Not the Worst Situation

Now I remember why at 30 years old with a kid I don't drink on weeknights. Wow I feel like crap today. Fortunately when I feel like crap I can''t focus on work - instead, I spend my whole day thinking about when I can go home and of course, sports. With everything to talk about in the world of sports, let's focus primarily on the NFL Draft.

As mentioned yesterday, last night's draft was bound to be like none other. With the free agency period coming after the draft for the first time and of course the speculation on whether their would actually be a season, no one really knew what to expect. I will hold off on my biggest surprise for a few and instead mention some things that I found really interesting:

1. Most people assumed the Bills would go with Blaine Gabbert to 'solidify' the QB position. Other thought they would go with LB stud Von Miller. I'm not sure anyone saw Alabam DT Marcell Dareous slipping to them. When he did, it was too good to pass up. The Bills were run all over last year and already have a serviceable QB in Ryan Fitzpatrick so they were doing cart-wheels up to the podium.
2. I am shocked that Nebraska CB Prince Amukamara fell to the Giants at 19. I got to watch him twice this year and he was easily the best player on the field. This is a great pick to help solidify their secondary.
3. Christian Ponder to the Vikes is a surprising move. Reports are that they wanted a QB in the second round, but got scared that no one would be available in Round 2 after Locker and Gabbert were taken at 8 and 10. Adam Schefter suggested that he might go high on the BS Report yesterday, saying that he was getting a lot of positive buzz around him. With Andy Dalton now slipping to Round 2, you have to wonder if it was the right move.
4. I am intrigued by the Rams' selection of Robert Quinn. Quinn is a guy who was at one point projected to be a top-2 pick but slipped to 14 in large part because of his year long suspension for accepting improper benefits from an agent. 'Character issues' aside, he is an athletic freak and really makes this defense scary.


OK, so now on the main subject of this post: Jake Locker. I pleaded with the Seahawks not to take him at 25 and they didn't, not because they didn't want him but because he was lonnngg gone. Locker was selected 8th overall by a team with glaring QB needs, the Tennessee Titans. I was originally worried that he would be selected by a team like Buffalo, Arizona or Minnesota where he would be expected to start on day 1. Locker needs to develop his accuracy and work on his footwork and shouldn't be starting this year. Normally teams pick high in the draft because they have bad records -most of the time, it's because they have QB issues. At first glance, going to the Titans might not seem like a good situation, but I actually think it could be a blessing in disguise.

The Titans are finally ending the Vince Young era so they need a QB of the future. What makes them different than other teams is that they have a very capable veteran QB in Kerry Collins who has shown that he can lead the team to the postseason. He is not the long term solution, but can certainly handle the reins until Locker is ready. The situation might remind some of when VY entered the league in 2006. Collins was the opening day starter and VY was glued to the bench to develop behind him. Unfortunately, Collins played poorly and VY was starting by Week 3.

The precedence to be impatient is there, but I think this is a different situation. First off, Locker has the advantage of following the Vince Young Disaster. While the organization loves Locker's leadership abilities, I don't think they will be silly enough to rush him after what happened last time around. Second, Locker is coming off a subpar senior season at UW while Young had outplayed Matt Leinart and beaten mighty USC for the National Title. The fans wanted Young. I doubt they will want Locker in the same way (at first). Third, even if he does get thrown in early, he will have Chris Johnson and the run first offense to help him with the transition. He would certainly be able to hide some of worts and just the threat of him and Johnson running some kind of wildcat formation would be worth it. Finally, he will be able to learn from a great coorindator, Chris Palmer, who has experience with rookie QB's (Eli Manning and Tony Romo to name a few).

I'm sure their are some people in Seattle who are bummed this morning. I totally understand but do also realize that leaving Seattle and going to Nashville is not the worst thing. He is able to avoid the 'hometown savior' label. He is able to avoid being swallowed up by big-time, East Coast markets. He is going to develop and hopefully become that QB that we all know he can be.