I have for you right now is that the Eagles are seriously considering taking a late-round QB, which is something we already knew, but, hey, now Andy Reid said it! (And indeed, Philly did trade their first-rounder, so dude who wrote that knows what's up.)
• Teams looking for QB's are definitely looking for two distinct things: a franchise player, or a backup who can occasionally start and not be horrific, and run the scout team. The teams that draft QB's in the first round - last night, only two - aren't looking for Mike Kafka. They're looking for something new for their franchise. Tonight we'll probably see Colt McCoy, Jimmy Clausen, and Tony Pike go, and the teams that take those guys will be eliminating themselves from the Kafka pool. By tonight, we'll have a pretty clear idea of where dude is going.
• But, screw it, here's my prediction: Philadelphia, in the fifth round.

Sherrick McManis

• I don't see it happening. Dan Pompei summed it up pretty well in his analysis (an analysis that lists him as the 17th best corner in the draft): he's just fallen off radar screens. Can't tell you why, because he seems like he should be a good player. However, if someone like Pompei is putting McManis as the 17th cornerback, there could be good news in store, as 30+ generally get taken. My gut reaction is that McManis goes undrafted, but every once in a while, something pops up which makes him seem like a 5th rounder or so, which wouldn't be a horrible fate by any standards.
• My prediction: San Diego, in the seventh round. (Why San Diego? I literally just went "hey, Rodger, think of a random NFL team!" and the first one that popped up was San Diego. I wonder why my blog has readers.)

Andrew Brewer

• Teddy Greenstein pumped this baby out, but that's just funny. Brew really should be an unsigned free agent - not a dig against him, he seems to me to be juuuuuuust barely good enough to be in the NFL, but barely good enough is still good enough, even if he's just hanging on by his fingernails and gets cut after about six weeks or so - but let's not go crazy here. That article was nice - you spend a year writing about an overwhelmingly nice guy like Brewer, you're probably naturally inclined to help him out by writing an article about him even if he has no hopes of getting drafted - but don't get your hopes up.
• Prediction: Guess, homies!