I'm still getting over the Mavericks/Golden State game last night - and yes, I've ordered this shirt to properly express my feelings of adoration, respect and crushing love for how this Warriors team plays - but we need to look at how the Irish did in this year's draft.  Considering there was talk of seven or eight of the top one hundred players coming into this season (Irish fans kind of wondered about that), I don't think Notre Dame did as well as some people projected.

22nd pick overall: QB Brady Quinn to the Cleveland Browns

I don't think much more needs to be said about this after BlueGraySky took a look at it yesterday.  Had Quinn came out after last season, even in a draft loaded with Bush, Leinart and Young, he would have most definitely gone higher than he did this year.  It's a shame what happened, but totally understandable when you realize the terrible decision of one team - the Miami Dolphins, whose fans are probably just waiting for Cam Cameron to stray out onto Dan Marino Boulevard so they can run him down - resulted in him sliding way down the draft.  Despite the poor quality of play you'll find in the NFL, the only teams that really thought they needed a quarterback in this draft were Oakland, Detroit, Cleveland, Miami, Baltimore to some degree and the Bears, although their fans will tell you "CHUCK IT DEEP" is a capable QB.  

Still, Browns fans are pretty happy, although they did give up their number one pick for next year.  Considering they're getting a guy they had near the top of their draft board (Joe Thomas was understandably higher), unless they end up with the number one pick and Darren McFadden grows wings during this season, you just spent two first round picks on a potential franchise left tackle and a potential franchise quarterback.  They could both end up Hall of Famers, one of them could end up awesome or they both could be out of the league in three years, but right now, the Browns came out of this draft having to feel pretty good about themselves.

57th pick overall, 25th in the second round: DE Victor Abiamiri to the Philadelphia Eagles

The pride of Dillon Hall goes to a team that traditionally fills both of its lines up during the draft towards the end of the second round.  Eagles fans are pleased with the pick coming where it did, although I'm not sure Victor will translate to an outside linebacker in a 3-4 like some analysts are thinking.  He's quick, but I'm not sure he's that quick.  Still, nice pick for Philly, and now all Andy Reid has to do is convice Vic he's playing against Stanford every week and he'll have an all-pro on his hands.

70th pick overall, 6th in the third round: T Ryan Harris to the Denver Broncos

As you can imagine, Denver fans were interested by this pick, but wary.  From the Mile High Report:

He must have been pretty terrible at the Senior Bowl to qualify as "much better" in pass protecting during the season.  It's hard to really pinpoint Notre Dame's 2006 offensive line problems on one person - the middle of the line never garnered a push, and I believe my favorite analogy for the guards were "turnstiles", while we started a freshman at right tackle - but Harris was not the calming influence and dominant player at left tackle many projected him to be, including an affinity for false starts that grew as the season went on.  Still, you plug anybody in the Broncos zone-blocking scheme and they seem to do pretty well, so we'll wish Ryan the best playing with Jay Cutler and Mike Shanahan.

166th pick overall and 29th in the fifth round, Derek Landri to the Jacksonville Jaguars

Great value pick by the Jaguars, who already are loaded at defensive line, but you can always use an active body like Landri to spell the horses in the middle.  Landri's role in the Notre Dame defense was underrated all season, as he pinballed around the opposition's line, getting to the quarterback, flushing him out of the pocket and knocking down passes.  While he might be a little smallish in the NFL, I think his effort alone will earn him a spot on a roster.

202nd pick overall and 28th in the sixth round, Mike Richardson to the New England Patriots

 Mike Richardson equals hope, ladies and gentlemen.  Seemingly a lost cause all of the 2005 season, Richardson progressed by leaps and bounds in the offseason, becoming the best cornerback on the team by far (How do we know this?  When Richardson blew a coverage, the reaction was "Wow, M-Rich messed that up", as opposed to the reaction when anyone else in the secondary screwed up, which was regarded with the same interest as "The sun rose this morning" or "Indiana is awful flat").  If Lambert and Wooden can make the same strides Richardson did, the Notre Dame defense will be much improved under Corwin Brown.

Richardson's also in a great position, considering the New England's secondary is seemingly cursed with a never-ending string of injuries, and barring a season-ending injury to Tom Brady, I can't imagine anyway the Patriots don't win the Super Bowl after the offseason they had.  Hell, they might even go undefeated.

230th and 253rd picks overall, 20th and 43rd in the seventh round: OG Dan Santucci and S Chinedum Ndukwe to the Cincinnati Bengals

Conversation in the Bengals war room as the draft comes to a close

Executive One: Alright guys, we've made it through the first six rounds and I don't think we've picked anybody that will fire a gun in the air or assault anyone between now and training camp.  We can't screw this up.

Executive Two: Let's fill out the roster with some Hurricanes, so incase we do happen to get into a brawl...

Executive Three: What about drafting a few guys from Notre Dame?  That's some big Catholic school, they'll probably be decent, God-fearing people.

Executive One: Well, this Ndukwe kid can get to the ball-carrier, but he's lost in coverage most of the time.  He did destroy Calvin Johnson, though, and he was the number two pick!  We could play him on special teams?

Executive Two: And Dan Santucci used to play special teams and defensive line, so we can probably plug him in somewhere.  Plus, he doesn't sound like he'd curb-stomp anybody outside a Las Vegas casino.

Executive Three: Perfect, send in the picks.

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Information for this portion from UND.com

Rhema McKnight to the New Orleans Saints: How I'll always remember Rhema changed each year I was at Notre Dame.  In 2004, he was Ty's go-to guy on the bubble screen, which we ran every third play to "mix things up on offense".  In 2005 after his injury early-season injury that derailed a strong start, he Justin Tuck were the two players I imagined would have made a big difference on the Irish squad that finished within a few points of ending the regular season undefeated.  After the 2006 season, all I could think about was Brian from MGoBlog's breakdown of the Michigan/Notre Dame game, which could be surmised as "Quinn overthrows McKnight, denying him a chance to do what he does best: drop a ball that hits him in the hands and then bitch about a flag".  Rhema had some great catches this season, but far more big drops, but he'll have an uber-accurate quarterback trying to get him the rock in New Orleans.

Marcus Freeman to the Ravens, Chris Frome to the Bears: Neither of these players were expected to be drafted, but I think both have a chance of making the teams they signed onto.  Freeman's a big guy with decent hands and capable blocking skills, while Frome had his moments, and playing in the Bears' system seems to make everyone both a capable defensive lineman and avid gun owner.

Darius Walker to the Bears: Truly heartbreaking here, as Darius gave everything he had in his time at Notre Dame and made the right decision professionally considering the Irish backfield was going to be very crowded behind a rookie quarterback and patchwork offensive line.  Originally projected in the 3rd or 4th round, D-Walk's fall made Quinn's look tame in comparison, eliciting sadness from fans who respected his contributions.  Upon further review, perhaps D-Walk should have came back just to end his career as a record holder for many Notre Dame offensive categories, but I truly believe he will make the Bears as a quality third down back.  He can take on blitzers, he can catch the ball and he can tote the rock against quality defenses, as we saw against monster Ohio State and LSU machines in the past two BCS games.  Best of luck, D-Walk, and if you don't mind, could your dad still hang around campus on football weekends?

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The other Notre Dame player who would have went in the first round was Jeff Samardjiza, who made the very wise career decision to give up non-guaranteed money and getting hit as he went across the middle for pitching once every five days and the overpriced contracts that make baseball GMs look sillier and sillier every winter.  Chuck King at the Minor League Dugout e-mailed me with his really interesting story on what Samardjiza was doing on draft day, and I thought it was peculiar how uninterested he was in the proceedings.  

I suppose there wouldn't be much reason to get really caught up with it beyond watching some of his friends go, but I suppose I just expected him to be a little more interested in what was going on.  The other aspect of that article's that interesting is the thought that Samardjiza might move to closer.  Should I make the obligatory "Well, he can come out to Jaws music and it will be perfect" comment?  I think so.

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·    Of our last two BCS opponents, five of their wide receivers went in the first round of this and last year's draft (Santonio Holmes went to Pittsburgh last year).  Of their quarterbacks, one was the number one overall pick and the other won the Heisman trophy, both signs they were at least somewhat capable under center.  I know our defense was never great and didn't play smart - I still have no idea how they didn't see JaMarcus Russell's goalline draw play at the end of the Sugar Bowl first half - that was some serious competition.
·    I haven't looked at Kiper's grades yet, but if I had to pick one team that had a sneaky good draft, it would have to be the Arizona Cardinals.  They reached a bit for Levi Brown, but if he's anywhere near as good as people project, there will be little regrets taking him a bit too high.  However, they got a couple of steals in the later rounds, taking MaxwellPundit candidates Alan Branch and Buster Davis in rounds two and three.  Kiper seemed to have a personal vendetta against Branch, but he's a monster who should clog up lanes for all involved.  Davis was a one-man wrecking crew of the Seminoles' defense who should find his way onto the field somewhere.
·    Other teams I think did well for themselves other than Cleveland: 49ers, Steelers, Vikings (too bad they have no one to throw to the ball to Rice), Chargers (as far as filling their needs went, and Eric Weddle is a special guy), Panthers, Falcons.  Teams that didn't do so hot?  Dolphins, Titans and Packers jump out, although with the potential for late-round picks to blossom, it's too late to condemn anyone yet.

Except the Dolphins.