OPTIMIST/PESSIMIST – NFC SOUTH DRAFT CLASS:

By Zac, Throwing Into Traffic

This week, we'll be here and over at Throwing Into Traffic reviewing the divisional draft classes. Today, OPTIMIST/PESSIMIST takes a look at the NFC South.

Atlanta Falcons:

OPTIMIST:

For the Atlanta fans who are a little too angry about that first round pick, get it clear: The quarterback problems are not a black/white thing, and drafting a neatly groomed, squeaky clean white guy doesn’t exacerbate the problem. Ryan brings stability to the future of the quarterback position, and with veterans Joey Harrington and Chris Redman ahead of him, Ryan will have the opportunity to learn from people with game experience (and probably pick up some handy insurance sales tips on the side). Would it have been nice to have Glen Dorsey? Sure, but you need to get some stability under center first, and unfortunately none of the options aside from Ryan have shown the kind of consistency that a game manager needs.

PESSIMIST:

For the Atlanta fans who are a little too happy about that first round pick, get it clear: The quarterback problems are not a black/white thing, and drafting a neatly groomed, squeaky clean white guy doesn’t solve the problem. For all of the faults of last year’s Falcons squad, you could argue that quarterback was the one that got overemphasized. Harrington was perfectly serviceable, and if any receiver besides Roddy White acted like they had signed lucrative contracts to catch footballs the team wouldn’t have struggled so much. Meanwhile, the Falcons’ 29th ranked defense could have used a player that almost everyone believed could have the biggest impact of anyone in the draft in the middle of their line. Just look at their neighbors south of the Mason-Dixon Line: It isn’t Vince Young who “just wins games”; it’s Albert Haynesworth. Oh, and then there’s the fact that Matt Ryan might not be all that good anyway, but who’s counting?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

OPTIMIST:

If you think that a sizable percentage of NFL players don’t enjoy a little reefer now and then, you’re fooling yourself. So CB Aqib Talib’s issues with Marijuana at Kansas shouldn’t have scared off so many teams, and Jon Gruden made a steal when he fell to the 20th pick in the first round. For a Cover 2 system that only asks its corners to be smart in their zones, Talib has the best grasp of the position of any rookies taken, and will learn from a great veteran defense. Moral of the story: He’s worth the extra expenses in Fritos. Equally exciting is the pickup of WR Dexter Jackson, who, though small, is a quick burner who turns the kind of short passes Gruden loves into long gains (22 yards a catch in college). Finally, if he can survive the seven QB crucible that Tampa Bay has going on in camp (do they vote one off each week or something?), Josh Johnson is the quarterback with the most incredible athletic skillset of anyone in the draft, and if he makes the team he’ll be studying under a guy who was a prototype for mobile quarterbacks once upon a time (the new Indiana Jones movie is actually about the search for Jeff Garcia’s Pro Bowl jersey).

PESSIMIST:

I said in my live blog of the draft that the teams at the middle/bottom of the first round (Tampa Bay, Philly, etc…) who were letting the marquee names at receiver get by them in the first would be unpleasantly surprised in the second when there was a run at the position. Tampa Bay was the victim of just such a run, and instead of Devin Thomas (criminally ignored in the first round), James Hardy (who would be the big target they need), DeSean Jackson (who is like a better version of the receiver they got), or any of the other, safer picks at receiver, the Bucs got a small player from a small school. Appalachian State was a nice story last season, but Michigan might as well have been playing FCS ball, and NFL defenders are a little better than your average high school player who couldn’t quite make the big time. Oh, and did we mention that there are SEVEN quarterbacks??? Somebody must have caught Chris Simms dipping his junk in Gruden’s coffee, because there’s no other excuse for taking a kid who had two bad games and the bad fortune of his spleen exploding and burying him behind Brian Griese, Josh Johnson, and an Elvis Grbac rookie card. The point is, when you’ve got as clear a receiver need as the Bucs, and your defense, though old, can hold up for another year, the way to make the leap is to pick up a premier receiver, not a pet project.

Carolina Panthers:

OPTIMIST:

Yeah, they dropped a 2009 first rounder to get him, but OT Jeff Otah is that good, coming off of a season where he anchored a Pitt offense that would frequently just line up with a running back under center. Throw him on an already talented (and young) line, and you’ve got the building blocks for breaking free from the mediocrity that’s been caking on the walls of the Panthers locker room since that 2004 Super Bowl appearance (no, Carolina fans, you didn’t just dream that). The other way you get out of mediocre slumps is by taking big chances, and there might not be a bigger chance taken in the first round than RB Jonathan Stewart. Coming off of toe surgery, the risks are obvious, but when he’s healthy Stewart is the most complete back in this rookie class. He runs low, has a great frame for the position and great speed to match.

PESSIMIST:

Somebody needs to take Steve Smith’s shoelaces and belt away, because I’m legitimately concerned about what he’s going to do to himself after the Panthers let the entire draft go by without picking up some help at WR. Scratch that; somebody should REALLY be keeping an eye on Dwayne Jarrett, because all it’s going to take is one game reminiscent of last season for Smith to beat the holy hell out of Mike Williams v.2.0. Furthermore, hold on to your asses, Panthers fans, because your hopes are riding on an offensive tackle that you mortgaged the farm for and a running back who played in a spread system and had foot surgery before playing a single game in the league. Any you thought John Fox was sweating LAST year…

New Orleans Saints:

OPTIMIST:

DT Sedrick Ellis is a great pick, and is certainly worth trading up in the draft for, but the real highlight of New Orleans’s draft was picking up CB Tracy Porter, who has first round caliber speed at a position that was generously described as generous, posting the third worst passing defense in the league (there are AFL corners who give up fewer yards than Jason “Toast” David). The end result is some young, athletic blood for a defense that had trouble penetrating the backfield and disrupting pass attacks. Finally, I’m prepared to make a “steal of the draft” call for WR Adrian Arrington, who inexplicably fell to the 7th round (well after his smaller, dumber, slower, and less talented cohort Mario Manningham.) and gives the Saints an embarrassment of riches at receiver, where they now have the combination of big bodies and speedsters that teams are going to be hard pressed to figure out defensively.

PESSIMIST:

No, seriously, you don’t trade with the great Satan of the NFL without terrible, terrible things happening to you. Reggie Bush’s ACL is going to disintegrate on the field this season.