Steelers: We barely heard a peep about the preferred team of Black N Gold and BBiB!, but these guys came away with two pretty terrific players. Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall (one of my personal faves from this draft because of his versatility) in the first round and Texas WR Limas Sweed in the second is quite a haul. Big Ben - the real Big Ben - gets his wish for a tall receiver in Sweed, and Willie Parker now gets a breather with Mendenhall, who might one day take over the starter's job. Fourth round T Tony Hills of Texas gives them some depth at a key spot. What I really like about personnel chief Kevin Colbert: He lets the draft come to him. 
Panthers: There's no secret to what John Fox wants to do: Run the football and play good defense. Well, he got plenty on both counts. Oregon RB Jonathan Stewart is the best run/pass back in the draft. He's coming off foot surgery, but should be ok for training camp. T Jeff Otah was one of the premier half dozen blockers in the first round. And how about getting LB Dan Connor of Penn State in the third round? Some folks had him graded as high as a low first-rounder. Third-round S Charles Godfrey a potential replacement for Mike Minter.
Chiefs: It's not often we endorse trading away a blue chip pass rusher. But given the circumstances, I think the Chiefs will eventually come out ahead by dealing Jared Allen and collecting draft picks. The Chiefs appeared to do quite well over the weekend, nabbing LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, for my money the best lineman in the draft, and blue chip G/T Branden Albert of Virginia. Virginia Tech CB Brandon Flowers was there in the second round (first-round talent), and third-round S DaJuan Morgan of North Carolina is a potential steal. If the Chiefs can get production from 6 or 7 of their 12 picks, they're ahead of the game.
Cowboys: Forget all that talk about Jerry Jones moving up to get Darren McFadden. It wasn't going to happen. Jones preferred McFadden's teammate, Felix Jones, who is a terrific inside runner, and he got him at No. 22 overall. Great value there. Jones also got speedy South Florida cornerback Mike Jenkins at 25. And if TE Martellus Bennett of Texas A & M pans out, then they lose nothing by trading away Anthony Fasano to the Dolphins.
Bills: From the school of letting the draft come to you: The Bills were patient at the top and wound up with blue chip cornerback Leodis McKelvin of Troy, who is also a fantastic return man. There was talk of them preferring Michigan State WR Devin Thomas at this spot, but McKelvin was clearly the better value. That was underscored by the fact that Thomas slipped into the second round. Patience paid off for Buffalo in the second round, because they wound up with a solid receiver prospect anyway - James Hardy of Indiana.
Comments (2)
BG,
Idon't get too excited about football drafts for the very reason you mention... like fine wine... you don't know what you have until years later.
On the surface, I'd agree that Colbert had another fine draft... just one question, what do you think of them taking QB Dixon?
BnG,
Love the selection of Dixon. Randel El is back as a Duck!
On paper, this is my favorite Steelers draft in some time. Sweed and Mendenhall have top 15 potential and while they aren't linemen, they have the potential to keep blitzers off Ben because they make the offense that much more explosive.