There's not much need to tell you that it was a banner weekend for Missouri football, as six Tigers found themselves en route to new homes after officially entering the record books as picks in the 2009 NFL Draft. However, just in case you weren't paying attention, it was a banner day for SB Nation's NFL blogs, as well. Each blog had a ridiculous amount of team-specific information, and hopefully you've managed to find your way to the SBN site of your favorite franchise.
With the craziness of the weekend now wrapped up, let's take a look at what our SBN brethren are saying about the former Tigers.
Jeremy Maclin: Philadelphia Eagles (Bleeding Green Nation)
BGN: A Look at Jeremy Maclin, Fox29 Feature
BGN: With two guy blazing fast playmakers in Jeremy Maclin & Desean Jackson the Eagles WR corps looks to be set for the next few years. Maclin and Jackson could combine to make the Eagles offense into one of the most dangerous vertical threats in the NFL.
(snip)
The Eagles saw the guy they wanted and moved up to ensure they got him. We'll see what happens from here on out this weekend, but Donovan McNabb can rest easy knowing he's got at least one dynamic offensive threat this offseason.
Total Response? Site leaders seem in favor, some of the community seems to question the pick a bit more.
Ziggy Hood: Pittsburgh Steelers (Behind The Steel Curtain)
BTSC: Selection, Draft Grades, Which pick are you most excited about? (See Poll), Colbert and Tomlin on Ziggy, Day 1 Thoughts, Ziggy talks to the Media, Stay tuned for my Q&A with BTSC
BTSC: It really didn't take me long at all to warm up to this pick quite a bit. GRADE: A
BTSC: I've been full of Ziggy-love since I started looking into the DL prospects, and we got him while staying put. There's a lot to like about him: he's got good size for a 3-4 DE (it'd be nice to have another inch or two, but he still has long arms), he was productive in college, he stood out among top competition at the Senior Bowl, he had absolutely fantastic tests at the combine (which tells me he has a ton of upside), he could grow into both a good pass rusher and a good run stuffer, and he should be able to drop into coverage on occasion, too. Nothing has stood out more to me, though, than how coachable and how good of a teammate everyone says he is. I think he's an absolutely perfect fit as a Steeler and as a one gap 5 technique 3-4 zone blitz DE. He was a very solid value at one of our biggest needs.
Coach MIke Tomlin: Ziggy Hood is a Steeler type of player – there are no holes in this guy. We felt good about the information that we acquired on this man after the Combine that he really wasn’t under consideration to come in here for a visit. He is a high character guy; he plays; he has a hot motor. He loves the game of football. He was described by many members of his team who went high today as their guy.
GM Kevin Colbert: It was exciting to see him available when we were picking at (number) 32. He was just somebody that we felt good about from the first time that we scouted him until when we saw him at the Senior Bowl. When we met up with him at the Combine, everything kept adding up that this is a high-quality player and person.
Ziggy on the first thing Tomlin said to him on the phone: "The first thing he said, he wanted an extra long cheese coney from Sonic because that's where I used to work at."
Total Response? Site administration is fully on board with the pick, and outside of a few Maualuga apologists, most of the members seem to like the pick.
William Moore: Atlanta Falcons (The Falcoholic)
TF: 2009 Draft Grades, Second Round Report
TF: S William Moore (A-): The Falcons filled a need and went best player available here, so it's hard to quibble with what they accomplished by picking up Moore. Dimitroff has said he envisions Moore as the kind of safety that blows people up, which means we need a catchy explosives-related nickname for him. The Human Grenade, anyone?
TF: There are many who will say that Moore should have slipped even further, but you won't find me among them. He's an ideal strong safety in many ways, with the ability to the play the run, hit hard and close the distance quickly when covering tight ends and wideouts alike. The team clearly isn't completely sold on Thomas DeCoud at SS (which is a shame), but it should be a pretty fierce competition between the two in training camp.
Total Response? Site administration loves the value of the pick. Questions remain about Moore's coverage ability after his senior season. 87 percent of voters on the site say Moore is either an "instant starter," or "He's okay, I guess."
Chase Coffman: Cincinnati Bengals (Cincy Jungle)
CJ: Draft Pick (see poll), Five Questions
CJ: For a position that turned out several all-stars in the past, the Cincinnati Bengals haven't had a legitimate pass receiving tight end for a long time. This is a good value pick, but we didn't identify tight end so much as a need this year (more along the lines of next season). However, there's only positives that can be drawn from this and the Bengals offense should benefit as a result.
CJ: I thought that the Bengals made their first surprise pick with tight end Chase Coffman with their fourth overall pick (98th). Let me be clear, we're not saying it's a bad pick or that Coffman wouldn't be great benefit. In fact, Coffman could be a tremendous weapon for Carson Palmer. However, with Reggie Kelly, Ben Utecht and Matt Sherry, where would Coffman fit in? We don't suspect the team will release Kelly simply because of the respect level players and coaches have for him. Utecht is argued to be one half of the team's 2008 free agency busts (Antwan Odom the other). Matt Sherry was injured early in 2008 and never got a shot to showcase whatever talents he has.
Total Response? They question his ability to block and transition to a pro offense, but they know the receiver they're getting at a fantastic value. The poll is evidence that this community is on board with the Coffman pick.
Colin Brown: Kansas City Chiefs (Arrowhead Pride)
AP: Presenting the class, Draft pick
AP: Missouri OT Colin Brown was probably the Chiefs' biggest reach of the draft. Many draft boards had him as a 7th round, UDFA prospect. Clearly, Pioli and Haley saw something they liked in Brown so they took him in the fifth round.Perhaps Haley is contemplating a some version of the spread offense, which Brown played in at Missouri.
AP: What's interesting is that Brown played exclusively in the Mizzou spread offense. I wonder if that's an indication that Pioli and Haley think they have it figured out when it comes to scouting spread offensive linemen or if the Chiefs will be running something similar.
According to our Draft Interests Page, the Chiefs had no contact with Brown.
Total Response? No one seems sure what to make of the pick. Is Pioli taking this sucker airborne in KC?
Stryker Sulak: Oakland Raiders (Silver and Black Pride)
SaBP: Live Breakdown, Did the Empire "Stryker" Back?
SaBP: Another non-stop motor pick by the Raiders. Sulak played all 3 LB positions and as a pass rushing DE for Iowa’s [sic] defense, racking up 22.5 sacks and 38 TFL in 53 games. Cable said he was going to try him out at LB first, but he may end up being Trevor Scott v. 2.0 for the Raiders, providing a nickel specialist to tandem with the larger base DEs.
SaBP: As I begin to recap this draft I am looking up and the Colts just drafted Zack Follett out of Cal with the 236th pick of the draft.
I am a bit disappointed that he didn't make the cut, but, the more that I learn about Styker Sulan [sic], out of Mizzou, I can cut ties with Zack.
Total Response? They may not know where he's from or how to spell his name, but they seem excited about the value in the pick, outside of some who were pushing for LSU's Ricky Jean-Francois.