The first NFL Draft in primetime was short on sexy and heavy with heft last night.
Not only were a pair of defensive tackles among the top three picks for the first time since the merger, but the first round also saw a whopping 11 interior linemen taken overall once the Rams tabbed Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford with the first choice.
Almost all of the drama was reserved for the 25th pick as the Broncos gambled on quarterback puzzle Tim Tebow after trading down twice and trading up twice to position for the hotly debated University of Florida product.
Another quarterback wouldn’t hear his name called as teams curiously passed on Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, who some scouts had pegged as high as fourth overall but spent the night on the sidelines.
Skill players with mass TV appeal were in short supply after Bradford as teams opted to beef up instead. Eight of the top 18 picks were interior linemen, including an offensive guard (Idaho’s Mike Iupati) and a center (Florida’s Maurkice Pouncey), and — including defensive ends — 14 linemen went in the round overall.
One of those offensive linemen was Rutgers tackle Anthony Davis, who became the highest-drafted Scarlet Knight ever. The night would get even better for Rutgers and coach Greg Schiano as cornerback Devin McCourty went 27th overall to the Patriots.
The first round featured just two quarterbacks, three running backs and two receivers.
Those positions figure to get a lot more face time tonight, when the second and third rounds are held, but their paltry presence last night was shocking.
The second receiver taken, Oklahoma State character question Dez Bryant, was considered the top prospect at the position but fell all the way to 24th overall to the Cowboys.
Dallas had famously passed on Randy Moss 12 years ago because of off-field concerns, and Jerry Jones was determined not to make the same mistake twice.
The skill guys were overshadowed — literally — by the linemen. It was obviously their night when defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska and Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma went second and third overall, to the Lions and Buccaneers, respectively.
Fortifying the lines might have been sound strategy, but it didn’t give a relatively lightning-fast first round much sizzle except for the Tebow drama. Teams tried to make up for that with a flurry of trades as the 49ers, Chargers, Eagles, Seahawks, Cowboys and Lions all moved up while the Broncos sent heads spinning with their furious flurry of deals, one of which netted them Georgia Tech wideout Demaryius Thomas.
The first round took just 3½ hours, a virtual sprint compared to recent marathons under the two-day format, as teams rarely used the maximum 10 minutes allotted.
The curveballs also were few and far between, with the Jaguars’ selection of Oregon defensive tackle Tyson Alualu No. 10 overall qualifying as the only head-scratcher. Alualu had been given a second-round grade on most draft boards.
The Bills going for Clemson running back and kick-return ace C.J. Spiller with the ninth pick also qualified as a mild surprise, mainly because his small size (5-feet-11, 196 pounds) won’t allow him to be an every-down back in the NFL. But he does give the Bills’ moribund offense some electricity and could seal Marshawn Lynch’s exit.
The night began with some apparent intrigue because the Rams had not offered Bradford a contract nor even made much contact with the former Heisman Trophy winner in the hours leading up to the draft.
But the Rams’ inactivity turned out to be just a smokescreen as they wasted little time making Bradford the third quarterback in the past four years to go No. 1 overall.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Bradford, who remains a question mark because of his surgically repaired throwing shoulder. “It’s a feeling that’s really unexplainable.”